This was the last of the Nordic countries that I needed to visit. Wait, actually, I haven't gone to Iceland yet. Sigh, still so much of the world to discover. Soon. Soon.
Let the tour begin:
I didn't get to go inside, but as I always say, I love a good theatre.
Here's the palace. Didn't take a tour...I'm not usually a big fan of palaces. Versailles would be the exception.
I did, however, go into the Munch-museet and I thoroughly enjoyed the art there. I was disappointed to learn that The Scream was not on display, as it going on rotation. There was a consolation prize of some drafts of the famous painting. Here are some shots from the museum. I was 
surprised that we were allowed photography. In my experience it seemed that the smaller museums allow photos even if there are famous pieces there, whereas the larger museums are more strict (although, while I was in Paris a little while ago, I found out that the Louvre was allowing pictures of the Mona Lisa).
Ever since I started travelling outside of the continent I started collecting keychains from Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe locations. I still do this, even though I'm wondering why I bother anymore. Back in the day it seemed like a good idea, but years go by and you realize that there are better souvenirs to be purchased and/or that those keychains are a complete rip off.
I like looking at traditional outfits. Being the last Nordic country I visited, I felt like I'd seen a lot of this stuff before. There were differences for sure, and I'm sure I'm making a big generalization as those from the different countries would probably argue that their cultures are very different, but they can't say that there aren't similarities. I especially like the bright colours that are in the traditional outfits.
In the Vikingskiphuset. These boats are amazing. Travelling really opens your mind. As a teacher I can really appreciate the importance of experiencing and really smelling, feeling, touching and tasting things. Everything just comes to life and students will remember what they learned that much more if they can connect it to something else in their life. Constructivist learning, my friends. I will always remember just how lucky I am. Did I already post about my trip to Stockholm? Darn. No, I didn't. Anyway, when I do, I will post pictures from the Vasa Museum. Dude, that's a viking ship.
Since I haven't posted about my trip to Sweden yet, I haven't talked about open-air museums. I've only seen these types of museums in the Nordic countries and I love them. I love talking walks and feeling like 
I'm just stumbling across different quartiers of cities so the open-air museums are good for me. Even though I loooooooove metro systems a lot, I truly feel like walking is the way to experience a new location. You take in so much more when you're walking and you never know where you'll end up. I'm sort of lucky that I'll walk almost anywhere. Sometimes after
the fact, I find out that I ventured into totally sketchy areas that I probably shouldn't have been in, but at the time, I felt completely safe and I'd really felt what the area was like. Anyway, the open-air museums are like...Black Creek Pioneer Village. Hey, maybe there are open-air museums in other cities too. They are like preserved villages set up so that visitors can step into the era or culture of what the museum is trying to show. Often the staff are dressed in traditional outfits and there are traditional shops set up. Schoolhouses, pharmacies, trades, crafts, bakeries, farms, etc. So these pictures are from the Norsk Folkemuseum.
Holmenkollen has a big ski jump which was used for the 1952 Winter Olympics. I can't imagine going off that thing. On a sort of related note, I am still looking for someone
to go skydiving with me in Interlaken. I've had a couple people bail on me, although all for understandable reasons. Two of my favorites include one gentleman who has been travelling/learning around the world for two years (and is still going) and a lady who decided that her wedding was more important.
Apparently she was really really mean.
And now, a barrage of pictures from the Vigeland Park (the sculptures) in the Frogner park (the flowers).
LILLEHAMMER
Being the ultimate tourist, I decided to take a couple little side-trips. You can't consider yourself an athlete if you're not obsessed with the Olympics, ergo, I took a trip to Lillehammer. Before heading to some of the venues, I visited Maihaugen, yet another open-air museum.
Okay, back to Lillehammer. The town still bore the evidence that the Winter Olympics had been there. I'd like to visit Torino again to see if it is the same for this city. I only say that because during the Olympics, you could hardly tell that something special was going on. Honestly, I was kinda disappointed by that. I know that the majoy venues are still there, but I'm not sure the city of Torino itself looks different than it used to look before. I hope so. I think hosting the Olympics should be 
something that any city should be proud of and should try to retain evidence of for the future. Anyway, seeing some of the venues, and of course various exhibits to commemorate the event made me happy. Being at the Olympics was such a wonderful experience, I can only 
hope that I get to experience it again in the future. Lillehammer isn't a very big town, but it has a lot of heart. I can imagine how wonderful it must have been during the Olympics. It's a very sweet town and even if you're not a big fan of the Olympics, it's worth a visit.DROBAK
Another little trip that I took was to a town called Drobak. The claim to fame of this city is that Santa Claus is from there. There's a post office especially for the big man and has a bunch of letters on display from people around the world writing to the man himself. I wonder if the people who wrote 
the letters know about this. I also love Christmas. I love the lights. I love the decorations. I love the vibe of the season. If you also love Christmas, visit Drobak...it's good for some souvenirs too. Actually, even if you don't like Christmas, visit the town because there the town is very quaint and there are 
the cutest streets and lanes to walk through. It's very tourist friendly. The best way to discover the town is by foot. Grab a map and take a walk. There was a really good map from the tourist office which gave suggestions of walks through town and points of interest. I cannot stress how much I love to walk. The architecture of the houses is nice to see as well. Very different from North American homes. I'm not sure if I could get used to living in these homes, but I really enjoy looking at them. It's be a fun cottage to own. It would be a nice half-day trip.I didn't post any pictures, but the Henie-Onstad Art Centre is worth a visit as well. Some nice art and a little room about Ms. Henie herself. I would like to own some artwork myself in the future. Yet another thing on my list of "to do-s". My little plug for a talented artist: Mr. Jack McLean. His website doesn't seem to be working right now, but I hope he's doing well. I was nice to talk to an artist about the process and learn a little bit more about the profession and his dreams in life.
So, Norway. Yeah. A nice country. Lots to see and do.
No comments:
Post a Comment