A MEMORABLE NORWEGIAN SOJOURN ( SECTIONS 3,4 & 5 )- THE TRIPS TO STAVANGER, PRIEKESTOLEN AND BERGEN

       ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: 
                I acknowledge my gratitude and  thanks  to Google, Wikipedia , the various blog spots,  magazine articles and travel guides for the inputs provided by them all the four countries of Scandinavia- Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland . The information provided by them has vastly helped me to connect to connect my photographs with the history linked to these places.

               Though I visited all the four Scandinavian Countries almost 5 years back, in October 2010, I could sit down with determination only in 2015 to compile this blog.  Better late than never!  Five years could be a  period long enough for many of the old landmarks to yield place to newer ones. So in that sense my blog may already have become outdated in some places . It could require an updating with new photographs. If it does, then I shall certainly do the needful-- --provided I happen to revisit these countries (by the Grace of God, certainly !)   Travel often makes you acknowledge humbly the role of the 'Invisible Hand'. This  term extends beyond just the economic forces that  many economists are often inclined to refer to !

          Through this blog post, I thank my various friends and relatives   for their overwhelming  warmth and hospitality during all the occasions when they hosted me at their homes . I also thank them for by sparing their valuable time for me and escorting me around in new places, helping me to accomplish  sight seeing in otherwise remote and difficult places. I also thank my various co-travellers from different parts of the world for their enjoyable company,wit, humour and camaraderie during our journeys together. They made each of my  sojourns very memorable ,without an exception.

      I request viewers to please excuse me for the poor photography. Scandinavia was the first time when I handled a compact digital camera for an  intensive use. I was not familiar with the subtle nuances of photography in changing conditions of light and weather. Also our  sightseeing bus did not stop at many a place to enable us to take better shots under static conditions (without the interference from rain-splattered or dusty windows).

           Sadly,  time, tide and sightseeing buses / trains wait for none!

                                                                       

    A MEMORABLE NORWEGIAN SOJOURN  ( SECTIONS 3,4 & 5 )- 
        THE TRIPS TO  STAVANGER,  PRIEKESTOLEN AND BERGEN

                                                                 Section 3:

STAVANGER- a dreamy eyed city inspired by a colourful past and a prosperous present !

Having got sufficiently acclimatized to Norway, it was now time for us to move out to Stavanger, the oil city of Norway. Located 595 kilometres southwest of Alesund , Stavanger lies in the county of Rogaland, Norway. The flight from Alesund took an hour and a half, inclusive of a brief halt at Bergen, the second largest city in Norway. With a population of 122,000, Stavanger is the  fourth largest  city in Norway, after Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim.The airport of Stavanger at Sula seemed strikingly different with its cheerful and colourful interiors.

The bright interiors of Sula airport at Stavanger

As in Alesund, here too we were lucky that our hotel room had a million dollar view overlooking a water body It was located bang opposite Lake Breiavatnet, ever active with its springing fountains, water birds and the swaying trees along its perimeter.  Fortunately, the weather mandarins who had predicted a rainy weather for Stavanger on our arrival were proved wrong though it was fairly windy. I wasted no time in making the best use of clear weather. A brisk walk around the lake invigorated me sufficiently and gave me a peep into the history of the bustling and beautiful city. The two other lakes, Mosvatnet and Stokkavatnet ,  are hosts to the most popular recreational areas of Stavanger

                                                          

                    Lake Breiavatnet at Stavanger

          Another view of Lake Breiavatnet

Lake Breiavatnet at Stavanger at night (as it appears from the 13^th floor of Hotel Radisson Blu Atlantic).

 Alongside the pathway near the lake is a monument dedicated to the enterprising spirit of expatriate Norwegians. On 4^th July 1825, 52 Norwegians sailed westwards from Stavanger in the cargo ship “Restauratioen’.  It marked the start of the second westward exodus from Norway, the first one having been in the Viking Era. In the 100 years that followed about 800,000 Norwegians emigrated from Norway mainly for North America and to a lesser extent to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.  America. The Norwegian immigrants in U.S.A. brought a solidly rooted tradition of collaboration from their local communities. They played a major role in the economic development of their adopted lands.  If we are to compare emigration vis-a-vis the total population of the country, Ireland was the only country that experienced greater emigration than Norway. More people of Norwegian ancestry now live outside Norway than in the country itself (the population of Norway being barely 4.5 million.).

The monument dedicated to the enterprising spirit of expatriate Norwegians. It commemorated 100 years of emigration ever since the cargo ship “Restauratioen’ sailed from Stavanger with the first batch of emigrants to U.S.A  on 4^th July 1825

       

           The numerous buildings around Lake Breiavatnet, both modern and historical, have interesting features that tell us of the character of the city. A walk around the lake is indeed soothing to the eyes with the sights of pond ducks, gulls, swans and other water birds at peace with themselves in its waters. But, sadly, I have never been an avid birdwatcher to sit on the bench and observe the intricate details about them. Buildings, especially churches, fascinate me because of their varying architecture and I make a detour to Stavanger Domkirken (Stavanger Cathedral) situated in the city centre, right next to lake Breiavatnet .

