Oslo

While on our cruise we decided to take an organised trip in Oslo as the ship was only in port for half a day.  The excursion we chose took us on a drive round the town and then onto the Vigeland Sculpture Park.  I had never heard of this park previously so I was interested to see what was there.

The Vigeland Sculpture Park is the sole work of one artist and as such is the largest park dedicated to one artist in the world.  There are over 200 sculptures made in granite, bronze and wrought iron and it took almost 40 years to bring the park to fruition.  Gustav Vigeland was born in 1869 and died in 1943. Our guide was highly enthused by the works we were to see and her enthusiasm was not misplaced.

Much of Vigeland's work was concerned with the relationship between man and woman. He described melancholy, devotion, ecstatic rapture and deep pain, occasionally happiness, but rarely joy.

We entered via the Main Gate, passed the statue of Gustav Vigeland and began our walk along the 850 metre axis through the park.  

Our first experience of the sculptures was at the Bridge. The sculptures here are of bronze predominantly and are single or groups of figures of people of all ages.

This figure of an 'Angry Boy' is  one f the most popular in the park and came from a small sketch Vigeland had made of a little boy having a tantrum.  You can see where people like to rub the figure's hand.

From the strength in this face you can almost hear the child's screams.

Vigeland chose to sculpt his figures without the encumbrance of clothing to keep the focus on the emotions and impressions he wanted to convey.

The next main group of sculptures is set around the fountain and depicts the journey of man from the cradle to the grave.  

After the fountain we proceeded to the Monolith and Monolith Plateau.  While some of the sculptures at the Fountain had an air of foreboding I found the granite sculptures at the Monolith more uplifting, even though some of the themes were obviously about difficult moments in life's journey.

When the monolith had been carved Vigeland was not happy with the top section and insisted it was redone hence it tapers off.

I found this group particularly believeable and moving.  When you consider this is granite we are talking about the carving is so delicate and you can feel the muscles and bones in the spine.  In fact the granite is discoloured by people doing just that.

In contrast to the images of old age is the exuberance of children playing on their mother's back.

What is this mother saying to her son above?

I found these figures so moving and lifelike.  You can feel the age in these 2 women, in the quality of their skin and the effect of the passing years on their bodies.

I could have spent all day exploring all these amazing sculptures.

The other striking feature of the park were the wrought iron works and gates.

We only had about 40 minutes to walk through the park with the guide which really was no time at all so it would be wonderful to go back one day and have a closer look.  You can see the influences of Matisse and also the cubists in Vigeland's work.  His statues caused uproar when first unveiled and he is considered to have been ahead of his time but he is now renowned and the jewel in Norway's crown.  You will find a very informative site if you follow the links in this post and then explore the Vigeland Park website.

Looking Up, Looking Down, Looking Through

Metalwork in Bruges

Metalwork in Tallinn

Mirrored kaleidoscope onboard.

I am pretty certain that this is a white-tailed eagle that we saw at about 5 o'clock in the morning when we got up to enjoy the ship's prgoress at dawn through the archipeligoes approaching Stockholm.  A rare treat.

Looking Down.........

So much variety and design potential in these manhole covers. 

Looking through......

Lace 'wallpaper' in a restaurant in Bruges seen through the window and pillars reflected from a building opposite.

The bottle top work of Jorge Castro Gomez seen in Bruges. (amended from Copenhagen 16 November 2012)

A bead shop in Helsinki, shame it was closed.....

Tourist stalls in St Petersburg. We weren't tempted.

Beautiful old streets and buildings in Tallinn.

Oslo above.

 A glimpse of a fascinating building in St Petersburg.

An interesting doorway in the townwalls in Tallinn.

Where Have I Been?

Many thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post about Iona.  I have to admit that I scheduled the post for while we were away so I apologise if I havn't answered your comments directly but I do value them all.

So, where have we been?  If you follow my DH's blog you will know that we have been on a cruise around the Baltic countries.  We visited Bruges in Belgium and Copenhagen in Denmark on the way and then went on to Helsinki in Finland, St Petersburg, Tallinn in Estonia, which was a delight, Stockholm and Oslo.   I took over 500 photos and really don't know where to start but I'll bore you with a few.  Maybe we'll start with some interesting textures and patterns.

Text on an old tombstone in Bruges. (I took several photos of this type of text.  It makes a lovely abstract image and I may work on it in Photoshop).

Very unusual sculpture alongside a Bruges canal.

Interesting marks on the quayside.

A lightgrid on the pathway in Copenhagen.

Interesting lines on a tall ship in Copenhagen.

One of the many crumbly walls in beautiful Tallinn.

This fabulous noticeboard was in Stockholm.  Imagine this in stitch!

Unusual orangey sediment in the water out at sea.  Maybe fish eggs?  Who knows.

This is just part of some beautiful gates in Oslo.  Definite design and stitch potential.  More of Oslo later in a separate post.

While we were away I celebrated a rather special birthday with an '0' in it.  My Mum wanted to treat us to a night at the ballet in St Petersburg and the whole experience was wonderful.  When I was small I dreamt of being a ballet dancer and would have loved to have gone to a professional performance.  In St Petersburg we saw a performance of Swan Lake by Tschaikovsy and we were transported to a magical place.  Sadly no photography was allowed but I can show you the programme:

The stage came out in an arc so that the audience were ranged round it so everyone had a great view.  The sets were beautifully painted and the dancers were superb.  While I suspect this was primarily a performance for tourists no effort was spared in the excellence of the dancing or the music supplied by the mostly young musicians.  A memory for life!

To start my birthday day off my DH had ordered breakfast in our cabin,

It was a lovely thought but he enjoyed more of it than me as I couldn't eat most of the fruit and meats provided because of my dietary issues.  It felt very decadent to be drinking Bucks Fizz for breakfast and the pastry was delicious!  The rest of the day was spent quietly at sea and the waiters sang Happy Birthday to me at dinner.  Bless!

While we were away we missed the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games but I've caught up since we got back.  Wasn't it amazing?!  I was awestruck when all those chimneys came out of the ground.  Such a powerful image.  I don't always follow the Olympics but DH and I both came back from the cruise with chest infections and as I've also torn a muscle with coughing I'm not up to much, so there's been plenty of time to watch the action.  What role models for today's young people!  Our athletes and sportsmen and women are doing the country proud and how wonderful that Andy Murray won a Gold! 

I'll show you more soon.