Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

The Gigantic Spider in the Palace Park

@brittarnhild

Two days ago this gigantic spider was unveiled in the Palace Park in Oslo. The spider, which has the name Maman, is 9 meter high and is made by the late French-American artist Lousie Bourgeois (1911-2010) The National Gallery in Oslo/Norway, will host an exhibition with Bourgeois´s work later this year, and Maman is part of this.

Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were in the park on Monday for the unveiling. I was not able to be here then, but all the same, I met the queen in the park today, in this statue. Our queen loves mountain hiking, as you can tell from the statue.

I have had a great day in Oslo today. I met a friend for morning coffee and chatting, I have been walking a lot, I have been shopping books and cloths, I had bacalao for lunch.......and now I am on the train back home to Trondheim.

 

The Iron Rose Memorial, and A Sea of Poppies

@brittarnhild

The main reason for travelling these days was to meet up with a small group of old colleagues from dioceses in Norway. Which I did today, in Oslo. We had all day together, ending with an early dinner, and after saying goodbye I had time for a walk in Oslo.

Outside the Oslo Cathedral I found the Iron Rose Memorial, with this text:

On 22 July 2011, an act of terrorism
ended the lives of 77 persons in
Norway. In a spontaneous act of 
solidarity, thousands of people laid
down roses in front of Oslo
Cathedral. Inspired by this sea of
roses, artists Tobbe Malm and Tone
Karlsrud initiated a project in which
smiths from all over the world,
survivors and others affected by the
attack were invited to forge roses
from iron 

 

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Back in September 2014 I visited the Sea of Poppies outside Tower of London.
Here is my post from then:

If you visit Tower of London this autumn you will find a sea of glass poppies flowing out from the tower, filling the lawn. Making it look like blood.

Blood from 888.246 men, many of them pure boys only, who died during WWI.

WWI started in November 1914, and the poppies are Tower of London´s way to remember.

Volunteers are putting up the glass poppies, the last one will be up on November 11th, 100 years after the bloody war started.

I had seen photos both on facebook and on instagram showing these poppies before coming to London. Still I was unprepared of my own reaction. Suddenly I found myself crying. Crying for all the lost lives. For all the bloody wars.

You can read more about Tower of London´s Poppie Project here.

 

 

 

 

Opera Night

@brittarnhild

Friday Night was the night for our babysitting, Saturday night was our night off, and we had tickets for the opera. Not Swan Lake (which is a ballet by the way) as you might be led to believe from this picture, lol, but Georges Bizet Carmen. May be to most well known by all operas.

The National Opera and Ballet in Oslo is beautiful, situated down by the Oslo fjord. Terje and I have been to one opera performance here before, years ago, so coming here again was a very special treat for us.

We started with dinner in the opera restaurant, and then walking right into the concert hall and three hours with dramatic music, love and death.

With little Vida to the Royal Castle

@brittarnhild

Our little princess walking though the rainbow, into the Princess Ingrid Alexandra Sculpture Park.

It took us about 20 minutes to walk from our AirB&B down to the Royal Castle and its surrounding park. Oslo has had a problem with droughts this spring, with prohibitions concerning watering gardens and parks. But, lucky for us, and for everybody else I guess, rain came a few days ago. Still no water in the fountains around the city, but the parks are green and flowering.

Here is a huge rhododendron in front of a statue of Camilla Collett, an early female Norwegian author.

Look at the beauty of this rhododendron. I wish I had one in our garden, but as we live further up north I doubt it would give much flowers there.

The first image in this post was from Princess Ingrid Alexandra's Sculpture Garden. The rest from The Queens Garden, just behind the castle.

 

From the Food Court

@brittarnhild

A few years ago Oslo Food Court opened. I have wanted to go there ever since I first heard about it, and this weekend we are lucky to stay in an AirB&B just about 500 meters from the court. Last night I walked there with my daughter in law to buy a take away dinner from the four of us. Tonight our son and daughter in law are attending a wedding and we are babysitting our granddaughter Vida. We have been out for a long walk with her, and on our way home we again stopped at the food court.

Food is not cheap there, and if we had lived close bay it would be terrible for our finances. But two nights in a row, well, we can afford that.

Bread, olives, different types of cheese, salami and ham.......

.......and after Vida had gone to sleep we really had a feast.

 

A few days in Oslo

@brittarnhild

We are in Oslo for a few days together with our son Øystein, his wife to be (in a month) Silje, and their little adorable Vida, our granddaughter. Øystein and Silje are going to a wedding tomorrow, so we are here mainly to babysit Vida, but also find time in between for long walks, coffee and exploring more of the city.

After we arrived today Terje and I had a long hike, or rather walk. I love hiking in nature, but I also love urban hikes walks where you can stop for lunch, for coffee, for selfies, or just to sit down and watch life.

We stay in a beautiful AirB&B flat, not far from Oslo's great food court. My daughter in law and I walked over there this afternoon to buy dinner for all of us, ending up with dishes from all over the world.

The weeding is tomorrow night, which means that Terje and I will be homebound with Vida. I think I will go back to the food court for cheese, salamis and ham, olives and a million other goodies, making us a tapas night.

 

Autumn flowers in Oslo

@brittarnhild

Early flight down. Late flight back home again. A day meeting in Oslo, and time for a walk in the city to enjoy the beautiful autumn flowers.

I left the Trondheim rain, I came back to the Trondheim rain, but in between I could enjoy the autumn sun and the blue sky in Oslo.

And parks and statues and flowers,

most of all flowers.

 

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My blogworld today:

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader, my online journal

Med bøker på menyen, my reading journal

 

 

 

A Walk in Oslo

@brittarnhild

 

 

Christmas Market in Oslo

@brittarnhild

From time to time both I and Terje go to Oslo for work. A couple of weeks ago we discovered we would go at the same time, I for one day only, he for two. "Why don´t I book a room for both of us at my hotel,  and you can stay the night and take an early plane back to Norway the next day?" Terje asked. "Sure" I replied, " and we can see what´s on in Oslo, may we we can go to the theatre or something?"

So here we are. Both of us have finished our meetings, we have had coffee ansd then it was time to visit the Oslo Christmas Market before dinner and theatre.

I am not sure I am too impressed by the Christmas Market, still, walking among the stalls, hand in hand, let the feeling of the season shower over us.......well, it is quite cozy :-)

We did not buy anything, in a few days the Christmas Market in Trondheim opens, and then we will burn som money. But even without buying, there is quite a lot to see.

Do you have a Christmas Market where you live?

The Sculpture Park

@brittarnhild

I am in Oslo for three days. Three long days with meetings, and in the middle of today, in the middle of the three days, I took one hour off. I needed fresh air. I needed to move my stiff body. I needed to let the sun cherish my face. I hadn´t actually planned where to go, but as it is Women´s Day today and I found an open gate with three women, I knew I was on the right track.

Frognerparken, or Gustav Vigeland Sculpture Park. With Monolitten as a main focus.

I have visited Frognsrparken many times, but this was the first time I came during winter.
Winter light is quite different from the warm light in the summer, and somehow the cold, crisp air made the human sculpures alive in a way I had not experienced before.

What amazes me the most is how Vigeland were able to find life inside the stones. Real, eternal life.

Life ready to burst out.

The Vigeland Park is the worlds largest sculpture park made by one artist. You can read more about it here.