Weekend in Oslo

Thomas and I went to visit his friend Lars in Oslo. They went to the University of Westminster in London, and lived next to each other in the dorm. It was a quick trip; we left Saturday morning and came back Sunday night, but we got a taste of the city and surrounding countryside.

We dropped our stuff at Lars' place on Saturday morning and took off right away on our bikes! Thomas had forewarned me that there was mountain biking involved, but I guess I thought he was exaggerating. He wasn't... between the BIG hills, off road trails and wheezing from my head cold, I was NOT prepared! It's obvious that Lars rides all the time--he was completely fearless on big downhills and rough trails. You can roughly trace our route on Saturday here.

Also check out my photo album on Picasa.

There is a huge national park just north of Oslo, and it seems that everyone here bikes, hikes and skis. With the crisp, clear air and green, mountainous surroundings, Oslo reminded me of Colorado or Seattle. We also had amazing weather... clear blue skies, blinding sunshine and 70-75 degrees. There were tons of people out all over the city and in the parks, walking sunbathing, picnicking, and of course, drinking.

On Sunday, we went to two of Norway's important outdoor spots: Holmenkollen, the ski jump, and Vigeland Sculpture Park. In the afternoon, I took a guided tour of the new Opera House.

Oslo is the third Scandinavian capital I've been to, and I couldn't help but draw comparisons with Stockholm and Copenhagen. There's a lot of new building going on right now, and Oslo seems to have the most modern buildings. It's a smaller city, with only about a half million in population, and seems to be much greener/has more trees. It's also the most expensive. Norway's primary resource is oil; they have to import most everything else, especially fresh food. Norway is not part of the EU, and they have their own currency, the Norwegian Kroner, which is worth slightly less than the Danish crown.

And then there are the languages... Norwegian is spelled like Danish--it was, after all, a Danish colony for many years--but is spoken completely differently. I could understand bits here and there but overall was pretty lost, and we spoke English most of the time. Swedish is the most different from the other two Scandinavian languages in both spelling and pronunciation, but with so many Swedes working in Copenhagen, you meet them quite a bit, and learn to understand them.

Week of May 24th

A short week, and TK is busy at work. Wednesday he was in Jutland, Thursday and Friday he's off to Stockholm for meetings and such. There was an article published in the Danish business paper, Børsen, talking about Valtech's new ownership... which from what I can understand, is now part of InBev, the Belgian beer company that also owns Anheuser Busch. So that's big news. The article also quotes Thomas' boss talking about the number of Danish colleagues they've sent abroad, like to the London and Paris offices, and how that's making the Danish office more 'international'. Gee, maybe they'd like to send one to the U.S.! I'll get my people on it.

So while he's working (hey, someone has to) I'm continuing my tour of Copenhagen's green spaces. Wednesday was another beautiful day, and I rode along the lakes to Øster Anlœg (the Eastern
Gardens) which is a park just behind Merete's museum.

It's an incredibly quiet place, right in the middle of the city, and is kept fairly natural, so it really feels like you're out of the city.

I spent some time there reading my History of Modern Architecture book, in preparation for school this fall. Today I read about the Avant Garde movements in Holland (De Stijl) and Russia (Constructivism). Go ahead, quiz me!

I'm excited because UIC started an online networking group for the Architecture class that's starting this fall, so we can reconnect and discuss things like finding an apartment, registering for classes, etc. I'm so ready to get started!

I rode back through one of my favorite streets, Olufsvej (fourth photo down), which has a rainbow-colored series of row houses. I guess I like it because it reminds me of Charleston.

Tonight (Thursday) I'm going to the Things, and if the weather holds up, taking the long way up the coast on my bike.

Weekend Update

So, Anette and Peter's wedding was beautiful, the bride was radiant, the weather cooperated. The ceremony was at 13:00 in Jesuskirken in Valby, which looks different from the other Scandinavian churches I've been to. They're usually very white inside, and undecorated, but this one had very elaborate decoration, calligraphy and color. I didn't take any pictures inside, but you can see some on their web site.

The dinner started at 18:00 at a reception hall just north of the city in Brede. It was very peaceful... on a little lake, and the sun was shining, so we spent some time outside. After three courses, ten speeches and about five hours, we were done! It was fun trying to understand the Bornholmers, and the bride gave one of the funniest wedding speeches ever. That's our girl! (Click on the photo to see the album.)

In real Danish tradition, we helped cut off the groom's socks, and danced to the wedding singer... "Just a gigolo", "I will survive"... you really can't appreciate American music until you've heard it performed in a foreign country.... and got home, several trains and taxi rides later, around 3 am.

Sunday we rested our feet and--wait for it--did laundry.

Oh, wait, we did do something... Thomas took me to see "Prince of Persia." Amazing effects, but the dialogue was so bad, it would have been better with the sound off! It was truly remarkable.

Monday was yet another Danish religious holiday, the last of several in the spring. Since everything was closed (this has always confused me... why are all the stores are closed when everyone has the day off?) we went to Malmo, Sweden, for the day. Apparently, the Swedes believes that Jesus and economic stimulus go well together. It's a short train ride over the Øresund bridge. We walked around and had a nice al fresco café lunch.