The angry boy

We're giving you a tour through the Vigeland park these days. We started at the main gate and are now walking you towards the Monolith. On our way, we pass a bridge - not over troubled waters - but over a small lake with many birds that you can feed. On each side of the bridge there are lots of beautiful statues. One of these - and the most famous one - is 'Sinnataggen' (The angry boy).

Other posts from the Vigeland park.

Almost empty

Seems like the Vigeland park was almost empty when I peeked in from the main gate. Where are the tourists? I guess they wait for summer, too. Still - it's a beautiful place at all seasons.

Welcome into the park

This is from the main gate of the Vigeland park. In the distance you can barely spot the Monolith.

The main gate

Peaceful

Yesterday I went through Vestre Gravlund (the biggest cemetery in Norway). It was a beautiful sunday. New snow covered the ground like a white clean carpet. It was cold, but the sun and the blue sky made the day a perfect winterday. :o)

Photo: by Stormel

Oslo Plaza by night

This is the first shot with my new toy, a super wide-angle zoom lens! So far I am satisfied. :o)

The picture shows the Radisson SAS hotel; Oslo Plaza, and the street called Schweigaardsgate.

Photo: by Stormel

Oslo Cathedral by night

Oslo Cathedral is still closed for refurbishment, and will be closed for at least another year. I think the church looks kind of funny covered up like this. ;o)

Photo: by Stormel

Need something for your aquarium?

At Løren, a part of Oslo not so far from the center, you can find this store - that claims to be Norway's biggest aquarium store. They do have a lot of nice fish tanks and lots of beautiful fish. My father has a quite big salt water aquarium, which is very soothing to watch.

Løren is a growing part of Oslo. They're building lots of new apartment buildings in this area. I grew up not far from there and it is a nice place to live.

To the cinema?

A few days ago, my son and I went to the cinema to watch the Golden Compass. (We liked it!) This is the Colosseum cinema at Majorstua in Oslo. It's the largest cinema in Oslo, and has 4 show rooms. The largest hall has 978 seats and according to what I've read online it is the world's largest THX-certified cinema hall.

At the moment the main movie at this cinema is a Norwegian movie called 'the Kautokeino riot' (my translation). I haven't seen it.

Good night, world

This is a view from the roof of my building. I love watching the sky when the sun goes down.

Mother-of-pearl clouds II

Another picture of mother-of-pearl clouds! They came back this afternoon,
bigger and more colorful than yesterday! This picture is taken from the roof of Oslo Spektrum.

Photo: by Stormel

Mother-of-pearl clouds

This afternoon another spectacular view appeared in the sky....mother-of-pearl clouds! They were beautiful!! :o)

A website called Atmospheric Optics gave me the following information about the clouds:

"Nacreous clouds, sometimes called mother-of-pearl clouds, are rare but once seen are never forgotten. They are mostly visible within two hours after sunset or before dawn when they blaze unbelievably bright with vivid and slowly shifting iridescent colours. They are filmy sheets slowly curling and uncurling, stretching and contracting in the semi-dark sky....read more"

Remember the spectacular view I showed you on December 17th? The atmospheric optics-site gives us an explanation of this too...it turns out to be a ice halo whith sundogs! :o)

Photo: by Stormel

The Munch Museum

This is the entrance to the Munch Museum at Tøyen in Oslo. If you visit Oslo I'd really recommend a visit. Nearby, you'll find several other museums worthwhile visiting. I'll probably visit them and tell you about them later.

I wish you all a great weekend!

Munch is back?

Yesterday, I went to the Munch museum with my son after he suggested it. The exhibition they show now is called Seasons - Changing landscapes. It is allowed to take photos, but not using a flash, so this photo is not very good.

It may seem like Munch is back, as the painting equipment was standing there ready. I asked a guard and he said that he wasn't sure what this was about, but they might be shooting something for TV. The painter was obviously on a break, at least we didn't see him.

What we did see however, was Edvard Munch's own recordings; film made by Munch himself. It was not very impressing, but still fun to see the old filming dating back probably a 100 years or so.


We got a question yesterday:

i'm going to visit olso next week, and m coming from asian country that not familiar with Cold weather, if possible, would you be kind enough to show some photo of people's clothing/dress code during this winter in Oslo, so that i wont be under/over dress.

