2022 Nordic Seas - Day 9 Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Rotterdam

Our first week was supposed to end today in Amsterdam, where most passengers would disembark and new passengers would board for the next two weeks. Others - like us - are staying on board for the next two weeks. We’ll be heading back to Norway (but new ports for us), and then to Iceland and Scotland. However, due to the drought, we are once again putting in at Rotterdam. Greg and I already had tickets to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, so this wasn’t especially to our liking. We talked our way onto a shuttle that Holland America was providing to get the disembarking passengers back to Amsterdam, and figured we could find our own way back to Rotterdam later in the afternoon. 

After the trip there and back, we decided  that if we didn’t pick up COVID today, we’re probably in the clear for the rest of this trip. There’s no real  logic to that except that we were in crowded conditions the whole day. On the bus, the man (maskless) behind us hacked throughout the 60 minute departure delay and the hour long drive. We arrived in Amsterdam later than our timed-entry ticket to the museum, so took a cab the Rijksmuseum. The museum itself was packed and people were agressive in pushing towards what they wanted to see. We went with the flow, enjoyed the audio tour of the museum highlights and breathed deeply when we got back outside. It was a drizzly day, so we took a crowded tram to the train station and caught the express back to Rotterdam where the ship was waiting. It was still a little drippy, but we opted to walk the 2 miles to the dock. It was nice to be outside!

I think people here are as tired of masking and adjusting as folks are in the USA. It’s been a long haul for everyone. 

I love this museum and especially its 17th century Dutch masterpieces. It’s been several years since I was at the Rijksmuseum. The exterior remains just as striking, and the galleries are of course phenomenal. The interior courtyards have been covered in a soaring glass roof, encompassing a restaurant, ticket sales, information booths and audio guide rentals. The brick walls of the previously exterior courtyard walls are now the interior walls of the enclosed space. 

Stock photo showing the interior courtyard.

I’ve been collecting Vermeer sightings the way I collect Michelangelos. The Rijksmuseum has four. I was happy to see that The Milkmaid, which had been loaned out earlier this year, had returned. 

The Little Street is Vermeer’s only known street scape, and is somewhat unusual for the era. There’s bit a lot of research and speculation about this location. A prime candidate is building in Delft - Vermeer’s hometown - in which Vermeer’s aunt lived for several decades. 

Marten Soolmans and his wife, Oopjen, are the only couple whom Rembrandt painted in full-length, life-size standing positions. His footwear and tights were much more flamboyant than her low-rise black buckled pumps that peeked demurely from below her long black skirt.

Jan Steen is a master at story telling through painting, often with a sense of humor or moral purpose. The weeping boy on the left has been naughty and received only a switch in the shoe he left out for Father Christmas. The little girl is delighted with her new doll, while the little boy in the center seems entirely too gleeful at his brother’s distress. (Perhaps he will be punished next Christmas?)

The library, where one is reminded that we have 2 eyes and only one mouth. This room is for reading; not speaking. 

Arguably the most famous work in the museum is Rembrandt’s Night Watch. It stood alone last time I was here. Today it is undergoing a massive evaluation. Over several months, it was carefully pinned and stretched to be removed from its frame. It stands behind a protective barrier at the end of the hall, with imaging and other equipment behind it. Operation Night Watch began 3 years ago. Its mission: to determine the best treatment for the painting. High-resolution photography, imaging and computer analysis are being employed.

The painting used to be larger; it was trimmed on 3 sides to fit between 2 doors when it was moved from its original location in the Musketeers’ guild hall to the Amsterdam Town Hall in 1715. It was deliberately damaged three times in the 20th century: by a disgruntled navy cook, a Dutch schoolmaster under the impression it was his divine mission to destroy it, and - even though under permanent guard by this point, by an unemployed Dutchman who sprayed sulfuric acid on it. 

