The Rev. Dr. John Toles
Room 2108, the brown chair.
Just for the record, I don’t go out every day to a church to pray my rosary, but I do pray every day. The location does not affect the intention or effectiveness of prayer. It is nice though to be in holy places where the saints of God have been praying  for centuries. 
The title says it all. For whatever reason, the appetite wanted Ramen. Typed it in, found a good place, and discovered that it was only a block from the Munch Museum. So I crossed the Akrobaten (‘the acrobat’), a 206-meter long pedestrian bridge…
… and made my way to the museum.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944) is a local boy, so clearly, they are proud of him here. You’ll know him from The Scream, but he was a very prolific painter, who also worked as a sculptor and photographer.
As I entered, I was not skeptical, but did not have him marked up as one of my favorites. I left thinking quite differently.
A bit about his technique.
ON THE SURFACE: What are we really looking at when we look at a painting? Something that resembles reality, or just colours and shapes arranged on a physical surface? Could it be both? From the start of his artistic career, Munch was interested in everything that lay on the surface of a painting, and he allowed the very process of painting to come to light. The brushstrokes themselves were part of telling the story. This meant that his paintings could also look like unfinished drafts. Munch would scrape and add to the painting many times. Sometimes, he squeezed thick paint directly from the tube, or thinned it out so that it ran down the picture. His pictures were no longer just recognizable motifs, but also told the story of the action behind them – the act of painting.
Warning: a lot of pictures to follow.
The first I saw that caught my eye—why I don’t know—was Attraction, which perhaps spoke of the remainder of my tour.
Munch was one who would return to certain themes and even images and rework them. So, where Attraction was painted in 1896, Eye in Eye (below) was painted in 1899-1900. Easy to see the similarities.
Another example of various time periods and media is found here / Crying Girl.
And here / The Human Mountain.
And here / Sick Child
He was fascinated with philosophy, religion, and the natural sciences—how all things worked together—which led to his “belief” in Crystallisation.
‘Crystallisation’ was one of the processes that occupied Munch. This was a pseudo-scientific theory which proposed that life forms and develops from inorganic material. For Munch, this process represented a factual, spiritual and philosophical belief in the life cycle. The divisions between humans and nature, plants and minerals, are wiped out: we are not separate from nature but a part of it.
This cycle can be found in much of his art, from the cycle of relationships to the cycle of nature. I believe these illustrate it as a whole.
Some other pieces that I enjoyed.
Of his more famous works, Madonna is a close second to The Scream.
And a crowd favorite is affectionately titled, Vampire, although it is only a woman kissing a man’s neck.
I could do this for quite a while longer, so I’ll stop here with my favorite. It was a drawing—Death and the Woman.
Not sure why I like it so much, but it made me smile. Maybe it indicates that a woman will be the death of me.
After all that, I remembered the reason I got out in the first place. I’ll give 4/5 ⭐️s for Koie Ramen.
Tomorrow is my last full day in Oslo and I’ll probably spend most of the day doing laundry and getting ready for the next leg of the journey. Where to next? You’ll just have to stay tuned.
Today’s adventure was to Ekebergparken Sculpture Park (6.9 miles / 13.3 steps / equivalent of 45 flights of stairs… I’m afraid of what the foot will have to say about this tomorrow.) However, when I saw this sign, I decided I was on the right path.
The Norwegians have a love affair with sculptures and parks. Where we might have one sculpture in a park, situated in a central location and easy to access, the Norwegians like to have many which are here and there and sometimes difficult to find. In many cases, you just happen upon them.
Many of the statues in this park were curious or comical or… “Huh?” So, here is a gallery of a few.
In case you need to reorient yourself, here is a flower and a duck. “Quack.”
A short walk up the hill and I came across Fideicommissum.
Now, you may be saying to yourself, “Why, that’s a woman having a little squat.” And it is! Not only is this a statue, but it is also an anatomically correct water fountain (I did not do a close inspection.) I had to know more, so I first did a Google translate of fideicommissum. “Fiddle Commission” didn’t seem quite right. Maybe “piddle commission?” But, no. From Wikipedia…
The title Fideicommissum refers to the former legal institution of the entail, under which estates and other family properties were passed down from one generation to the next, often benefitting the eldest son.
