Flying to Oslo
I am now back on Emirates flight and heading to Oslo, Norway after a satisfying 17 hours trip in Dubai .
When you are flying with Emirates, you don’t need to worry about being hungry. I feel full throughout my 7 hours flight as they serve us both breakfast and lunch. In fact, I am so full that I can’t even finish my food. I think I am becoming a fan of Emirates. *wink*
Reaching Oslo Lufthavn
7 hours later, I reach Oslo Lufthavn (i.e. Oslo Airport, Gardemoen). Nice to meet you, Norway! How do you do?
Norway is pretty much an unknown country to me. If not for visiting my high school friend in Norway, I never would have thought of coming here. So, I am really anticipating the surprises that it will give me. Bring it on, Norway! =)
After retrieving my luggage, I follow the airport signage to get to the train station. The signage is clear and easy to follow. Once I get there, I head straight to the ticket desk to purchase a train ticket to Oslo S (i.e. Oslo Central Station at city centre).
There are two options – Flytoget and NSB. The former is an airport express train connecting Oslo Lufthvan to Oslo S while the later is a national Norwegian railway company offering train services in Norway.
The comparison for a single ticket from Oslo Lufthvan to Oslo S is as follow:
As I am on a budget travel and not in a hurry, I choose to take NSB train without a doubt. My friend has warned me about Norway being one of the most expensive countries in the world. So, SAVE while you can.
After buying the ticket, I take the elevator down to the platforms and wait for my train.
(wooosshhhh…train approaching)
I get on the train swiftly. When I am going to stow my luggage at the last spot of the luggage compartment, there is another lady who also wants the same spot but I am one step ahead of her. Feeling a bit apologetic, I help her to lift her luggage up to stow it at the upper level. Yea, I know, I am STRONG. Haha.
Then, I look around and choose a window seat. The seats are spacious and comfortable. I love to sit at window seats while travelling as I get to enjoy the view but not those table seats which face each other. If a stranger is sitting opposite you, not only you can’t stretch your legs but also can’t look forward as you will be staring at the person. The awkwardness gets to me.
Anyway, half an hour later, I reach Oslo central station. Now, let’s find my way to Comfort Hotel Xpress Youngstorget. I take my printed google map out from my bag. (looking at my map) OK, this should be easy, only 15 minutes walk from the station.
40 minutes later…
Where am I???? This doesn’t seem right at all. I guess I have no choice but to admit it. OK, I AM LOST. Great.
Then, I see another Comfort Hotel in front so I walk in and ask for directions. The receptionist kindly gives me a tourist map and shows me how to get to my hotel on the map. Gosh, this has got to be most complex map I have ever seen, worse than my printed map. Nevertheless, I am going to give it a try.
Along the way, I ask some passers-by to ensure that I am on the right track and I finally make it to the hotel 20 minutes later. I am panting and sweating so much “thanks” to the uphills, downhills and cobblestone streets. Do take note of this as you will have a hard time dragging your luggage on foot like me. I wanted to save money so I didn’t take a taxi.
Comfort Hotel Xpress Youngstorget
This hotel is pretty cool. You can check in and out on your own since it is an express hotel but there is something wrong with my reservation number so I ask the receptionist for help. Although they do sell some beverages, snacks and sandwiches beside the reception desk, the prices are generally higher than what you can get in a supermarket.
If you go down the stairs from the lobby, you will see a pantry and a common area to hang out. Tap water is safe and clean to drink thus it is expensive and unreasonable to buy a bottle of mineral water (costs around NOK26/RM 13 based on 7-11 convenience store in Oslo). Additionally, you can’t really get it in a supermarket except for sparkling water. Hence, you can refill your water bottle at the pantry.
After checking in, I take the lift and go up to my room. Wow, I really like this single room. The design is simple and modern. It has all the basic necessities for one person.
National Gallery
Without further ado, I decide to skip lunch and proceed to the National Gallery as I am still full from my flight meals. The admission is free on Thursday and costs NOK 100 on other days. That’s why I plan to go today since it is free.
I use the tourist map and a supposed 10 minute walk from hotel turns into an hour’s walk AGAIN so I have to ask passers-by for directions. Surprisingly, many locals don’t know where it is but I don’t blame them because it would have been the same for me if people ask me where the National Gallery is in Malaysia.
To get down to the bottom of this, there are only 2 possibilities of why I keep getting lost in this city. A) This complicated map sucks or B) my sense of direction sucks. I definitely agree with A but (sigh) I am sure my friends will choose the later even after proving to them so many times that I am good at looking map. Oh well. *shrug*
Anyhow, I made it! Give me a round of applause please. LOL. Gosh, I am excited as I always enjoy looking at paintings because of the stories they tell.
Firstly, all visitors must stow their bags in the locker room, but at your own risk, in order to avoid causing any damage to the paintings.
Amazing Norwegian artists and arts
Johan Christian Dahl (1788-1857)
Dahl was the first Norwegian artist to achieve international fame. His renderings of nature combined a romantic attitude with detailed realism based on extensive nature studies. He grew up poorly in Bergen, Norway, but settled later in Dresden, Germany as an influential professor of landscape paintings.
Although he spent most of his career abroad, many of the landscape paintings are based on his memories of Norway, therefore, being known as the father of Norwegian Landscape painting.
