Oslo, Norway

Welcome back to my blog! Today is my last post from beautiful Norway and I have saved the capital for last - it's Oslo!


Above: Oslo Harbour.

Oslo was founded around 1048 by King Harald III, and after being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Castle (next to where our ship docked) during the reign of King Christian IV. The city is the economic and governmental centre of Norway and is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It has an estimated population of about 1 million people.


Above: Looking towards the Royal Palace (Slottet) which was built in the early 1800s and is the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch with 173 rooms.

Oslo is built in a horseshoe shape on the shores of the Oslofjord and limited in most directions by hills and forests. As a result, any point within the city is relatively close to the forest which has resulted in a city very much shaped and influenced by nature.


Above: The Storting, Norway's national parliament which lies at the opposite end of the street to the Royal Palace.

I did a walking tour of the city, and we had the opportunity to visit Oslo's Ice Bar which is the only permanent bar in Norway made entirely of ice. The bar is kept at minus five centigrade at all times and everything is made out of crystal clear ice, harvested from the frozen Torne River in Northern Sweden. Even the glasses are made of ice and once we were equipped with fur-lined cloaks, we entered the bar for a drink!


Above: Oslo's Ice Bar.

Oslo houses over 20 theatres, such as the Norwegian Theatre and the National Theatre located at Karl Johan Street. The National Theatre is the largest theatre in Norway and is situated between the royal palace and the parliament building. The names of Ludvig Holberg, Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson are engraved on the façade of the building over the main entrance.


Above: The National Theatre.

Oslo has been in the news recently for the wrong reasons, and you have probably heard of Anders Behring Breivik and the atrocities he committed on 22 July 2011. Oslo was hit by a bomb blast that ripped through the city central government district, killing at least eight people prior to a shooting spree on the island of Utøya on which killed 69 youths.


Above: The City Hall.

To end on a more upbeat note, you have probably also heard of the Nobel Peace Prize (!) and the ceremonial presentation of the prize takes place every year in the City Hall (above) on 10th December. The construction started in 1931, but was paused by the outbreak of World War II, before the official inauguration in 1950. Designed by Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson, the Hall houses the city council, city administration, and art studios and also features a 49-bell carillon on the roof of the eastern tower which plays every hour.


Above: The main space inside the City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my blogs about Norway - it is probably my favourite country that I have visited so far and I hope I've given you a glimpse of its diversity and beauty.

Pulpit Rock, Norway

Welcome back! You may have seen some of my Pulpit Rock pictures on Facebook, but I wanted to give you a bit of the background and story of our epic hike through Norway's stunning scenery. Enjoy!


Above: Pulpit Rock

Whilst researching things to see and do in Stavanger, I came across Pulpit Rock which is located about 25km from the town. Other crew members from the ship had the same idea, and after a boat ride, followed by a bus ride, we were ready to start out hike! With the ship's all-aboard time in the back of our minds (we had to be back by 5pm) the hike took on an extra dimension - a race against the clock!


Above: The 'base camp', Preikestolen Fjellstue.

Before I tell you a bit more about the hike, let me give you some background information. Preikestolen, also known by the English translations of Preacher's Pulpit or Pulpit Rock, is a massive cliff 604 metres (1982 feet) above Lysefjorden. The top of the cliff is approximately 25 by 25 metres (82 by 82 feet), almost flat, and is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Norway (about 200,000 people hike to the rock every year).


Above: The path leading from the base camp (hidden behind trees on the right).

Our bus dropped us off at Preikestolen Fjellstue, where the road ends. A trail then extends from there up to the rock through a variety of mountain landscapes. Some parts of the walk are very easy such as this wooden pathway through marshland:


Above: Following the leader.

However, most of the journey was over rougher terrain, and in some cases we found ourselves scrambling over boulders with only a red daub of paint to guide us.


Above: The boulder field which proved one of the toughest parts of the hike!

The hike starts at an elevation of approximately 270 metres (886 feet) above sea level, and climbs to 604 metres (1982 feet). Even though the difference in elevation is only 334 metres (1096 feet) and the walk is not particularly long (3.8 km each way), the path climbs and descends various ridges which makes the journey much more strenuous!


Above: A rare signpost!

We managed the walk up in about an hour. Some people take as many as three but we didn't have time for a leisurely stroll! As we reached the top, it was an exhilarating moment to take in the view and the rock itself.


Above: The view!

Despite the popularity of the rock, to this day no safety railing has been constructed on the edge of the cliff so as not to harm the natural beauty of the cliff. Despite the insecure gorge, there have been no accidents at the site, but there have been suicides and suicide attempts.


Above: The key here was not to think about the fact that you are dangling over a 604 metre cliff.

The cliff was formed during the Ice age, about approximately 10,000 years ago, when the edges of the glacier reached the cliff. The water from the glacier froze in the crevices of the mountain and eventually broke off large, angular blocks, which were later carried away with the glacier. This is the cause of the angular shape of the plateau.


Above: This looks more precarious than it is - the plateau is actually quite wide and I was a safe distance from the edge!