What it all comes down to is marking your territory. By the way, have you read Golden Streams. It was written by I.P. Freely. Moving on.
I saw this woman walking toward me and decided to say, “Hi.” We struck up a nice conversation, but she had places to go, so we parted ways.
After such a long hike, I thought about taking a brief nap, but the bench was taken.
When I first saw these, I thought they were lanterns hanging in the trees, but when I got closer… One man’s dirty underwear are another man’s art installation. (They may kick me out of Norway if I get too snarky.)
Before heading back, I did a bit of self-reflecting. I couldn’t see the forest.
I’ve seen this bridge from my hotel window and wanted to get a closer look at it, so on the way back, I found the way to cross. It is the Nordenga Bridge.
Below and circled: the bridge from my window. The buildings to the right of the bridge are called the “Barcode Project.” Twelve buildings close together of varying height.
The arrow is pointing to where I was in the park when I took this panoramic shot of the fjord and city.
Now it is time for a big drink of water, some sushi, and a good book. Pray you are having a wonderful day.
Please comment below. When I return, we’ll combine some of your journal entries with mine and produce a printed journal of our adventure.
WEEK SIX PROMPT
Reflecting on your week, where did you witness God in action? Where was He silent (in your opinion?)
Today, I attended St. Edmund’s Church (Church of England). The Rt. Rev. Dr. Robert Innes, Bishop of the Diocese of Europe was the Celebrant with Confirmations. It appeared to be a very special day for the congregation. I had a minute to visit with the Chaplain, The Rev. Canon Joanna Udal.
The service was in English and similar to ours, but with a different order for some parts.
There was so much construction out front, that it was difficult to get a good picture, so I stole this one from the web.
At the end of June, they will be celebrating their 140th anniversary, so by European standards, it is a very new congregation/church.
The walk to the church this morning was lonely business. Very little movement on the streets. It is my experience that most European cities are trashed on Sunday mornings with garbage everywhere.
I got a double shot of culture today at the Operahuset i Oslo, Den Norske Opera & Balletts (Opera House in Oslo, Norway Opera & Ballet.
As above, so below. You are able to walk up to the roof, which provides great views of the city and fjord.
The main show was Swan Lake, Act 2 (a new production). My seat was on the very back row, but still enjoyable.
While on the roof, I enjoyed playing with the reflection off the glass.
Of course, the day would not be complete without the obligatory selfie.
Finally, I came across this question in some of my reading from this morning: “If I had infinite money, already traveled the world, had no fear, and didn’t receive any recognition for what I do, what would I do or what would I create?” My next question was, “Then why aren’t you doing that?”
The next couple of days will probably be pretty quiet here. I’m looking forward to some reading and… yeah…. Reading.
Just a note on the pictures for today: the light was really weird and I had a hard time getting good photos, so I’ve fiddled with most of these trying to pull the details out.
The first stop was a return to St. Olav Church to pray my Rosary, then I made my way to the Royal Palace. The seagull perched upon the rider’s head took center stage.
There is a tour that will allow you entry and I may try and do that next week. For now, the main doors leading in and the very happy security guard (she will smile for the camera, but I’m guessing she can handle the rifle.)
I had hoped to be invited in by King Harald V for a cup of coffee, but apparently he did not get my memo.
It was at this point that Siri got me good and lost. She said go this way and pointed in another direction. Switched over to Google Maps and got back on track, but put an extra mile on beforehand. FYI: Apple Maps does a fine job in the USA, but it seems Google Maps is the better choice when traveling abroad.
Eventually, I found my destination: Vigelandsparken (The Viegland Park), which is apparently what tourists call it, but known as Frogner Park to the locals.
The Gustav Vigeland statutes and other works—there are 212 of them—take up only a small portion of the park.
If you are offended by nudity, you may want to stop here. Vigeland wanted the pieces to remain timeless, so they are all nudes. It does makes sense. Clothing dates a piece.
Scene from the gate (the monolith is in the distance)…
Further down the lane, you cross the Bridge that has 29 statues on both sides.
For the record, this is not a man drop kicking a baby. The “babies” are actually Genii spirits/demons and he is fighting them off. Think of it as the devil on your shoulder.