Both the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam Centraal Station were designed by the Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers. It’s easy to spot similarities. While probably best known for these two monumental buildings, he’s also responsible for designing over 100 churches, 

Rijksmuseum 

Amsterdam Centraal Station

We walked across the Erasmus Bridge to reach the MS Rotterdam, and enjoyed a view of the Hef, which has been in the news recently. The Hef is a beloved, decommissioned railroad bridge that is a well known Rotterdam landmark and heritage site. It recently came to light that the luxury yacht company building a $550 million super yacht for Jeff Bezos had applied to temporarily dismantle the Hef so that the yacht, with its super-tall masts, could pass through after construction. There has been a lot of hullabaloo since, including subversive plans to egg the yacht if it passed through the dismantled bridge. The Dutch are known for a Calvinistic sense of restraint, and apparently are not happy with ostentatious displays of wealth. At this time, the request has been withdrawn, but the story remains to be completed. 

The Hef, from our ship

2022 Nordic Seas - Day 7 Oslo

Oslo is the capital of Norway and its largest city. With a population of over one million, about one in 5 Norwegians live here. We had an ambitious plan for today, mapped out several weeks ago. Despite good intentions, it turned out we bit off more than we could chew. 

Looming over the cruise port (but not our ship) is a 723 year old fortress. Construction of Akershus Castle began after the burning of Oslo in 1287. It was to serve as a medieval fortress and to provide a royal residence for the city. The castle complex was probably completed by the early 14th century. Over the centuries, it was expanded, strengthened and renovated following sieges, burnings and development of new weapons and fortifications. The complex is immense, with forested walks, stables, fortifications, residences and barracks. The photo below shows about 1/3 of the grounds.

Admission is free to the grounds, with several entrances scattered around the complex. An optional admission fee gets you into a castle museum and an audio guide. Greg picked up some interesting facts from geocaching. The tower to the left in the photo above, for example, is known as the Knut Tower. Mom, this is named not to commemorate Mr. Rockne but a knight who was killed therein and left unburied for 12 years. 

Several fortress walls incorporate the natural rock upon which it is built.

In the second half of the 16th century (between additional burnings of Oslo in 1523 and 1624), Akershus was converted to a Renaissance castle, the fortress was closed as a palace by 1900, though it continued to see use as a national prison and military post. It was never successfully conquered in battle. 

It was occupied by the Germans during World War II, after the Norwegian government evacuated the city following Germany’s unprovoked attack on Denmark and Sweden. The Germans used the fortress as a prison for Norwegian resistance members, deserters and other Germans opposed to the Nazi regime. Although the archives were burned during the German surrender, it’s known that at least 42 members of the Norwegian resistance died in imprisonment. 

And on to our next stop. 

The Oslo Opera house opened in 2008. All are welcome to walk here - even (and especially) on the roof. The Carrara marble surface offers a cool seat on warm days. There are lovely views of the harbor and the iceberg art installation which rotates with the tides. It also serves as an amphitheater for outdoor performances. 

the iceberg installation

The novelty and views can make one forget that underneath are 1,100 rooms covering over half a million square feet. Three performance halls host the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. There are art installations, meeting rooms and offices. Unfortunately, with only 8 hours in port and an ambitious list of things we want to see, we didn’t have time to take the guided tour.

Looking through the glass walls of the Opera House.


The little houses are floating saunas. The wood stacked on the top decks provide the heat.

A 4 minute walk took us to the Munchmuseet, the newest museum on Oslo’s waterfront. Opened in October 2021 and custom-designed to house the largest collection of art by native son Edward Munch, the new Munchmusee was built to replace the chock-full 1963 iteration. There is some controversy about the new building, but I found it visually stunning. There are 13 floors dedicated to art and cultural experiences, including 11 galleries, performance spaces, rotating exhibits and a green roof.

We ducked in, courtesy of our Oslo Pass, to catch a quick glimpse of The Scream. (It is just as unsettling in person.) The museum has eight versions of The Scream. Munch created all versions of The Scream on cardboard or paper, so they are more fragile than oil paintings on canvas. To preserve them, the museum rotates which version (of one painting of tempura and oil, one drawing of crayon on cardboard, and six lithographs) is on display.  We saw the tempura and oil. 

