Ok, so it’s been a little while since I posted (due to tiredness and some other things to do) so I thought I’d start off with some statues of the week for the weeks I’ve not posted.
Statue number 9 is of a temporary sculpture in front of the university buildings on Karl Johans gate. It’s now moved elsewhere. I did find an article about it one day whilst reading (well getting the gist) a newspaper in Norwegian. Now I can’t remember what the article said and I can’t find it on the Aftenposten website. So you will just have to enjoy it’s largeness and mirroredness.
Oh, isn’t this statue of a bear cute! I’m not sure what’s happened to the body belonging to the feet though. They are located in Hygea Park, just off Bogstadveien – a big shopping street in Oslo which is also busy with cars and trams. I’ve not been able to find out anything about the statues but the park is apparently an English style park. Not quite sure what makes a park English in style – any suggestions?
A while ago I said that I’d bought some Norwegian wool. The wool I bought was for 2 different projects. One yarn was Rauma’s vamsegarn in an aqua colour. Well I have now finished the project I was making with this. My first fully Norwegian knitting – Norwegian yarn and a Norwegian pattern in Norwegian! It’s not for me but a special present for my friend Liz (Liz if you’re reading this it’s in the midsts of the postal system at the moment!).
Bobbles and cables in norsk!
I have also bought a Norwegian knitting book in Norwegian. It’s for knitted Christmas baubles – I think this will be a project requiring me to practice my Norwegian style knitting rather than my traditional Scottish style.
Autumn (høst) has definitely arrived in Oslo. Warm coats, hats, gloves and scarves are necessary. You can see your breath in the mornings. But it’s sunny and the trees are turning wonderful colours, so there’s nothing to complain about, especially as November is yet to come. November is apparently cold and dreich (grey and dark), then the snow arrives in December and it lightens up. So I’ve been going around taking pictures of Oslo trees changing colour.
This statue has usurped my intended statue of the week number 7. Why? I was walking through Slottsparken (the palace park) and I realised that there were birds on the statue! (see statue of the week no.2) So I whipped my camera out and got snapping.
This is a statue of Karl XIV Johan (1763 – 1844). Karl Johan was previously known as Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte – a Napoleonic marshal who had a difficult relationship with Napoleon. Eventually Napoleon removed his rank and Bernadotte went to Paris where he found out that the Swedish court had elected him as the next king as Charles XIII was childless. The Swedes were strategic in this decision – they wanted a king who had a military background to defend them against the Russians. Karl Johan became king of Norway in 1814 when Norway was ceded by Denmark to Sweden.
Karl Johan’s statue stands in front of the Kongelige Slott (Royal Palace) which he had built (but died before it was finished) and looks down over Karl Johans gate. The inscription says “The people’s love is my reward.”
This is my Burntisland Beach (that’s pronounced Burnt – Island, not Burntis – land) Stole (Sea Scape Stole). It was supposed to be finished in time for my brother’s wedding on the 1st of May. The wedding was on the beach, just a few meters from their house, and it was cold.
Hmm, well I finished knitting it a few weeks ago but it needed blocking and I didn’t get around to doing this until today. Loads of dye came out of the yarn (HipKnits Cashmere Lace) during soaking, hopefully it won’t when I wear it! Perhaps I’ll wear it for my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary next month.
This weeks statue is of Roald Amundsen (1872 – 1928). Amundsen was the first person to reach both North and South Poles. He beat Scott to the South Pole, reaching it on 14th December 1911. Scott reached the pole, only to discover that the Norwegians had been there before him, on the 17th January 1912 . The statue is on the Bygdøy peninsula (in Oslo) outside the Fram, Kon-tiki and Norwegian Maritime Museums.
The Nobel prizes winners have been announced this week. There are 5 in total for: chemistry, physics, literature, medicine and peace. Alfred Nobel was born in Sweden in 1833 and died in Italy in 1896. He was a chemical engineer and developed dynamite. In his will written in 1895 he stated that most of his money should be used for prizes. His family weren’t happy about this and it took until 1901 for the first prizes to be awarded. In his will Nobel wrote
“The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: /- – -/ one part to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
The Nobel Peace Centre, Oslo
The peace prize is the ony prize awarded in Norway, the others being awarded in Sweden. The Norwegian Storting (parliament) appoint a committee to consider the nominations and decide upon the winner. Previous winners have included Nelson Mandela, the current Dalai Lama, and UNICEF. Some of the winners have been contraversial including last years winner Barack Obama. On Friday the 2010 winner was announced – Liu Xiaobo – because of his continued fight for human rights in China. Of course the Chinese government isn’t pleased.
The winners of all the Nobel prize winners and more info can be found at http://nobelprize.org
As well as the other Nobel prizes, the Ig Nobel prizes have also been given out this week. The Ig Nobels are given out for improbable research that first makes you laugh and then makes you think. Well the Ig Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to my friend Maria’s partner: Richard Stephens. Gratulerer Richard!!!! Richard and his colleagues have found that swearing when in pain is more effective at relieving the pain, than saying any non-swear word. For those that are interested the full paper is Stephens R, Atkins J, and Kingston A (2009) Swearing as a Response to Pain, Neuroreport, 20(12), pp. 1056-60. Details of the other Ig Nobel prizes can be found at http://improbable.com/
I’ve been very busy for the past few weeks. There are lots of new places for me to explore now that my human’s furniture has come. I can get up high onto the top of the wardrobe and the kitchen cupboards.
I can sit on the windowsills amongst my humans stuff.
I’ve found new places to sleep such as the bottom of the wardrobe
and the edge of the bed.
I like to sit on the bathroom floor
One of my favourite places is a box. I’ve been hunting for my toys, because I don’t remember where I’ve left them, and once I have caught them I bring them to my box.
Sometimes I like to hide and be cozy under the covers
An Oslo Saga 