Our Tour of Norway, Part 3

On Sunday, we tried to fit just about every museum in Oslo into our schedule--of course we failed miserably! We did manage to visit Nasjonalgalleriet (Norway's national art museum), Akershus Fortress, the World War II Resistance Museum and the Vigeland Sculpture Garden. Nasjonalgalleriet was great--the museum is in a beautiful old building, and there are pieces by so many famous artists there. (I was not an art major, but even I can recognize names like Picasso, Rodin, Monet, Manet, Renoir and Van Gogh!) It was also interesting to familiarize myself with the works of some celebrated Norwegian artists.

After all that art, it was time for lunch. We went to Akker Brygge, a popular shopping and dining area near the harbor. Even though it was quite chilly out, the sun was shining brightly, and Norwegians were sitting outside at all the cafes. We opted for a cozy table by a fireplace inside--I don't think it matters how long I live here, I'll always be a wimp about the cold! After lunch, we walked over to Akershus Fortress. (The top photo is the view of the harbor and Akker Brygge from the top of Akershus.) The WWII Resistance Museum is in the fortress--I probably snoozed through a lot of my history class in high school, but I'm pretty sure that we didn't learn anything about Norway's role in the war. The museum definitely opened my eyes...I learned so much, but it was very sad.

Next, we hit the Vigeland Sculpture Garden inside Frogner Park. (Luckily, there was a waffle stand outside, so Vera and Michelle could experience some hot, fresh, waffley goodness for themselves.) The sculpture park is a beautifully landscaped oasis filled with 212 life sized sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The second photo is looking towards the Monolith, a 52 foot high statue of 121 different people, carved from one massive piece of granite. The third picture is of Michelle and Vera up close and personal with one of the sculptures! If we had more time, it would have been nice to take our guests to the Vikinskipmuseet, the folk museum, seafaring museum...the list goes on and on.

But there are only so many hours in a day, so we headed back to Gjovik to prepare for a day of skiing in Lillehammer on Monday. Kevin and I have been to Hafjell before and thought it was a really nice place to ski. Unfortunately, temperatures have been high lately, so snow conditions are rapidly deteriorating in the mountains. We decided to try Kvitfjell this time, as it is further north and on the shady side of the mountain--we hoped that we would find better snow there. Thus began our day of folly...

When we reached the parking lot at the bottom of Kvitfjell, we noticed that we were at the bottom of a triple black diamond slope. (For those of you not in the know, that is insanely steep, like dropping off a sheer cliff steep!) The chair lift operator assured us that, while we could drive further up the mountain and park at the main skiing area, if we wanted to start skiing sooner, we could just take the lift up over the insane mountain trail. As long as we returned to the lift by 4:45, we could ride back down the chair lift to the parking lot. We were eager to start skiing, so we climbed aboard. The conditions were pretty icy, but we did manage to find a great slope on the west side of the mountain that was perfect. We skied for several hours, and then at 4:00, we dutifully headed down to the ski lift for our ride down the crazy, ice covered cliff of death.

When we got there, the lift was closed and no one was around. We went into the ski shop and asked, and were told that the ski lifts stop running at 3:45. What?!?!?! We very politely explained that an employee at the bottom of the mountain had told us 4:45, but we were met with indifferent shrugs. I understand that it's easy to mix up numbers when you're speaking a different language--I do it with fire (4) and fem (5) all the time. I'm sure the guy at the bottom of the slope isn't a homicidal maniac hell bent on forcing stupid tourists to tumble head over heels off the mountain, really, I'm sure it was an honest mistake. BUT, it was a mistake made by an employee of Kvitfjell, and I really think that another employee of Kvitfjell should have tried to rectify it. They did nothing. They refused to turn the lift back on and they refused to give one of us a ride down to the lower parking area in one of their many vehicles. Instead, they suggested we walk down the ice covered triple black diamond slope in our heavy ski boots lugging our heavy skis and poles. I think that the U.S. is far too lawsuit-happy, but I also think that maybe Norway needs a little bit more litigation to encourage its citizens to be a bit more hesitant to blithely send tourists into incredibly dangerous situations! This would NEVER have happened in the U.S.! Unfortunately, there was nothing else to do but attempt to walk. Kevin decided he would make the trek while the rest of us waited by the lodge with the skis. We waited for almost 2 hours and were getting very worried about his safety. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see our little Toyota Avensis zip around the corner!

Kevin said that at first, he tried walking on the ski trail, but as it was covered in ice and almost vertical, he had to wander into the woods instead. At one point he was wading through waist deep snow, in his ski boots. For a while, he slid on his back, until he realized he was going really fast and crashing into a tree and losing all his teeth was becoming a very real possibility. Finally, he came out of the forest onto the winding road that would eventually lead to the lower parking lot. His fury with the management of Kvitfjell was only fueled when he spotted several employees speeding past him in their cars as he trudged along. After several kilometers, and a lot of sweat, he finally reached the car.

Oh well, everything turned out okay, no one was injured, and some day we will probably laugh about this incident. We will definitely never give any business to Kvitfjell again, nor, I'm sure, will any of the readers of this blog (all 5 of them!) We ended the day in Lillehammer at Nikkers, a really nice pub with a big stone fireplace and lots of lovely beer and Akavit. It's funny how a little food and drink can make all the tensions and frustrations of the day just melt away!