And then we stayed a bit longer. 

Cupid and Psyche

Munch liked to explore a motif over and over, trying different settings and materials. 

We would have liked to stay longer, but the streets beckoned. It was another stellar day.

Oslo Cathedral, previously Our Savior’s Church, is the largest Christian church in Norway. It serves as both the parish church for downtown Oslo and the Oslo diocesan seat for the Church of Norway, an evangelical Lutheran denomination. The cathedral is the third built in Oslo, after the first two were destroyed by fire (sound familiar?). The Baroque church was consecrated as a parish church in 1697. Some changes were made over the centuries, including adding neo-Gothic interior in the mid-1800s. Restoration of the original Baroque interior was undertaken in the 1940s, when the neo-Gothic interior was removed and original furnishings were brought back. The restoration was completed in 1950 for Oslo’s 900th anniversary. Unfortunately we could not get into the church so settled for the exterior and cloisters.

Karl Johans gate is the main road leading from the Central Train Station to the Royal Palace. Today it’s a bustling pedestrian street. Made by combining several existing streets, the thoroughfare was dedicated in 1852 in honor of the recently deceased King Charles III John (who was also King Charles XIV of Sweden). There was no gate to be seen, as gate in Norwegian means “street”. 

After some difficulty figuring out the app (which should not have been that challenging for us, but somehow was) we caught a tram to go see the Vigeland sculptures. Frogner Park is a large public park in Oslo’s West End suburbs. The park is named for the Frogner Estate and 1750 manor house (now the Oslo Museum) which comprised part of the original park. After the city of Oslo acquired the estate in 1896, it was converted to a public park along with much of the surrounding agricultural land.

Today tourists flock to Frogner Park to see the Vigeland Installation. Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) was a Norwegian sculptor best known for his mammoth sculptures exploring death and the relationship between men and women. He also designed the Nobel Peace Price medal. In 1906 he designed a spectacular fountain to be placed in front of the Norwegian Parliament building. The fountain was not built due to location disputes. Fifteen years later (and unrelated to the fountain controversy), the city announced they were going to destroy the house in which the sculptor lived. After long negotiations, the City of Oslo agreed to provide Vigeland with a new residence/studio near Frogner Park. In return, Vigeland agreed to donate all of his subsequent work to the city.  

Today, 212 bronze, cast iron and granite sculptures are concentrated in the Vigeland Sculpture Installation. The sculptures are nude but not erotic in the least. They depict children and adults in activities of daily life and various emotion. The most famous sculpture is the 46 foot Monolith (Monolitten), comprised of 121 entwined figures struggling towards the top of the column. The Monolith is positioned on the Monolith Plateau, which contains 36 figure groups depicting the Circle of Life. The controversial fountain conceived in 1906 is also in Frogner Park. 

Visitors cross a bridge lined with sculptures, pass the fountain and arrive at the Circle of Live surrounding the Monolithl. Excuse the number of following photos, but I really loved this place.  

The figures along the bridge are largely exuberant: parents with children, children playing, people dancing. One little boy, known as the Angry Baby, has his tantrum off to the side behind a pillar.

The fountain is surrounded by trees filled with climbing children. 

The Circle of Life groupings around the Monolith are larger than life and quite moving. There are couples musing, arguing and grief-stricken. There is a man cradling an older man who has just died. There are parents playing with children, and children listening to their parents. People are free to scramble upon the sculptures. 

The 46 feet tall Monolith is carved out of one stone block which was brought from a quarry in Ideefjord, Norway in the 1920s. Vigeland designed the column over 10 months, and a team of three masons executed the carving behind a wooden shed over 14 years. There are 121 figures climbing and clinging together. There are men and women of different ages; children crown the top. The Vigeland Museum interprets the Monolith as a “kind of vision of resurrection, and our longing and striking for spirituality.” But the Monolith makes me uncomfortable. I suspect the clambering bodies remind me of the Holocaust. 

