Oslo-The contemporary capital

Click here to read the first part of this series.

(tl;dr: Check out the pictures, they're pretty awesome.)

Astrup Feamley museum

As we walked through central Oslo that evening, visiting the churches in and around the area, we decided to visit a more modern part of the city. We boarded the tram to, what is now my most favourite European locality name, Aker Brygge. It was purportedly Oslo's most popular tourist haven. Disembarking from the tram, we strolled through the area. Everything there, from the small café to the small Italian restaurant by the roadside, reflected the leisurely, carefree lifestyle of the Scandinavians.

BMW i8

Some distance down the lane, a car exhibition was on in all its glory. The latest cars from around the world stood proudly. It was quite the sight, ultramodern, revolutionary cars like the BMW i8 and the Tesla Model S standing against the backdrop of a rustic Norwegian harbour guarded by a formidable medieval fortress. Reluctant to leave the spot, we slowly walked past, heading towards an impressive looking structure that would turn out to be the Astrup Feamley museum of Modern Art, set on it's own little island. Behind the museum was a small artificial beach and a floating pier that overlooked the idyllic expanse of the Oslofjord.

The Oslo parliament

Oslo is quite different from other major European cities. Cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Brusells seemed to cling to their past and the cities' architectural styles reflect the same. Oslo, on the other hand is one of the liveliest European cities you could possibly visit. With a flourishing economy backed by revenues pouring in from the North Sea oil reserves, the architectural style is primarily maritime and modernist, giving rise to a stunningly beautiful city, reveling in its stark contrasting styles. 

After getting what we thought was our heart's fill of the scenic Oslofjord and it's islands, we walked back towards the mainland. As we made our way to the Akhershus fortress on the opposite side of the harbour, the sun was setting on Oslo.

The Oslofjord

The fortress has been in existence for the last seven centuries, surviving the fourteen fires that had ravaged this 1000 year old city; witnessing the deady Black Death plague while half of Oslo perished and shifting between Danish and Swedish hands until finally falling back into Norwegian rule. 'A walk through the Akhershus fortress is a walk through Norway's history itself.' We perched on the grass topped, 30 foot high stone wall facing the Oslo harbour, with a sheer drop on the other side. The sun was still trying to set behind Oslo's ringed hills. Its efforts were in vain however, Oslo was far too north of the equator to give up daylight so easily. I was lost in the beauty of Oslo once again, small motorboats and vintage yachts were returning to harbour after a long day, Aker Brygge was winding down it's frenzied activity. From my high perch, I noticed something for the first time. A ring of low rising hills surrounded Oslo, making the city feel like a super massive open-air amphitheater. After spending the better part of an hour there, watching the sun reluctantly sink behind the hills and buildings, it was now my turn to be reluctant to leave. I slowly got up, savouring the moments of the last hour and made myself a promise to be back another day, far away in the future. 

Sinnataggen

We woke early the next morning, we had lots of ground left to cover. Set right in the heart of the city, covering a giant swathe of land, lies the Frogner park, dotted with hundreds of sculptures of the gifted renaissance sculptor Gustav Vigeland. When we reached the park, my reaction was one of total wonder. To say that the sculptures were 'out of the ordinary' would be an understatement. One sculpture depicted an angry father in the act of attacking four babies. Another depicted an angry boy, it was called the Sinnataggen, which understandably translates to, the 'Angry Boy'. Judging from the dense cluster of Japanese tourists surrounding the statue, photographing it with devices ranging from a DSLR to an iPad, I guessed that we'd found the most famous statue in the park. I would later find out out that I was right. The masterpiece, however, was the tall monolith at the centre of the park. Rising over 10 metres high, it depicts more than a hundred well detailed human figures rising towards the sky seeking salvation. As we tried to find shade wherever we could from the surprisingly fierce Oslo sunshine, I watched as Europeans walked by, 'enjoying' the heat. I didn't envy them, I would take the Indian summers over their winters any day.

The Fram museum

Our next stop was the Fram museum, a testament to the success of one who is probably Norway's most famous person, Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach both the North and the South Pole. When our MAN bus stopped in front of the museum, we were confronted by a very peculiar looking building. The 'museum' contained the entirety of the Fram, the special ship that Amundsen sailed in to conquer the South Pole. The Fram incidentally, holds the record for sailing the farthest north and farthest south than any other wooden ship. The first thing I noticed about the ship was it's peculiar shape. The ship had almost no keel! The keel of a ship is the fin-like structure under the hull which helps to stabilize the rolling of the ship in rough seas. Why did the Fram lack a keel, if it is such an integral part of any ship?

