Oslo, Norway
July 13 – 16, 2023
I flew overnight from Charlotte to Heathrow Airport in London starting the night of July 12. Since a business class ticket was not much more than coach, I had a lie-flat seat and slept well for the few hours between when they serve supper and when they serve breakfast. I had three hours between flights, and of course Heathrow managed to make them as difficult as possible. But I did get a good restaurant recommendation for Oslo from the people I stood in front of in one of the interminable lines. Finally I made it to the main waiting area for that terminal, as we watched the signs to see which gate to head toward. They like to wait until 30 minutes before the flight to tell you which concourse to take for a 20-minute walk to the gate. Somehow I managed to navigate the arcane processes at the gate and got on the flight to Oslo. There I took a train to a station near our hotel, and that all went smoothly. Lee was already there and helped me find the hotel. Torrey and his son Christopher wound up staying in the room directly above us. Lee had been in that time zone in Naples for a few days waiting for United to find his luggage that had made it as far as Cincinnati, so he had a head start on me in adjusting to the time zone.
In the morning we started our first real sightseeing by heading to the opera house and the Munch (pronounced "Moonk") Museum. Here are some pictures Lee took:
The Munch Museum has the 1910 lithograph of The Scream. We later saw the more famous 1893 painting at the National Museum.
We had lunch at the restaurant on top of the museum. Lee took this picture from there, as well as the one above of the opera house.
I took a cell phone picture of a big work of Munch in a special gallery.
With all the rain, they don’t have a problem with raising beautiful flowers.
On Saturday I went to an organ concert at the Lutheran cathedral, while Lee toured the fortress and museums in that area. Their summer organ concerts take place each Saturday in July and August. The 76-rank main organ originated in 1727, with 32-foot pedal stops added in 1932, and the current build was done in 1998. Grand-prize-winning organist Henrik Skærbæk Jespersen played works by Bruhns, Bach, Hartmann, Præstholm, Duruflé, Jongen, Vierne, and Dupré. His playing was flawless and exciting. I took a few shots of the church after the concert.
Lee took this shot of the Royal Box:
The church faces a large open plaza, the main square of Oslo.
Our hotel was near the parliament building, so I passed it often.