Thank you for the question! I don't have any photos to show you of how to dress, but I would suggest bringing warm sweaters, like woolen sweaters or a fleece jacket. Right now it's not too cold (around 0 C), but you never know how it'll be in a week. We might have - 10 C and then you'll need something underneath the pants as well, like woolen tights/long underwear. And of course, a nice, big warm jacket/coat. Also, bring gloves and something to wear on your head (warm cap), otherwise you'll loose a lot of your body warmth. I found this page that gives some nice advice, also this page, hope that will help you! The 'dressing in layers' is really good advice.

I wish you a great time in Oslo! If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Snowy stairs

Another winter picture from the Bogstad estate, this one a closer look at the stairs from yesterday's picture.

Bogstad in winter

We've shown you photos of the beautiful Bogstad estate in earlier posts. This is the first winter photo, so I figured you could take another one. ;)

This place is in Oslo, but quite far from the center of town. I've always loved the building and the park outside.

Please, have a seat

It was not so tempting to sit down at these benches last weekend... ;o)

Photo: by Stormel

Poor bicycles...

....left to themselves in the snowfall....

This was last sunday. Today it is quite different...the snow is mostly gone (there is only some icy stuff left), and it's raining again! :o(

Photo: by Stormel

Guest town: Hamar

I've been away on a short holiday, visiting a town called Hamar. It's about 1,5 hours by train, so it's not far from Oslo. There, I visited the Medieval Cathedral from year 1152/53, protected by some sort of huge "green house". It was after hours, so I didn't enter, just took some photos through the windows. It's quite nice there, so I'd like to go back when I return to Hamar.

A light in the dark

“Just by existing, light makes it clear where the darkness is.”

- Arima Souichiro, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijyou

Quote found at Otaku Desu!

Almost covered

Another glimpse of winter for you.

Covered in snow

I don't really enjoy the winter. As I've earlier told Kristie, winter in Oslo means sudden shifts from cold to mild weather - and then to colder again. This means that if we do get snow, it usually melts quickly, then it freezes and it gets dangerously slippery outside. I truly hate that... deeply.

BUT - when we do get snow and it stays cold enough for it to stay as snow - and it looks like in the photo above - I actually can enjoy the winter. It's quite beautiful, of course, but something else I kind of forget from year to year is that the snow muffles sounds. Going out after (or during) snowfall has a special feeling to it; Everything feels quiet.

Winter jogging

These guys came jogging past my balcony today. They're soldiers from the royal guard. I can't help feeling a bit sorry for them, out running on a winter Sunday. But hey, they didn't have to go skiing. ;-)

The royal guard

This is one of the royal guards standing in front of the castle. Probably a cold and unpleasant job during winter.

Nightly panorama

This is the last of the nightly views, at least for this time. In this panorama (put together by my son's camera, it consists of 4 or 5 photos), you can see large parts of Oslo seen from the west. Click to enlarge.

Winter view

Another view from my balcony. I love the lights in this one.

New beginning

Since 2008 has just began, I thought this photo appropriate. It's taken an early morning and is a view of the center of Oslo.

Theme day: Best photo 2007

Happy new year, everyone! Here's our choice of today's Theme Day. We'd like to point out this photo from Ystad Daily Photo as our favourite!

Take some time to visit the other blogs who are part of Theme Day:

Paris, France - London, England - Hyde, UK - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Grenoble, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Riga, Latvia - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Manila, Philippines - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - New Orleans (LA), USA - Wichita (KS), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Francisco (CA), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Mainz, Germany - Melbourne, Australia - Portland (OR), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Toulouse, France - Naples (FL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Brussels, Belgium - Stayton (OR), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Baziège, France - Nashville (TN), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Prescott (AZ), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Miami (FL), USA - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Evry, France - Trujillo, Peru - Arlington (VA), USA - Denpasar, Indonesia - American Fork (UT), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Coral Gables (FL), USA - Montpellier, France - Joplin (MO), USA - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Boston (MA), USA - Torun, Poland - New York City (NY), USA - Dunedin (FL), USA - Quincy (MA), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Chateaubriant, France - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Budapest, Hungary - Austin (TX), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Cypress (TX), USA - Bicheno, Australia - Wrocław, Poland - Brookville (OH), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - Cheltenham, UK - Wellington, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - London, UK - Haninge, Sweden - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Arradon, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Mumbai, India - Terrell (TX), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - Delta (CO), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Saigon, Vietnam - San Diego (CA), USA - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Belgrade, Serbia - Auckland, New Zealand - Seguin (TX), USA - Inverness (IL), USA - Oslo, Norway