Tag Archives: Norway

Jun17

The train from Oslo to Stockholm

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Sunday, 26-May-2024


Ohh my lord, trains make me nauseous.

I was not aware of this fact, prior to the train departing from Oslo toward Stockholm. I’d taken an electric scooter to the central terminal, arrived a bit early, and relaxed while reading my book for a lovely and quiet hour… Not thinking that I’d be desperately staring at the horizon and willing my head to remain attached to my shoulders in a short hour or two.

I have Dramamine, of course, in preparation for some upcoming ferry rides… but I hadn’t expected to need it on this beautiful Sunday and so it was packed down somewhere in my luggage.


Stepping back.

I got to the train station about two hours ahead of time… a bit above the hour and a half that the information person had recommended to me the day before when I scouted out the route from my apartment to the station. I’d had some light breakfast; a cup of coffee and a pastry, if I recall, and was feeling good.

The train arrived, I boarded, and then we were off about 15min later. As the train left, I realized (belatedly) that my seat was facing backwards… not ideal, but I didn’t think too much of it for the first minute or so… after which, I quickly realized just how closely the rocking of the train resembled the rocking of a ship at sea.

My ears couldn’t tell the difference. I quickly moved to an open front-facing seat, but by that point the damage was done and there was no going back. I focused on the horizon out of the window, and set my mind to keeping breakfast where it was. Once it was sufficiently tamed, and my hunger was starting to pique, I made my way to the food car in search of ginger ale and food… I found pepsi and spaghetti, which… sort of worked? The pepsi was cold, at least, and holding it to my head and neck did some good for my sanity.

I survived, though the ride wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as I’d hoped and the amount of blog / photo work I got done was basically nonexistent, occurring in quick snips while the train was stopped at a station. I survived, though, and was able to take some pictures out the window as we rushed part the staggeringly beautiful Norwegian / Swedish countryside at nearly 200km/hr.

Jun15

The Astrup Fearnley modern art museum

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The Astrup Fearnley modern art museum

Thursday, 23-May-2024


And now for something completely different.

On what could possibly be the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Banksey, or maybe is closer than an Engineer like myself realizes, I brought myself to the Astrup Fearnley museum of modern art to continue the parade of culture into my brain.

When I arrived, I learned that the parade would be a bit shorter than I’d expected, though… as the museum was basically cut in half by a renovation project currently in process. The good news – admission was half off. The bad news – there was less than half of a museum left to see.

I’m nothing if not optimistic, though, so I took the half-full glass in front of me and headed inward to explore the museum available to me, consoling myself with the knowledge that I’d have some extra free time to visit other museums… and/or cafes… afterward.




What I found was… extreme. There were three pieces that I absolutely fell head over heels for (shown above), along with a fair number that I wasn’t particularly fond of. That’s modern art, though, right? A departure from the purely representational art of landscapes and light, moving into things that speak more directly to people’s ideas?

Maybe.

Or maybe I’ve been visiting too many art museums.

WE’LL NEVER KNOW!

Jun14

Oslo Natural History Museum – aka – Naturhistorisk museum

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Oslo Natural History Museum – aka – Naturhistorisk museum

Wednesday, 22-May-2024


After escaping from the defensive botanical garden, I finally laid siege to the heart of the castle and my intended destination for the day – the Oslo Natural History Museum.



The museum was split into two wings – Exhibitions on Zoology, and Exhibitions on Geology – so I took the museum in two stages. I explored one side, went to the nearby cafe for a coffee and pastry because this is Europe and I wanted a coffee and a pastry, and then explored the other side. It was, absolutely and totally, glorious.

I started in the Zoology hall, since left seemed like the correct direction to turn, and explored wonderous lands! I saw animals from ancient times, dinosaurs and sabertoothed tigers. I saw wonderous creatures from the rainforest, from Africa, and even from far off lands like North America and Greenland! It was honestly really fun, getting to see a different viewpoint on everything – much of it overlapped, but from slightly different perspectives.



I finished in the Geology hall – learning about how the planet formed, and more saliently about how Norway itself was populated by plant life, then submerged under tropical oceans, and then how it re-emerged back as dry land again, over the course of millions upon millions of years. There were displays on gemstones, and the wealth of Norway’s mountains… it was fun! Though I’ll admit, the seemingly-endless parade of subtly-different gemstones did overwhelm me, by the end…



One of the highlights, for me was the journal entries from an explorer-geologist-cartoonist, who did quick sketches of his team’s expedition to Svalbard… the cartoons are gloriously silly, and show a less-stifling side to adventures and expeditions that I haven’t really seen before.



100% worth seeing, especially all the fossils!