Day Six - Royal Castle, Vigeland Sculpture Park, & A Fjord Boat Trip

The Royal Castle was built from 1824-1848 under direction of architect Hans Ditlev Linstow. It was orginally going to be much larger until funding forced some downsizing. When the flag is flying at the top (as in the photo below), it means the King is in the country. It sits in a very large park overlooking the city. The Norwegian King Harald & Queen Sonja currently live here.

Royal Castle (Click to Enlarge)	Royal Guard (Click to Enlarge)	King Carl Johan Overlooking Oslo (Click to Enlarge)

One of the biggest draws in Oslo is the Vigeland Sculpture Park. The park covers 80 acres and features 212 bronze and granite sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland. Vigeland personally sculpted every figure out of clay and individual craftsmen were contracted to fabricate the pieces into what they are today. Vigeland's work centers almost entirely of the human forms of men, women, and children, often in unique poses.

Vigeland Sculpture Park (Click to Enlarge)	The Monolith (Click to Enlarge)	The Wheel of Life (Click to Enlarge)

At the highest point in the park lies the most popular attraction, The Monolith. As the name would imply, it was carved out of one solid piece of stone. Its construction took over 20 years. The park concludes with the Wheel of Life, which is more or less a wreath depicting four people and a baby floating in harmony. It is a symbol of eternity, and implies the overall theme of the park: man’s journey from the cradle to the grave.

Man Holding Woman (Click to Enlarge)	Iron Gates (Click to Enlarge)	Man With Boys (Click to Enlarge)

The Fjord trip lasted about two hours and was enjoyable enough, however it was a bit rainy, which put a damper on things. In the winter, the water freezes solid enough that inhabitants of islands walk across to the mainland. One of the islands was overrun by rabbits, so they brought foxes in to keep the population down. But when winter came, the foxes just ran away and they had to resort to other means.

The most interesting restaurant I ran into in Oslo was Eilefs Landhandleri. The staff was amusing and fun and the fishburgers were incredible. I stuck around for a few pints after dinner and had a great final night in Oslo.

 

Day Seven