The Baboon Congress, Travel

A Slow Slog In Oslo

54 Comments

Today’s guest post comes from Jacque.

​Hallo Baboons, from Norway.

This  blog comes to you from our apartment in Oslo after a somewhat miserable stay in this city.  

We have experienced an Oslo tour of various kinds of construction:  buildings from the ground up;  road construction and reconstruction, and some big mess of construction near the beautiful Oslo Opera House.  This construction tour in combination with the Norwegian Easter Holiday (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and the following Monday) disrupted our time here–Museums are closed for re-modeling, transportation lines in vital areas are closed and sidewalks are gone which is rendering our beloved Rick Steve’s books useless.  
 
​We arrived Monday on a bumpy flight from Amsterdam which left me dizzy and nauseous.  Then we found a broken elevator in the building in which we rented a fifth floor apartment.  Climbing the five flights of stairs with luggage also left us dizzy and nauseous.  This will result in my request for a partial refund from the apartment owner.  Lou contracted a cold on Tuesday.  By Thursday, I had it as well.  

Oslo Opera House
Viking Ship Museum
Folk Museum
Construction!
Folk Museum

We had a somewhat frightening encounter with a mentally ill man on a tram.  He chose to rant in clear, understandable English about the Norwegian government, about refugees, about his music which he was blasting on a small, entirely too portable speaker system capable of maximum volume!  This Tram Driver stopped to reason with the guy, prompting most of the passengers to flee.  I swear the passenger was channelling the Norse Rush Limbaugh.

This experience was the ugly underbelly of travel!
 
​We did, however, have several wonderful days sightseeing: On Friday we took the train over the “top of Norway” from Oslo to Bergen.  This 300 mile trip was scenic and thrilling.  We travelled above the tree line through a glacier into ski-resort country. The Norwegian Folk Museum was interesting and detailed about the regions of Norway.  They also had a beautiful display of Norwegian Folk Art that seemed so….familiar.  And we met a Tram Driver who really should have been a tour guide somewhere.  He gave us an informative and knowledgable recap of Oslo on his break, which he chose to spend talking with us.    
 
 
​How would you create a great tourist experience for visitors to your town?

54 thoughts on “A Slow Slog In Oslo”

  1. Good morning, baboons. tim, I hope you’re OK? Please check in when you can so we know that you’ve been released from the hospital.

    Another nice post, Jacque. Too bad your time in Oslo wasn’t more enjoyable. I was wondering whether you were aware when you booked your trip that Easter, all over Europe, even in the not very religious Scandinavian countries, is a holiday where everything pretty much shuts down for four days? It sounds as if you had some memorable moments even if they were not particularly enjoyable at the time!

    I love showing visitors my favorite places. This has always been true for me, no matter where I have lived. While still in Denmark, I made friends with perfect strangers simply by showing them a little attention, kindness, and some of my favorite places. My favorite places can be historically significant or beautiful landscapes, but often they are merely locales where the local flavors really shine through.

    The Twin Cities have so much to show, and depending on the
    interests of the visitors, I’ll tailor the tour to them. The Capitol, the St. Paul Farmers’ Market, Hmong Town, Summit Ave, the River Road, the Sculpture Garden, the lakes. Museums galore, places of historical interest, and little enclaves of ethnic and cultural establishments that are fun to visit. If my in-laws are in town, the MOA is a must. I can just drop them off, and they’ll entertain themselves for days on end. They think of the US as one giant shopping Mecca, and the MOA is their idea of Nirvana.

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  2. Good morning. There are many good places to show visitor in the Twin Cities area. I think a tour could be custom designed to cover the interests of the visitors. Eating out at some of the excellent restaurants would be my favorite thing to do with visitors. After that going to hear some great local music would be another possibility high on my list. Art museums would be an additional top choice of places to go. There are some nice out door areas including the arboretum. Also, if the visitors are sport fans, at trip to see a game could be include. The list goes on and on.

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  4. I am a fan of finding the out-of-the-way, maybe not in a visitor’s guide places: little restaurants tucked into neighborhoods, a walk along Minnehaha Creek, maybe out to see a show at a theater that is not-the-Guthrie…the Institute of Arts is always a surprise for out-of-towners. Who knew that flyover country could have such a fabulous collection of stuff from all over the world and several centuries? (Well, we do, but I have lost count of the number of folks who go there for the first time and are stunned by the breadth and depth of the MIA collection.)

