I made a trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway in February, with the goal of photographing the northern lights over the beautiful landscapes in the area. I decided to spend a full day in Oslo on the way there since I needed a layover anyway and had never seen the city. I arrived at the Oslo airport late in the evening and learned my first lesson: take the train to the city and not a cab. The train costs less than half as much and makes the trip in half the time. Lesson learned, I made it to my hotel, got a good night’s sleep, and had a filling breakfast before spending the day walking. My plan was to walk from the hotel to the Oslo cathedral, up Karl Johans Gate passed the Royal Palace to Vigeland Park, and then along the waterfront to the Akershus Fortress and the Opera House.
The Oslo Cathedral is not large by European standards but is a nice looking structure. The courtyard was completely covered by ice and I realized that having some traction devices on my shoes (as many locals did) would have been helpful. Most of the streets and sidewalks were clear, but there were enough patches of ice that I always needed to be careful how I placed my feet. This was particularly true in Vigeland Park.
Karl Johans Gate is the main walking street through Oslo. From the cathedral it passes an outdoor skating rink and the national theater before leading straight into the Royal Palace.
The palace was completed in 1849, is the primary residence of the King and Queen and is where the daily work of the Norwegian monarchy takes place. It is only open for tours in the summer, so I walked around the grounds and took a few photos before moving on.
Vigeland Park features over 200 sculptures by Norway’s premier sculpture Gustav Vigeland. The project began in 1924 when the Oslo city council agreed to place Vigeland’s Fountain (seen above) in the park. The Monolith and The Bridge (seen behind the fountain above) are other impressive features.
The Monolith is located at the highest point in the park and features 121 figures carved into a single piece of granite. Carving began in 1929 based on a clay model from Vigeland. Three stonecutters completed the piece in 1942. Vigeland passed away in 1943.
The Fountain was the original piece around which the park was planned. It was originally commissioned in 1907 to be placed Eidsvoll Square in front of the Parliament but ended up being placed in the park in 1944. I was impressed by the visual of the six men straining under the weight of the bowl. As much as I would have enjoyed seeing water flowing (not likely in the winter), it was easier to see the details with the fountain dry.
The bridge includes a row of sculptures on either side, each of which portrays some form of human interactions. The statues provide plenty to think about: what is going on here? what are they feeling? etc. From the park I made my way toward the waterfront, stopping a few times to take some photos of the architecture. Many buildings represented what I’d consider a classic European style (like the photo below). Those could be right next to a modern Scandinavian design, which makes each street interesting.
As I approached the Akershus Fortress I found a nice view of the marina. Olso sits at the head of the Oslofjord. Somehow it manages to feel like both a coastal city and an inland city. I liked the image below with the nice boats in the foreground, modern-looking buildings behind them, and late afternoon light.
The next stop was the Akershus Fortress which overlooks the harbor. The fortress was completed in the 1300s and has successfully withstood all sieges, primarily from Swedish kings, since that time (although it was surrendered without a fight in WW2).
It was now getting late in the day and I was close to my hotel, so I went back for a short rest and picked up my tripod for a few photos in the evening. My main goal was to photograph “The Barcode”, which is a group of modern buildings with the water in the foreground. There was construction (with bright lights) on the right hand side which I needed to avoid in my compositions and ice in places in the water that limited reflections. I ended up including the Munch museum and part of the opera house in my favorite image.
I then made my way back to a view of the Oslo Opera House that I had seen while walking earlier. In the few hours between visits, the water had frozen over, completely changing the look of the reflections.
Dinner was a large bowl of fish soup – a dish that would be a staple of mine over the remainder of the trip. Most of the soups I tried included cod, shrimp, and vegetables in a buttery cream sauce. I left early the next morning for the Lofoten islands. More on that in my next post…
Great Story and photos.