Along the plateau itself there continues to be a deep crack. The cracks show that the plateau will at some point fall down, but all the geological investigations have revealed that this event will not happen in the foreseeable future, and the geologists have thus confirmed the safety of the plateau.


Above: Another view from the edge.

The views from the rock were incredible, and it is very difficult, if not impossible to capture it on camera. The day we visited, the rock was quite busy but many people were fairly quiet, seemingly in awe of their surroundings.


Above: Fellow crew-members pose for a picture.

After a light lunch on the rock, we began the descent down which took a little less time than the ascent. On our way down, we stopped at a mountain lake and some of the more adventurous among us took a dip! Part of the excitement of the day was the race against the clock to get back to the ship (the buses and ferries only ran at certain times) but you'll be pleased to hear that we made it!


Above: One more shot from the top.

Thanks for reading!

Bergen, Norway

Hello again! Bergen, Norway is probably my favourite Norwegian city; there is so much to see and do but everything is also within easy walking distance!


Above: An overview of Bergen from the top of Mount Fløyen.

Bergen is Norway's second largest city and located on the west coast of Norway with a population of 27,000. Trading in Bergen started in the 1020s and the city served as Norway's capital from 1217 to 1299.


Above: Bergen cityscape with Mount Fløyen in the background.

Undoubtedly, the most famous site in Bergen is Bryggen (Norwegian for the Wharf), a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord. Bryggen has since 1979 been on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage sites.


Above: The front facade of Bryggen.

You can wander through the alleyways among the picturesque warehouses lining the street and waterfront which once housed German merchandise belonging to the Hanseatic League. The Hanseatics settled in Bergen around 1350 and had the monopoly on the trade with Northern Norway as well as the political power in the city for about 200 years.


Above: The alleys in Bryggen are very narrow. You can see the winch that would have been used to hoist goods up to the first floor above the shop.

The warehouses were filled with goods, particularly fish from northern Norway, and cereal from Europe. Throughout history, Bergen has experienced many fires, since, traditionally, most houses were made from wood. This was also the case for Bryggen, and as of today, around a quarter of the structures date back to the time after 1702, when the older wharfside warehouses and administrative buildings burned down. The rest predominantly consists of younger structures, although there are some stone cellars that date back to the 15th century.


Above: Traditional wooden houses in Bergen.

One of the other main attractions in Bergen is Fløibanen, a funicular which runs up the mountain of Fløyen. Officially opened on 15 January 1918, the funicular affords great views of the city from the top!


Above: A funicular descends from the top of Mount Fløyen.

One of the tours I went on during my time in Bergen, visited Troldhaugen, the home of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg and his wife Nina Grieg. The site houses the Edvard Grieg Museum, a concert hall, Grieg’s villa, the hut where he composed music, and his and his wife's gravesite.


Above: Grieg's villa.

The building was designed by Grieg's cousin, the architect Schak Bull and was finished in 1885. Edvard Grieg himself called the building "my best composition hitherto" and he and his wife, Nina lived in Troldhaugen from April 1885 until his death in 1907.


Above: A life-sized statue of Grieg (he was very short), with his composing hut in the background.

Troldhaugen is a typical 19th century residence with panoramic tower and a large veranda with Grieg's small composer's hut overlooking Nordås Lake. Grieg immortalized the name of his home in one of his piano pieces, Wedding-Day at Troldhaugen, Opus 65, No. 6. Grieg and his wife's ashes rest inside a mountain tomb near the house which I visited.


Above: Edvard and Nina Grieg's grave.

At the end of our tour, we also visited a Fantoft Stave Church, rebuilt after a fire completely destroyed the church in 1993 (a Satanist burnt the church down). The new church is an exact copy of the old one, which dated back to 1150. Take special note of the dragonheads and serpents on the roof—designed to frighten away evil spirits.


Above: The Fantoft Stave Church.

The church also features a stone cross outside, supposedly the first gathering point for religious services in the early days of Christianity. The interior is very dark and would have been even darker in the past when there were only candles!


Above: Intricate carvings bookend the pews.

Thanks for reading! My final Norwegian post is coming up soon and I've saved the capital for last: Oslo!

Stavanger, Norway

Welcome back! Norway remains one of my favourite countries and Stavanger is one of its most beautiful and vibrant towns. The fourth largest city in Norway, Stavanger counts its official founding year as 1125, the year the cathedral was completed. Stavanger's core is to a large degree 17th and 18th century wooden houses that are considered part of the city's cultural heritage and these are hence protected.


Above: Stavanger Cathedral (1125), the oldest cathedral in Norway.


Above: Wooden houses along the harbour front.

The protection of these houses has caused the town centre and inner city to retain a small-town character, and even after the city's rapid growth in the 1970s onwards, the urbanization of the city centre has been limited and a large share of the population still lives in detached houses.


Above: The houses were originally built for seaman, craftsmen and businessmen. Conservation of Old Stavanger is today considered the city's most important project.

The city's rapid population growth in the late 1900s was primarily a result of Norway's booming offshore oil industry. Norway always had a harsh economy, given its rocky land, cold weather, and sufferings during the Napoleonic and Second World Wars. When Norwegians struck oil on Christmas Eve in 1969, prospects changed. Today the oil industry is a key industry in the Stavanger region and the city is widely referred to as the Oil Capital of Norway.


