Oslo Blog Gathering gave sightseeing adventures like Oslo New Opera House guided tour or watching changing of the guard ceremony in front of the Royal Palace – to mention just two out of numerals options for the participants. For those who picked these as their choice of day two, I was their local guide and of course you are welcome to join us:
The Norwegian Opera & Ballet:
As an ice berg out of the ocean, the Opera from the outside is considered spectacular, and the radical change of worm welcome look when you get inside is equally impressive. It’s Norway’s largest performing arts institution, with 600 employees working in about 50 professions and trades. Designed by the Norwegian architects Snøhetta, it is the first opera house in the world to let visitors walk on the roof (click pics to bigify & enjoy)): OsloBG participants roof photo shoot.
The new opera house offers a rich and varied programme from three stages: The Main House (1369 seats), Second House (400 seats) and the Studio (200 seats). The Opera Roof and Foyer are also used for concerts and other artistic performances.
Our guided tour invited into a unique workspace and we learn a lot more about the architecture and even catch a glimpse of life backstage. I had my Nokia X6 mobile at hand of course, to give you a sneak peak:
The oak tree inside gives a warm and welcome impression as oppose to ice berg shaped building on the outside:
The artistic facilities and what is required of the shows was also among the guiding themes. We saw the public areas, the main hall as well as Scene 2 (photos above), and we even were back stage and also saw the rehearsal rooms and the sewing room:
The Oslo Pass = Free transport & entrance: The OsloBG participants were given this Oslo Pass by VisitOslo. It provides free travel on all public transport, free admission to museums and sights, free parking in all Oslo municipal car parks, discounts on car rental, ice skate hire, Tusenfryd Amusement Park etc. This of course were very convenient to have – all the time – so even if only three stops away, we took the tube to our next adventure this second day.
His Majesty the King’s Guard (HMKG):
At 1:30PM 2 pm. every day, the changing of the guard ceremony take place in front of the Royal Palace. A popular spectator event for tourists and of course for the OsloBG participants too:
Their dark blue dress uniforms have remained virtually unchanged throughout the regiment’s 142 years of existence
I was serving at the King Guard myself in 1972, so I knew where to take OsloBG participants to stay or sit to get the best, closest look:
One noteworthy detail of the uniform is the plumbed bowler hat, which was copied from the Italian Bersaglieri alpine troops – a regiment that so impressed the queen Louise (Queen of Sweden and Norway between 1859 and 1870) that she in 1860 insisted the Norwegian guards be similarly attired.
OsloBG – the participant’s choice: This is only a small collection of what was explored by the OsloBG participants this second of our three days together – all in all we were about 30 participants from all over the world. Seldom were we together in one group though as the program idea was based on that everyone should pick out their favourite spots according to their interest and preferences and of course what they felt for each day. So as “local hosts”, DianeCA my wife, our good friend TorAa and I picked out our rout for the day and invited those who wanted to follow.
I will post more from my trips and so will they – not to mention all the participants’ blog posts from their adventures. Those will be presented by me in one post as soon as I have collected all of them. So by all means: stay tuned!
Carnival in Mariestad Sweden gives a Scandinavian taste of Samba and Rio de Janeiro: parades with scantily clad beautiful “Brazilian” women and fantastic costumes. Most customs and celebrations are actually of pre-Christian origin; Fertility and the budding spring were celebrated. The first celebration may have taken place around 600 BC and a trace of the major parties is found in Osiris in Egypt. There were also major carnivals in the Roman Empire.
You get the same feeling when our vacation home city changes its name for the day to MaRioStad. My wife DianeCA and I, on our way to the city centre for a romantic dinner, accidentally came across the parade and I just had to capture the fun and share it with my blog friends. Luckily I always have my Nokia X6 mobile phone on hand:
Carnival is nearly synonymous with Rio, but that is not the only place. On the contrary, it’s celebrated throughout most of the world, especially in Catholic countries. Other major carnival cities include e.g. Verona, Nice, Lisbon, Verona, Cologne and Lisbon. People are preparing for months, saving money for the big party. In Mariestad there were huge expectations and everyone turned out so the sidewalks were full (click pics to bigify & enjoy): People with big expectations – all over!
