I’m back after a two week break and excited to be sharing a whole lot of creative posts with you! Over the past fortnight I have travelled across the Baltic sea, stopping off at a number of Scandinavian Countrries. Not only was this an eye-opener to the Scandinavian way of life but I was enriched with culture, architecture and spectacular views. I am extremely thankful to my parents for allowing me to come along on the cruise and celebate their 25th wedding anniversary with them…
Without further ado, I introduce you to the Baltic 6 – a series of photography posts from each of the 6 destinations: Norway; Poland; Russia; Finland; Sweden and Denmark. Every Wednesday we will tour another place! Today we are hitting Norway – sit back, relax and enjoy the views!
Our Norwegian destination was Oslo – the country’s capital. Upon first setting foot here we took the tram out of the city, up to the Vigelandsparken sculpture park in a more residential area of Oslo. The journey was very scenic winding in and out of architectural buildings, up hills and past some very pretty, typical Norwegian homes. The park itself is the world’s biggest sculpture park made by one artist. It was great to walk around, enjoy the fountain view and explore the sculptures, that all seemed to depict humans wrestling with each other.
We then headed back to the city centre and took a walk through the main square towards the palace and back again. I noticed that in Oslo the streets are very clean – there is little pollution (only electric cars are permitted) and no litter. It was beautiful.
Following this we visited the city hall – I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the beautiful interiors! The walls were lavished in marble, mosaics and paintings which brought the place to life. The first floor gave way to a vast open space where people could sit, walk, think, and simply be. It was exactly what a city hall should be. Upstairs there were more decadent, smaller rooms that looked out onto the harbour and even openings in the inner walls for peeking down onto the space below. It’s free to go in and I definitely recommend it if you’re ever in Oslo!
Finally, we payed a visit to the Opera House designed by the Architect Snohetta. It opened in 2008 so is a reltively new piece of architecture and its modernity stands out. I think you’ll agree, the sharp angles combined with water reflections in the glass work make it look like some kind of scandinavian ski slope. Except it’s an opera house! I didn’t get chance to go in but I’m sure the acoustics are amazing.
In fact the roof of the building was designed so that people could walk up it and view the city from the top. It was quite a surreal experience to do this since I’m really interested in architecture that interacts with citizens.
I had the most amazing time in Norway and look forward to going back one day. However I have to say that due to citizens there being generally higher-paid, everything is very expensive! Thankfully we got away with just buying tram tickets and some snacks in a supermarket (which was extortionate at £25 for some crisps and biscuits) and I’d hate to know how much it would cost to stay overnight! Despite this, it’s a beautiful place and a must visit! 
Thank you for coming along with me! Is Norway somewhere you’d like to visit?
Eleanor ♥
P.S come back next Wednesday for our trip to Poland!
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