The Fram

The answer lies in the reason behind why the Fram was built. Reaching the North pole was not a straightforward prospect, for unlike the South pole, which is covered by the Antarctic land mass, the North pole is located in the middle of the Arctic ocean, which is almost constantly covered by drifting sea ice. With previous land expeditions to the North Pole repeatedly failing, Nansen planned on using the theorized ocean current flowing from east to west over the Pole, by sailing his ship into the ice and allowing it to freeze there. To prevent the ship from being crushed by the enormous pressures exerted by the ice, the rounded hull lacking a keel was designed so that it would slip out of and above the grip of the packing ice. The ship was built to house the crew and sustain them for five very cold years!

The next two hours, we spent in exploring the Fram, reading about Nansen's and Amundsen's expeditions to the poles and visiting the ship Gjoa, a smaller ship, housed in an identical building nearby. The Gjoa was used by Amundsen in his crossing of the Canada's treacherous North Western passage, another first. The museum was a chunk of history that would inspire any person, a silent nod to the limitlessness of human endurance and curiosity.

To think of a group of people voluntarily spending years on board a ship stuck in ice, a gutsy duo that attempted to reach the North Pole on dog sled with the nearest human presence thousands of miles away and over uncharted lands and seas; those are the kinds of things that make you sit up a little straighter and wonder how they did it and how many still do it. 

Oslo is a beautiful little city, exciting and full of life, certainly a must visit to any Norwegian traveler, although next time, I would rather travel to Northern Norway, to the rolling meadows, Fjords and valleys that represent Norway so famously on the world media.

Click on the pictures to get a bigger view.

The Oslo harbour

Inside the Fram

The Astrup Feamley museum

The Frogner Park monolith 

Aker Brygge

The Akhershus fortress

Roald Amundsen

Oslo-A modern European capital.

Oslo, the capital of Norway, is set well to the west and a bit to the north of Stockholm, capital of neigbouring Sweden. The journey by train to Oslo one filled with wonder and awe. The train journey takes you right across the heart of Sweden, from it’s archipelagic eastern borders to it’s greener, western country side dotted with birch trees. The slowly rising and falling hills of the Swedish landscape faded into the distance as the train covered the long miles to our destination. We stopped at various stations along the way with vaguely Russian sounding names: Karlstad, Kristinehamn, Ulricehamn; the rest slip from my memory.

I gazed at all the greenery around me and wondered; in the short month that lay between the snow and spring, the trees had managed to grow back all their leaves, flowers were blooming and the grass covered vast fields in the middle of which small clumps of trees stood like islands in the open sea. The scenery I was slowly taking in reminded me of Middle-earth, the fictional land from the books of my favourite author J.R.R Tolkien, with its untainted landscapes and perfect beauty described by skilful words and wonderful poems. The land walked by my favourite fictional characters, a land of strange landscapes and stranger people. During that journey, I could understand Tolkien as never before, and for that, I have only the Swedish people to thank, for preserving their lands and everything in it.

Oslo is not far from the Norway-Sweden border and is set on the banks of the Inner Oslofjord, a scenic inlet dotted with islands. We arrived in the Oslo Sentral Stasjon, a vast area set smack in the heart of the city. There from of the many counters manned by the kindly Norwegians, we purchased one day transport passes; all manner of public transport in Oslo was now accessible to us. We set off to our hotel immediately, for we were carrying quite a bit of luggage and we were anxious to cool off. 

Our hotel was called the Best Western Apartment hotel set in the Gamle Oslo, or the old Oslo locality. We were taken aback for a moment by the lavishness of the room we were given. For although the price for a one night stay was more than 10 times that of a similar Indian hotel, it was pretty cheap for European standards. Some rest, testing the wi-fi and a glass of coffee later, we set out for the tourist info centre, near the Oslo city hall.

Tourist info, you think might be cliched and no longer that necessary with the advent of the internet and online booking services, but no matter how much home work you do before coming to a city, the tourist info centre is THE place to go for the latest deals and advice on how to best use your passes. With help from a young Norwegian, we made a plan of everything that we should do over the two days.

