Norway in a Nutshell, part 4 – Vigeland Installation at Frogner Park in Oslo

So, in the previous post, I mentioned that there is a park in Oslo that displays hundreds of sculptures of nude humans in the most bizarre positions that you could imagine. That would be the Vigeland Installation at Frogner Park. I won’t do much explaining – the photos will speak for themselves.

Upon entering the park, you’re greeted by gates that illustrate nude women or men walking alongside each other. Rather than solely nude, some internal body structures, such as muscles and bones, seemed to be highlighted here too.

The sculptures in the park are works of Gustav Vigeland, a Norwegian sculptor. I was rather impressed at all the different positions that were presented by the sculptures, most of them very peculiar while some even resembled the art of acrobatics.

Here are some of my favourite ones…

…in more acrobatic positions. The one with the man and the four babies was probably the one that stood out the most for me. I wondered if he was actually an ogre that ate babies…or a dad that just really liked juggling?

Not a fan of the single baby ones, mainly because they (or just the angry one) remind me of crying babies. Sorry, just not that fond of babies most of the time…

I’ll end this post with the Monolith, which is a gigantic column of nude figures embracing or just wrapped around each other, a clear phallic symbol. And with this we conclude the Norway series, have a nice day 🙂

Norway in a Nutshell, part 3 – Oslo, the capital of Norway

Though Oslo isn’t officially part of the Norway-in-a-Nutshell itinerary (read about part 1 and part 2), it was one of the endpoints and served as the base of my short exploration of Norway. I had actually considered going to Oslo during my earliest solo travel adventures, when I was staying in Belgium. But after finding out that Oslo Rygge Airport (with unbelievably cheap Ryanair flights from Belgium) was >60 km from Oslo itself, I gave up the thought of a weekend trip to Norway. (I ended up going to Luxembourg instead, a much more feasible choice from Belgium.) Alas, the trip to Oslo finally happened 6.5 years after its earliest inception – better late than never, right!

With all the gorgeous natural sites that Norway has to offer, I think Oslo is often overlooked as an interesting city to visit. I felt similar when I was reading reviews about Warsaw, the capital of Poland which is skipped by many who preferred to visit Krakow instead. Well, turns out that I really liked Warsaw, so this once again proved that online comments are to be taken with a grain of salt 😛 Time to head out and see what Oslo is really all about! (The trip was three years ago so I have to recall a lot of the locations from vague memory…!)

It was mid-October and thus mid-autumn when I arrived in Oslo. The changing foliage transformed Oslo into a golden city, certainly a different type of beauty compared to the quintessential fjords and valleys of Norway, but no less impressive and spectacular.

City exploration here and there. These photos were taken around the Akershus Festning (Fortress), located right by the waterfront in the city centre.

Encounters by the waterfront included a seagull and a sculpture of a nude lady. And this would be the first of the many more sculptures that I’d see in Oslo.

Seems like Oslo loves its nude sculptures and here’s another one in the city center, right in front of the City Hall. In fact, there is a huge park dedicated to sculptures of nude humans arranged in all sorts of bizarre, twisted positions. It was so peculiar that I have decided to dedicate an entire post to it…coming soon!

Let’s return to the autumn displays, shall we. Somehow this post has turned out to be more of an appreciation of autumn colours than a tour of Oslo itself, and I don’t mind that. The trip itself did not focus so much on landmarks and tourist attractions and was more like a leisurely walk in the park.

I guess it is fitting that I arrived in Europe for the first time in the autumn and now I will leave it behind in the same season. Oslo, being the final new city I visit before I end my days of long-term residence in Europe (as I had mentioned in the first Norway post), will remain in my mind as that place that, with the most beautiful golden season, bid me farewell on behalf of Europe.

I’ve always liked seeing cities in the evening, and the Opera House in Oslo offered a wonderful view of the harbour. If there’s a colour that’d remind me of Oslo other than gold, it’d be blue – deep, dark blue that represents the seas and skies against a harbour that is lit up in the evening.

Another view of the waterfront from the Opera House, with the “Gule Sider” building on the right (I’m guessing it’s the “Gule Sider” from searching Google Maps and images).