Above: The more urbanised areas of the city.

I took a shore excursion on one of my visits to Stavanger which visited several sites and museums. Our first stop was the Sword in the Rock Monument. It is comprised of three Viking swords forced into the ground, stands more than 30 feet tall, and commemorates the place where Viking King Harald Haarfagre (Fairhair) defeated the last of the regional princes in AD 872 and founded the Kingdom of Norway by uniting the 29 small kingdoms under one crown.


Above: The Sword in the Rock Monument.

We then travelled on, through agricultural countryside to the Iron Age farm. On this farm are several earth huts, with grass roofs; the living conditions from 1,500 years ago have been recreated. The farm itself is situated in an area with burial mounds from the Bronze Age as well as from the time of the Vikings.


Above: Reconstructed huts which would have housed several families and their animals.


Above: The inside provided warmth and shelter on a cold day!

Afterwards, we visited the Archaeological Museum where we learnt about Viking tools, and had the myth about horned helmets dispelled (they never existed!). Our final stop was the Petroleum Museum which has many interactive exhibits, complete with demonstrations of how oil forms. There are exhibitions on land as well as simulated mini-platforms which were pretty cool!


Above: The museum houses the largest drill bit in the world, which weights 1,700kg and measures 90cm in diameter.

On our sail away from Stavanger, we visited Lysefjord, which is the home of Pulpit Rock - one of Norway's most spectacular natural wonders, jutting more than 1,500 feet above the sea. You can read about my epic climb to Pulpit Rock in a future blog post.


Above: Lysefjord - another beautiful Norwegian fjord.

Kristiansand, Norway

Welcome back! Today I want to show you Kristiansand, Norway; a fairly uninspiring town but with beautiful woodland and coastline surrounding it.


Above: Kristiansand as viewed from Baneheia woodland.

Kristiansand is a city in Southern Norway, the fifth largest in Norway with a population of 82,562 as of 1 April 2011. Surrounding the city are deep woods; Baneheia - an area created in 1860 for recreational use, and Odderøya, a former coastal artillery range, purchased from the military in 2003.


Above: One of the many lakes in the Baneheia woodland.

Both of these areas have ski paths for winter adventurers as well as beautiful forest trails and bridges. It must be wonderful for the residents of Kritiansand to have these woodlands so close to the town.


Above: Lighthouses on the former coastal artillery island of Odderøya.


Above: A view of Kristiansand from Odderøya.

On one of my visits to Kristiansand, I took a boat trip along the coastline which is scattered with small islands. The route was very beautiful with quaint coastal communities of traditional mariners’ houses, now converted to holiday homes, lining the shore.


Above: Traditional mariners' houses.

For the second part of our tour we took a coach to the town of Lillesand. Once bustling with maritime activity, Lillesand features 18th- and 19th-century white timber houses.


Above: The harbour at Lilesand.

I'll leave you with a picture of the impressively large church in the centre of Kristiansand, constructed in 1885. Thanks for reading!

Eidfjord, Norway

Welcome back to my blog! I'm now back at home and catching up with the backlog of places to tell you about! Today we go back to Norway with Eidfjord!


Above: The view of Eidfjord from the ship.

Situated where the Hardangerfjord ends, Eidfjord is at the centre of a region that is sometimes referred to as the orchard of Fjord Norway (Norway’s westernmost region). The mild climate along the 111-mile long Hardangerfjord sees apples, plums, pears and cherries being grown here.


Above: A meadow on top of a nearby hill with a beautiful circular walk.

The blossom season in May and June is unique: The white, pink and red flowers of the fruit trees practically cover the mountain sides – all the way down to the blue fjord.


Above: Lake Eidfjordvatnet, a short walk from Eidfjord.

The town itself is fairly small with another settlement further down the valley. A short drive past lake Eidfordvatnet brings you to the Hardangervidda Natursenter (Nature Centre), a building with a turf roof and resident goats!


Above: Goats on the roof of the Nature Centre. There is a fence to stop them falling off and a small shelter in the centre of the roof.

Eidfjord’s 1000 or so inhabitants have at their doorstep one of Europe's best-known National Parks. Covering 2,500 square miles the Hardangervidda is also Europe's largest mountain plateau. One of Norway’s largest glaciers can be found on the plateau, which is entirely above the tree line.


Above: The Hardangervidda as seen in May, with the Sysendam on the right of the picture.

Many hikers like to walk across the plateau in summer and there are small hiking cabins available with supplies and basic living quarters for explorers to spend the night!


Above: On the Hardangervidda!

The Vøringsfossen waterfall has for a long time been Norway’s most visited natural attraction with its fall of 600 feet. Bjoreia, the small river that flows into Vøringfossen, has a hydroelectric dam in the Sysendalen valley above the falls, reducing the flow of water (see previous picture). In summer, the flow is increased to 12 m3/s, above its natural rate, not least to benefit the tourist trade.


Above: Vøringsfossen waterfall. On my second visit to the falls with my family, you could not see the falls due to the cloud!

Thanks for reading! More Norway coming soon.