 Stavanger Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in  Norway , dates from 1125 which is also the year Stavanger counts as its year of foundation. The original church was built in the Anglo- Norman style. This is the only cathedral in Norway from medieval times that has been preserved in its original design (almost unchanged since the 14^th Century) and has been in continuous use since its inception.

Domkirken (Stavanger Cathedral) situated in the city centre, right next to Lake Breiavatnet

 Crossing the Cathedral Square ( Domkirklassen), we  strolled up to the Valberg Tower (Valbergtarnet). Built in 1853 as a watch tower it is 26. 5 meters tall and was once one of the highest structures in the city. It lay in the middle of the city overlooking over the centre of the town. The octagonal tower was designed by the Norwegian architect Christian Grosch, who also designed the Norwegian Royal Palace and the old toll house in Stavanger. Several fires have haunted the town of Stavanger up through the ages. In 1860 after the tower was built - 210 houses burned down leaving more than 2000 people homeless. Today the tower is used as a private art gallery presenting contemporary art by local and national artists. Nearby one can see many of the old waterfront houses.

Valberg Tower, once one of the highest structures in the city. The tower was the permanent lodging of the watchmen in Stavanger. Among their duties was to sound the warning bells to alert the people in town when there was a fire.

Scenes from Skagenkaten. The Valberg Tower can be seen at a distance. Old Waterfront Houses ( Out of the original 250 such buildings built towards the end of the 18^th Century and beginning of the 19^th Century, about 60 still remain as on date. Once used as storehouses and also for salting herrings, they have now been converted into offices and restaurants.

We then hopped across to Old Stavanger (Gamle Stavanger) nearby. It is located right next to the city centre and has a collection of 173 wooden structures that were built at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the 19th century. They are still in use as houses, art galleries and studios. Stavanger has received several awards for its efforts to preserve the intrinsic character of Old Stavanger. This was one of the three pilot projects carried out in Norway during the United Nations Architectural Heritage Year in 1975.

 The Old Stavanger locality is not the only repository of wooden houses. There are 8,000 wooden houses in   Stavanger dating before World War 2 and they all speak evocatively of the character of the city. It therefore comes as no surprise that Stavanger and its region, along with Liverpool, United Kingdom was selected as a European Capital of Culture for 2008

On our return to our hotel via Ovre Kleingate, our

 attention was drawn to the statue of Christian 

Bjelland tucked in the greenery along the steps 

leading to a row of white wooden houses.

 Bjelland is a name that most people would 

associate with Stavanger since he was the founder

 of the eponymous company which was Norway’s

largest canned goods producer. The prosperity

 brought by the canning industry s detailed in the 

Norwegian Canning Museum at Ovre Strandgata, 

not far away from the statue of Christian Bjelland

Near Ovre Klievgata, the statue of Christian Bjelland, the man who pioneered the canning industry in Norway. He was the founder of Christian Bjelland & Co A/S, Norway's largest canned goods producer and amongst the largest in Scandinavia. One of the great industrialists of his time, in 1907 he was made a Knight, 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for his contribution to building Norwegian industry. The steps lead to a row of white wooden houses which extend further into the Gamle Stavanger located nearby.

 In the modern day history of Norway Stavanger brought prosperity to Norway again with the discovery of oil in the nearby North Sea. Prospecting for oil in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea began in 1966. The first strike was made during the Christmas weekend of 1969 (in the Ekofisk oilfield) by the Phillip Petroleum Company. At that time other oil companies had given up hope and this was also the last hole that Phillips had intended to drill. It turned out that the strike was the biggest in the world and Norway thus became an oil nation. It was truly a Christmas bonanza! After much discussion, Stavanger was chosen to be the on-shore center for the oil industry on the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, and a period of hectic growth followed.

         The city is commonly referred to as the Petroleum Capital of Norway. That oil has played a vital role in the economy of Stavanger is evident in the Norwegian Petroleum Museum in the city. Apart from telling how oil and gas are formed, found and produced, this museum also provides an insight into the technical innovations and the influence of the petroleum resources on the Norwegian society. Related to the subject of petroleum is the Geoparken, a city park that that tests new forms of recycling both in terms of ideas and materials & objects for Petroleum Industry. The  tax revenues from the oil and gas industry on the Norwegian Continental Shelf  is roughly around 16% of the revenues of the revenue of Norway. In general, the Rogaland County has a rich and versatile industrial cluster.

