Susanna J. Sturgis: Writer • Editor • Martha's Vineyard

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Physics, Ferries, War & Peace

December 13, 2010

Monday in Oslo was half work and half play. The work part -- giving a last once-over to Kristin's "The Office" paper that's going to be published in a British journal, getting my receipts in order, and filling out forms for the accounting office -- didn't lend itself to pictures, but Kristin showed me around the University of Oslo, and I was struck by these murals in the foyer of the physics building.

The murals were overhead, on the ceiling. Moral of story: Look up!

After lunch in the cafeteria (very good), I headed back into town via the underground, which is above ground at the university stops (I got off at Blindern and on at Forskningsparken). At 1:30 the light was already dusky, but I still had a couple of hours before pitch-dark. My two missions for my last afternoon in Norway: (1) see the harbor, and (2) buy myself a sweater. As it happened, there was a Julemarked (Christmas craft market) down by the fjord, and that's where I found my sweater.

Trust a Vineyarder abroad to find a ferry -- and take a picture of it. In summer, ferries run to the various islands out in the harbor. This is a local ferry. Stena Line runs big car-carrying ferries between Frederikshavn (Denmark), Oslo, and Göteborg and Varberg (Sweden). No, I didn't compare their rates to those of the Steamship Authority.

From that dock you can take a sight-seeing cruise of the Oslo waterfront. The sign on the left says (in English)

OSLO SIGHTSEEING
FJORD CRUISE

December is not peak cruising season, however. I'll have to come back some other time. The sign on the right is for Bygdøy. Bygdøy is the part of Oslo where the Viking ships and the folk museum are. We took the bus, but (at least in warm weather) you can also get there by boat. I don't know anything about the two-master on the right; I just liked the look of it.

Exploring the Julemarked, I found a vendor selling sweaters, socks, and other wool stuff. The sweaters looked good and not exorbitant -- the ones I liked were 490 NOK, a little over US$80 -- but of course I had to think it over.

Across the plaza was the Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter). In conjunction with the presentation of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese peace activist, the center featured an exhibition of Chinese photography. Unfortunately, the sign outside said "closed Monday," and this was a Monday. So I strolled along the waterfront to Akershus Slott, also known as Akershus Festning. Festning means "fortress." With its thick stone walls and commanding height, festning it is.

The fortress was started in the very late 13th century (1299) and has been in continuous operation ever since. For several centuries it was a palace as well as a fortress. Who controls the castle controls Norway, goes a saying, and it's not hard to see why. The best access to Scandinavia is by sea, and the castle guards the marine gateway. Because time and, especially, daylight was short, I didn't visit the many inside exhibits, which include restored medieval and Renaissance era halls, dungeons, and a museum of the Norwegian resistance. The Nazis occupied it by default after they invaded Norway and the legitimate government fled. Vidkun Quisling, head of the Norwegian government that collaborated with the Nazis, was convicted of high treason after the war and executed here (in case you've forgotten where the word "quisling" comes from).

Pretty impressive walls, eh? I saw a mounted policeman ride through that gate.

During some wandering around downtown and a bus trip to take photos of the U.S. embassy, I decided that I really did have to have one of those sweaters, so back I went to the craft fair. By then it was dark dark dark. I took another photo of the neon sign outside the Nobel Peace Center.

What you can't see in the photo is the way the initial "S" flickers on and off, struggling to turn LAUGHTER into SLAUGHTER.

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