Ekeberg Park and Other Small Adventures

Unfortunately, my next day in Oslo was gloomy and overcast. This normally wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it did prevent me from catching a nice view of the harbor when I went to Ekeberg Park. Ekeberg Park lies just beyond the Oslo Opera House up on a hill, and Susan told me that the view of the harbor is just gorgeous on a clear day.

So while my view of the city was the gray mess above, the park was definitely still worth a visit. Ekeberg park is notable for the statues that it has scattered throughout the grounds. Many of these sculptures are done by renowned artists such as Salvador Dali, Renoir, and Rodin (more information on the park and statues here).

        

Ekeberg Park also has an interesting World War II history. Because of its high position and sprawling views, German occupying forces often used it for ceremonial occasions. In 1940, the park even held a German cemetery. The war remains were later moved to Alfaset. According to the park’s website, the Germans also planted over 5000 mines in the park from 1940 to 1945. Apparently if you look closely at some of the tree trunks you can see markings indicating where some of the mine fields were.

After our jaunt through the park, Susan helped me look for a Norwegian sweater. Unfortunately, our efforts at the two biggest secondhand shops, UFF and Fretex, were in vain, but it was still good to be out and about town. Oslo is still a beautiful city even in winter.

         

Afterwards we went to Hausmanns Gate, one of the more diverse areas of the city. Our destination: the ethnic supermarkets. While Trondheim has a handful of these markets, none of them has quite the diversity or the scale that I saw in Oslo. However, not even these markets had kimchi, something that I’ve kept an eye out for since I’ve started craving spicy food. I’ve always had easy access to spicy food, namely good Mexican food, so it’s been strange not having it as readily available in Norway.