Brackin’ da Bröd

My second day in Oslo wasn’t really a day at all. Our flight was leaving at 1.45pm and so I was up at 6am determined to see as many as the sights as I possibly could.
As much as I would liked to have gone to the Culture and Heritage museum, the Edvard Munch museum and the National Gallery most places didn’t open until 10 or 11 and so it was a walking whistle stop tour.

Before leaving I thought I would grab a bit of breakfast, but grabbing was out of the question. The hotel’s massive selection made it impossible to choose just one breakfast item. There were cereals on one side, fruit on the other, meats on the far side, next to the startlingly huge range of breakfast fish (!), and that was not all; there were breads, pastries and assorted fillings in the middle of this smorgasbord along with pretty much any other food or drink item not included in the afore mentioned categories! I had a bit of it all, including fish, which was a new experience for me at 6.30am! Fish and other breakfast items on board it was then off to explore.

I had caught a glimpse of the palace on my way back from the event so I wanted to get an up close look at that which is at the end of Karl Johans Gate, a rather long street where I’d get to see the parliament and the national theatre along the way.

The town was very busy so early in the morning, which is surprising given that nothing opens until at least 10 am. As I admired the buildings around the cathedral (which was sadly scaffolded up – there is a lot of work and scaffold around the town just now) a middle-aged woman came up to be speaking in Norwegian, I said I was Scottish and, for the first time that day, I was told I looked native, thanking her for the compliment she then told me I was very beautiful too – sensing she was after something I tried to back away, but from nowhere she produced a bouquet of flowers and asked for 30 NOK (£3 ish) for a poor looking rose. I did my best to apologise politely and get away and she realised that I wasn’t the kind of tourist to be taken in so she swore at me and spat at my feet – a lovely memory for the holiday album!

After that I stopped at the small park, between Stortinget (parliament) and the beautiful old National Theatre, called Spikersuppa, which usually has a lovely fountain, but the pond was frozen over and resemembled more of an ice-rink. I should say that there was a lot of snow in Oslo, and everyone was so happy as its been the longest lying snow they’ve had in years, they have the right attitude to snow there too; they just pile it up from the roads and pavements so that they are totally clear, no messy slushy roads like we get! And big piles of snow to play in…or for the children to play in! It was here at Spikersuppa that my love for statues became apparent.

I’ve always likes statues – their expressions, what they might be looking at, what they represent – even the scary looking ones. Oslo is abundant in sculpture and statues…Vigelandsparken is testament to that (but it was too far to walk) , so needless to say, my photos are mostly statues and signs (I do like nice signage).
After a visit to see Ibsen’s glum-faced statue at the National Theatre and then to the palace (Crown Prince Haakon wisnae in!) I went down to Radhusbrygge and nearby Aker Brygge at the Harbour.
The harbour area was pretty and there were lots of statues to admire there too.

I was aware of my time, so it was off to do something I’d been itching to do since I knew I was taking the trip.
I am a total wool junkie, I enjoy knitting (small things, nothing overly adventurous) and I love wool. In fact it’s becoming an obsession of mine – my stash bag is almost overflowing!
About a month before the trip I was reading Yarn Forward and noticed that they have started a section on wool and stores around the world and this month was Oslo. Thinking that chance would be a fine thing all I could do was look longingly at the pretty pictures and practise saying “er det en garn buttikk i nærheten?” (is there a wool shop near here) in vain…or so I believed.
Fully prepared with my handy key-phrases from the magazine, I made my way to Husfliden and I was not disappointed; all natural and local fibres, no acrylic to be seen and the friendliest staff. Again the girl began talking to me in Norwegian and when I said I couldn’t understand her she told me I looked very Scandinavian with my dark hair, blue eyes, fair skin and cheekbones (I wasn’t aware I had prominent cheekbones!), I said I thought it was possibly just a far north complexion!
I was completely spoiled for choice wool-wise, but because everything cost double in Norway I, unusually meagrely, bought only four balls. Two hanks were Spelsa wool, which I believe are used in Norwegian mittens and is a quite hairy and hardy wool; there were lots of gorgeous colourways but I was restrained in picking only two!

Soon it was time to head back to the hotel and I was quite sad to be saying farvel to Oslo, I had really enjoyed the little time I had there and I was beginning to see why a lot of Shetlanders have up sticks and moved there.
I spoke to a young Shetlander at the event who had moved in the last 18 months – he was so passionate about living there and walking around I could see the appeal, plus he had told me that the wages were double, the holiday entitlement is exceptional as Norwegians like their down-time, and the country are, allegedly, handling the current financial climate better than any where else – I don’t know if that’s true, but when it costs £7 for a beer I’d say they were taxing the right kind of things to be able to survive more than adequately!
So, no sooner had I arrived it was time to leave Norway again! Getting to Aberdeen was a much mort comfortable flight that it had been going to Oslo, but getting out of Aberdeen was not so easy!
Fog in Sumburgh hampered our departure and eventually cancelled it, so they put all the other disgruntled passengers and myself in taxis to the Britannia Hotel. I was not favouring the prospect of having to get up at 4 am to go back to the airport or getting off the plane on to a bus which would drop me off, pretty much, right to my desk, but a power nap on the plane (And then on the bus!) saw me not too bad, and after an intravenous coffee drip I cockered up enough to do start proof-reading!
What a whirlwind couple of days!
Back to Bressay again and yesterday was another will it/won’t it kind of day weatherwise. I was up for a drink at 5 am and noticed my clothes were still on the line, but wasn’t too bothered as it look like a lovely windy morning. WRONG! When I woke up at 9 they were all droopin on the line heavy with rain!
As it was Mammy’s day my sister invited us all to tea. My sister was keen to see my Oslo photos and after scrolling through the camera she declared, “anyone would think you have a thing about statues”! If there is anyone else out there who appreciates a statue, particularly a Norwegian one, and nice signage, you can look at the rest of my photos here.
I know its Monday again (boo hiss!) but I hope the week to come is warmer and cheery for you!

Tags: knitting magazine, photos, sculpture park

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