As is the case with many European cities, Stavanger has a lot to offer by way of museums. The Stavanger Museum is also located in Old Stavanger, commemorating the city's past glory as the herring capital of Norway. The Museum of Archaeology is one of five archaeological museums in Norway. The Glassblowers’ Workshop ( Glassblaseri) is also among the  unique offerings of the city for a tourist.  However, informative these museums and art galleries maybe, we had to resist the temptation of getting holed up in a museum. It would have deprived us of the exciting fare of natural beauty that this Rogaland region in Norway had to offer.

                                                                        Section 4:  

                   Priekestolen- A heavenly experience amidst the dizzying heights of the Priest’s Pulpit Rock

    Anxious as we were to get a feel of the Rogaland countryside around the fjords of Ryfylke, we could not overstay at Stavanger for the second day. The city could at best be a stopover for us to go to the famous Priekestolen or the Priest’s Pulpit Rock (the old local name being Hyvlatonna).. The Gulf Stream contributes to a mild climate all over Rogaland allowing the sheep to graze outdoors all year. This region is often called Norway’s bread basket
.
Pulpit Rock, an overhanging mountain plateau, is a 604 metre (1982 feet) vertical drop down into the Lysefjorden. At this cliff,  the 42 km long Lysfjorden fjord turns into the direction of the Geiranger fjord. Throughout its entire course of 42 kms , the rocky wall falls vertically over 1000metres. This massive cliff lies opposite the Kjerag plateau, in  Forsand municipality of Ryfylke  region. The top of the almost flat cliff measures approximately 25 by 25 metres (82 by 82 feet) square and is a famous tourist attraction in Norway because of its unique topology. 
               To reach there, we took a ferry from the Fiskepiren wharf at Stavanger to Tau. Thereafter, we drove to Priekestokytta Lodge. Then we began the 3.8 Kilometer trek to the Pulpit Rock. The trail  from the Preikestolen Fjellstue (mountain lodge) takes you through a variety of mountain landscapes. The trek took us more than two hours. The walk is not recommended in winter and spring when there is snow and ice and the track may be slippery.  The best season is from April to October. 

         En route, an Indian tourist greeted us. He was Deepak, an engineer based at Stavanger, originally hailing from Visakhapatnam ( Vizag), my own hometown ! It gives you a very reassuring feeling when you bump into a compatriot from your own roots in a totally alien surrounding 7000 Kilometers away from home ! 
              Sadly, our group had to stop short 50 metres short of Pulpit Rock because unusually heavy winds on that day made the last maneuvering along the treacherously narrow path very risky. Discretion being the better part of valour, we heeded the sagacious advice given by Deepak, who had reached the spot before us to forewarn us. 
               Had I been alone, I would have still risked it to the last point of the trek. My girth could have resisted the fierce winds! But the lightweight ladies with us could have invited the risk of being blown across Lysfjord !! This morbid apprehension made  me suddenly feel like a gallant knight protective of his hosts. I had to be content with less picturesque photographs short of land’s end at the summit.  So near yet so far!

An equally exhilarating climb would have been the visit to Kjeragbolten. This place is an almost spherical rock wedged in the cliff approximately 1000 meters above the fjord. The straight fall down to the fjord makes Kjerag a very popular location for base jumping. As the crow flies, Kierag is only a few kilometres from Priekestolen, lying on the opposite side of the fjord the road route. But it has to be approached by a totally different and longer road route. It is not always possible to have the best of both worlds when one has limited time on hand!

The view of Lysefjord, 50 metres short of the famous Pulpit Rock. With gales intensifying at the peak we were advised not to take the risk of walking along the narrow, vertiginous path to the peak ( without any support on the fjord side of the path).

A few months later when I  watched the Telugu film " Rangam", I could get a feeling of 'deja vu' and  an intimate connection with this place. A song sequence was shot in the dizzying and dangerous heights of Priekestolen ( Pulpit's Rock). I am sure the film crew would have taken enough precautions to  prevent people from getting swept away by menacingly strong winds at the summit.

                                                                               Section 5:
 Cruising along the South Western Coast- The ferry ride from   Alesund to Bergen by the Coastal Steamer Hurtigruten.

We took the night ferry from Alesund to Bergen to have a first hand experience of the Norwegian coastline. Alesund is situated 236 km north northeast of Bergen. We left Alesund at midnight and reached Bergen at 14.30 hrs. En route we passed by many islets and skerries, with a forlorn cottage or two or a lighthouse to give a semblance of habitation or activity. The October winds were fortunately tolerable for me and I could manage to spend sufficient part of the journey on the open decks, though in intermittent spells.

