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We have been blessed with a beautiful day today as it was forecast to rain. Our tour is to the Hadeland Glass Works factory.
Some background on Oslo – it was founded around 1,000 AD and is the capital of and most populous city in Norway. Destroyed by a fire in 1624, it was moved a bit and rebuilt as Christiana (it was named after their king Christian). It is the economic and governmental center of Norway and the hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important center for maritime industries and trade in Europe. You may recall the winter 1994 Olympics where held in Lillehammer, whose snow-capped mountains we could see in the distance.
We took a 90 minute coach ride starting with a brief city tour and then rode through some beautiful countryside. In the city we saw both beautiful multi-story, multi-use buildings typical of most European cities but also modern buildings including many interesting glass-clad ones. Almost immediately we saw cast iron chairs without seats sitting randomly around a small park on the side of the road. This is the site where three ships departed with 750 Norwegian Jews headed to Stettin and then Auschwitz. We also passed along Henrik Ibsen’s Gate (boulevard) and saw where that famous 19th century playwright lived and ate lunch and dinner, while spitting food he didn’t like out the window onto people walking past. Ibsen is the most performed dramatist after Shakespeare and a major source of pride for Norway! We also passed by the Nobel Institute where a 5 person committee selects recipients of the 5 Nobel prizes every year as well as the Oslo City Hall where the award is given out. While Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was Swedish, he founded the award in Oslo.
During the war, a German, SS-related organization called Lebensborn had the goal of getting “Pure” Aryan men to “breed” with pure Aryan women to repopulate with appropriate bloodlines. We passed the Klekken Hotel about 45 minutes outside town. Apparently, it was here that the organization basically supervised the rape of Norwegian women by German soldiers with the goal of impregnating them in order to build future generations of pure Aryans. The Klekken Hotel is still in business and operates as a hotel still as well.
About an hour out of town, while traveling along the very modern and smooth highway we passed the small island where the brutal massacre took place in July 2011. You may recall that a lone gunman, dressed as a policeman, shot and killed 69 children at an island youth camp. This was the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II and a survey found that 1 in 4 Norwegians knew “someone affected by the attacks”. It was very sad to remember this event, but happy to hear from our guide how the Norwegian people have stood tall. Hundreds of thousands regularly attend events to show their support of “love and life” proving they will not to be broken by individuals who take it upon themselves to hurt and kill. You’ll see one of the gallery pictures with a couple islands. It is the farthest island.
The glass works factory was nice and it was impressive to watch the workers handling 500+ degree molten glass in their demonstration area which is actually a real production line. They were making brightly colored lamp covers (looked like bottles) and wine glasses. It takes a highly skilled individual to handle, blow, form and cut the wide assortment of glass products and almost all of the process is done by hand! We came to appreciate a little more all those wine glasses we use every day. The facility had several nice retail stores and a couple places to eat.
Since the weather was nice, our guide decided to take us on a side trip on the way back to the ship. The coach wove it’s way up a steep and twisty road to a lookout area on the edge of a cliff. We had a great view of the many lakes and distant glaciers. There was a base jump area and 2 guys were there waiting for the wind to change direction before they jumped. When we walked down we noticed there was a drop-off about 30 feet from the area where we stood – this was the edge the base jumpers would leap from with their wing shaped parachute. Up above, across the dirt road, there was even a wooden launching ramp of sorts since this was so heavily used by parasailers. Across the lake was the longest ski flying ramp in the world. I guess Norwegians like risky activities!
We had to be careful not to step in the deer and elk scat as we went to take pictures and was surprised when suddenly, one of the guys in our group, came running past us heading straight for the edge! At first we thought he was joking around, but then we realized that he couldn’t stop! Very scary. He ended up throwing himself to the ground about 10 feet before the cliff. He was really lucky that he didn’t hurt himself, in fact, after he came to a rest on his bottom, he didn’t miss a beat as he grabbed his camera and started taking photos of the vista! There are a couple pictures of him sitting on his rear end down the hill and another of him walking back while picking out stickers from his arm. We overheard him telling his wife when we were back on the coach that he had taken 2 big steps to avoid stepping in the scat only to realize that his momentum kept him going toward the edge. He could have easily hurt himself, or any one of us if he had run into someone, or gone over the edge and the 200+ foot drop off. A little too much excitement and a good lesson to be careful and mindful of more than just what you step in!
Heading back down the hill we noticed that a couple of the houses had sod roofs with lots of plants growing on them. We also noticed that almost all houses had tile (usually red) roofs and had ladder steps built into the roof heading up to the chimney. Seems they need to get up on the roof in the winter to keep the chimney clear of snow. On the outskirts of town we passed a very small island with a Danish flag. Apparently, the joke is that the Norwegians call this island Denmark as their way of saying they are superior.
Back on the Marina Margaret decided to take it easy while Dale took off on a walk about town. Since Marina was only a short walk to the famous Opera House and downtown area it took only a couple hours to have a look around. It was a glorious day with lots of white puffy clouds and the crowds were out. It was nice to be able to see what the locals do on a beautiful Friday afternoon. What they do is lay out in the sun around the Opera House, the numerous parks, gather at the outdoor cafes and just have a great time. The Opera House was designed by a local architecture firm Snøhetta. In fact, Norway has a reputation for famous modern architects, one of which designed the new World Trade Center buildings. The Opera House appears to be growing out of the adjacent water with very angular walls and roof covered in Italian marble and white granite. You can even walk to the building’s roof on stars or smooth marble.
All the Baltic countries we are going to visit have the sea as a major part of their history and today we could see how much they love their boats. There were plenty out enjoying the sunshine as we sailed away on what had to be the most beautiful day of the year for them. After doing a little reading, taking a brief nap in the warm sunshine, and taking some departure pictures we had a dinner at Toscano, the Italian-themed restaurant on Deck 14, Aft.
Margaret’s Top Picks:
Oslo Full Gallery: