Oslo! Bergen! And a little more about the fjords.

Ibsen kind of hated Norway, and Norwegians were thoroughly not crazy about him in his day, which is why it's funny to see statues of him all over Oslo and Bergen (the latter of which has an exhibit on his time in the city that defensively states "We think Ibsen quite enjoyed his time in Bergen!"). But he was fascinated by his home country, returning to it again and again - writing Peer Gynt in Italy, for instance, Ibsen worked through his frustrations with his home country through the use of mythology, fantasy, satire and the grand scale of an epic journey. (The play is also readable through any number of philosophical lenses but we aren't talking about that now.)

After the jump, videos, photo, ramblings, as per always.

Oslo City Hall is incredible. Started construction before WWII, finished in the mid-50s, with many elements altered in the wake of the war, the place is an allegory-packed series of murals, rooms designed with entirely home-sourced materials, and the cumulative effect is an architectural meditation on liberty, human rights, and Norway's place in the world. IT'S NEAT.

Oslo!

I hope I don't fall into the trap of "I visited Norway and now I understand Ibsen," because: hahahaha NOPE. But what I will say is that spending some time in modern Oslo and Bergen, with a fjord visit between the two, was illuminating. Both Oslo and Bergen, while in no way small towns, don't have the same sense of internationalist cosmopolitanism that you get in, say, Berlin/Rome/Copenhagen. And the fjords - oh man. You get a sense of why Norse mythology is a thing, why the idea of trolls in the mountains felt resonant, and you also get a sense (as gray and rain sweep through with regularity) why Ibsen found the place depressing, drab, and provincial when he wasn't busy using the environment to generate powerful allegories about morality, philosophy, Norwegian society, and a host of other concerns.

 Bergen!

I have said this elsewhere, but fjord country is indescribable. Photos and video don't do it justice - the magnitude of your surroundings, the otherworldly feeling of being in the clouds while you're at sea level, the thick air heavy with water vapor - it was one of the most transporting environments I spent time in over here.

Sognefjord! If you didn't see it the last time I yammered about it on this blag!

Barrage of photos below. As I think I said before, if I were to do this leg again, I'd spend almost the entire time on Sognefjord. Oslo gave me one of the top-five meals of my entire life bite-for-bite (no exaggeration) and Bergen was cool, but here's how stunning the fjords were: it was something like 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit while I was there, raining most of the time, and I'd booked a cheap cabin on a campground in Balestrand for the night without realizing that the campground wouldn't have rentable linens or blankets. I spent that night under a mattress that I pulled off the top bunk of the cabin (it was a very nice mattress! Scandinavia is very clean and nice!) and still walked away thinking I could have happily spent a week camping in the fjords.

OKAY. Pictures ahoy, and then next stop: COPENHAGEN, a leading candidate for favorite city of the entire summer.

HENRIK! In front of the National Theatre, where I was just a bit too early to see an adaptation of John Gabriel Borkman. I also realized too late to make plans accordingly that I was missing an annual Peer Gynt festival about three hours north of Oslo, built around a production featuring professional actors and about 100+ amateurs performed outside on the shores of a lake. It's maybe the strongest argument for making a return to Norway sooner than later...?

Visiting Oslo's open-air folk museum! These places are super fun - another will be coming when we get to Stockholm. Basically, the government purchased and relocated homes and farm/town buildings built in different eras in different parts of the country and brought them to a park near Oslo. It's a bit of historical reenactment, a bit of architectural and agricultural museumry, and a bit of... just fun wandering time. On a gorgeous day (which this was), that was pretty swell. This shot comes from a great demo of folk music and dancing. These people were great!

The Oslo opera house, which doubles as a public plaza and is just sleek and modern and cool in all the fun and human ways you can be those things.

FJORD COUNTRY IS ATMOSPHERIC

FJORD COUNTRY IS LUSH AND MYSTERIOUS

FJORD COUNTRY HAS STAVE CHURCHES BUILT 1,000 YEARS AGO OUT OF THE SAME WOOD THAT THEY HAVE NOW, IT'S JUST THIS BIG OLD GHOST TREE HANGING OUT AT THE FOOT OF SOME MOUNTAINS OK COOOOOL

Bergen from atop Fløyen mountain! The sunlight in the mountains across the city is a little prank, it was cloudy the entire time and it always will be. But the city was cool! My photos from the Hanseatic Quarter (wooden buildings all leaning into each other, extremely Deadwoody-feeling) didn't come out great, so you will have to imagine that for YOURSELF

This is how Bergen looks as you walk to the bus station at 4 AM to catch your flight to Copenhagen. Shortly after taking the photo, you'll sometimes be greeted by people who are sleeping next to the bike path that runs by this lake down to the bus station! It's a fun and groovy time, more or less!