Scenes from the Western coast of Norway  between Alesund and Bergen

 The approach to the city of Bergen  as seen from the ferry M.V. Hurtigruten

Bergen is the second largest city in  Norway with a population of 260,600 located in the county of Hordaland on the south-western coast of Norway. It has become Norway's largest - and one of Europe's largest - cruise shps ports of call by virtue of being the gateway city to the world famous fjords of Norway.  Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Bergen remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia. It was Norway's biggest city until the 1830s after which the capital city of Oslo displaced Bergen from its pedestal.

   Bergen is an old Hanseatic City, the Hanseatic League having been an economic alliance of trading  cities and their guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe in the later middle Ages. The Hanseates established one of the most important trading offices in Bergen around 1360. The unique Hanseatic houses with their original wooden architecture comprise Bergen's old quayside, Bryggen. They are now a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Having only limited daylight hours on hand, we decided to justice to our visit by taking a ride in the Floibanen Funicular , the only cable railway and one of Norway’s most popular attraction which runs up the mountain of Floyen. The mountains that surround Bergen have given rise to this funicular, a railway on a steep slope that transports passengers in special coaches through a moving cable. It was officially opened in 1918. The seven minute journey by the Floibanen funicular is in itself a remarkable experience. The two funicular carriages are equipped with glass ceilings and panorama windows. It starts from a highly accessible point close to the Wharf and Fish Market and takes you to Mount Floyen, 320 metres above sea level.  Reaching the top we could get a clear view of the city below. We strolled around the park and shopped in the souvenir shop. As seems to be the phenomenon all over the world, a considerable portion of the symbols associated with Norwegian heritage, folklore and fauna seem to have been made in China !

Possibly the cable car to Ulriken, the highest of the seven mountains that surround Bergen) at 643 metres , could have afforded a better view than Mount Floyen  but we did not have any time on hand. With dusk setting in fast and with an early morning train to catch, we made the best use of time by window shopping in Torgallmenningen, the main square of Bergen to acquaint ourselves with traditional Norwegian products. 

As has been the case with many Norwegian towns, Bergen had been ravaged by fires in the past. Today, the area of   Bryggen is regularly flooded at extreme tide, and it is feared that with rising sea levels, floods will become a major problem in Bergen. It has therefore been suggested by ‘ Stiftelsen Bryggen’, the foundation responsible for preserving the UNESCO site, that a sea wall be built outside the harbour to protect the city. Thereby, it could be raised and lowered as demanded by the tides,

The Hanseatic buildings of Bryggen . The tenement buildings, consisting of one or two long rows, divided into several rooms with a common passageway. They were combined houses cum storerooms 2-3 storeys high

                      Inside the Floibanen Funicular Railway

Views of Bergen from the terminus of the funicular at the top of Floyen Mountain (height – 320 metres)

                The statue of an irresistibly ugly troll around which several Nordic myths have been built.

The traditional dresses of Norway, the Bunads , on display along with the handicrafts in a shop at Bergen.

           Torgallmenningen, the main square of Bergen at night

 Inside the  Bergen Railway Terminus.  NSB (Norges Statsbaner) is the branch of Norwegian Railway that controls passenger trains services.

A MEMORABLE NORWEGIAN SOJOURN : SECTIONS 1 & 2 - THE JOURNEYS TO OSLO & ALESUND

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge my gratitude and  thanks  to Google, Wikipedia , the various blog spots,  magazine articles and travel guides for the inputs provided by them all the four countries of Scandinavia- Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland . The information provided by them has vastly helped me to connect to connect my photographs with the history linked to these places.

               Though I visited all the four Scandinavian Countries almost 5 years back, in October 2010, I could sit down with determination only in 2015 to compile this blog.  Better late than never!  Five years could be a  period long enough for many of the old landmarks to yield place to newer ones. So in that sense my blog may already have become outdated in some places . It could require an updating with new photographs. If it does, then I shall certainly do the needful-- --provided I happen to revisit these countries (by the Grace of God, certainly !)   Travel often makes you acknowledge humbly the role of the 'Invisible Hand'. This  term extends beyond just the economic forces that  many economists are often inclined to refer to !

          Through this blog post, I thank my various friends and relatives   for their overwhelming  warmth and hospitality during all the occasions when they hosted me at their homes . I also thank them for by sparing their valuable time for me and escorting me around in new places, helping me to accomplish  sight seeing in otherwise remote and difficult places. I also thank my various co-travellers from different parts of the world for their enjoyable company,wit, humour and camaraderie during our journeys together. They made each of my  sojourns very memorable ,without an exception.

      I request viewers to please excuse me for the poor photography. Scandinavia was the first time when I handled a compact digital camera for an  intensive use. I was not familiar with the subtle nuances of photography in changing conditions of light and weather. Also our  sightseeing bus did not stop at many a place to enable us to take better shots under static conditions (without the interference from rain-splattered or dusty windows).

