Oslo and a Cross Country Ski Trek

We arrived in Oslo exhausted from our Icelandair flight.  We were sent directions  to a 7/11 and a 6 digit number code  to release 3 keys from a lock box that would let us in to our  Airbnb apartment when we found it.  This was even trickier  because there are more than one 7/11 on the street we were directed to. Our first cultural note: there are a lot of 7/11s in downtown central Oslo.

Our favorite feature of the apartment was that it looked over a school. We enjoyed watching the flow of kids  in and out of recess.

Armed with the international beer guide I gave Dennis for Christmas & Google maps we navigated from our apartment to  a brew-pub.  We meandered through  2 parks and some different neighborhoods. We found we liked Oslo.

Our goal day two was to see the Edvard Munch museum.  We walked from our apartment through a Middle Eastern neighborhood & passed by the botanic garden. The garden was open but was not likely to have spring flowers so we didn’t go in.

The Munch museum was smaller than we imagined. We liked seeing some large Munch murals that were on display. Most of the museum space was devoted to a special exhibit of Russian turn-of the-century painters. https://munchmuseet.no/en/   The Russian exhibit was good but we noticed that we weren’t the only visitors asking where the Munch painting were.  We found that they are building a new museum that will open in 2020. We think much of the collection is traveling elsewhere.

We had coffee in the museum where I noticed this sign directed at English speakers.  There was no sign in Norwegian. Apparently only foreigners don’t know how to form a line in the museum coffee shop. Revitalized we walked to the Opera House and climbed up the roof. The view was nice but it was NOT a day to make you want to emigrate to Norway.

Day three in Oslo we set out for the Royal Palace.  It’s only open in the summer and the king doesn’t stay around for the Norwegian winter but the guards were on duty. We walked past a lot of beautiful houses in the Frogner area to get to Vigeland Sculpture Garden. http://www.vigeland.museum.no/en/vigeland-park  It’s fantastic but we wondered if it was  controversial when Vigeland created it.  The park is filled with Vigeland statues of nude people in every possible pose except maybe outright sex.  Naked men cavorting with naked young girls, beautiful athletic poses, boys in piles, angry people, happy people, there are statues in any pose you can imagine mostly carved out of granite and all naked.  The sculpture park was impressive but a bit bizarre. I think this is my favorite thing in Oslo.

Dennis was missing water so we wandered to Anker Brygge, a redeveloped shipyard.  On the tip of an island we found the Astrup-Fearnley museum https://www.afmuseet.no/en/astrup-fearnley-collection  It started out badly with an exhibit of contemporary Scandinavian artists.  One collage had such a pretentious artist’s statement we both started laughing.  There was a change when we entered the permanent collection. I think Astrup-Fearnley is now my favorite modern art museum because the museum concentrates on explaining why the artist is important. My favorite exhibit, that of Damien Hirst, illustrated how one work led logically to the next i.e. beautiful butterflies led to a large piece composed of the opposite of beauty, layers of dead flies.  I guess you have to be there sorry I didn’t take pictures but there is an Oslo slideshow below.

Oslo: Act 1 Slideshow

The Cross-Country Ski Trek

Slide Show of the ski trip is here if you just want to see pictures or at the end of this post if you want the story before the pictures. Slide Show of the ski trip here.

Sunday it was pouring down rain so we spent the morning reading in our Airbnb apartment. We (mostly Dennis) dragged our luggage and very tall awkward ski bag through the rain, over cobblestones, to the station and traded in the vouchers we had been provided for train tickets to Vinstra. The rain turned into a heavy wet snow as we headed north.

There was some confusion at the Vinstra station as we were looking for a Discover Norway group.  We needed to ask for the transport to Dalseter Hoyfjellshotell. This was the first of many small confusions following our Discover Norway instructions. The van took us on a steep,narrow, twisty road. We had great confidence in our driver to navigate the icy steep road because we had little choice. We arrived to everyone’s relief at the picturesque hotel with the wonderful view that we couldn’t see in the snowstorm.  We were served a family style dinner that I assumed was a somewhat traditional soup, salad, pork, gravy, rice and to my taste an overcooked vegetable dish consisting of green & red peppers and squash.  Desert was frozen fruit with whipped cream. It all tasted good. The staff wore traditional costumes. Coffee and tea were served in the lounge after dinner. I never saw a decaf coffee option at any of the hotels.  However, there is always a Nescafe (instant coffee) option along with brewed coffee.  Europeans love their Nescafe.

