Oslo (some say it means, in old Norsk, "meadow below the ridge") has a city seal which honors her 11th Century patron saint, St. Hallvard.
Seems he gave ship-board sanctuary to a slave girl falsely accused of theft. Her accusers killed both her and him with arrows, buried her on the beach and a millstone took him to the watery depths, so here he holds the stone and the arrows, and she lies at his feet.
With a wide network of trams, buses and subways, its easy to get around. A week-long ticket costs the equivalent of 5 individual trips, which can easily be done in a day or two, making it cheap to get around the city as well. The stops...
... have destination signs indicating the wait for arriving trams. Yes, "nå" means "now" and the 11 and 17 are pulling in.
Nice to see at least there is one person left reading newsprint.
A relatively flat city spread out along the waterfront, bike share is another way to get about.
And a third way is walking. To that end, the main east-west street, Karl Johans Gata is a 6/10th's-of-a-mile pedestrian street. On the east end is Norway's largest terminal, Oslo Central (1980. John Engh, Architect), discreetly built to the left of the what was Oslo East (George Andrew Bull, 1874). It is now the Hotel Grand Central...
... the former train shed now a shopping and eating all.
Going west, the street climbs gently past the Oslo Cathedral on the right to ...
... a flower market surrounding Christian IV, the King of Denmark-Norway from 1588 to 1648. After a devastating fire in 1684, he ordered the city rebuilt, why, right here (note finger pointing the spot, convenient to the railroad station) and while at it, changed the name to "Christiana" (it went back to Oslo in 1924).
From the top of the rise, the Palace dominates the end of the western section, which Snøhetta refurbished and improved, both visually and functionally.
It's a street of stores large and small. Snøhetta designed the interior of this shop of body fragrances. Note samplers next to the sidewalk.
Further along is a branch of Norway's largest bank. Snøhetta was in charge of its "branding" - graphics, colors, and items such as these linear digital screens for advertising to the street and ...
colorful screening to the interior spaces.
Some places, such as the Grand Hotel, just must have vehicular access...
... and of course many need access to other services. These French made pay toilets proudly display their origin in color and graphics.
The toilets are in this small park along the street and ...
...in front of the National Theater (1899, Henrik Bull Architect - remember Schak Bull in Berger? His cousin.)
It's alway good to check out the backside of a building.
Aother Snøhetta retail project, Yme (a giant in Norsk mythology) climbs through three floors of a modern mall housed in a mid-19th century building.
It also goes through high design to ....
...minimalist unfinished walls.
The Palace (1824-1849, Hans Linstow, Architect) was started by King Charles III John (a.k.a. Karl Johan) in 1824, but died before its tortured construction was completed in 1849. It was used as an adjunct palace by these Danish-Norwegian Royals, but with a dynastic change in 1905, it became the permanent home of King Haakon VII. Now his grandson Harald V and family reside here.
And there is a Royal Guard which befits a King. Sentries are posted about the grounds, such as this one on the northeast corner of the Palace grounds. Of course he, and his companions, need to be changed, and so doing is a complex affair.
A troop appears from the Guard House...
... and lines up facing the Palace grounds, and ...
... the troop coming off duty lines up facing them.
The first troop stamps their feet (limbering up for their watch?) ...
... and the retiring troop stamps back (to bring blood back to stiff legs?).
Then there is some scrambling about amongst the tourists (checking for suspicious characters?). The group in pin stripes passed muster, their banner announcing they were from an art and design school outside of Oslo, making their annual pilgrimage to pay respects to the King (as well as visit various Oslo museums and galleries).
With all the stamping, and scampering done, everybody went home or to their places, leaving the new sentinel on the northeast corner alone fully ready to take action and call for help if necessary.
In July 2011 much to everyone's surprise, there were calls for help and action was needed. A "lone wolf" attack against the leftist government exploded a truck bomb at the base of the government's hi-rise office building beyond Youngstorget plaza.
Since then the blast's raw wounds have been left exposed, and the hi-rise has been draped with white fabric on one side...
,...and a printed one reproducing the original window facade, on the other. Hard to believe, the shock wave not only blew out the windows on the side the truck was parked, but those on the other side as well.
One reason these buildings have not been repaired or replaced is the presence of five concrete murals by Picasso. The most famous, "The Fishermen", caps the end wall of this curved building.
Beyond the Palace and the government center is Frogner Park.
Although there are many other things there - a museum, tennis courts, flower beds - its...
... the art work of Gustav Vigeland for which the Park is known. In an area of 80 acres or so are over 200 metal and granite sculptures, as well as bridges, fences and gates, created mainly between1939 and 1949.
It's common to ask a passing stranger to take one's photo while replicating a statue, as did these honey-mooners from Korea.