We had planned next to catch a bus to the Folkmuseet, a living history museum, and then a ferry back to the pier. We’d wanted to see a Stave Church at the museum, which houses a collection of traditional buildings from across Norway. However, we were out of time. 

I had somehow lost my mask between arriving at Frogner Park, so rather than board a crowded tram, we walked the 3 miles back to the ship. Turned out we were in the diplomatic area, so we passed many embassies along the route. I wish I’d taken a picture of this, but the street next to the Russian Embassy had a new sign that read Ukrainewege (Ukraine Way) and the buildings along the street, facing the embassy, were bedecked with Ukrainian flags. I loved that. The French embassy across the street from the Russian embassy also had a large Ukrainian flag hanging from a building next to their main building.

We passed the Nobel Peace Center and the Rathaus (city hall) as we neared the ship. The Peace Prize is the only Nobel Prise presented in Oslo. The others are presented in Stockholm. There is a museum in the Peace Center, commemorating previous winners and the ideals for which the prize is awarded. The Center sponsors events and exhibitions inspired by the work and ideas of the Peace Prize laureates.

Across a large plaza from the Peace Center is a statue of FDR. He faces the Nobel Peace Center, is near the Norwegian parliament building and backs up to the Akershus Fortress where the Resistance fighters were imprisoned and killed. The location is no coincidence. FDR is revered in Norway for publicly praising the courage of Norwegian Resistance Fighters and for challenging world opinion regarding possible Norwegian complacency in the invasion by Germany during World War II. 

 

2022 Nordic Cruise - Day 6 Kristiansand

I’m always hesitant to mention weather karma too early in a trip, but we had another perfect day today. And the people in Kristiansand were out in droves to take advantage of it. But more on that later.

Kristiansand was founded in 1641 by King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway. He’d intended for it to become a commercial city, but until the late 19th century it remained relatively unimportant. Fires destroyed much of the city in 1880 and 1892, and as it was rebuilt, its population and industry grew.. It is now the 5th largest city in Norway, with a population of over 40,000. This is the first Norwegian port we’ve visited that looks like an honest-to-goodness city. 

We spent several hours walking around the city center and along the river and harbor parks, people-watching, exploring and geocaching. The city is immaculate, full of flowers and sculptures. There are lots of parks, playgrounds and pedestrian streets.

The Neo-Gothic cathedral was built on the city’s central square in 1885. It was built of brick, after the fire of 1880 destroyed the previous version. The interior is fairly plain, but has a wonderful wooden ceiling (rather daring, given the history of fires) and a pipe organ upon which concerts are frequently given. 

Market stands and restaurants spilled into the street alongside the cathedral. Most enticing was the smultringer truck. You could get ice cream and other treats there, but I’d go for the donuts. 

Main square

And gardens across from the municipal buildings above.

The Posebyen district is a few blocks from the cathedral. Over 300 years old, it is Northern Europe’s longest continuous wooden housing development. The charming low-rise white timber houses somehow survived the fires in the 1800s. They’ve been meticulously maintained, preserving an architectural style once common throughout the north of Europe. 

The River Otra runs through Kristiansand. Lots of new-ish housing line the banks. The complexes include such quality-of-life features as community gardens, creative wastewater treatment flowing stages and green rooftop terraces 

There is a public beach in the harbor. Kristiansanders of all shapes and sizes were out enjoying the sunshine and 70 degree weather. 

The city fortress was built on an island between 1662-1672 and connected to the mainland by a 100 m (300 ft) bridge.  The channel was deep enough that tall ships could anchor there.  By the 19th century, however, the channel was filled in and one could walk to the fortress. The original roof and other woodwork on the round fortress were destroyed in the fire of 1892. It was replaced by a modern structure over glass windows in 1972. Only 8 cannons of the original 62 remain.

Walking back to the ship, we passed a mural of a real Huldra, tail and all. She did look pretty scary. Greg observed that she was not at all alluring.