Oslo: Home of the angry baby

August 14, 2013

I arrived in Oslo late on Wednesday, bang on schedule. It had been a sunny day, warm enough to swim in a lake and the road was still relatively flat. Approaching the city from the south, however, requires going up over a hill. It was worth it for the views of the city and the harbour. Against all expectations, this first sight of Oslo actually reminded me a great deal of Rio de Janeiro! To the left was the open harbour of a fjord, with green islands in it. To the right, the city with lots of white buildings and the city climbing up the hills behind. And of course the bright sunshine, which was shining from the west on the city. All these things put me in mind of Rio, a most unlikely comparison (which probably doesn't hold true in December)

It was evening and I had an hour or so to see as much as I could before I was due to meet my couchsurfing hosts for the evening. The first thing that I saw was a row of really cool modern buildings that line the waterfront. Apparantly they are very new and called the Barcode because they are all black and white. They do look very modern but I was told that the building of them did not go down well with many in Oslo, as they block out the rest of the city skyline, and split the city from the fjord. To me they just looked like cool buildings.

Next I found myself at the Opera House on the waterfront, another example of some very interesting modern architecture. Obviously I wasn't there to catch a show, but the roof is free to walk on. It is such a unique design that the roof extends like a ramp to the ground so that it is easy to walk up and get some nice views. There were lots of people there, sitting and enjoying the last of the days sun.

Looking back from halfway up the sloping roof ramp

The Opera House from the side view - you can see some tiny little people walking up the slope and more at the top.

I was really liking Oslo so far and after that I went and cycled around some of the streets of the town quickly before heading to the train station. I needed to call my couchsurfing host and didn't have a phone so I had to ask someone if I could borrow one. Rather disappointingly I had to ask four or five people before someone said yes, a lovely girl who was about to leave to go and study in London and I sat and talked with her on the steps until my host arrived.

I was staying with two Norwegian girls called Marlene and Andrea. The latter came to meet me and walked with me back to their apartment. It was a half hour walk which was nice because we could see some more of the city and Andrea told me a few things and showed me some places, like the prison which is right in the middle of town next to a park which I thought was a strange place for a prison. Luckily Andrea was a really nice girl and was very smiley and enthusiastic and lovely. When we got to the apartment Marlene also arrived home and she was also very smiley and enthusiastic and lovely. Their apartment was brilliant because it had a strange design in that the rooms connected in kind of a circular way and the tour took me around in a loop. It was a very nice and cosy home and I was made to feel very welcome and had a nice evening.

My hosts. Most people smile in photos and look kind of miserable in real life. Andrea, on the left of this photo, is the opposite

The next morning I had one thing to see in Oslo on my way through and out of the city, and that was the Frognerparken sculpture park.

This park has more than two hundred sculptures designed by Gustav Vigeland. I believe I am right in saying that they are all of naked people. Some of them are very strange, but they are very interesting to look at. There are some angry babies, one in particular which is very famous, I don't know exactly why. But most of them are of adults, usually more than one adult together, intertwined in some way. It was almost sexual but somehow not quite. I struggled to find meaning in the sculptures, I wanted to, there seemed like there should be some deep meaning. Maybe not, maybe old Gustav was just a very strange fellow indeed.

This is not the famous angry baby, but it is definitely an angry baby

This is the famous angry baby, complete with semi-circle of Chinese tourists. I'm not sure why this one sculpture is so famous. Perhaps it is the love child of the Little Mermaid and the Manneken Pis. Except the Manneken Pis is also a baby so that wouldn't work. Maybe it is the brother of the Manneken Pis. In which case this angry baby seems actually positively well behaved compared to his brother who is always peeing openly in the street.

This baby stands just next to that angry baby. This poor child is clearly also upset, but she is not balling her eyes out but standing quietly. Nobody stops to look at her or pose in front of her. I think the popularity of the angry baby is sending out the wrong message and so I would like to start a campaign to make this baby the new famous baby to pose with in Oslo. If you are reading this and visiting Oslo in the future, please seek out this baby and have your photo with it acting all excited about how famous it is until at least one Chinese tourist comes over to also take their photo here. Once one comes, they all will. All hail 'well-behaved baby'

Possibly the most impressive sculpture is this monolith which is carved from a single stone and as you can see is entirely made up of naked bodies. Very strange fellow was our Gustav. Very strange and/or very horny

Today's ride: 107 km (66 miles)
Total: 2,711 km (1,684 miles)

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