    Hope you are doing better today, tim.

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  5. OT, because that’s what I do around here now, happy May Day/International Workers Day/Beltane to all. Anyone else wearing red today? I did my ritual on May Eve, and today my roommate is going to spread the wildflower seeds that I blessed the beejeezus out of last night on the vacant lot down the block. Hoping to create a big honeybee and butterfly cafeteria out there…if the seeds don’t all wash away, that is.

    tim might be in having tests this morning, and that’s why he hasn’t posted, although what I hope is that he’s all packed up and on the way home right now. Keeping fingers crossed, dude.

    And, by the way, the papercutting exhibit at the Swedish Institute? So very worth it. When you go, remember to wear your walking shoes, because it extends to more than one floor. In the basement, there’s a little exhibit about an interesting writing project by Korean-American poet Ed Bok Lee.

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    1. I see that tim has “liked” this post and has shared it on Facebook also, so he’s among us even if he’s silent at the moment.

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        1. I’m betting he would give my husband a run for his money as being the most independently minded patient in the hospital. Don’t think compliance is very high on his list of virtues.

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    2. I made May baskets with tissue flowers last night (and a few candies). Got up at 5 to leave them on door handles. At two different houses, their motion-activated lights scared the beejezus out of me!

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  6. I also extend my best wishes to tim to get out of the hospital. They have done amazing things to my father’s heart-takes a licking and keeps on ticking! My town hasn’t much to show in terms of quaint and charming. Hustle, bustle, and lots of oil field traffic are the most noticeable features. Our sights are regional-the world’s largest holstein cow in New Salem, the enchanted highway metal statues between Gladstone and Regent, the Benedictine abbey in Richardton, TR national park in Medora, a really nifty dinosaur museum here in Dickinson, a coffee shop that used to be an episcopal church where TR once worshipped, huge sky, buttes, rattle snakes, domed Ukrainian churches, real cowboys with spurs jingling, rodeos, vast grasslands.

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  7. I’d send them on a tour of all the free stuff in town: Orphanage Museum, History Center, Louis Sullivan-designed bank, a tour of the stuffed animals in Cabela’s, and the Steele County Free Fair (assuming they came in mid-August), which is free entry, but rides and food are extra, although there is quite a bit of free entertainment.

    For exercise I’d put them onto our beautiful trail system, culminating in a walk through Kaplan’s Woods Park to see some deer in the hilly, wooded oasis.

    Dining options include an excellent little sushi bar, a recently added Italian ristorante, several locally owned restaurants with different cuisines, and three funky, unique coffee shops, one featuring gourmet cupcakes, another with a great atmosphere and vibe and offering gluten free food, and a third that can sell you what I think is the best cup of straight coffee in town (or a latte if that’s your preference) and a cookie still warm from the oven. In season, a lively farmers market offers fresh produce, baked goods, arts and crafts, and great people watching on Saturday mornings.

    Culture activities include locally produced plays, an active art center with frequently changing exhibits and numerous hands on classes, and dozens of musical offerings throughout town (many free or very reasonable).

    If you don’t leave town impressed with the bang you received for your buck, you weren’t trying very hard.

    Chris in Owatonna
    (I’d better notify the chamber of commerce that a mini flood of tourists will be flocking down from the Twin Cities in the next 24 hours!)

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      1. It’s a hoot, PJ. Pure Minnesota. Sort of the State Fair scaled down a bit. I’ll probably be judging the wines again (which is a story in itself). Aug. 12-17 this year. If you don’t mind walking a few blocks, you can often get a parking space on a street in the neighborhood. Otherwise parking’s usually around $5.

        Chris

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    2. We often drive over for the city square, the little book store, the ice cream, and a pointless troll through Cabelas.

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      1. Thanks, Clyde, forgot the mention the bookstore and the town square (free concerts Thursdays at 7:00 pm). Book store is nice if only to prove that they still exist and can survive (at least I hope it’s surviving).

