Stone and Water

A fountain in the park
Our first morning in Olso, it was about an 80 minute walk from our accommodations (and I use that term loosely) to the starting point of the Hop On Hop Off bus. Since it was a lovely day, a mostly downhill walk, and nothing opens until 10 anyway; this was not a problem. It gave us a good chance to see some of the lovely architecture. Oslo is a beautiful city, rich in history.

Statues like these line either side of a long bridge



I had a bit of time to chit chat with the young man who sold us the passes, while Janis went in search of coffee for us. He strongly recommended starting our day at the Vigeland sculpture park. It really was a lovely park and it turned out the 200 sculptures were all a single exhibition from an artist. 




A walk through the park, across a bridge and up flights of stairs, leads you to these sculptures

A view from the top, back at the way we came

It was an absolutely glorious, sunny day in Oslo, so we thought we best take advantage of the weather by doing a Fjord cruise. Hop On Hop Off got us close to the harbour front. We found a company with a tour leaving at 3:30. It was around 1, which gave us time for a  leisurely 2 hour lunch on the pier! It was just what we needed after the disheartening events of yesterday. We discovered that Europe has beverages called Spritz. I tried one in Italy, and apro spritz that looked delicious, and was not! This place had a hugo spritz - elderberry blossom, prosecco and soda - garnished with fresh mint. It was delightful. And since we had 2 hours for lunch on the pier, it tasted like a second one was in order!


Every house or cottage along the fjord had a bathing house. Properties along the water are hard to come by, as they usually stay in the same family for generations. It's a steep walk from where you can build a house to the water, sometimes we saw just a ladder bolted to the rock face. The bathing houses are built in the water on pilings and had decks to enjoy the sun and incredible views. They were also handy for smuggling alcohol during prohibition!


This little building looks like a church. It's a lighthouse!




Coming back to the pier

On a beautiful day like this, the fjord is a busy place. There were cruise ships departing, motor boats, sailing boats, windsurfers, 
people swimming and playing on beaches.







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