At each hotel there was a table reserved for Discover Norway so we quickly got to know the other people on the tour.  There were three French couples who told us that they take a ski trip together every year. Erika and Theo from the Hague, Netherlands.  Isabel and Ben from Montreal also 4 other Americans. Pam and Terry are very experienced skiers from Vermont and Clark and Alison  father and daughter from Colorado.  We learned that most everyone else had been on ski tours before.

Espedalen to Fefor (18k)

Monday morning the snow had ceased and the sky was clear but with scattered clouds.  As usual the hardest part of beginning is finding the right trail.  The instructions from hotel clerk “take the trail between the two cabins” didn’t seem to fit as we saw one cabin on one trail and another cabin on another trail but not two adjacent.  I was skiing just ahead of a group of men.  I wasn’t sure if they were going our way. We asked: Fefor? They waved us away which we assumed met don’t follow us, so we took the other trail. A tremendous wind came up and snow blew across the ski trail. We had to break trail over the snow drifts.

Lucky for us, the wind was mostly to our back propelling us forward. The sun came out and we entered a forest which protected us from the wind.  It was beautiful and much easier skiing but we still arrived at our hotel cold and tired.

At the the hotel we were greeted by Alison who provided an information service I came to rely on. “There is hot soup and deserts with tea and coffee available until 3pm. I asked them turn on the sauna but it’s still warming up. Dinner is at 7pm.” These tips were extremely helpful because the desk clerk had simply handed us our key and pointed towards our room. Alison was always the best source for hotel information. She told us if theswimming pool was warm, if the sauna was too hot, and what time dinner was.

My favorite Alison info was: “WARNING the sauna is coed! I walked in and there was my Dad!”

The Fefor Hotel was one of my favorites. Every room had a fantastic view and dinner was what we came to expect a large buffet with lots of choices.

Breakfasts were also buffets and we were always given a bag to pack our lunch in from the breakfast buffet. Right away you could tell the experienced trekkers.  They brought out their tupperware containers.  Packing our lunches was a challenge at which the Dutch couple excelled. Without the aid of scissors or tape they folded their sandwiches tightly into whatever food wrapping was provided like professionals wrapping Christmas presents perfectly but without tape or ribbon and they had brought small containers for fruit & veggies.

A thermos full of coffee or hot water for lunch was another entitlement but each hotel handed the thermos situation differently. Do we drain the coffee pot filling our thermos, give our thermos to the staff to fill, or is there designated thermos refill station? So much to learn  every morning.

Fefor to Gala (11K)

The weather and snow conditions were perfect. There were a couple of turns in the trail and I found the signage interesting

but we were never in danger of getting lost. The last uphill to the hotel seemed very long and we got quite warm and had to shed layers. Dennis kept track of our kilometers and kept us on the blue trail which came up around the back of Wadahl Hogfjellshotell.  Most of the other skiers got confused as the route seemed indirect, or just didn’t find and follow the long blue trail. Those skiers  ended up hiking a steep awkward icy route but Dennis got A+ in navigation this day.

The view from the lounge of the hotel was fantastic but our room looked over the parking lot so we spend most of our free time in the lounge where the wi-fi was very good.

Dennis & I did a late afternoon ski up the mountain behind the hotel along with Vivian and Stephan two of the French men.  The view from the ridge above the hotel was worth skiing for.

We had a second day to explore the Gala trails. Dennis and I took an 8.5K ski through some very small villages.  There are no signs of life in most of the homes.  Apparently, they are used only used in summer and for Christmas and Easter holidays. We saw one ski hut shelter.  These are nothing like the huts we have used in the U.S. or in Canada.  This shelter offered no place to build a fire and only snow to sit on.

In the early afternoon I tried out the sauna and the swimming pool. I had both to myself.

Gala to Kvitfjell (28K)

Thursday we had a beautiful sunny day to begin our long trip. We were doing just fine navigating until we came to a parking lot and a road. The directions say follow the blue trail but this time there were no blue trail signs only a red trail.  We skied up the road and found a sign for a bicycle path and some faint ski tracks. You could see black pavement beneath the trail.  Dennis walked farther up the road and there were ski tracks but no signs.  Finally, I asked an Italian ski group and the guide said that they were also going to Kvitfjell so we follow the Italians.  The guide led us up the bike trail pavement and there at the top is a wide, double ski track.