           Sadly,  time, tide and sightseeing buses / trains wait for none!

  A MEMORABLE NORWEGIAN SOJOURN : SECTIONS 1 & 2  THE JOURNEYS TO OSLO & ALESUND 

Section 1-   The onward journey to Alesund , Norway

Had it not been for the generous invitation of my former school classmate, Sundari, ,  Norway would have figured very low on my priority list for sightseeing. Though Scandinavia is blessed with abundant unspoiled natural beauty, the high cost of living there coupled with the cold weather conditions act as deterrents to many Indians in firming up their travels plans to this region. In 2009 Oslo was ranked as the most expensive city in the world. (Maybe we need to take travel tips from Oslo’s 21,000 strong Pakistani community which has been comfortably ensconced there since long.)  Apart from being grateful to Sundari for chalking out meticulously a low budget travel plan for my co-traveler, Jagannath and me, I should also thank her employer for posting her to the quaint and quiet fishing town of Alesund in the Sunnemore district of Western Norway.   Otherwise my Scandinavian sojourn would have assumed the rushed pace of a regular chartered tour, leaving me little time for stopping to ‘smell the flowers’ or listen to the ‘sounds of silence’ in the  breathtakingly beautiful Norwegian woods.

We stepped into Scandinavia on a clear September afternoon after the Finn -Air flight from Delhi   landed at the roomy and elegantly simple Vaanta Airport of Helsinki. It took   about seven hours of non-stop flying to cover this distance of 5228 kilometres. After the customs check, we had enough time for window shopping before boarding the next SAS flight to Oslo. We noticed that most of the other Indian transit travelers were bound to destinations in Southern Europe and very few to Norway. The polite Finnish officer at the immigration desk was ice-cool while quizzing a young immigrant lady from rural Punjab about the purpose of her visit to Barcelona. The lady communicated only through blank looks and sheepish smiles as she could neither understand nor speak English. I was surprised that her papers were cleared by him without much fuss. Fortune favours the foolhardy and footloose!

An aerial view of the city of Helsinki City (Finland) just before landing

                             Inside Vaanta Airport, Helsinki

 The flight to Oslo took an hour and a quarter to cover a distance of 715 kilometres. Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport is located 47 kilometres from the centre of the city.  More than 19 million passengers travelled through Oslo Airport in 2010, making Gardermoen the sixth busiest domestic airport in Europe (the share of domestic passengers being 8.6 million). 

                  The capital city of a country normally warrants a stay sufficiently long to understand its historical and cultural heritage.  The vibrant city of Oslo  is not only the cultural, governmental and scientific nerve centre   of Norway a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping, it is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. In 2003, Oslo received The European Sustainable City Award and in 2007 Reader's Digest ranked Oslo as number two on a list of the world's greenest, most liveable cities. With 20 theatres and 50 museums to boast of, only a long stay would have done justice to understand this multi-faceted city.. However ( on the flip side), Oslo has been listed as one of the most expensive cities in the world along with such other global capitals as Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen, Paris, and Tokyo.

Unfortunately, owing to slight deviation in our travel plans we could not break our journey at Oslo for half a day during our onward journey to Alesund. The result was that we were left only with half a day for Oslo sightseeing on our return journey to India. We were determined to cover Oslo on a war footing basis during this short duration

 While waiting at the airport to catch our next SAS flight to Alesund we could get a palpable feel of the energy in the place. As I keenly watched the people take bouncy steps along the long aisles past the numerous check-in counters, I was transported back to the opening scene of the film “Saturday Night Fever” set to the pulsating beat of the song “Staying Alive”. (“….feel the city breaking in, and everybody shakin’, staying alive!….)  The long and rapidly changing flight information display is an indication of the heavy dependence of  the Norwegians  on air transport despite the mainland  Norway being slightly smaller than our largest state Rajasthan (with an area of 324,000 square kilometers)  .

We strolled outside to admire the architectural delights of the airport. There is a massive stainless sculpture of what looked to me like a giant trying to hurl a paper airplane. This is the “Utkast” by the artist Kare Groven. It was originally inside the old Oslo airport at Fornebu, but is now appropriately relocated outside, perhaps to allow the man to cover the world in his giant stride. When the new airport was constructed in 1998, the plan for ornamentation was to ‘stimulate the experience of the public when they arrive at the airport’.  The abundance of modern steel sculptures in the arrival halls and departure halls gives a ubiquitous sheen and a spanking new look to the airport everywhere.