And then there is perhaps the most famous of the bridge statues, The Angry Child. For whatever reason, it is believed you can touch his hand for good luck. That is why it is so shiny—the oxidation patina has been rubbed off. They’ve asked people to stop rubbing it as this may damage the statue.
From here, you climb the steps, enter through the iron gates, and make your way to the monolith. There is much going on in these works of granite. The various figures represent different stages of life.
And then there is the monolith. It is a single piece of granite weighing several hundred tons. It took fourteen years to complete, is just over 46 feet tall, and consists of 121 figures.
Further on you come to the Circle of Life.
A view from the top looking back down toward the main gate…
Pope Clement XIII would have a coronary walking through Oslo and seeing all the nudes. He would hire an army of sculptures to create hundreds of fig leaves to cover the nudity. I am no prude, but I confess I am not accustomed to seeing so much. I believe that says more about me than it does the art.
Having done more walking than I should have, I got myself a cab. The driver was a very chatty Pakistani who was delighted to tell me about every building we passed. When we arrived at the hotel, he gave me his phone number, promising to provide me with excellent service during my stay. I do believe he would.
Now, what shall we do tomorrow?
St. Olav Domkirke
It was on the way to where I was headed, so I returned to St. Olav’s. Several women were praying the Rosary together when I entered. I believe they were Korean, so although I recognized the pattern of their prayers, I did not understand the words. I began to pray silently, then another woman came and sat in front of me. She began to pray quietly in Norwegian. All these languages–a Pentecost of sorts–praising God.
A trip to The Top, which is the restaurant on the 33rd floor of the hotel.
To begin, I had a tasty glass of wine and the oysters. For those who know my palate, the jalapeño is not generally on it, but the seeds had been removed leaving only the flavor. Both were exquisite and the hostess assured me that the wine was an excellent pairing with the main course.
This was followed by the main course. FYI: if it is a foggy night, Christmas Eve Mass will be cancelled, because I ate Rudolph.
I have had some very tender meat in time, but this was ridiculous. When in Norway, do yourself a solid and have a little reindeer.
The side dish was a scalloped potato and amazing. Had I been in the restaurant alone, I would have picked up all the plates and licked them clean, which reminds me…
John visited his 90-year-old grandpa who lived way out in the country. On the first morning of the visit, John’s grandpa prepared a breakfast of bacon and eggs. John noticed a film-like substance on his plate, and asked, “Are these plates clean?”
His grandpa replied, “They’re as clean as cold water can get them. Just go ahead and finish your meal.”
For lunch, Grandpa made hamburgers. Again, John was concerned about the plates, as his appeared to have specks of dried egg on it. “Are you sure these plates are clean?” he asked.
Without looking up, Grandpa said, “I told you before, those dishes are as clean as cold water can get them!”
Later, as John was leaving, his grandpa’s dog started to growl and wouldn’t let him pass.
John said, “Grandpa, your dog won’t let me get by!”
Grandpa yelled to the dog, “Cold Water, go lie down!”
After Cold Water got the dishes cleaned, I made my way to desert.
Yeah, beneath the rabbit food is a dark and white chocolate bar. Yummy.
I finished the meal up with an Oban 14 (neat).
I’m not spoiled. I’m glad this was in Kronor because, otherwise, I would be sending out one of those text messages about being broke in a foreign country and needing some financial assistance!
As for the rest of the day… I spent it resting the foot (8 miles yesterday), which is doing really well. Only a little ache today. I also did some reading, writing, and napping. If you can spend a Tuesday doing the same, I highly recommend it! Tomorrow, I’m off to see naked people. Apparently, there are 212 of them. Keep you posted.
I know that I talk about this topic a lot, but it is a problem that I hope to solve. From my early morning thoughts…
If you hate someone, then you do not care what you do to them and you don’t care about what happens to them. If something good happens, you sneer about it and if something bad happens to them, then you say they are getting what they deserve. The same thing it’s true about hating and loving yourself. If you hate yourself, you don’t care what you do to yourself and all the bad that can happen you deserve. If you love yourself–and not in a conceited, self-absorbed way, but in a Godly way–then you will care about who you are, how you treat yourself, and are thankful in knowing when good things come your way.
I figure if you’ve read this far, you deserve more than a restaurant review.
Candle in a Cave 