Playing tag with the Italian group worked well. The group skis past us but then the they stop for a picture taking opportunity and we pass them. Unfortunately, the Italians ate lunch earlier while we were tromping every direction looking for the trail. When we stop for a quick lunch, the Italians ski past us and we lost them for good.  The sky clouded over and the weather became cooler. Snow conditions became icy. Dennis had already fallen a few times and as we turned into the final decent to Kvitfjell he fell more often on the ice.  By the time we reach the outskirts of town it was windy and icy snow was pelting us.  We are to: “go past a parking lot …under a sky bridge and slowly descend down to ‘mid-station’ Kvitfjell” It’s hard to identify a parking lot when no one is parked there and the lot is covered with snow but I did find two parking lots.  There is a trail leading down a culvert that goes under a typical one lane bridge. Is that what you call “sky bridge”?  We were headed the right direction when Dennis lost faith in my navigation. He had always been right before.  Now he announced he was sure we were skiing away from town.  I should have realized that he had fallen too many times. He was bruised and his head was not clear. We backtracked and tried to ski to a road to ask someone (although none of the houses looked occupied) when we both sunk with our skis in deep snow, not a good position to be in.  Along came our saviors the French.  The French were frequently last to arrive at the hotel because they always stop for a long picnic. “What are you doing up there?” We dug ourselves out and followed. Dennis fell again and this time his ski binding came apart and his ski shot downhill, he knew not where.  I went ahead and hailed the French again. Vivian and Stephan went back to help him.  Dennis spotted only the center of his ski in a ravine. Both ski tips were buried in snow. Dennis is sorry he didn’t take a picture of his buried ski.  At the time documentary photography was NOT on his mind. Dennis sunk to his hips getting the ski out of the ravine. The handy French put the binding back together and Dennis was able to ski to the hotel.

Kvitfjell – Skeikampen (Skei)  Should have been 20K but we are gainfully employed helping move the luggage. Dennis was sore and bruised from his frequent falls. Did I mention his sneezes that shook both twin beds? He was worried that his ski might come apart again. While everyone skied off we watched a truck pump sewage from the hotel. We waited to see if we could hitch a ride with the luggage van to the next hotel. It turned out to be a good decision as our American friends said it was the hardest ski they had ever done.  The trail was icy and the wind on top of the mountain that needed to be crossed was “at least 100 centimeters per minute” according Theo our Dutch skier.  Terry translated that as at least 30 mph. While the others were traversing the mountain against the wind. We took a ski from our hotel after we were so magically transported there with the luggage.

Dennis fell once just to prove he could still do it, his ski binding remained intact. We enjoyed hearing other the other skiers harrowing experiences.

After breakfast the six of us from the U.S. were dropped off in Lillehammer.  The hardy couples from Montreal and the Netherlands had more skiing planned.  Also, the Vermont couple planned to do more skiing.  The six French were already on their way home.

There are lots more pictures in the slideshow

Lillehammer

We walked around Lillehammer and did some souvenir shopping because Alison recommended it.

We had coffee at a typically busy coffee shop. It seems a very Scandinavian thing.

We took the train back to Oslo in the afternoon and followed the directions this time to open a locker at the train station which had the key to our next Airbnb.  We have mastered a new skill releasing keys from lockers.

Besides lots of coffee shops we made a few other cultural observations.

Oslo Again

Boat Day

We took a boat (ferry) to Bygday peninsula. It was a 4 museum day and 3 of them were boats.  First was the Viking Ship Museum. It was pretty cool, they have 3 actual Viking boats rebuilt from burial boat remains. (I didn’t know burying Vikings in boats was a thing but it was.) Viking boats had intricate carved decorations and were well engineered for both sailing and rowing.

The museum had a film with eerie music as Vikings row into town to sack the village. Viking guys (it was guys) would rob, kill, and/or make slaves of the inhabitants. I was interested in a theory the museum proposed that the Vikings discovered North America by accident. The thought is some Vikings were somewhere west of Greenland and got blown off course. Once they found themselves in Canada they thought they might as well stay long enough to  look around but had no thought of permanent settlement.

Next was the Kon Tiki museum. https://www.kon-tiki.no/expeditions Thor Heyerdahl saw similarities in origin myths and art of Peruvians and Polynesians.  Being an adventurous guy, Heyerdahl built & sailed the Kon Tiki raft from Peru to Polynesia to prove that the Polynesians might have done the same.