Dahl’s portrayals of moonlit nights over Dresden, cloud-shrouded mountain landscapes, snow-covered graves, and even a view out of an open window, are not to be understood as symbols with a deeper meaning. Rather, Dahl traces changes in nature without sentiment or pathos, because their immediate perceptibility and therefore associated knowledge are mysterious enough.
The followings are some of his amazing works:
View from Bastei, 1819
Shipwreck on the Coast of Norway, 1832
Larvik by Moonlight, 1839 (I love this piece!)
Oak Tree by Elbe in Winter, 1853
Adolph Tidemand (1814-1876) and Hans Gude (1825-1903)
Tidemand was the first Norwegian artist to relocate to Düsseldorf. He renounced his ambition of becoming a history painter in order to depict scenes from folk life. He gave a new sense of dignity to the peasantry, and the poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson supposedly remarked that it was Tidemand’s paintings that enabled him to write his popular peasant tales.
The landscape painter Hans Gude, Tidemand’s junior by a good ten years, managed at the precocious age of twenty-three to depict Norwegian nature rather magnificently. Even though it does not depict a particular landscape, the composition was based on Gude’s precise observations of nature in various regions in Norway. Tidemand and Gude collaborated on several paintings, all of which featured people in boats.
Examples:
Bridal Procession on the Hardangerfjord, 1848
Spearfishing on the Lake Krøderen, 1851
Edvard Munch (1863-1944)
Munch is Norway’s most famous artist, renowned for his paintings as well as his graphic works. His pictures inspired the development of modernism, both in his choice of themes and visual expression. He was able to connect his personal experiences with radical artistic means and goals.
The following are some of his works:
The Sick Child, 1885-6
This painting is generally regarded as Munch’s breakthrough, demonstrating his turn towards a more personal and emotionally-charged form of expression. The picture is often associated with the loss of his elder sister, Sophie, who died of tuberculosis in 1877. Sick girls and dying children were, moreover, a popular subject for many of the more realistically-oriented painters of the period.
Even though its unconventional aspects prompted outrage and indignation, it also attracted a degree of approval. The scandal ensured the painting’s success and its enduring position as one of the best known and most discussed of Munch’s works. In due course he painted no less than six versions of the motif.
This picture makes me feel sad and I saw this guy earlier who teared up while gazing at this picture…Sigh…
The Scream, 1893
I am sure many of you have seen this painting before. I, myself is extremely intrigued by this painting due to its expressive colours, flowing lines and striking overall effect. It feels dark and distorted, yet I love it.
He depicted the inspiration for this in his diary entry as such: “I was walking along the road with two friends – Then the sun went down – The sky suddenly turned to blood and I felt a great scream in nature –”. He presumably heard the sound while being in an abnormal state of mind.
The Scream has been a target of high-profile thefts. In fact, this painting was stolen from the National Gallery but recovered few months later.
Madonna, 1894-5
This is another one of his most important oeuvre and originally bore the title of “Kvinne som elsker” (woman making love). Above her head hangs a red “halo”, rather than a golden one, representing passion, pain and life. Both the halo and the picture’s title are religious allusions that form a surprising contrast to the motif’s evidently erotic aspect. At the same time, these religious elements emphasise the existential seriousness of the picture’s theme.
Self-Potrait with Cigarette, 1895
Munch was 31 in this potrait. Although he seems to be gazing intensely at the viewer, he is looking no less into himself and his world. The artist is illuminated from below and together with the diffuse background and the smoke from the cigarette, this lends the picture a hint of mystery.
The Girls on the Bridge, 1901
Munch painted this shortly after the turn of the century having absorbed impressions of monumental renaissance art during a journey to Italy. Have you noticed the change here as compared to the previous paintings? Yes, his palette turned brighter and fresher. The image of the three girls leaning over the balustrade, the mansion with the large tree and the full moon in the bright summer night is laden with mystery.
The National Gallery’s collection consists many of Munch’s most significant creations which are displayed in the dedicated Munch room. There are chairs and stools for you to sit so that you can take your own sweet time to admire his works.
If you are a fan of Edvard Munch or become a fan after this, kindly note that there is a Munch Museum in Oslo which is home to more than half of his paintings and most of his print motifs. I am not visiting it as I don’t have sufficient time.
I have extracted some of the stories above from the link below. Do check it out if you want to find out more:
Other beautiful arts
Worrying that I might bore you with too much detail, I will just show a few more below.
Norwegian artists:
Spring Evening in Jølster by Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928)
September, 1883 by Erik Werenskiold (1855-1938)
Winter Night in the Mountains, 1914 by Harald Sohlberg (1869-1935)
Swedish painters:
The Princess, 1896 by Hanna Pauli (1864-1940)
You can find this picture in the Fairy Tale Room. How lovely is that? They have a fairy tale room! I am sure fairy tale fans will be excited to know.
In the Skerries, 1894 by Anders Zorn (1860-1920)
Spanish artist:
Poor Couple in a Cafe, 1903 by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Still Life, 1927 by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
If your interest has been piqued by these pictures and stories, I highly recommend you to visit the national gallery in Oslo as there is a lot more than what I have shown here. I merely pick a few of my favourite ones to show you. Trust me, you won’t regret it! =)
OK, it is time to move on to the next attraction in my itinerary.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Note: I will summarise the reviews, tips and costs reference at the end of my Oslo trip.
