Memories of Vigeland Park in Norway

1. Norway Visit June 5-14,1990 My cousin Steve accompanied meand Dad this time. The trip planning and the spontaneous experiences in Norway, are funny and ones we’ll remember. .

2. A visit to see my old school, Majorstua, and its immense playground. I ventured inside, but it was eerily quiet.

3. The first day ritual, a return to the familiar site of Vigeland Park. Vigeland even sculpted the gates, although he didn’t sculpt the statue of legendary figure skater, Sonja Henie outside.

4. Quite a different view in June 1990 than in January 1986. “It was different being here in the spring. In 1986, it was winter, the day was overcast. The snow that capped the statues provided a unique artistic impression ‑‑ into that ‘cycle’ of the year.”

5. At right, left side of bridge walkway of statues; overview of pond and circle of baby statues. “Now, it was a bright, sunny, spring day. You could see more, with the statues unveiled.The frozen waterfall underneath the bridge now flowed with water.”

6. A view looking toward the right of the walkway before reaching the bridge.

7. “There was sereneness about The Park…We watched a group practice A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the summer theatre (left). The cross‑country skiing trails of the winter had become the walking and bicycling trails of the spring and summer, and the ice hockey and figure skating rinks had become tennis courts. The ducks and geese who had scavenged for food in the winter of 1986 were still scavenging in the spring of 1990.”

8. Statues begin along the bridge. Live pigeons find perches on this statue.

9. Twins? “The statues depict the various cycles of life from infancy to adulthood to old age. Though some people have criticized the sculptures because of their nudity, they capture people’s attention because of their realism, detail… activity, shapes…and emotional relationship between the characters.”

10. Boys gazing toward the sky.

11. “The walkway leads first to a huge fountain sculpture. In the middle is a statue of men holding the Tree of Life, from where the water pours into the fountain. Around the sides of the fountain are small tree sculptures with sculpted people inside, while around the base are individual ‘plaques’ showing stages of life and astrological signs.”

12. Now you head up the steps to the Monolith statue.

13. The Monolith is a 60‑foot sculpture tower of bodies on top of each other, each one sculpted with great detail. The Monolith is supposed to depict the struggles of life. I lay on my back and photographed the Monolith looking up to grasp the height of the sculpture.

14. “Around the Monolith are statues – some odd…

15. “… -- many dealing with old age; such as joyful children with parents or grandparents.”

16. View from the Monolith looking the other way.

17. View to the left of the Monolith, where Holmekollen Ski Jump (red circle) can be seen in the distance.

18. You walk up the steps behind the Monolith and find the above statue. “In all there are 192 sculptures with 600 figures and 15 cast‑iron gates in The Park.”

19. View from the Monolith toward the entrance and Oslo.

20. “Even though I had taken a number of pictures four years before, I couldn’t stop taking pictures now and neither could Steve. Was there a statue or pose I missed? I had gone through changes in four years. The statues are supposed to be about the cycles of life? Had the statues changed, even an inch, and not just because they had shed the snow of four years ago for the bright sun of this June spring day…I realized the statues imitated life because people of all ages were using the park ‑‑ and it’s free...”

21. “Eivind, who is studying to be a doctor, is doing his internship at the hospital in Skien… Angela, now Eivind’s wife, invited Steve and me to go with her to Skien, two hours from Oslo…It didn’t seem to matter that our presence might infringe on her own limited time with Eivind.” View on way to Skien.

22. “The next day Eivind had to work a 24‑hour shift, so he left early in the morning. Angela was our hostess for the day. She drove us to Kragerø, a small resort, shopping town of 11,000 people on the Southeast coast…”

23. “…The ride to and from was captivating and scenic with plenty of photo opportunities. We crossed bridges over blue water, with mountains and fjords all around.”

24. “We were captivated by the greenery, red houses and tunnels that were constructed through mountains. Angela, with her ever‑present smile and good humor, helped make it a delightful day.” The sign on the barn reads “Newly laid eggs for sale.” (in Norwegian)

25. “The town was very quaint with narrow streets, interesting alleyways and views of the blue water and mountains…We were here prior to the heavy summer season, so we enjoyed the peacefulness as we walked around. Steve was intrigued by the parking signs. He set up his tripod and the self‑timer on his camera, so he could get a picture of the three of us in front of the sign. We all looked ‘stylish,’ wearing sunglasses…”

26. A beautiful 17th century church with a tall steeple was the centerpiece of the town.

27. “Eivind and Angela had sold Steve on the two of us taking one of two cruises. For most of the day, Angela and Steve worked to convince me. After all the prodding and twisting of my arm, I agreed to the trip. ‘Of course, it took 12 hours of coaxing,’ laughs Steve. We would take an overnight boat ride to Frederikshavn in Denmark, spend a few hours there, and take a three‑and‑a‑half hour boat ride to Gøteborg in Sweden, spend the night there, and return to Oslo Friday morning via train. We could then say we had set foot on Danish, Swedish and Norwegian soil on this trip.” More pictures of this trip to come.

28. “Our time was limited in Frederikshavn, so we decided to go to the Bangbo Museum and Park. While waiting for the bus, we noticed the preponderance of bike riders of all ages ‑‑ riding on simple bikes. At one point, three riders going in different directions converged at the intersection.”

29. “At Bangbo, we took a quick, but relaxing nature walk. Besides having old buildings dating to the 19th century, the Bangbo grounds are very pretty with a pond with various ducks inhabiting them, walking areas…”

30. “…and flower gardens. It was another example of a calm environment within a city.”

31. We enter Gothenburg/Gøteborg, Sweden, “the heart of Scandinavia” as it says on the boat.

32. Upon returning to Oslo, we were immediately traveling again as Torbjørn took us for the weekend to Rauland, the village in Telemark, where he and Debbie lived with two-year old Ingrid – three hours from Oslo. His sons from his first marriage, Are, 14, and Audun, 9, were with him.

33. Dad takes some time to read a story to Ingrid and Audun outside Torbjørn and Debbie’s house.

34. . They took us for a ride in the Rauland area, where their neighbors are the mountains. This is a favorite photo, shot from the side of the road. Snow in June reflecting on the water.

35. Picnic outside Rauland. We couldn’t go further because of too much snow. Are, me, Ingrid, Debbie, Torbjørn, Debbie, Steve, Dad, Audun.

36. Back in Oslo, we trained up to Holmenkollen, which looks much different in the spring.

38. “After all we had done together, we needed a picture of us together to close it out. There we were by the Mt. Airy train station, arms around each other’s shoulders…wearing Lillehammer Olympic T‑shirts…This perhaps was one of the most important things to come out of this trip. Steve and I became closer as cousins and friends… We are forever linked by Norway.”

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