6/8/26 Royal Palace & Sculpture Park

 

  The weather has blown over and we've got some blue sky & sunshine - not overly hot , but dry . This is the view from our apartment - 2 blocks in front and one to the side . The city is to the left .

   This morning we got a tram down to the city , swapping to another that took us toward the Royal Palace , then a walk around to the main entrance . The walk was through some magnificent trees & green space , taking the city feel completely away .

This is the forecourt to the University

Managed to find a dinosaur as we walked through the trees 

This is the palace , complete with guards at all the entrances , front , back & sides .

Streetlights were pretty special as well .

These are the front doors .

Even the fences get a special treatment .

Guard complete with rifle & bayonet .

We chose to wander around the grounds , through some beautiful lawned areas , lakes & trees that were planted out over 180 years ago .

Only shallow lakes , gravel lined with fountains .

Wetter areas had ferns & other plants suited to the locations.

This building is on the outside of the palace grounds , some stunning buildings here .

One section of the gardens has a children's area , complete with sculptures designed by kids and brought to life by artists .

 

 

This was my favourite , we sat and looked at it while we ate our lunch .

As the day went on , so did the crowds , more & more people .

Next on the agenda was the Sculpture Park , we weren't sure what we were going to see here , but there was a huge playground that Isla had a ball checking out . The view down the avenue was revealing an expansive display of statues of into the distance . Many other people were here as well , but there was room for hundreds more , it's very spread out .

As we wandered down the avenue , we soon discovered this was all nude sculptures , male and female , young & old , all in different poses and looks .

These guys seem to be thinking - not another day with all these onlookers again , same old , same old .

The avenue looked like it finished at the tower but actually continued on further , fountains suspended by nudes .

There were also some magnificent rose gardens along the way .

 Some weren't out as much as others , but equally as pretty .

And the tower at the top of the hill was also a mass of naked bodies .

Even the gates were included in the display .

    We found another way into the city and found this little lady reclining outside a restaurant .

  Time to head home for a beer , and what other beer could you have after an afternoon like that . 😉😂

    We got to witness a nice storm roll in , thunder and lightning to close off the day , excellent !!

Here's a map link : - https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1HTLQzG25phEA-GhFiaEktxaZ4vI7tUE&usp=sharing

5/8/26 Natural History Museum Oslo

 

    Today we head down the hill into the city . Justin had to get a rain jacket , as he'd left his back home . It turned out to be a good decision , as he was about to leave the shop the rain poured down - he wore it straight out the front door , giving it a test straight away !! 

  These are some of the buildings near our apartment in the Old City .

Down in the city , we walked down one street , saw an interesting sign in the window . The shop opposite wa selling canabis and all the associated paraphernalia , Hmm .

The rain stopped , leaving everything , us included with a coat of water , our jackets worked well also .

 On to the Natural History Museum , a good place to be considering the weather today . There are hundreds of exhibits . The rock & mineral section was certainly comprehensive . Dinosaurs also feature as well .

    Here's some of the ones that stood out for me .

     This is a fossilised slice of tree from USA

     And a nice nugget of gold from where else but Australia !!

     We found Cousin It's pet dinosaur 😆

   This photo has items from a mammoth - a vertebrae , a tooth ( that's the size of your fist ) , some skin and some hair .

    Has to be any early crocodile doesn't it - check out the serrated teeth !

   Speaking of teeth , this one had plenty of large ones .

    This is another petrified conifer tree slice .

    A fossilised Ammonite shell

    An early whale skeleton .

     A slab of Trilobite fossils

      An interesting crystal specimen

The rain came and went while we were inside , the museum proved to be a good spot to be today . There was only a little bit of rain between here & the apartment , and we made it without getting too wet . That's today taken care of , see you tomorrow .