         The striking presence of many non- Caucasian faces at the airport gave us an insight into the multi-cultural character of Oslo. A quarter of Oslo's population of about 600,000 consists of immigrants. This segment is expected to increase to between 44% and 51% around 2030. Between the period 1970 to 2007, the ethnic Norwegian population decreased by 10% while the immigrant population increased by over 800%. The major ethnic minority groups of immigrants are Pakistanis (21,000), Somalis (11,000), Swedes (9,000) & Poles (8,800). In contrast to other parts of the country, Oslo has a lower percentage of Christians with Muslims accounting for about 11% of the population. 

 The stainless steel sculpture “ Utkast” by the artist Kare Groven located at the entrance of Oslo Airport.                 

        

Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport has an energetic feel with its bright lights, the sheen of its numerous steel sculptures and with people moving around with a bounce in their walk.

As soon as we retrieved our luggage we boarded  the Airport Express Train along the high-speed Gardermoen Line to Oslo Central Station.  Oslo Central Station acts as the central hub and offers train services to most mayor cities in southern Norway as well as Stockholm and Gothenburg  in Sweden. Oslo has Norway's most extensive public transport system. This includes the Oslo Metro,  the world's most extensive metro per resident, Oslo Tramway and the eight-line  Oslo Commuter Rail .

After settling down at our hotel, we headed for Frogner Park located in the heart of the city. Oslo has a large number of parks and green areas within the city core, as well as outside it. The 600,000 inhabitants are spread out over an unusually large land area. Of the total metropolitan area ,  two thirds consists of protected areas of forests, hills and lakes. Surrounded by green hills and mountains, Oslo’s beauty is enhanced by its location between fjord and forestland. There are 40 islands within the city limits. The horseshoe shape of the city means that any point within the city is relatively close to the forest. There are 40 islands  and 343 lakes within the city limits of Oslo.  

 Our taxi driver was a Pakistani and most of the cab drivers that we saw were either Pakistanis or Somalis. Likewise the market places were teeming with immigrants. The population currently increases at a record rate of over 2% annually, making it the fastest growing capital in Europe. This growth stems from immigration as the native Norwegian population in the city is actually decreasing, The immigrant share of the population in the city proper now counts more than 25%(about 152,000 inhabitants) With the immigrant population accounting for about 82% of the population growth of the city, the share of the immigrants is  predicted to increase to almost half of Oslo’s population around 2030.

 Frogner Park or Vigeland Park is the biggest and most reputed park in Norway with a large collection of sculptures of Gustav Vigeland . It contains over 212 sculptures  in bronze, granite and cast iron, the notable ones being the  Obelisk and the Wheel of Life.

            “The Obelisk”  at Frogner ( Vigeland) Park

   The “Wheel of Life”  inside Frogner ( Vigeland) Park

Inside Frogner ( Vigeland) Park

        " Slottet" is the home of the Norwegian Royal Family

                             

The National  Parliament of Norway—the Storting

                                 he National Theatre, Oslo

The National Theatre is the largest theatre in Norway and is situated between the Royal Castle and the Parliament Storting .

      50 different museums are located around the city of Oslo

                   The Old Building of the University of Oslo

       Vignettes of   OSLO CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION

But when one is confined to the aseptic precincts of the airports for too long, one does not get the feeling of having arrived in the country. We were restless to step into Fjord Norway, whose pictures in’ The National Geographic’ had whetted the wanderlust in me from my early schooldays. Our flight from Oslo to Alesund’s  Vigra airport was a short one taking only 45 minutes for  a distance of 565 kilometres..  The 16 kilometre journey from Vigra island to the mainland of  Alesund   involves the crossing of three undersea tunnels connecting the islands of Vigra, Valderoya, Ellingsoya  and Alesund in that order.  The combined length of these three tunnels is 11.5 kilometres  and the longest tunnel is about 4.2 kilometres.. By the time we settled into our beds it was past midnight.  I found it hard to believe that I was still fresh as morning dew despite having been awake since 3 o’clock in the morning and having travelled 6335 kilometres wheeling my baggage through various counters in four different airports! My schoolboy dream had come true during my middle age! God bless my classmate and may he bless her employer too for not posting her to a smelly, sooty industrial city!

                Section 2-  
 Alesund – Picture –Postcard Perfect!

The next day started off on the right note being greeted a soothing view of the deep blue sea , the sea gulls and the island of Godoy with its lighthouse at Alnes, all in a single range from the window  of our room at Radisson Blu Hotel.  The trawlers and passenger ferries anchored on the jetty just beneath our window were tantalizingly close enough to beckon us to jump off on them. A short walk away from our hotel was the Brosundet, the guest harbor for leisure craft.  We did a quick reconnoiter of the quay.

  Alesund can rightly claim to be the fishing capital of Norway, having  the most important fishing harbour in as also possessing one of the most modern fishing fleet  in Europe. The town’s low population of less than 43,000 belies its importance in a country which is the 10^th largest fishing nation in the world having an annual catch of more than 2.5 million tonnes.  Norway has a coastline of over 25,000 kilometres, the eight longest in the world. Thanks to its unique and innumerable fjords, Norway has a high coastline/area ratio of almost 82%.

