A Norwegian Holiday (Part 4)
Kirkegata, Oslo Opera House, Karl Johans Gate and Oslo Cathedral
Leaving Akershus fortress, we crossed a drawbridge over the moat and reached a bridge spanning a street passing underneath it. Crossing this bridge, we climbed down at the other end to reach a vast park-like area with many trees. On one side of this area was an extensive field, at one edge of which stood an elegant, three storey building with turrets. This was the Festningsplassen or Fortress Square, the venue of many military ceremonies. The elegant building was the Commander’s Residence. It was in front of this building that the Nazis surrendered to the Norwegians at the end of WWII after five years of occupation.
We wandered around this beautiful spot for a while. We, then, left Fortress Square passing a couple of military check posts and reached one end of a quiet, leafy street named Kirkegata. We stopped by to admire yet another charming building, the Armeens Depot, dating back to the early 19th century and, at present, housing offices of the Norwegian Military.
Stunningly beautiful flowering plants, planted in huge, wide-mouthed flower pots, adorned many sections of this street. We saw such huge flower pots kept on the pavements in many parts of Oslo. Interesting to note, I understand that these huge flower pots are placed as barriers in an attempt to protect pedestrians from potential terrorist attacks that are carried out by driving vehicles deliberately onto pavements!
Walking further ahead, we reached a little park, the Grev Wedels Plass, one of several such beautiful parks in Oslo. On the farther side of this park stood a quaint, tile-roofed building which was originally built as a military hospital in the early 19th century. It houses the Norwegian Music Council now. In one corner of this beautiful park was the statue of a nude lady, known as Hanne pa Stranden (I understand, it translates as ‘A Lady on the Beach’). Oslo’s streets have a number of such sculptures — of both nude men and women — as well as those of animals and birds.
After resting for a short while in this lovely park, we continued walking along Kirkegata’s neat, tree-lined pavements bedecked with flower pots. We passed a number of imposing buildings and pretty little parks with fountains and some quiet, leafy alleys with nude sculptures. In some places, bicycles had been kept for hire.
After a while, greatly exhausted from walking around since morning, we took a bus, which took us to Oslo Central Station. We went back to our hotel and slept for a while. An hour later, refreshed after our siesta, we set out again. Although 6.30 in the evening, being summer in Norway, it was extremely bright and sunny even at that time.
It was to Oslo’s modern Opera House located nearby that we went next. Located just about ten minutes away by foot from our hotel, it is an iconic piece of modern architecture on Oslo’s waterfront.
Made of white Carrara marble, granite, aluminium and massive glass panels, this was designed to supposedly resemble a huge iceberg floating on water. This architectural landmark, which opened in 2007, has been constructed in such a way as to allow people to walk all over it, including on its massive roof which slopes down to ground level and serves as a large waterfront plaza overlooking Oslofjord and the City Centre. The interior of the building has large, oak-panelled walls designed in an undulating, wave-like pattern. In addition to performance stages, rehearsal rooms and studios, this impressive building has a large foyer and restaurants which open out to the waterfront.
From atop the huge, sloping roof of the opera house, one could get a good view of Oslofjord and the adjacent Oslo waterfront and city centre. In the bay adjacent to the opera house was a quirky art installation made of glass and steel named, ‘She Lies’. And, next to the opera house stood a famous art museum with a bizzare design, the Munch Museum (it has been criticised as resembling stacked handrails!), dedicated to the world-renowned Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch, whose famous painting, ‘The Scream’ (‘Shrik’ in Norwegian), has been considered a icon of modern art.
From the Opera House, we moved to Oslo’s famous Karl Johans Gate on the other side of ‘Oslo S’. Karl Johans Gate is a fashionable, pedestrian-only street, more than a kilometre long, that runs from Oslo Central Station (‘Oslo S’) in the east to the Norwegian Royal Palace sitting atop a small hillock in the west (‘Gate’, a suffix seen in many street names in Norway, seems to refer to ‘gata’ or street in Norwegian). The eastern section of the street is predominantly a shopping district and the western part has a number of government buildings like the Parliament, the National Theatre, the Royal Palace etc..
We walked along the busy street passing some impressive buildings, old and new, and many fashionable shops, hotels and restaurants. Of note was the Basarene (Bazaars), a semicircular, red-brick building which encloses a market place within. Built in the early 19th century, these were originally stalls for butchers.
Abutting this was another red-brick building, the Brannvakten (the old fire station) of similar antiquity. The fire station has a tower and this, interestingly, was used to dry water hoses. The fire station stands next to Oslo Cathedral and the cathedral tower was once used as an observation tower by the fire brigade to look for signs of fire in the city.
Right next to the Brannvakten, in a leafy compound, stood the lovely old Oslo Cathedral (Oslo domkirke). As we walked up to the cathedral, we found a circular platform filled with iron sculptures of roses. This is ‘Iron Roses’, a memorial created to commemorate the victims of a terrorist attack in Oslo which claimed 77 lives in 2011. Thousands had placed roses in memory of the victims in front of Oslo Cathedral after that attack.
We entered this beautiful Lutheran cathedral through its western door that faces Stortorvet Square. As we entered, an organ recital was going on, adding to the charm of the place.
Built in the 17th century (1697), this is the church that is used by the Norwegian Royal Family for weddings and funerals. The ceiling had large murals and the altarpiece was a depiction of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Beautiful stained glass windows, a creation of the acclaimed Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland (whose stained glass window work also adorns Akershus castle), added to the splendour of the cathedral.
After spending some quiet time inside the cathedral, we strolled across to the adjacent Stortorvet, a public square. A statue of King Christian IV, after whom Oslo was earlier named Christiania, stood in the centre of this plaza.
We were amused to see a number of trolls kept for display in the nearby shops. Trolls are mythological beings in Norse folklore who are believed to live in caves. They are considered evil creatures and are believed to abhor human beings. They are depicted as ugly beings with a large nose and bulging eyes and are believed to turn into stone when exposed to sunlight.
Walking further ahead along the charming Karl Johans Gate and passing by its quiet bylanes adorned with beautiful flowerbeds, imposing old buildings looming on either side, we, once again, reached Stortinget, Norway’s Parliament which we had passed that morning. The building, made of yellow bricks, looked different in the rays of the evening sun. At one end of the square in front of the Parliament Building, Eidsvolls Plass (named after Eidsvoll, the place where Norway’s constitution was adopted), stood a statue of Johan Sverdrup. Sverdrup was a very influential politican in 19th century Norway who was also its first Prime Minister and is considered the father of Norwegian parliamentary democracy.
Moving to the other side of Stortinget, we came to another imposing old building overlooking a square with fountains and gardens in the midst of which was a bust of Johan Wessel, a famous Norwegian poet.
We sat and rested for a while there. Then, exhausted from our day’s extensive wanderings in Oslo, we took a bus back to our hotel and had dinner and retired to our room. We had walked 17 kms that day! And, no sooner had we hit the sack than we fell fast asleep.
(To be continued in Part 5)