Although Rio’s is today’s carnival capital, this celebration has it’s origin in Europe. The ancient Romans had large rallies in the street, where they among other things, drew a boat with them. There was plenty of food and drink and a grand feast for the occasion. In the middle Ages, carnival was to some degree celebrated in Scandinavia, but this celebration disappeared with the Reformation in 1537. I think it’s good that this tradition is reborn in Mariestad and with a cute, local twist: Willy’s Steamboat float – Pippi Longstockings Colourful clowns – What about a rolling rock band, now that’s rock n roll Fancy cars and pretty girls
Before I end, let’s get back to the samba feeling and these beautiful women (mostly) and fantastic costumes:
I also had to check out the video feature on my new Nokia X6 – here you are: Turn up you’re speakers and let you’re feet lead the way:
One thing that is wonderful about Mariestad is that whenever something is happening in town all the locals turn out for the event. This time the weather was good and the atmosphere was energetic. Since this was our last week of the summer vacation in Mariestad, I think it was a smashing end to our stay – don’t you agree?
A boat trip with M/S Marianne from Sjötorp on Göta Canal to Mariestad, the pearl of Lake Vänern, was a breath taking experience. It was done while having a visit from the in-laws from USA and we took them for a four day trip to our vacation home in Sweden. Of course I will share some of the highlights with you – lets start with the dock where the boat was anchored: The lower Port docks in Sjötorp on Gjöta Canal
Sjötorp and Gjöta Canal:
The village is the most frequently visited place in the rural district and the start of the Göta Canal with all that this implies; leisure-boats, passenger-ships, car-tourists, bicycle-tourists, fishing-trips etc. Here you’ll find shops, restaurants, sleeping accommodations, wharf, museum and tourist-office.
Göta Canal is one of the largest construction projects (1810-1832) ever undertaken in Sweden. The canal stretches from Sjötorp to Mem, 190 km long and has 58 locks. To learn more, read my post about it: “Summer at Göta Canal” (click pic to bigyfy & enjoy): The last lock before the boats enters Lake Vänern.
M/S Marianne:
The Motor Ship was built in 1897 in Gothenburg for personal use of Captain Fredrik Pettersson and rebuilt as a passenger boat in 1926. The vessel is built of iron in the clinker. It’s a two masts beauty in 24 meters length and 4 meter wide – just take a look: Below: Fine hard wood interior on and below deck
Lake Vänern:
Geologically, the lake was formed after the last ice age about 10,000 years ago; when the ice melted, the entire width of Sweden was covered in water, creating a strait between Kattegat and the Gulf of Bothnia. It’s northern Europe’s largest and covers an area of 5,655 km². It is located at 44 meter above sea level and is on average 27 m deep. The maximum depth of the lake is 106 meter. A Viking ship was found on the lake’s bottom on May 6, 2009.
On our way to Mariestad, in warm and sunny weather, we had some nice views of the shore line: Fast pleasure boats – Family cottages Campground at Torsö – Clean and safe recreational use
Torsö Bridge:
You reach the island of Torsö by a gently rounded bridge with a beautiful view overlooking Mariestad. It offers several beaches as well as a camp ground and private cabins for rent. Click to read my last post about this beautiful place: “Torsö Island at Mariestad”
Mariestad, the Pearl of Lake Vänern:
Our vacation home town of which I have posted from often is called “The Pearl of Lake Vänern” and for a lot of reasons (see related posts below). Knowing the area quite well, it was kind of special to approach this city from the water. It’s easy to spot the Cathedral; build in the 15th century by the city’s founder Duke Charles, who later became King Charles IX of Sweden. The city is named after his wife Marie of Pfalz:
The boat trip ended in the harbour, a place we frequently visit to have an ice-cream, a snack or even a nice meal now and then:
Talking about it; here is a pic I took with my new Nokia x6 when we had dinner at the harbour restaurant the other day – I just could not resist trying to capture the golden beauty of the sky:
If looking for recreational nature, Norway including the capital Oslo, is home to a number of great environmental attractions where you can get up close and personal. So if you really like to stress down and get away from it all, take the tube or a bus 20 minutes to the outside of Oslo and get yourself an outdoor adventure. We do that often on the weekends (like most other Norwegians) and since the in-laws from the US are visiting, we shared one of our favourite spots to give them a taste of this Norwegian natural pearl. It’s just 30 minutes walk in the forest and here is the scenery: It’s a photo – not painting!