        Chris

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  8. i have taken lots of folks around the twin cities and i try to tailor it to their personalities. the challenge gets to be a bit much with some business folk. they have a familiar set of things they enjoy and when they travel they have a hard time doing without. i think thats the trick is to find the local stuff done well. when the question was what would you do to show off your town i thought of eden prairie and had a tough time coming up with much of value to offer. so it is with the burbs. we dont want to pay the minneapolis and st paul taxes but you had better have the streets cleared when i want to go to the guthrie and the ordway dag nabbit.
    eden praire has a shopping area a little airport a couple of parks and some commercial warehouse office stuff along with houses full of right wing zealots and the largest somalian community in the area. it makes for an odd mix. the somalian community keeps pretty much to themselves and does a pretty good job of understanding when we screw up and have men talk to their women or women reach out to say hi to theri men that is against the rules and that is only the beginning of the differences.
    when i was a teen ager maybe early 20’s one of my good friends bought a house in eden prairie that was the house of one of our former school mates. he was a very handy guy and turned it into a eden prairie esque home but when you go inside you see the roots of the community. when his grandfather was dying and semi coherent he made a comment about the lean tos built onto the chicken shack justin lived in. i hadnt thought about it before that but i saw it form that point on. the original house was built with marginal materials with a strictly functional perspective on the 600 sq ft building with a tuck under garage. we threw an addition on then another and his lot got sold off in chunks and now with his kids grown up and moved out he is back to living in the main 600 ft of the house, we used to snowmobile on most all of the subdivisions that have popped up along the way since and the tought that we would park our snowmobiles outside the bar and grill at what is now the upscale shopping center is something my kids strongly doubt. there used to be a scenic overlook at the river bluffs that i would take dates to to view submarine races at. (i can still see that girls dad looking over the tops of his glasses as she told him we went to the submarine races last night. down below my house is where the old river road ran along the rivers edge and if you look hard there are sure signs of where the road used to be but there is a 25-30 year undergrowth since they cut off the raod and sold it off for lots. we always knew it was pretty and tranquil and the perfect place to go between classes to contemplate lifes deeper questions. eden prarie may not look like much to the naked eye but if you could see the panoramic shots in my head of the way it used to be it would be an even better tour.
    jacque i am sorry the airb2b reservations handcufed you to a city you didnt enjoy. i guess thats the risk you have to weigh. glad to hear overall it was ood and that olsos constructon , whackos and viral bombardment were the main downsides 2 out of 3 aint bad. edinbourough amsterdam and the 300 mile tour good oslo sucks it seems almost ok.
    welcome back. i love that final overnight in amsterdam. i always find interesting people food and adventures in such a wonderful city.
    see you back in eden prairie right next to one of those old snowmobile trails i used to do with a bottle of grog and no vision at all of what the tour of eden prairie would be all these years later.

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    1. Very nice, tim. So, where are you? Have you been released or are you still cooling your heels at the hospital?

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      1. university hospital is likely to have me for most of the day. they are non committal about letting me out of here. i gave my car away last night as the parking rates are easily able to pay for a taxi if they let me out at an inconvenient time

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  9. If I wanted a visitor to see the “real” Twin Cities, I’d make the same choices as others posting here. To my mind, the beating heart of the Twin Cities is that Lakes district, that glorious chain of lakes where people jog pushing baby strollers. I’d be sure to drive the roads along the river, maybe stopping at the Mill City Museum and Guthrie. I’d point out the lovely old Stone Arch Bridge. When I have visitors in Saint Paul, I always travel by Summit Avenue and we usually take a meal at W A Frost’s. The farmer’s markets would be high on my list, as well as the MIA, and maybe we’d get to Como Park. So many places I love and will miss!

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    1. Ah, but think of the fun of learning one of the best new cities in the US. And if you can, you need to go up to Seattle. Two great Cities that close. Ah, me.

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  10. that post started about 7 and the poking and proding interuppted my thought and led me down new paths of meandering thought trails. how unusual.
    i was a little light headed yesterday and decided to go to a new chiropractor and have him crack my blood pressure back into shape. he was very surprised to find my heat going very oddly and agreed to crack me if id call a doctor. i called the doc they snuck me in and saw the same reason for concern off to the hospital to watch te wild win the hockey game with electrodes and drips connected and this morning they have an idea of what they want to do but have to wait for the sick people ( this damn place is fuuullll of sick people) to be done with the test room they want for me. they want to be sure i dont spray blood clots all over the place before they zap me back into the proper mojo. i ahd to cancel my coffee meeting this morning and gave away my luncheon tickets arranged for my daughter to get a ride to voice lessons and will have to wait to see if i cancel the first thursday card game or more likely just let it go on if i am not there.
    thanks for all the concern. its hell to find out things arent as they should be. hopefully it will be a minor bump in the road and not a complete blowout .