Standing right by the info centre was the Oslo city hall. A majestic |_| shaped building, it was a splendid piece of architecture. Now, everyone knows that the Nobel prize ceremony is held in Stockholm every year, but what many don’t know is that the Nobel peace prize, won by the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and more recently, Barack Obama, is awarded every year in a ceremony organized in the Oslo city hall, the jury being entirely Norwegian. Not a very surprising decision on the part of Alfred Nobel, considering the peaceful nature of the peoples of Norway. A very short distance behind the city hall lies the Inner Oslofjord, and on its banks are many piers and pontoons moored securely and all manner of water transport lined them. 

We slowly walked by the ships, some were commercial ships and tourist ferries and some were sleek and dangerous looking Norwegian naval vessels. We had to walk a couple of kilometers to get on a ferry across the Oslofjord to the various islands. As we finally got on the ferry, the mid-summer sun that had been hiding behind scattered clouds all this while finally broke through and blazed with all its glory. Being completely exposed on the open top deck of the ferry, we tried in vain to ward off the sun with small tourist brochures. 

The beauty of the place however, made me momentarily forget the heat. Oslo was surrounded by green and gently rising hills. In the stark afternoon light, the clear waters of the Oslofjord sparkled like diamonds and the islands of the inlet rose out of the water like huge ships. Everywhere around there was a calmness, ships floated lazily in and out the harbour, tourists were busy clicking pictures and birds flew above slowly gliding on the gentle winds. Since Oslo, or any Scandinavian city for that matter, gets only a few months of summer, the locals use it to their best. Oslo has countless green spaces, large and small. The islands overflow with sun bathing tourists and in no time our return ferry was filled to bursting. Though on the bright side, now we at least had shade!

Once the ferry docked, we walked to the Opera house, a short distance away. Dazzling white, it was like a beacon even in the stark sunshine. It resembled a huge ice berg slanting out of the waters of the inlet. It was an amazing piece of architecture with an impressive view of the surrounding buildings. Just behind was a cluster of ultra modern buildings, the famous Barcode project. Those buildings really surprised me. Visiting many different European cities, I was under the impression that the central area of any European city would be a symbol of preservation and a haven of ancient buildings. Now here I was, staring at many high rises in the heart of the city. The reason for that I found out later, was that the whole area surrounding the Opera house had been under water, well into the 19th century. So all the buildings in the area are relatively modern. While this area had been excavated, archaeologists had found nine sunken ships in the waters!

                                                                                                                  -to be continued

This is the first part of a multi-part series on modern day Scandinavia. Please let me know if you enjoyed it and more importantly so if you didn't, as I am always looking for ways to improve. Thank you for taking time off to read the article, come back for more!

(Click on the images to get a bigger view.)

How to experience Helsinki in 6 hours

After spending 16 hours on a cruise from Stockholm, we finally docked at the Helsinki west harbour. We had around 6 hours to spend in Helsinki before catching the cruise on the return trip. Now, exploring any European city in 6 hours is not an easy task (or so we thought). So we had planned on visiting only the best attractions here and not waste any time at all.

(The thing about Helsinki is that it is a really, really small city and whatever important places are there to see can be reached by foot. So if you're a cruise visitor or are here for short visit, don't buy any public transport passes.)

1. The market square

Set near the waterline, the square is like any regular crowded, peaceful European market.  Navigating your way through the masses of people and the well aimed droppings from the evil sea gulls above, you are presented with a wide variety of shops selling sea food and souvenirs, and cafes and pastry shops. A very lively place and very popular with the tourists; just be careful if you're eating something, the seagulls are ruthless and experienced thieves!

2.  The Senate square

The heart of Heksinki and its most popular tourist spot, the square is surrounded by the Government palace, the Helsinki cathedral and the main building of the Helsinki university. The square is a popular concert location and also hosts a variety of art exhibitions. The most dominating feature of the square however is the humongous cathedral.

3. The Helsinki cathedral

At the north end of Senate square, rising high above the rest of the city, the cathedral, Tuomiokirkko in Finnish, is a feat of neoclassical architecture. It’s based on the Saint Isaac's cathedral in St. Petersburg and is a must see for all Helsinki tourists. (Seriously, don't miss it. There's nothing else to see here.)