I said at the beginning of the post that Oslo is overlooked as a travel destination but I was glad to have stayed and explored for a couple of days. Not as glamorous as say, Prague or Paris or Budapest or Rome, but there was a certain sense of comfort and freshness wandering around in a city that wasn’t just full of touristy landmarks. With this, my short trip to Norway came to an end, as did my days in Europe… 😦

Footdee, Aberdeen

Aberdeen is the final Scottish city for me to visit before leaving Glasgow for good, and I went on such a perfect day! You really have to wish for luck with sunny weather in Scotland, and I was blessed with a full day of sunshine in Aberdeen. To be honest, my impression of a city largely depends on the weather on the day of my visit, which is unfair. As a result, I loved Aberdeen, while I could also say that I’d probably have loved Antwerp if I had visited on a good day and not gotten soaked…

Hidden in a corner of Aberdeen is the tiny fishing village of Footdee, reached by walking the entire length of the beach promenade and turning into a secluded section of the city. After having walked halfway, I reached what I THOUGHT was Footdee, and was about to turn back. But then, Google Maps told me that I had to keep going a bit farther, and so I did. And I’m glad I did, because Footdee was such a lovely little community!

There are 20 of these anchors scattered over Aberdeen for charity purposes, and this one, named Grace, stood at the edge of Footdee.

Upon entering Footdee, I was greeted with several rows of houses that resembled old huts. Everything seemed so tidy and each house was unique in its design and decorations, as you’ll see soon.

The owner of this house seemed to have a liking for birds, butterflies, and garden gnomes. And oh, look how blue the sky was!

Say hi to the official football gnome of Scotland!

Here’s another house whose owner seemed to have spent a lot of time decorating the front yard with lots of sculptures and toys.

A storage hut welcomes you with hugs and kisses…or maybe just kisses.

This has got to be one of my favourite displays – a kissing couple, a lady at the beach, and a superstar gnome. These were wiggling figurines but of course I could only capture still images, so just imagine that they were grooving left and right.

And on the other side of the house we have another lady (with a rather large derrière) at the beach, a bagpipe-playing Scot, and…what I could only imagine to be Mr.Trump!?!?!

Moving on to the next house, this one might have housed an old sailor…

…but this slightly strange-looking guy guards the door and says hi…???

On the other side of the green house stands a pretty peacock…

…and another (almost) kissing couple.

A happy family…

…and another happy family? Or is it the same family dressed differently? Hmmmm…

And that was the end of my random wanders around little Footdee, a walk that took no more than an hour but gave me plenty of surprises!

The Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies

The wee town of Falkirk in Scotland is known mainly for two things: the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies. Being a mere half-hour train ride from Glasgow, I’m surprised that Falkirk remained unvisited until last weekend. With the possibility of leaving Scotland by the end of the year, I decided that I had to see the Kelpies lit up during the night and that would have to happen before daylight savings time started, when it wouldn’t get dark till well past 8pm. That meant that a stop at the Falkirk Wheel was also anticipated, though it was raining ever so lightly on the day that I went. No matter – it was destination Falkirk, rain or shine!

The Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel

The Union Canal

Falkirk from the top of the Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel is the world’s only boat lift constructed as a part of the Millennium Link project (completed in 2002) to connect the Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal. The two were originally connected by a series of locks, and the wheel was proposed as a replacement. I’m not an engineer so I’m not going to elaborate on the engineering aspects of the wheel, though I do remember the guide mentioning that it saves time and uses a significantly lower amount of power to move boats between the canals. Visitors get to experience the wheel in action by boarding a boat, which is lifted 25 metres from the Forth and Clyde to the Union Canal. The boat then travels a short distance on the Union Canal before returning to the starting point. To me the ride itself was nothing out of the ordinary, and it was more of a “been there, done that” thing for me, though perhaps true engineers would appreciate the wheel for what it is more than I do.

The Kelpies

The Kelpies by Andy Scott

The Kelpies by Andy Scott

The Kelpies by Andy Scott

Kelpies lit up at night

The Kelpies by Andy Scott

I did look forward to the Kelpies a lot more than I did to the Falkirk Wheel simply because of my love for public art, especially murals and sculptures. The Kelpies are the largest sculptures of horse heads in the world, though I kind of wonder where else you’d find a sculpture of the head of a horse. Outside of high season (April to October, I think) the bus that usually takes you directly to the Kelpies doesn’t run, so I had to walk about 20 minutes from the nearest bus stop. It was a worthy walk, however, and I found the Kelpies to be rather impressive! I’ve seen other works by the artist who made the Kelpies, Andy Scott, including “Rise” in Glasgow and “Carmyle Heron” in Cambuslang, and I quite liked his style, so the Kelpies certainly didn’t disappoint! They were especially beautiful during the night, though I kind of wished that they’d be lit up in warm colours to have more contrast with the dark sky – but no complaints!

A stroll around Falkirk

Of course, I had a chance to walk around Falkirk a bit, so it wasn’t all just about the wheel and the horse heads. Top left: A beautiful house that I passed by near the train station. Top right: Spring time is coming? Bottom left: A row of trees reflected in water by a trail around the Kelpies. Bottom right: A lit path leading from the Kelpies to the town centre.

