On a business trip to Mata, bringing my dear wife along, we had a guided tour in this historical place and we gladly take you along to this medieval walled city located on a hill lying on the South Western coast of Malta. Let’s start with the breathtaking view from the wall inside and panoramic photo of the Maltese countryside, taken with my Nokia N8, a view towards part of the town of Rabat:

Then we turn around and concentrate on The Walled City, and announcing: the location on the top of a hill captivates tourists to Mdina’s mesmerizing beauty, while the medieval era culture and atmosphere takes you back in time away from all modernism and mechanism:

The medieval age alleys and narrow streets running down add to the dramatic touch of Mdina. These were intentionally narrow so that in the event of an attack they were difficult to negotiate on horseback giving the locals time to hide. Today these narrow alles and limestone walls reflects the true Maltese charm and tradition with minimum impact from the Knights:

The city is well maintained and kept clean by the locals:

The locals getting ready for the Good Friday procession. This is a typical band which leads the procession with the local icons on display and carried through the town.

Museum of Natural History:
By the Vilhena Palace, St Publius Square, you’ll find the large baroque Magisterial Palace. It was built by Grand Master Vilhena in 1724 and converted into a hospital during the British rule. This houses the natural history museum which holds exhibits on Malta’s geological formation over 10,000 rocks and minerals, a vast collection of Maltese flora and fauna, as well as local and exotic shells and insects. Our guide told us there is also a reference library on natural sciences for enthusiasts, but we only had the time to admire the beauty from the outside:

St. Paul’s Cathedral:
Ancient Baroque architecture is the main attraction of this place. St. Paul’s Cathedral designed by the architect Lorenzo Gafa leads them all. It displays minute detailing by the master designer. The dome, the bell towers and other structures are very lovely designed:

The interior of the cathedral features Irish wood carvings and lavish tessellated floorings. The cathedral is a house of precious paintings, sculptors and baptistery. This is a must visit stunning example of Baroque art and architecture.

Today Mdina is a major tourist attraction recognized internationally as an important UNESCO heritage site. We were certainly charmed by the well maintained medieval feel of these historical – yet still living – grounds. Even more; the whole Malta took us by storm, so there is a lot more to tell about our adventures on theses exotic islands – stay tuned for more local culture and romance !! ; -)

The Tree of Life:
The sculptures are formed in bronze, granite and wrought iron. All together, the collection consists of 600 figures with the human life cycle from birth to death as its theme. Vigeland modeled the figures in full size in plaster, while he left the carving in granite and the casting in bronze to his talented craftsmen. He was also responsible for the architectural setting and the landscaping of the more than 70 acres of park area. This fountain at the center was the starting point of the parks design:

The Fountain is the earliest sculpture unit in the park. In the center of the basin, six giants hold the large saucer-shaped vessel aloft and from it a curtain of water spills down around them. Water, a universal symbol of fertility, is used within the fountain complex in a meaningful juxtaposition with the twenty “tree groups” on the surrounding parapet, the latter evidently symbolizing the “tree of life”.

From the Monolith view point:
The word monolith means literally “one stone”. It took Vigeland over 10 months to make the original model in clay then it was done life size in plaster. The stone monolith was begun in 1929 and took 14 years carve all the figures. It contains 121 figures climbing up towards the sky and is meant to represent man’s desire to connect with the divine.
Below you see the view from the monolith platform back over these two smaller fountains and in the background you can see the Tree of Life and the view across the park centered towards the cathedral in the distance. Vigeland originally wanted to use another church which did not lay exactly on the axis of the park – and because of that he wanted them to move the entire church. This was not done but the church in the background was built intentionally to line up with the park. So great were his visions!

As you can see in the photos above there are many tulips and spring flowers, but an army of gardeners which maintain the park change the flowers several times to match the seasons. This park is lovely to visit and popular throughout the year both with tourists and the locals. Are you tempted to take a guided tour now?? Come and visit us and we will be more than happy to show you around.

«Spikersuppa» in “The National Mall of Norway”:
Eidsvolls plass (Eidsvoll Square) is a square and park in Oslo, located from the Parliament, along Karl Johans street, through «Spikersuppa» or “Studenterlunden” down to The National Theatre. It has been referred to as “The National Mall of Norway“.