4. The Rock church

As the name suggests, the church was excavated from solid rock. One of the most visited places in the city, it is a popular concert location due to its excellent acoustics. A great place to visit to get a few moments of silence and peace in a busy city.

5. The Parliament

An impressive building to behold, it is one of the few buildings worth seeing here in Helsinki. I would recommend visiting this along with the museum of contemporary art located just opposite.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

6. Stockmann’s department store

Yes, that’s how boring Helsinki gets. A department store becomes a famous tourist spot. However, it’s seven floors of goods make it worth seeing.

Helsinki was very disappointing, to say the least. When you go to an European capital, you want to be inspired; you want to drink in the long and glorious histories of the city and its people; you go there expecting a trip that would have changed you as a person. That is exactly what you get when you visit Amsterdam, Paris or Stockholm, or even little Luxembourg. Helsinki was not so. In the end, the six hours we thought to be too less, turned out to be too much for the city and we spent an hour on the ship doing nothing. 

However, all this said, it is a relatively new city, a few hundred years old, with no great history or even an old town. It is a peculiar mix of Sweden and Russia, but sharing it’s complete eastern border with Russia and originally being a part of Sweden, that’s no great mystery. Also, contrary to popular belief, Finland is not one of the Scandinavian countries, but rather the Nordic countries. Helsinki is a great city, no doubt, with a very important global foot print, it's just not for the casual tourist.

The Helsinki skyline

The Helsinki cathedral

Suomenlinna fort

A cruise in the Baltic

The Silja Serenade

Rising 13 stories high and over 200 meters long, the Silja Serenade is one of the largest cruise-ferries in the world. (Pronounced Seal-ya) Owned and operated by the Estonian shipping company Tallink, it has been in service for more than three decades, which is hard to believe because the ship is and looks surprisingly modern.

The Stockholm archipelago

Our ship took us through the Stockholm archipelago, a group of around 30,000 islands outside Stockholm. Set in the calm waters of the Baltic, the islands are picture postcard perfect. Some are uninhabited, just enough to accommodate a few trees, and some large enough to house entire towns. For the first few hours of the 16 hour journey, we traveled alongside these islands, marveling at their serenity and largely unspoilt ecosystems. 

If the sheer beauty of it wasn't enough to astound, the clean waters and the seemingly untouched islands added to it. In such a heavily shipped area with many people living on these islands, I couldn't spot a single piece of waste. Sea gulls, ducks and various other species of birds went about their business, living and thriving in peace.

When finally the last island was in sight, I was sad to see it go by. But the open sea was waiting, in every direction there was nothing but the bluish-black waters of the Baltic. I waited eagerly for my first voyage in the open sea.

The sun at 5 in the morning!

The Baltic is a very special sea, one of the largest bodies of brackish water in the world. (Brackish water is water with salt content somewhere between that of sea water and fresh water.) Throughout the trip, we would see patches of green scum on the sea surface, covering the sea surface around our ship for large distances. After lots of time spent on Google, I would later find out that the Baltic is home to the world's largest dead zone. These are areas devoid of any sea life, deprived of oxygen. The green scum we saw was actually residue left by the algal blooms that were causing the oxygen deprivation. Yick! The Baltic states are now in talks to solve this crisis. One of the proposed methods involve a giant pump to pump oxygen into the sea!

The night club on board the ship.

The ferry is a great way to commute between Stockholm and Helsinki, and have fun at the same time. They are dubbed party ferries on the weekends because of the duty free drinks and the people who can't get enough of it! They're pretty cheap too. Even a first class cabin for the round trip costs less than a 2 night stay in a decent to good New Delhi hotel. The Tallink group and the Viking group are two very popular ferry service providers.

We steamed into the Helsinki harbor the next day. But popular online bloggers advise me to limit my blog posts to less than five hundred words, so that will be a story for another day! 

Stay tuned to InsideEurope for more posts about travel in Scandinavia and travel hacks. Did you like the blog? Do you have suggestions or tips? Please give me a shout in the comments section below!

The main deck of the ship

The green scum on the sea surface. Signs of a dead zone.

The setting sun. But no night for Scandinavia, only a dusk and dawn!

Try spotting the horizon!

The island is not that small! That's how high the deck is!

 

Smart and functional cabins!

The Promenade deck of the ship

The ship's route across the Baltic

(Photo credits to my awesome family!)