Our next site was a rural setting 50Kms South of Oslo. It was a very peaceful small site where we overlooked a barley field and from inside the van could not see any other campers. The site owners ran Elk safaris which we thought would be a bit of fun but at 10:00 on our first evening two elk walked through this field less than 100 m away. As this was the best siting that those who had been on the safari had witnessed we decided to pass on the safari.
The next day we travelled to Oslo. First port of call (apart from the usual hunt for a toalett) was the Royal palace. King Karl Johan who built the palace stands on guard outside.
The more lively guards have a large tassel on their head gear rather than a Busby and even when marching, if they see a camera, smile.
They are quite happy to pose with Jo public. This ones tassel kept blowing across his face and he repeatedly gave his head a little effeminate flick to get it out of the way. Clearly the main focus of being a guard here is to be a poser.
Walking down Karl’s gate there are a range of interesting buildings, restaurants and cafes. This is the National theatre built in 1899.
Further down there was a trio including a Balalaika player – one of the easiest instruments to listen too – as a result even the accordion sounded OK.
Oslo has also gone the way of Sydney and built an opera house – the design is relies on sharp angles and requires sunglasses. It is great to be able to walk all over the structure and see it from different angles. The downside is that the finish was not great – many of the sharp lines were not straight a workmanship was not as expected. The view over the water was also of waste land and some construction activity - there is some way to go before this becomes an integrated attractive area.
We then made our way back through the old town stopping to have lunch in the original bank square.
Nearby there were interesting new sculptures that contrasted with the existing buildings.
One in particular really caught the eye. Until we were close up it was unclear whether this was protruding or recessed. It was also remarkable for the way it always appeared to be looking at you no matter what the angle.
The old town is built around the Akerhus Slot (fort) which was started in 1299. It bears the scars of many a battle and most walls show a variety of different materials as funds/repairs were undertaken.
The following day we headed back to Sweden and Denmark. Our thoughts on Norway is that it has natural beauty that we would like to see by boat and travel up the West coast or have a great deal of time (and money) and do the trip by road. We also found the Norwegians rather unfriendly and not particularly open to visitors. We were amazed that many restaurants were closed due to summer holidays and disappointed that key attractions (like the gardens of the palace) had an abundance of litter.
The next day we travelled to Oslo. First port of call (apart from the usual hunt for a toalett) was the Royal palace. King Karl Johan who built the palace stands on guard outside.
The more lively guards have a large tassel on their head gear rather than a Busby and even when marching, if they see a camera, smile.
They are quite happy to pose with Jo public. This ones tassel kept blowing across his face and he repeatedly gave his head a little effeminate flick to get it out of the way. Clearly the main focus of being a guard here is to be a poser.
Walking down Karl’s gate there are a range of interesting buildings, restaurants and cafes. This is the National theatre built in 1899.
Further down there was a trio including a Balalaika player – one of the easiest instruments to listen too – as a result even the accordion sounded OK.
Oslo has also gone the way of Sydney and built an opera house – the design is relies on sharp angles and requires sunglasses. It is great to be able to walk all over the structure and see it from different angles. The downside is that the finish was not great – many of the sharp lines were not straight a workmanship was not as expected. The view over the water was also of waste land and some construction activity - there is some way to go before this becomes an integrated attractive area.
We then made our way back through the old town stopping to have lunch in the original bank square.
Nearby there were interesting new sculptures that contrasted with the existing buildings.
One in particular really caught the eye. Until we were close up it was unclear whether this was protruding or recessed. It was also remarkable for the way it always appeared to be looking at you no matter what the angle.
The old town is built around the Akerhus Slot (fort) which was started in 1299. It bears the scars of many a battle and most walls show a variety of different materials as funds/repairs were undertaken.
The following day we headed back to Sweden and Denmark. Our thoughts on Norway is that it has natural beauty that we would like to see by boat and travel up the West coast or have a great deal of time (and money) and do the trip by road. We also found the Norwegians rather unfriendly and not particularly open to visitors. We were amazed that many restaurants were closed due to summer holidays and disappointed that key attractions (like the gardens of the palace) had an abundance of litter. 
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