Left: Spikersuppa & behind the trees: The Parliament

Left: view from Karl Johan into «Spikersuppa» behind the trees – Right: National Theatre at the end of “Mall of Norway”

In 1956, a plan by architect Arnstein Arneberg was set into motion, creating a decorative pool of water at Eidsvolls Square. Funded by the company Christiania Spigerverk (Christania nail factory), it was nicknamed «Spikersuppa» “nail soup” – an old folk myth similar to stone soup in other countries). The pool has a fountain in the middle and a group of trees as well as statue of children playing by the water and deer:

From ice cream to ice skating:
«Spikersuppa» – surrounded by trees with a pond, a fountain and benches on either side – is a popular place to sit and enjoy an ice cream in spring and on warm summer days, the pond is filled with children. However – talking about significant change of seasons in Norway; in winter the water is frozen, making the pond a popular skating rink:

«Spikersuppa» – Above: fountain in spring – Below: skating rink in winter time.

Let me end the story with some more photos (click to bigify & enjoy!) at “The National Mall of Norway“. All four seasons have it charm, but spring is the most colourful – don’t you think?

Spring in Oslo: Flowers all around “The National Mall of Norway” : -)

Norwegians really know how to enjoy the spring season. As all of you have seen we are outdoors quite a lot in winter as well, but having this intense difference between cold winters and warm summer we are all out charging our batteries in the spring and summer months to recover from and prepare for the long dark winter. The contrast also serves to intensify our appreciation of all the seasons. It is in the differences and the contrast which makes the enjoyment so intense.

The Parades:
There are local parades and activities at every school, in every little town and village all across the land. We all are dressed in our best outfit – many in the national costume (Bunad) and all waiving a Norwegian flag:

The largest parade of course is the school children’s parade marching down Karl Johan’s Street passing the Palace where the Royal Family will stand for many hours waving at the excited crowd. This is known as a day for the children, and on this day the King, Queen, Crown Prince and Crown Princeess are available to greet the children the entire length of the parade:

Russ – The reveling Norwegian high school graduates:
This year is the last year we will have school children in the house as Diane’s son is a Russ this year. As you can read in my earlier posts, a Russ is a member of the graduating class. The Russ celebrates finishing their education from around the 21 of April until the 17th of May. In this period they wear the Russ uniform – normally red or blue overalls:

- and there are many parties, concerts, busses if one is involved in a bus project, and of course the endless list of pranks which Russ perform. As a reward for completing a prank you get a knot in the golden tassel on the Russ hat.

Some examples of the Russ pranks or dares are: going 24 hours without sleeping, sitting under your desk an entire class, walk with loaves of bread for shoes an entire school day, do a 5 minute poledance on the underground train, kissing a policeman or -woman, standing up every five minutes in a class and call out “cheers” (skål) or running through the teacher’s lounge in your underwear. You get the idea – most are fun and harmless and the teachers get in their fair share of the fun too!

I think what really makes our national day special is the way it involves the whole family, with the children in focus from one to hundred years. Sharing this with you brings me down the memory lane and I feel the anticipation of a child before the 17th of May celebration begins: pocket money for ice cream, soda and hotdogs, the children parade and the fun at school in my best costume without wool tights and boots – finally in our summer shoes. Please join me in wishing everyone a happy 17th of May.

If you like to read more about the most Norwegian day there is, here are my privies posts:

17th of May – Norway’s National Day in Oslo
17th of May Parade in Norway
17th of May Norway’s Constitution Day in Oslo
17th of May Constitution or National day in Norway

Why a rabbit lays eggs?
In the pagan spring celebration, they worshipped the goddess Eastre, the goddess of fertility and springtime and her earthly symbol was the rabbit. It was no ordinary animal, but a sacred companion of the old goddess of spring. The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the spring season. I’ll get back to our family tradition later, but just try to illustrate why spring when nature wake up from hibernation is significantly celebrated in Norway:

After a long, dark, cold winter: snow has gone and spring is in the air!

Feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, the Goddess Ostara saved the life of a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow. She made him her pet and filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly, she turned him into a snow hare and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters. In remembrance of his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs – in all the colours of the rainbow – but only on one day out of each year. The eggs should be given to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. The tradition of the Easter Bunny Eggs hunt had begun:

Hunting Bunny Eggs in the woods:
Outdoor recreation goes with my family – especially in weekends and holidays – and hunting the Easter Bunny Eggs is a tradition I can remember since I was big enough to sit in my father’s rucksack. Every year the feeling of anticipation and excitement takes me down the memory lane. You may say I’m a bit childish, but I’m just fine with that and it’s important to get the right spirit – and of course: you have to love being outdoors too. Here are more photos from last ears hunt, to give you an idea (click pics to bigify & enjoy):

Left: Egg catch of the day! Right: Capturing the catch & share by mobile phone.

Spring outdoor recreation:
Beside the thrill of the Easter egg hunt, this is also about enjoying spring – outdoors – after a dark and cold season. Since settlement of mankind in Norway, thousands of years back, we take advantage of, are celebrating and enjoying the feeling of spring – a significant change in seasons – and therefore an important part of our rituals and habits. Let me give a clue with a few example photos from last year:

Grill hotdogs on a stick on the bonfire.

After the ice on the sea have melted: Left: Skipping stones – Right: Kayoing

We are soon on our way to my home town to meet my parents and sisters family for this adventurous tradition. When I post this in advance this year, it is to give you all the chance to have fun the same way. Have you tried? Or would you like too? Tell me what you think in comments please!

I have of course posted about this over the years and here are the previous ones:

Spring Equinox and an Easter Egg hunt
Hunting Easter Bunny Eggs in snow
Easter Bunny Eggs Hunt in Norwegian Woods

Two of our blog friends, Ginnie from Georgia, US and Astrid from the Netherlands, could not make it to the Oslo Blog Gathering in August 2010. So they came in April this year instead, to explore and have a taste of Oslo and Norway; our culture, history, traditions and habits. This post is from their second day of four, exploring Bygdøy and some of the museums.
On the photo to the left you see Ginnie & Astrid photo shooting Fram Museum from the boat trip around the Oslo Fjord we had the day before (click to bigify & enjoy).

The Polar Ship Fram:
The Fram Museum tells the story of Norwegian polar expeditions, honouring three great explorers; Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup and Roald Amundsen. This Scottish-Norwegian-built vessel is the strongest wooden ship ever built and has been immaculately preserved, both inside and out.
It was launched in 1892 and was built by the famous ship builder, Colin Archer; a ship that would withstand the rough ice conditions on its way to the North Pole. It was built to pop up on the ice when the waters froze in instead of being crushed by the ice and drift with the ice flow until melting out again.
At the museum you can step into the ship, to visit his cabin, steam engine and discover its history. In the pic you see us on deck steering the boat : -)
Fram (meaning Forward) is the ship that brought Roald Amundsen to Antarctica in 1911 for the race against the English man Scott, to be first to the South Pole – he won! With Fram he also discovered the Northwest Passage and attempt to reach the North Pole. Famous Arctic explorer, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize awarded, Fridtjof Nansen also used Fram on his polar voyages.

The Kon-Tiki Museum:
It houses a collection of boats and artefacts from Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions, an unique example of Norwegians seafaring pioneers. On exhibit is his original Kon-Tiki balsa-wood raft, used on his 1947 expedition from Peru to Polynesia to prove that the Polynesians originally came from South America.

Blog friends beside RA II – Read below:

Another is The Ra Expeditions, across the Atlantic Ocean by papyrus boats (1969-1970): You see, during the expedition to Easter Island in 1955-1956, Heyerdahl became interested in reed boats and their seagoing properties. The archaeologists’ excavations had uncovered pictures of large reed boats with masts and sails engraved in the buried statues and painted on flagstones in prehistoric houses. It soon became clear to Heyerdahl that not only balsa wood rafts, but also reed boats, with pre-Incan sailors could have carried the earliest South Americans out over the open Pacific Ocean.

