NORWAY
Oslo is Norway's bright and open capital city. It is also a major port,
not only for commercial shipping and cruise liners thronging the harbor
but also for fishing vessels. Oslo's maritime tradition is further reinforced
by the Norwegian Maritime Museum's fascinating collection of boats and
ships. Of outstanding interest is the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy.
The City Hall is of great interest to visitors as it is richly endowed
with paintings and sculptures by leading Norwegian artists.
As with any major city, Oslo has all the amenities that may be expected,
such as shops, hotels, restaurants and parks, as well as a university
and a Royal Palace. The palace stands in the Slottsparken, at the western
end of Karl Johans Gate (street).
Akershus Castle was build in about 1300 by Haakon V Magnusson, the
last of the kings of Harald's lineage. A fire in 1527 caused extensive
damage and it was rebuilt by King Christian IV between 1588 and 1648.
It has been considerably restored and the castle halls are now used
by the Norwegian government on ceremonial occasions.
One of the museums in Oslo that brings emotion and extreme respect
from the American is the Resistance Museum. Here are displays of the
Nazi occupation. There are very few places in Norway---and certainly
none in the rest of Europe---where the landscape is so richly endowed
with the mountains, waterfalls and fjords that are to be found in the
Romsdal area.
A fjord is simply a huge cleft in the mountains, into which the waters
of the ocean have poured. They reach like long, blue fingers deep into
the countryside. The mountains tower above the waters and cast their
reflections into them creating some of the most majestic and beautiful
landscapes to be seen anywhere in the world.
Bergen is Norway's second city and a major international port. It lies
in
the heart of the fjord country, overlooked by seven hills. The harbor
area provides the most picturesque of Bergen's many attractions but
everywhere the happy relationships between the old and the new.
Modern skiing began in Norway. It spread all over the world to become
the enormously popular winter sport it is today.
Winter in Norway is a paradise for the winter sports enthusiast. It
is not necessary to be a sport enthusiast to appreciate the beauty of
the snow-laden landscapes.
It might reasonably be supposed that northern Norway, lying as it does
within the Arctic Circle, would be a land sheathed in ice. But, it is
the Gulf Stream that keeps the Norwegian winter from being as cold as
expected. And, summer can provide surprisingly warm, even hot,
walks in the open country, breathing the freshest, clearest air in the
world.
Other interesting sites include Kvinesdal which
is about as far from the Arctic Circle as it is possible to be in Norway.
It lies between Stavanger and Kristiansand, not far from the seafaring
town of Mandal on the south coast. The small town of Vik is a small
farming and fishing community that lies on the banks of Sogn Fjord.
Stave churches are a unique feature of the Norwegian countryside and
many of them have survived for hundreds of years. One is the church
of Eidsborg in Telemark which was built in the 13th century.
At the mouth of the Geiranger Fjord lies the town of Ålesund
which is Norway's largest and most important fishing town. Its setting
is ideal with the sea in front of the beautiful Sunnmøre Alps.
Among Ålesund's more notable sights is the medieval Borgund Church
and an open-air museum.
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