Vigelandsparken

A day for seeing the last few things on our list in Oslo. Began by going down to the train station and claiming our pre-purchased tickets for the next few days, then around to the fortress/castle to get a nice photo without snow obscuring everything.

A fairly long hike uptown to Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Sculpture Park) in Frogner. Gustav Vigeland took over 20 years to create 212 granite and bronze sculptures, and lay them out in an 80 acre park just north of Oslo. In return, the city gave him a home and studio nearby. Nearly all of the statues are of nude people engaging in typical human pursuits such as running, dancing, embracing and so on. At the centre is the monolith of 121 human figures fabricated from one stone 14 metres high, which took 3 stone carvers 14 years to complete. Most of the sculptures are arranged to show a lifecycle from birth to death. Mandy had vivid memories of the park, and it was on our 'must see' list for the holiday.

In the afternoon we took a bus out to the Oslo International School where one of Mandy's pupils from home may be attending when they move to Oslo later in the year. Even though we hadn't booked a tour, the lady was very accommodating, and showed us around. Mandy asked lots of questions, and I took lots of photos, so we could show the children what its like.