A Norwegian Holiday (Part 10)
The Royal Palace, Oslo, and the Castle Park
We had a couple of hours time after breakfast on Sunday morning before leaving for Bergen. Although it was raining on and off, we decided to make the most of the available time and, so, took a bus and headed for Oslo’s Royal Palace.
We got off at the National Theatre bus stop on Stortingsgata, Oslo’s Parliament Street, after a short ride from our hotel. The rain had, thankfully, abated.
We walked across the street to the adjacent National Theatre precincts. This theatre, opened in 1899, is Norway’s premier venue for the performing arts. There is a lovely park with fountains and pools in front of the theatre named the Studenterlunden. Further beyond the park is the Norwegian Parliament building.
Going past the National Theatre to its rear side, we walked across to the western end of Oslo’s most famous street, the Karl Johans Gate. Looking west from this fashionable street, we could see the Royal Palace at a distance, atop a small hillock, the Bellevue Hill. A regal, red-asphalted, broad drive swept up towards the palace. The Oslo Royal Palace was completed in 1849 and was built as a residence for King Karl Johan who, however, passed away before the palace was completed.
We walked up the gently ascending drive and climbed a broad flight of steps to reach the Castle Square or Slottsplassen in front of the royal residence. An equestrian statue of King Karl Johan adorned the Castle Square, looking out towards the street bearing his name.
The royal residence looked imposing from up close. On either side of the driveway which led to the palace were lovely, manicured lawns.
After briefly watching a ceremonial change of guards in front of the palace, we walked to the southern side of the palace. Here, we were allowed in past a cast iron gate to reach a beautiful little garden. This was the Queen’s Park or Dronningparken. A uniformed, grim-faced, ceremonial guard holding a rifle stood there watchfully, in front of his sentry box.
Walking further ahead past this pretty little garden, we reached a curving pathway which gently sloped down to our left. This took us to the sprawling Castle Park or Slottsplassen. This is an expansive, 220 acres of stunning greenery surrounding the Royal Palace, dotted with hundreds of grand old trees, placid water bodies, beautiful fountains and alluring walking paths. The place was serene and enchantingly beautiful!
We were thrilled to be there and walked around this beautiful park for a while. Unfortunately, the weather did not hold for long and it began to rain, yet again, forcing us to beat a hasty retreat.
Although visitors were being allowed to enter and tour the palace interiors, we decided to skip doing so as it was getting late for us. We went back to Stortingsgata near the National Theatre in the persistent drizzle and caught a bus back to our hotel. After reaching our hotel, collecting our bags and checking out, we walked up to the nearby Oslo Central Station.
By noon, we were to embark on our much-anticipated train journey from Oslo to Bergen, Norway’s second biggest city, in western Norway. It proved to be one of the most memorable journeys that we have ever had.
(To be continued in Part 11)
