Oslo and Bergen: Part 13 - Day 6 Morning: St Olav Church, Telthusbakken, Kuba Park, Damstredet, Royal Palace, Karl Johan Gate

Day 6 Morning

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 6 Morning.

7/8 Day 6 Morning: St Olav Church -- Telthusbakken -- Kuba Park -- Damstredet -- Royal Palace -- Karl Johans Gate

The Story

070818: I reached Oslo (from Bergen) at 6.13am via train. I couchsurfed today, but unfortunately, I did not get to take a photo with Shafiq. Shafiq is a tour guide in Oslo and he gave me awesome suggestions to explore more of Oslo, where some of them were not on the web, or maybe I am not very good in that. I am happy that I listened to his suggestions and did not get lost!

I stepped inside St. Olav Church on the way to my host's house. It was still too early and so, I decided to go in as I saw the doors were open. I saw 2 worshipers. When they were done praying, I took a photo of the red outline from the painted glasses. They were beautiful. I have never seen this before.

My host had to go to work, and so I explored Oslo by myself with some of his recommendation. I started at Telthusbakken (thankfully, he lives close by) because it was written to be the steepest road in Oslo, which is by the way not too steep but there are staircases by the side, if necessary. There were some old wooden houses left which are still occupied. The road was under renovation, hence, not a pretty sight to stay on for long.

Kuba Park. This is a gold find in Oslo. Never in my travels have I ever seen a waterfall (albeit a mini one) in a park located in a city! There is even a small river that runs through it, and creates white water too. This is so cool! I thought Stockholm was fantastic but Oslo is way more awesome now.

I walked further on and saw a few buildings with graffiti, few hanging art pieces and sculptures.

I have no idea why the sculpture did a uterus in addition to the features on a face. Where is the mouth, by the way?

Oh, Damstredet is another path that is recommended for some of the wooden house. Thankfully, no renovation going on and one can walk to see the houses, but there was nothing significant though.

Next destination - The Royal Palace. While waiting for the changing of the Royal Guards at 1.30pm, I explored the garden behind the palace and also visited a sculpture park that were made for kids by kids. The kids draw and the drawings were turned into sculptures. So, you can see some hilarious sculptures.

The changing of the Royal Guards were boring. There was a large crowd initially, but it got smaller after 10 minutes. The change lasted for about 40 minutes. One can visit the interior of the palace with a fee (of course), but I did not go in because I think I would have an idea of how it looks like - probably carries some similarities to the one in Stockholm. 

Next walk - down Karl Johan Gate. Some websites describe a nice view of the Royal Palace and a downhill walk to the city center. Photos probably don't do it justice.

Now, to meet my first host for tea break or 'fika' as they call it in Sweden.