Norway Open Air Museum:
If you want total immersion in Norway, the best bet is The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norsk Folkemuseum), giving you Norway in a nutshell, presented with 150 houses and numerous exhibitions from it’s major regions. The open-air display includes wooden barns, stables, storehouses and dwellings from the 17th through 19th centuries.
Here visitors can also go inside an 800-year-old stave church from Gol. These churches, the greatest achievement of medieval Norwegian architecture, are built with wooden planks, called “staves,” in a multi-storeyed design that soars upward. They are decorated with elaborate carvings common to Viking ships and once were a common sight in Norway. In the picture you see Ginnie & Astrid together with Diane and me in front of Gol Stave Church.
I have posted about this museum before, so just click if you want to see more: Lefse and rural farmhouse from Norway and Historical Architectural and Cultural journey in Norway

This is the last post from our Blog Friends Astrid and Ginnie’s adventures and I hope you have enjoyed reading them as well as learned something more about Norway; our history, culture and traditions. Here are the two previous posts:

1: Top Oslo Sightseeing tips: Exploring the Fjord
2: Top Oslo Sightseeing tips: Norway Opera House

Maybe you want to visit and explore by yourself too? Just give me a hint – I gladly guide you around too : -)

Before reaching the island, you’ll pass some landmarks, nice to see from the seaside (click pic to bigify & enjoy):

Left: The Akershus Fortress – Right: The new Opera House.

The Oslo Fjord – a deep inlet of the Skagerrak:
Oslo occupies an arc of land at the northernmost end of the Oslo fjord. The fjord, which is nearly bisected by the Nesodden peninsula opposite Oslo, lies to the south; in all other directions Oslo is surrounded by green hills and mountains. There are 40 islands within the city limits, the largest being Malmøya and Hovedøya, and scores more around the Oslo fjord:

Still some ice since its beginning of April – increasing the adventure!

Below: Two of the many light houses in the Oslo Fjord

The Museums on Bygdøy Island:
If you really want to explore Norway’s history, culture and traditions; Bygdøy is the place – easy to access 20 minutes from Oslo city centre by bus or boat (click links to read more about them in my earlier posts):
The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, a large open air museum featuring typical buildings from various periods in our history. The Viking Ship Museum; in addition to two 1100 year old Viking-ships (apparently the best preserved in the world), it also contains various other Viking artefacts and a Viking burial chamber, complete with ancient skeletons. Closest to the fjord, we passed:

Norwegian Maritime Museum which houses a huge collection of ships and boats and records the impact of Norway’s seafarers on our own country and the world. The Kon-Tiki Museum which displays Tor Heyerdahl’s balsa raft Kon-Tiki and Ra II, as well as some other artefacts from Easter Island. The Fram Museum features the vessel Fram, the world’s first ice breaker and the last polar expedition ship made of wood, and presents a history of polar exploration (with a strong Norwegian focus!)

This is only the first day of four posts from our Blog Friends Astrid and Ginnie’s adventures – so stay tuned for more in the next one!

Talking about significant change: here are photo from the same spot taken in earlier years:

Spring 2009 – 17th of May

Left: Fall 2009 – Right: Winter 2009

Fertility celebration and basis of when Easter comes:
This is a fertility festival time in name, soil fertility and our fruitful projects. In newer times, the official vernal equinox on the 21 of March is the basis of when Easter comes in different years: Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon after 21 March (leap year by March 20). It is associated with many pagan customs of the spring equinox, and was probably the period leading up to Easter as a fertility celebration. In Denmark at the time of around the spring equinox there were ritual battles between groups of riders. One was equipped with ice and snowballs the other with fire and glowing coal. Sword Dancing was also widespread in Europe, which has survived in the English Morris Dancers, who still dances for fertility at Vernal Equinox.

Today’s carnival parties are probably the remains of these parties. Another tradition we have in our family is the Easter bunny egg hunt in the forest. Again the rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility. Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols of antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox. Here are a couple of photos from our hunt in earlier years:

Click to read one of my post about this: “Family Easter Bunny Egg hunt in Norway”

Do you see why and how the change of seasons and the coming of spring influence our culture and traditions? : -)

The day usually starts with a flag-raising ceremony at a nearby school, church or governmental building. Then, pupils join in the Children’s Parade, while adults watch and cheer from the side-walks. All the schoolchildren in the whole country march with the Norwegian flag in their hands and colourful banners, which represent their school or their class, in front. You may read more about the marching band at my wife DianeCA’s post.

