Oslo

In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On 25/08/2004 No comments

Oslo was our last one stop. We arrive on the afternoon and went to a house that rents rooms for tourist. The place scared a little, it was very far from downtown, it seemed countryside, there was only green around. It was not the idea of urban tourism we had planned. It looked like a place for weekend houses. But in the end of the day we saw that it was not, many people lived there the year around. When we got off on the train station, many people got off with us. We imagined how it would be to live in this place in the winter, everything very quiet, without life and, in addition, snow all around. The second day we moved to a hotel downtown.

We visit the port, a pretty place for, in the end of the afternoon, seeing the sunset and boats. We also went for a walk on the Vigeland Park: wonderful. A park with approximately 200 sculptures by the famous Norwegian artist, Gustav Vigeland. The sculptures, in granite and bronze, are naked men, women and children who form movement positions with great harmony. In the center of the park it is the monolith, an enormous tower of mixed people. The day was cloudy, it was not the ideal to photograph sculptures, besides it was crowded with tourist (groups with guides crying out to be listened). There were many buses in the entrance. I would adore to be able to come back to the park in a day that there were not many people and be able to observe with tranquility each of the sculptures.

The same day we visit the Museum Kon-Tiki. It was essential therefore I am a big fan of Thor Heyerdahl. In the museum there are the two barks used on his expeditions: “Kon-Tiki”, the one he went from South America to Polynesia and “Ra II”, which he crossed the Atlantic. His expeditions were incredible considering he used a combination of popular wisdom and university knowledge.

We also went on a boat tour to see the summer houses on small islands and the fjords near Oslo. It was interesting to see how these houses were constructed. All had small house by the margin by where they enter into the water and change clothes. It is fascinating to see recreation forms as going the beach, something that is so common to us, with so distinct practices.

Downtown, near the university where there is a statue of Edvard Munch (that of the painting “Scream”), we stopped for an ice cream. It was my mom’s idea, she always wants to try the ice cream on each country we visit. At the moment that we choosing the flavor, the girl in from of us got stolen. She was not a tourist, she was Norwegian. She got really nervous because someone stole her bag, money and mobile phone. It was strange but that gave us a feeling of relieve because in Norway, a rich and organized country, wallets get stolen during the day, in front of our eyes. It was as if that was an excuse for critique we always listen that in Brazil the tourists get stolen. Well, this can happen in anywhere, even in the Norway.