Though the weather wasn’t all that great when I visited Falkirk, I had a good time and especially enjoyed finally seeing the Kelpies after having told myself to go and see them for over two years! Better weather seems to be more promising in the upcoming weeks – bring it on, spring!

London in a weekend

When I was living in Bordeaux, Paris was easily within reach. 3 hours by high-speed train and you’re there – and it would cost as low as 20€ one way! Even if I wasn’t able to get a hold of the cheap ticket, being a student and under 27, I was still entitled to reduced rates, so visiting Paris was like taking a stroll in the backyard. In the UK, the equivalent to Paris is obviously London. However, visiting London from Glasgow isn’t as straightforward. The most direct way – by train – isn’t necessarily the fastest, as it takes at least 4.5 hours to get to London. If I choose to fly, the flight itself is a little over an hour, but fussing with airports here and there would easily add another 2 or 3 hours to the trip. The biggest issue is cost. A one-way flight would set me back around 10£ (if I’m super lucky) to 25£ (approximately 13-33€), whereas the train…anywhere from 40-100£, as I don’t qualify for student discounts anymore.

So what I’m trying to say is (1) take advantage of being young and travel with your discounts and (2) it is not so easy getting to London 😦 As a result, London hasn’t really been “a stroll in the backyard”, and I didn’t get as many chances as I wanted to visit the British capital ever since settling down in Glasgow. The first “real” chance came two weeks ago, when I decided to spend a weekend in London and explore the city casually. I had done all the major tourist attractions 5 years ago and so this time around, all I wanted to do was wander, take the red double-deck buses to random places, people-watch, and hopefully like this metropolis more than I liked Paris 😛

The weekend was quite rainy but I had a stroke of good luck as the morning of my arrival was still relatively rain-free. My first destination was Hyde Park, which had a beautiful rose garden where I could sit down and enjoy the presence of flower, the sun (gasp), and people.

Summer? While the weather wasn’t very convincing, the flowers in the rose garden certain did scream, “Summer!” It happened to be the day where the celebrations for the Queen’s 90th birthday was taking place at the nearby Buckingham Palace, and while I did pass by the huge crowds, I opted to spend my time more tranquilly rather than join in the festivities. I’m sorry, Queen. I respect you, but I think seeing your bright neon green hat for one split second was good enough for me. Please excuse me while I enjoy Hyde Park instead of going to your party 🙂

Located at Hyde Park Corner is the New Zealand War memorial, which was established to commemorate the loss of New Zealand’s lives during the two world wars.

The one place I really wanted to visit was what was known to me as “an area around Hyde Park”. I remember passing by on a bus and seeing some very interesting sculptures along one large avenue, and thinking…I must go and see them up close! I didn’t end up going to the actual avenue – and I WILL get there next time! – but I did see cool sculptures here and there. Sculptures, along with murals, are my favourite types of city-wide public art. I’m sure there are so many more to discover around London!

As I was supposed to pick up some friends from Euston station in the afternoon, I stopped by King’s Cross, which was right next to Euston. This is where Harry took the train to Hogwarts! Quite an impressive structure, inside and out.

While wandering around the King’s Cross area, I passed by this very colourful corner, which is located at Belgrove Street and Euston Road, and I liked it! It seems like London is full of surprises and awaits more exploration!

One of my missions during this stay was to take a trip to Lanka, a cake shop run by Japanese pastry chefs. This little place was recommended by a friend, and while it took a bit of travelling to reach as it wasn’t centrally located, it was definitely worth the trip! With my companion, we ordered a green tea panna cotta and a yuzu mousse. I think the panna cotta had the strongest green tea flavour I’ve ever tasted out of any green tea flavoured food – good stuff! The cakes were rich in texture but not overwhelmingly heavy, and the best thing was that they were not too sweet. Truly a perfect balance of taste, texture, and aesthetics! If we weren’t already full from having lots of snacks and street food before hand, we would have certainly ordered other ones :O

That was the end of the first day and the rest of the time was spent with some of my buddies catching up and wandering. As a result I didn’t take many photos on the second day. I will say, though, that while London is crowded, has terrible traffic, and is super expensive, I don’t dislike it nearly as much as I dislike Paris. In fact, I might even go as far as to say I quite like London, just like I did 5 years ago. For some reason London intrigues me more so than other huge cities, and I will gladly go back for a truly solo trip where I could get to know more of the city and its secrets. I’ll have to have another long weekend though, and hopefully score some plane/train tickets that won’t empty my wallet. Oh, and a train trip back to Glasgow that doesn’t experience a 5-hour delay (longer than the actual trip, which was only supposed to be 4.5 hours) would be nice, but that’s another tale for another day…