Oslo, Oslo, NorwayYou get a very strange, yet calm feeling when walking the city-centre streets of Oslo.
You’ll come to a red light, for example, and stand there with a dozen or so locals waiting for it to turn green, even though there’s not a car in sight. And if you want to sit your arse on the edge of a giant flower pot, right in the middle of a street, no problem — you’ll not to see any cars there either.
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In 2019, the city of Oslo removed upwards of 700 parking spots in the city-centre. These spaces were replaced with bike lanes, planters and benches. The powers that be felt that the pollution from gasoline fired automobiles just wasn’t healthy for the people of Oslo. And as I sit on the flower pot, breathing deeply, in and out, I do believe they made the right decision. The air smells clean and fresh. Because Oslo had always relied heavily on maintaining good public transit, the move seemed natural for those who live here. Electric scooter and/or bicycle rentals are available on just about every street corner.
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The Oslovians are also very good at foreign word pronunciation. Elenka and I are staying at the Thon Cecil Hotel in Oslo, which has a buffet breakfast.
Upon entry, Elenka was asked for her name and room number. She gave the man the anglo pronunciation of her surname, ’Dur-jan-sik’. He naturally made a helluva mess of it. After she walked into the eating area, I stopped, looked at the man and pronounced her name slowly and phonetically, ’dooer-yan-chik’. Damned if the Oslovian didn’t hit it beautifully on his first try. I gave him a high five, and he responded with, ’Enjoy your breakfast, Mr. Dooer-yan-chik.’
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Yesterday morning, after a wonderful city hike, we took the tram to visit Vigelandsparken, which has 214 sculptures by Norwegian, Gustav Vigeland, over a 40 year span. The sculptures depict people of all ages and sexes, naked as jay birds, so that they would be considered timeless.
Majka
2024-07-27
Welcome to Europe :) What a lovely city. I like the sculptures and the fact that there is so many of them. Enjoy!
Irene
2024-07-27
Everything is so pristine almost looks untouched by human hands. Beautiful pictures display the beauty of the city and the obvious pride of the countrymen every street is so noticeably tidy clean and picturesque. All so inviting thanks for sharing.
Cate
2024-07-28
What a beautiful city…….the calmness I feel reading and seeing about this city reminds me of a calm not over crowed city of Toronto when I was young……..wonderful pictures …..enjoy your time 🤗
Valerie
2024-08-08
Great photos . I love the deep breathing in the middle of a clean city I’m not too sure if the nude statues
margo
2024-08-14
Great kick off to another fabulous adventure!