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    2. If I could, tim, I would share the video of 8-month-old Jack Jack giggling for 90 seconds. Good medicine in that.

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  11. Take care tim. God bless.
    A tour of Mankato–we have done that, but other than showing people Glen Taylor’s house, there is not much to see. Not that his house is much to see, except it belongs to a billionaire, who I hope votes right on Sterling thing. (funny, isn’t it, that Sterling and Silver are the two key players in that sad tale?) We show the Betsty-Tacey houses if people know who that is, but few do.
    We used to live on the North Shore, which is a place to give tours.
    Jacque, my wife and daughter were stuck standing on a very crowded bus in Rome. Men on opposite sides of them got in a verbal fight. Then they started spitting at each other. Becca and Sandy were caught in the cross-fire. Then the men tried to punch each other and Becca got hit. Not badly, but the driver finally stopped to deal with it and the men ran out. No one cared a bit what had happened to Becca and Sandy. Makes a great tale.

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    1. Thinking of tim reminds me that when we lived in Prospect Park, we would drive over to the U and walk people around the campus. I guess that is why I think the Mn State campus here is so dull. That and the U of C campus, but few campuses come close to that.
      My son is fun to visit because he quickly learns the things to show to us, touristy and not touristy. He has shown us a few Cities this way. Hoping it will soon be one more.

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        1. They will call tomorrow to let him know if they want a next step with him or if he is out. His big issue is that he is over-qualified. So it will depend on how hos potential boss feels about that. He had two interviews yesterday with two other companies, one in LA, one in dot.com ville.

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        1. He would prefer they Easter interview. But now, also, he is interviewing for a one-year contract position with Billy Gates. They would not have to move, he could work some from home, and he could use the year for pursuing some other things. I like that last option the best. I think he does, too. For one thing he could stay in the Seattle area for awhile longer, which he loves, especially as a ohotographer.

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      1. Just read about it. Walking books are one of my favorites. Not sure how much this is about walking and how much about philosophy.

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  14. Based on when the kids were here last summer: The Foshay Tower was fun; lock and dam and the Stone Arch Bridge, followed by lunch at Kramarczuk’s. Kayaking, swimming on any one of the lakes, or skating (Lake of the Isles). If they’re here long enough for us to run out of our good spring water: a trip down to Miller Spring in Eden Prairie, coupled with a burger at the Lion’s Tap. If they’ve not been on light rail before, a trip out to MOA (or to/from the airport if they’ve flown here). And a trip to Birchbark Books (Louis Erdrich’s tiny store), Common Good Books (Garrison’s). Probably also Wild Rumpus, then go around the corner for free bread samples at Great Harvest Bread, ice cream at Sebastian Joe’s.

    Depending on their tastes, some music, theater, or dance performance… the variety here is amazing.

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  15. Spring will come, the prophet said,
    while slurping up his coffee.
    But then he blinked with wizened eyes,
    and choked upon his toffee.

    Spring will come, there is no doubt,
    with poesied care, the Bard did chime.
    But then he coughed and fell to ground,
    pierced with a broken iamb.

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  16. If money was no object, and I was in the mood I am in today, I would visit several ice cream shops (of the good stuff, not DQ) and intersperse that with visits to indie and secondhand bookstores. Weather permitting, go on a few nice hikes or bike on the Greenway. that’s all i can think of.

    get well soon, tim.

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  17. Late to the trail today, I see Minnehaha and the MIA have already been mentioned.

    In St Paul, we have a number of places we love: Crosby Farm area to hang out at the river, Landmark Center for the architectural joy of it, and while we are paying for the parking down there, Central Library and the Science Museum, then a jaunt to the Capitol and the History Museum.

    Our biggest issue with showing people around seems to be that they are in a lot bigger hurry than we are. 1 floor of the MIA is a day for us.

    Go easy on the hospital staff, tim.

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