He proved it could be done but DNA tests now prove that if the South Americans got to the islands they didn’t have any lasting genetic influence on the population.  Regardless it was a neat raft. His crew was required to use historically appropriate tools, building materials, celestial navigation, and eat monotonous foods (coconuts & gourds) on the voyage to accurately recreate conditions.

Heyerdahl also built reed(papyrus) boats and sailed from Morocco to the Caribbean and later sailed a reed boat up the Tigiris to the Red Sea. Gathering authentic papyrus reeds was a challenge. To succeed in crossing the Atlantic on reeds one had to get lucky with weather and catch the right ocean currents. If this kind of adventuring actually went on in pre-Columbian times there must have been lots of lost rafts. Heyerdahl may have been the original multi-culturalist. He thought it very important to recruit crew from different races and countries.

I wasn’t expecting much from the Fram museum which features “the strongest wooden ship ever built.” https://frammuseum.no/polar_history/vessels/the_polar_ship_fram The ship (christened 1892) could be completely frozen in ice and stay in one piece.  The Fram was used for north and south polar expeditions including Amundsen’s trip to the South Pole. This is the famous Antarctica expedition where Amundsen survives using dogs and the Englishman Scott uses horses and freezes to death. You could walk all over the ship and see the quarters where the men slept and the common areas where the crew ate and staved off boredom playing cards etc. On the top deck a surround film that simulated sailing in an arctic storm, was showing.  Hope we don’t hit that iceberg!  I felt a little seasick.

Between ships we visited the Norwegian Cultural History Museum. https://norskfolkemuseum.no/en We went for the Stave Church (ca.1200)

We also peeked in buildings that made up a farm village: houses, stables and lots of barns.

It seemed that if there were a historic building that someone loved, money was found, and the  structure was moved  to this open air museum.  Along with the Stave Church, my favorite buildings was the  Apartments.  The building featured period furnished apartments from 1867 when Heinrich Ibsen wrote A Doll House to 1965. The 1867 apartment had an informative sign: “This is what Nora would have given up if she abandoned her husband & family.” I don’t remember all the plot intricacies of Ibsen’s play but I know Nora abandons this nice sitting room to begin liberating of the women of Norway. Way to go Nora!

Last Day in Oslo

We had two goals left for our last day. Visit Akershus Fortress and revisit the National Library. Alison informed us that the Akershus castle was the model for Disney’s Frozen. We thought we should visit the fort rather than see the movie.

The real world fort was used by the Nazi’s in WWII as a prison for Norwegian resisters.

We walked around the grounds of the picturesque Fort and spent more time than Dennis would have liked in Norway’s Resistance Museum. We were surprised by an introductory film about the importance of the Norwegian royal family during the German Occupation. The King and the Crown Prince escaped to Britain with some of the Norwegian armed forces. The rest of the royal family escaped to Sweden.  The film emphasizes both the sacrifices and the humanity of the King and Crown Prince.  Apparently, the exiled king & prince’s broadcasts from Britain were important in boosting morale and promoting patriotism among ordinary Norwegians stuck in Nazi occupied Norway. Of course, you could be jailed or worse if you got caught with a radio. I was impressed by the exhibits showing the clever ways people hid radios, transmitters, and weapons. As Americans we found it hard to understand why the film thought it was important to point out how many, many medals were awarded to the king and prince for participating in the fight for Norwegian Liberation. Considering the museum was devoted to showing the suffering of those trying to resist the occupation back home in Norway the film seemed an odd choice.

Next was our final goal, a return visit to the Norwegian National Library gift store. At this point in our trip we knew the library, which was on the other side of central Oslo, had absolutely the most interesting postcards although it was a little late to be sending them home. At the library an arrow and a sign Science Fiction caught Dennis’s eye.

The exhibit attributed the first science fiction to the book of Elijah and displayed a Bible illustrated with a woodcut of Elijah being conveyed heavenward in the chariot of fire. Also exhibited were printed books of early science fiction dystopias in Latin and in Norwegian. The history of Science Fiction literature went up to the 1980’s. English and Norwegian plot summaries of the books considered significant were provided. Dennis found the translation of one of the early 18^th century Norwegian works in Gutenberg and read it on his phone on the way home. He says the style was similar to Gulliver’s Travels. The exhibit was also running film loops of some very early science fiction films. I was ready to SIT and watch silent science films the rest of the day but Dennis was done. It had been a long last day.

The next morning we packed. It took 3 flights and visits to 4 airports to get us back to Spokane before midnight PDT.

Final slideshow