movies

Tried to go see the Simpsons movie yesterday but -- much to the kids' disappointment (and the parents' too) -- it was sold out. The megaplex we went to could have been plucked out of any suburb in the US complete with roving gangs of loud teenagers.

oslo scenes

We are back from Norway. We loved Oslo -- easy to understand why it was one of my dad's favorite cities. Here are some random pictures of our visit: outside our apartment at 15 Damplassan; the library at the University of Oslo (known as the "Black Pearl"); a ferry ride on the Oslo fjord; outside the Rådus (Town Hall) which was designed by Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson (often, apparently, featured in history of architecture textbooks); a statue known as "Factory Girls."

garden city

The flat we have been staying in is in a community/housing development known as Havebyen which translates to mean "Garden City." It was built during the 1910's to resemble an English country village. So here we are here in the heart of Oslo surrounded by gardens and lots of greenery; we can hop on the nearby subway and be downtown in about four or five stops. There is a small grocery store here and a bakery that has the best freshly baked breads and pastries (to be consumed with butter and gobs of freshly made strawberry preserves!). We are about a five minute walk from the University of Oslo.

vigelandsparken

One of the most impressive urban parks we've seen anywhere is the Vigeland Sculpture Park (Vigelandsparken) in Oslo. It is the home of hundreds of sculptures, created in the 20's and 30's, by Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland depicting the "humanity of life." Refreshing to see public art that doesn't represent royalty or some sort of military victory. Also nice that you can interact with the art ... the kids enjoyed climbing all over the sculptures. While tourists busily snapped pictures of all the art, the locals hung out on the grassy areas sunbathing, playing soccer and having barbecues.