       However the fact  that even this population qualifies Alesund  to be  the largest city in the  More og Romsdal county is  an indicator of  the low density of population of Norway at 12 per square km (in  contrast  to India’s 324 per square kilometer). Unless one is connected with the fishing industry, in the itinerary of a first time visitor to Norway, Alesund often gets relegated to that of a brief stop-over for visitors en route to Hjorund and Geiranger fjord,. Fortunately for us, the lavish hospitality of our hosts, Sundari and her colleague Smitha, kept us in a tension free state to enjoy   leisurely strolls in this picture postcard town. Soaking in the sun at every cosy corner, we were the perfect practitioners of ‘dolce far niente’- pleasant relaxation in carefree idleness!

  Despite being located at 62.5 degrees north, barely 650 kilometers from the Arctic Circle, Alesund boasts of a weather considered moderate by standards of continental places located on similar latitudes in say Canada or Russia.  This is owing to the warm Gulf Stream currents from Mexico warming up the shores. The town is compact enough to be covered by foot within a day and the sights are varied and breathtaking.

There is a fresh, spic and span look about Alesund. It is a very young town considering that it   had a Phoenix like resurrection from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1904. On the night of 23 January 1904, Alesund was subject to one of the most terrible of the many conflagrations which have rewritten the history of several Norwegian towns including Oslo and Bergen. Practically the entire town was destroyed during the night, the damage having been hastened by a gale. The entire populace had to leave the town in the middle of the night with only a few minutes' notice. It was indeed miraculous that only one person (a 76 year old lady) died, though more than 10,000 people were rendered homeless.

 When Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany heard about the fire he personally took the initiative to raise funds. After the fire, he sent four warships with materials to build temporary shelters and  barracks . After a period of planning, the town was rebuilt in stone, brick, and mortar in Jugendstil (Art Nouveau), the architectural style of the time. The town has an unusually consistent architecture, most of the buildings having been built between 1904 and 1907 in a special version of the Art Noveau style, the dragon style. Intricately detailed turrets, spires, beautiful ornamentation using faces of beautiful women as decorations and motifs from nature are some of the striking characteristics of this architectural style.

 Having loitered around sufficiently in the cobble-stoned streets, it was now time for us to catch one’s our breath. The park adjoining Kremmer Gaarden was the perfect place to sit back and watch the world go by while admiring the still waters of Brosundet. It inspires the latent artist in you to capture the reflection of the Art Noveau Buildings like Hotel Brosundet on a canvas. The harbour also hosts the Annual Boat Festival (which also has the Norwegian Championship in Cooking as a feature.). Alesund is also the site of the annual Norwegian Food Festival. The disgorging of visitors by leisure crafts anchored in the Brosundet is a testimony to Alesund’s popularity as  a  tourist attraction, both due to its picturesque town center and its proximity to two  major fjords, the  Hjorund and the Geiranger fjords, the latter being on UNESCO’s  list of  World Heritage Sites.

Vignettes of the Brosundet,the guest harbour for leisure craft, as seen from an adjoining park. The greenish building to the right is  Hotel Brosundet , reputed to be Norway’s finest boutique hotel. It houses the  restaurant, Maki, which  serves some of the best seafood in Norway.

                       Other Vignettes of the Brosundet,

                                      

Jugendstilsenteret (the National Centre of Art Nouveau). This museum chronicles the catastrophic fire of Alesund in 1904 and the challenging reconstruction of the town in Art Nouveau style thereafter.

Alesund abounds with several striking buildings exemplifying the Art Noveau Architecture, like that of Rica Hotel Scandinavie (above) and buildings like the one below.

 Walking down the cobblestoned streets of Alesund is a

 pleasure. The air is so clean and bracing

                   

While walking down the cobblestoned streets of Alesund , you 

could also choose to relax in the open at its numerous street

 cafes.  There's no fear of  air, traffic or noise pollution.  Could

 this be the template for paradise ?

  Did it require a fire to give an impetus to Art Nouveau at Alesund or would it have evolved naturally in the course of history? It was too taxing a poser for my hedonistic self! Having wandered sufficiently all over the town to savour the architectural quaintness of the buildings alongside the cobble-stoned streets, I realized that I would be missing out on the natural beauty that the surroundings of Alesund offered. It was now time for a getaway to the hillocks nearby.

