Oslo and the Suburbs

Oslo:  The Tiger City

Oslo seems to be a new city in a sense.  When you go downtown to the Opera House and look at the skyscrapers it seems to be all shiny and new.

              A look inside the Opera House

           The outside of the Opera House

            Some of the tallest buildings in Oslo

It's as if IKEA came in and built their city!  The Oslofjord is right up against the city and there are tons of boats and water activities available here.  

As I was taking a picture a man in a kayak arrived on shore right near the Opera after paddling for 8 hours that day.  

As I wondered around the town with my friend, Rebekka, I saw many beggars and a few junkies.  As I was taking a photograph of the memorial to the attacks on Oslo in 2011, near a prominent church, I watched a young woman shoot up heroine.  She searched for a vein and then injected the drugs.  She then sang to me in English "it's a bright, sunny day."  I didn't realize what was going on until my friend had told me.  This came as a major shock to me that someone shot up within 100 feet of me.  I had never been exposed to this before in my life!  You can see her in the picture looking for her vein.  I wish I didn't have this picture, but it is the only one I have of the memorial because right after I took this picture I realized what was going on and I left the area. 

I thought the phrase on the heart, "greatest of all is love" was absolutely beautiful (ignore what is going on in the bottom of the picture).                            

Here is a fountain that was on the route I took downtown:

And here is a blurry picture:

The Suburbs

They were absolutely adorable!  I felt very at home when I arrived.  I was graciously welcomed into the Rygge's beautiful home where I spent 4 days.  The houses here are so cute!

According to the family I stayed with it was very unusual weather they had been having.  It was very sunny and warm, usually it is rainy with overcast.  

          Their bright, lovely home.

Rebekka was kind enough to take me to a nearby gård or farm (pronounced gore).  

              "Welcome to Sorum Farm"

The chickens were very happy.  They had plenty of space to move around and weren't all cooped up like commercially raised American chickens.

         This bunny also lived in the coup with the chickens!

            A friendly horse that came over to greet us

            Me, feeding the sheep!  I threw grass in there and they just started to eat it off of him!

            Rebekka feeding the sheep.

The goats were my absolute favorite.  They were so funny and cute.  They were digging a hole under the fence in order to break free.  There was a mama (the black and white goat) and two kids that had just been born in the spring.

        This kid especially liked being scratched on the chin.

And of course a cat came up to me and wanted me to pet it!  Almost all of the animals were very friendly and not afraid of people after you had been around them for more than a few minutes.

Rebekka and I then went for a walk through the forest and found a frog!  

On the way back to the car we saw wild Norwegian rose bushes and smelled them.  It was one of the most fragrant roses I have ever smelled in my life and the petals were a very vivid, beautiful color.

I had a wonderful time at the farm!