OSLO (NORWAY)

Following my arrival in Oslo and things got off to a pretty bad start, with my IPOD, camera and wallet being stolen on the first night I stayed there. Despite being almost completely covered financially for the replacement of these items, it was the fact that I had lost pictures from my trip to Gothenburg and central Sweden and all of my music which had the greatest affect on me. Whilst none of the photos I had taken from this part of my trip were in my view particularly magnificent, all my photos told a story and without them the story was somewhat incomplete. Of more concern for me was my music, not only because it was something I used as relief on the rather dull train and bus rides between points of interest but moreso because of the way in which I could use music to change my moods - helping me to stay upbeat when I was happy and lifting me up when I was feeling down.

Following this incident and the associated hassles of organising police reports and trying to find a new camera, I walked around the city the next day feeling very sorry for myself and then forced myself to get over it. My last two days in Oslo were spent trying to get pictures of the most interesting city sights and retaking photos of the Vigelands sculpture park which I had visited on my first afternoon in the city. Some people might not think it possible to see a city such as Oslo in 2 days, without using public transport, but I certainly managed it with a lot of walking an a helpful lift from a friendly local.The city botanical gardens were quite nice and the pleasant weather I enjoyed during my time in Oslo meant it was relaxing to just stroll around taking in some of the colour of the many flowers out in force for the summer. Some of the views I enjoyed from the Bygdøy peninsula and 1994 Winter olympics ski jump - Holmenkollen were also very impressive and gave me an idea of the city layout.

I found Oslo to be very different to Stockholm with the city harbour being more of a visual aberration in an otherwise picturesque city, compared with the spectacle of the harbour area in Stockholm. By far the most spectacular and interesting place I visited in Oslo was the Vigelands sculpture park. Even after two visits I still marvelled at the magnificence of the park and the way it captivated the thousands of tourists which streamed through the gate each hour. Within the park were probably a thousand or so stone sculptures, with the centrepiece being one of the largest granite sculptures in the world.

As a closing note I thought I would include an interesting observation which I made quite early on during my visit to Oslo, but one which was also evident during my time in other Norwegian cities. Whilst in some ways this point of view can be explained by the fact that I came to Scandanavia with expectations of countries perfect in every way, what I witnessed was certainly a shock. Without fully understanding the political workings of a country such as Norway it was difficult to explain what I saw but the immense number of poor and homeless people in the streets of cities such as Norway certainly surprised me. Perhaps a result of the insanely high taxes (mortgages are commonly issued over an indefinate period of time) or possibly the opening up of Europe and immigration of people from 'The East' the sight of people sifting through bins and lying drunk or passed out in the street was a definite eye-opener. Whilst these things are a part of every big city, the frequency of these sights in Oslo compared with bigger cities such as Sydney, Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires shocked me immensely. Oslo has only 500,000 people... and despite this many of the locals just walk around pretending it doesn't exist. Certainly busted my bubble idea of the Scandanavian region but I guess this is often the case when expectations are formed.

Photos 1,4,5&7: Various ships in and around the Oslo harbour.
Photo 2: City Botanic gardens.
Photos 3,6,8,10&11: Various buildings around the city.
Photo 10: Holmenkollen ski jump.

Photos 12-36: Vigelands sculpture park.