            We next head towards the Alesund Church at Kiepervikgata . Gata  is the Norwegian term for street.  Winding our way through a couple of more ’gatas’ we land ourselves at the Alesund Museum, which is housed in a cosy double storied cottage. It gives you a fair insight into the history of the place. The entrance ticket at 50 Norwegian Krones (NOK), (about Rupees 410 each), was a bit steep considering the relatively limited exhibits. However, it gave us  two budget  travelers  a 'veneer of sophistication’ for making a genuine attempt to immerse themselves into the history and culture of Norway ! Otherwise, back home in our social circles, we were in the danger of being branded as a philistines looking nothing beyond the gastronomic delights during the tour.

The U Boat at the Alesund Museum. The U Boat was a German submarine used during World War 1. It is the short form for"undterseeboot" (literally undersea boat)

We next headed to the Town Park. Nestling comfortably in the shade of the trees is the statue of Gange Rolv  ( Gangerolf) , the 10th century founder of the dynasty of the Dukes of  Normandy. 

Statue of Gange Rolv (Gangerolf), the 10th century founder of the dynasty of the dukes of  Normandy.

We brace ourselves for climbing the 418 steps that wind their way up the Aksla Mountain taking you to Fjellstua, the prominent mountain lodge at the top. Alesund lies at the foot of the Aksla Mountain with the Heissafjord on one side and Grytafjord on the other.  The hilltop of Aksla is the best place to give you a bird’s eye-view of the pretty town. In the distance you can see the island of Vigra, on which the Alesund airport is located.  Also visible are the smaller islands of Valderoya, Ellingsoya and the larger island of Godoy. Underneath the expanse of water are the underground tunnels between Alesund and Vigra via other islands. They are depicted on the visitor’s guide map at Fjellstua.

The town of Alesund as seen from the top of Aksla mountain. In the distance is the island of Godoy. It houses the Alnes lighthouse ( built in 1876 and is protected as a relic of Norwegian coastal culture).

 The reflection of the woods of Aksla Mountain captured in the placid waters of its lake.

 The next day we headed towards Atlanterhavsparken in Teunset, a five minute drive from the heart of Alesund. This place hosts several giant landscape salt water aquariums. A special attraction is the feeding of the penguins at the appointed time of 14.30 hrs every day. Likewise fish in the giant aquarium are fed by divers each day at 13.00 hrs.

                Penguin feeding at Atlanterhavenparken, the unique salt water aquarium of Alesund

The scary yet charmingly sinister looks of the Wolfe Fish, a carnivore fish. It is found offshore in cold waters below 5 degrees Centigrade. If looks could kill! But fortunately, the aquarium of Atlanterhavenparken  protected us from its deadly intentions !

Thanks to the generous supply of home food by our caring hosts and the rich spread in the complimentary breakfasts of our hotel, we were already finding it difficult to squeeze into our trousers within a week of our arrival. It was time to take a cue from our body language and trek to Sukkertoppen (Sugar Top) Hill on the outskirts of Alesund. The financially deterring alternative was the revamping of our wardrobe in an expensive Scandinavia!

Sukkertoppen (Sugar Loaf Top) is Alesund's most popular mountain as can be seen by the continuous stream of hikers and also the dogs accompanying them. The top is located on the island Hessa, which together with the islands of  Aspoya and Norvoya defines the heart of Ålesund. The 1.8 kilometre trek to the peak at 315 metres takes less than an hour. Going to the mountain top   was half the fun and we were richly rewarded with an all round panoramic view of the island of Alesund.

The views from the top are extensive, and Alesund is "blessed" having such a viewpoint just outside its city center.

Alesund as seen from Sukkertoppen (above and below)

The ‘ Gunnar Langya’ one of the largest trawler ships in the world parked in the jetty abutting  Hotel Radisson Blu, Alesund where we were staying. This photo was taken from our hotel room which was so close to the trawler that we could have almost jumped on to the trailer ( the only restricting factor being the social decorum to be observed by law abiding civilized human beings !)

           Not everything about Alesund is fishy!  Its surroundings host a large furniture industry. Some well-known household items are manufactured here. When oil was found in the North Sea in the 1970s, the local fishing fleet ship owners were quick enough to smell an opportunity beyond their regular catch of fish. They started rebuilding fishing vessels to serve the infant oil exploration and production industry. In the process, they were able to build purpose designed offshore vessels at local shipyards to serve the North Sea oil adventure even better. Through leading offshore supply ship owning companies today, this activity has become the mainstay of the residents in and around Alesund. Beneath the laidback façade of the town, there lies a shrewd sense of commerce among the Alesundians.  Who says that business and pleasure cannot mix without polluting the natural environment ?
                  Perhaps , we Indians have a lot to learn from Alesundians and other Norwegians. But before we start our eco-conservation measures in India, the challenge before our think tanks in our country is to arrive at a low population density of 12 persons per square kilometer (knowing that the last valiant attempts made almost 40 years back brought about a historical political upheaval)!