^{Marching out from the school with the Principal in the lead (to the right) in his bunad.}

Many countries celebrate their Constitution or Independence, but opposed to these – as you can see in the photo above – the Norwegian celebration has no reference to military power. Norway’s National Day is a day of flags, parades, speeches and bands playing the national anthem; “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (Yes, we love this country). The concept is simple, a local celebration regardless of the weather, with classmates and neighbours showing their national pride in a peaceful and harmless way. You may hear the band play the national anthem and learn more about the school celebration from my post by clicking here.

My vid from a Happy parade in 2006 on a slightly rainy day:

I have now posted about the 17th of May for five years in a row, so we will use my earlier posts as a way of highlighting this year’s. So be sure to click on the links to learn more.

Norway’s National costumes – “Bunad”:
You will notice that many are wearing their regional costumes called Bunad. Each region of Norway has its own Bunad and those which use it wear the costume from the area their family roots come from. Last year we met a very nice Norwegian family dressed up in their proper Bunad, and I could not resist asking them if they would pose to illustrate how the family’s traditional clothes should be. This is a fine example of the traditional costume for both adults and children:

The Bunad is artfully hand embroidered and must be made from the correct wool material with the traditional pattern. Some areas allow you to choose variations of Bunad, but the rules are relatively strict in order to keep the tradition in tact. If you have Bunad then the 17th of May is the high time to use it. In addition it is used for weddings, baptismal, and very special occasions.

When the activities in the school-yards are finished, the festivities continue in the centre of town, where people from all over the area meet. Here there is a new parade with different organizations marching. All kinds of organizations are represented; the scouts, soccer teams, folk dance groups, religious organizations, and bands. This one in our local town is called the flower parade, and flowers are thrown out to the onlookers by the participants (click picks to bigify & enjoy):

^{Some of the locals have even decorated their classic car for the event, while others have decorated their scooter.}

You may see a review of this parade by clicking here!

Russ – The revelling Norwegian high school graduates:
The graduates have a special place in the 17th of May celebration. Throughout the month of May they celebrate the end of the high school years with numerous parties and funny tasks which they must do to get a knot in the tassel of their hats. One of the rules is that they have to wear their Russ uniform everyday without being allowed to wash it:

A modern addition to this celebration is the Russ Bus. Students get together and work hard for a year or two to save up money and pool it together into buying, decorating and equipping a bus for the Russ season:

The bus is literally a rolling party, with loud music, lights and Russ only allowed inside. Although this might seem like a party mentality, it is also a learning experience for those who join a bus (not all do!) because it requires saving, planning, working on a concept, working towards a goal and project management to get the concept “rolling”. You may read more in my article about the Russ by clicking here!

So I do hope understand the special feeling I have when I am able to share this tradition with you. It is the most Norwegian of the Norwegian, and I am proud to be able to introduce it to family and friends through out the Blogsphere. If you have been inspired by this post, and would like to see some bunad and learn our history on your own, remember we still are taking bookings for the Oslo Blog Gathering in August. Join us and you can march down Karl Johan street yourself!

Going crazy with my new Cannon Power Shot G11, let me share some of the shots from today (click to bigify & enjoy!):

_{Golden sky beach beauty in Scandinavia:}

This is our favourite photo hunting beach in our “home away from home” in Mariestad. My regular readers know I love to play in posts with photos from the same spot in different seasons. Let’s start with one from tonight’s golden sky:

Then the difference from spring (now) to fall, then winter and at last a hot day for tanning: Amazing to observe this is the same place, don’t you agree?

^{Left: Fall gives golden beauty too! Right: Winter with nice fresh and crisp air!}

^{Summer time – even topless tanning.}

The days are growing longer here in Scandinavia, with the sun not going down until almost 9:30 in the evening. Soon it will be summer and the nights will be lighter than any other time of the year. I do hope you will soon be experiencing this with us at the Oslo Blog Gathering 2010. If you haven’t done so already check out the program and join the team!!