Half-and-Half

This post is an immediate continuation of the previous post.  Enjoy.

After leaving Blindern, my father, Patti (my step-mother), Sigrid, Hogne, and I spent the afternoon visiting places in Oslo I'd mostly already been to but a few new ones as well.  It was strange to be seeing Oslo through a car window; I'd only ever traveled throughout Oslo either on foot or by metro.

Our first stop was the Munch Museum.  It was interesting to see the different themes and facets of Munch's career.  The highlight was seeing "The Scream."  I'm not a huge fan of Munch -- or art, in general, for that matter -- but there were a few paintings that made stop and look at them for at least a minute, which is more than can be said for most paintings.

After a cup of coffee from the Munch Museum cafe, we went downtown to the National Gallery.  As much as I wanted to go before this, I somehow never found the time.  Before that day, the main things I wanted to see were the Norwegian Romanticism paintings and Munch's "The Scream," but the latter was no longer impressive after visiting the Munch Museum.  My favourite painting at the National Gallery was probably Johan Christian Dahl's "View from Stalheim."  I look forward to seeing the place that inspired it on the drive to Bergen today.

We ate a late lunch at a neat little restaurant behind Oslo Cathedral.  From there, we walked to the Opera House.  I'd already been there but since this is Patti's first time in Norway and Oslo, we had to start with the basics.  It was quite windy so we didn't hang about for long.  Instead, we walked down Karl Johans gate on the way back to the car, stopping in shops and bookstores along the way.

Next on the list was Vigelands Park.  Every time I've gone there I've noticed something new so going again wasn't a big deal.  It was a beautiful day and after spending most week sitting inside studying, a little exercise felt good.  After that we came back to Sigrid and Hogne's home a short way north of Oslo.  They've been such gracious and wonderful hosts and they've made the first few days of my no-study vacation as enjoyable as it can be.

Yesterday (Saturday) we went on a quick trip to Sweden.  We didn't do a whole lot, mainly we just stood on the line between Norway and Sweden -- my Norwegian half on the Norwegian side and my Swedish quarter on the Swedish side -- and then went to a shopping center where we walked around for a while before sitting down for some coffee.  The quarter of me that's Swedish was itching to see more but in a car full of Norwegians it's a little difficult to convince them to stay in Sweden any longer than they need to.  It surprised me that the border control wasn't more strict, what with the terror threats of a couple weeks ago.  Even so, it was a nice reminder that two countries that have had such a long history of conflict can now be friends.

On our way back we stopped at Kongsvinger festning.  It was an incredible fortress with many huge walls, surprise attack passages, and amazing views.  We came back and had a fantastic dinner.  I can't thank Sigrid and Hogne enough for all they've done for us.

This post was a bit rushed as I'm leaving for Bergen in about two minutes so forgive any typos.  Thanks for reading.  Stay tuned. -NLD