While sitting there at the water edge, the cutest little duck family came along and they were relatively tame. I had my Nokia x6 on hand of course and started to shoot pics (click all pics to bigify & enjoy!):
Scenery like this – at least to us – is breath taking. You don’t say a word as silence in the woods is golden – you just enjoy the magic moment and let your thoughts go with the flow. Like if you have the chance to see things like this:
To share this with the in-laws from US was kind of special we have taken our children up here for years to experience the natural environment. We use this place in the spring, summer, fall and winter as a recreational area and all seasons have their charm. We have hundreds of pictures of the family at this spot, and now it was especially nice to bring Diane’s family here to experience this place for themselves.
My in-laws are leaving tomorrow so I am glad that the atmosphere was good and that we could share one of our families treasured places with them and give them plenty of memories to take home from their trip. Last night we all exchanged pictures; the beauty of digital photography is you can share it with many without reducing the quality of the photo. So my in-laws will have plenty of good photos to remind them of their trip.
I am sure to be testing my new Nokia X6 much more in the days to come. We have some vacation left before OsloBG and will be online more after our guests have returned to their home in New York. Hope you will stay tuned and share the fun!
Update:
This post is part of Petunia‘s photo competition with the theme “Mitt lille land = My little country“. Click link to visit and see a lot of great pics from Norway!
The Oslo Fjord, crowned by the capital of Norway, is an inlet of the Skagerrak bay, stretching inland from the North Sea towards Øresund in Sweden and the Baltic Sea. A “Fjord” is normally formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock and many such valleys were formed during the recent ice age. In spite of its name, the Oslo Fjord is not a fjord in the geological sense, but it still is wide range of waterways.
This Fjord has an impressive archipelago of islands, which in summer becomes the city’s favoured playground and since the in-laws from the US are visiting, we wanted them to have a taste and luckily enough we have good friends with a cabin and a boat on the Fjord. They were kind enough to give us a whole day to explore and we gladly take you along:
Oslo is situated in an amphitheatre-like setting, with the city centre in the bottom close to the Oslo fjord, and residential areas stretching uphill from there in all directions. Behind the residential areas, the forested area extends, with flora and fauna that is quite extraordinary for a city of this size (click all pics to bigify & enjoy):
Enough facts and on to our round trip with the boat – I guess photos show more than a thousand words: Recreational, don’t you think?
A lot of nice beaches on the islands and shores.
Tourist highlights:
Above & Below: Oslo harbour at the City Hall
Above & Below: The new Oslo Opera House
Bygdøy island with e.g. Maritime and the Viking ship museum.
Some curiosities:
Above: Light Houses – Below: House boat
Moose are commonplace (easily spotted in winter), and the whole of the capital is part of Norway’s wolf reserve (even if they rarely come here). We did not see any moose that day, but on the island by our friend’s cabin, we saw this cute deer:
A culinary end:
The day was finished off with a delicious dinner of grilled pork loin, baked potatoes and salads. We were incredibly lucky to have good friends willing to share their cottage and boat and help us give a perfect summer Norwegian experience while my wife’s family was visiting. We will soon be moving on to Sweden, and then across the Norwegian mountains to Bergen. So keep checking in for a look at the fantastic Nordic summertime.
The OsloBG participants were given this Oslo Pass by VisitOslo. It provides free travel on all public transport, free admission to museums and sights, free parking in all Oslo municipal car parks, discounts on car rental, ice skate hire, Tusenfryd Amusement Park etc. This of course were very convenient to have – all the time – so even if only three stops away, we took the tube to our next adventure this second day.
This is only a small collection of what was explored by the OsloBG participants this second of our three days together – all in all we were about 30 participants from all over the world. Seldom were we together in one group though as the program idea was based on that everyone should pick out their favourite spots according to their interest and preferences and of course what they felt for each day. So as “local hosts”, DianeCA my wife, our good friend TorAa and I picked out our rout for the day and invited those who wanted to follow.
