2003 Scandanavian Circle - Postscript

I received an email From my friend Lise in Oslo the other day, having read my review on the Vigeland Park, she sent me this newspaper clip of the Monolith as it was in 1926 at the quarry!
Below is the clip and a few words from Lise.

Please find enclosed a photo of what the monolit in the Vigeland Park looked like in 1926. One of my grandfathers is mentioned in the article, one of his brother-in-laws (he was British) was in charge of the men working with the stone. That’s probably why these people on the photo were invited for a Sunday trip to have a look at the stone before it was transported to Oslo, by boat!

Thank you very much for this insite. I bet you are very proud to have relatives that helped with this wonderful project Lise!

2003 Scandanavian Circle -

We were in no hurry today as all we had to do was get to the port this afternoon, so clothes were tumble dried and our cabin was vacated at 11.30. With Ian's wonderful sense of direction he managed to take a wrong turn. This was not too much of a problem as he picked up the motorway and then followed the signs for the port.
Our ferry arrived late and having boarded, found our cabin it was time to say farewell to Oslo.
The ferry was a large one with two duty free shops, two cinemas plus a bar casino. We must have been fortunate to get on board with the crossing being fully booked shortly after getting our tickets. Guzzisue retired early and Ian and myself were not long behind.
At 05.30 we were woken by an announcement breakfast will be served at 06.00 at which time the duty free shop will once again be open. As sleep once again takes over the peace is shattered once again by the voice on the tannoy reminding us that the duty free shop will open in 15 minutes. Eventually we got up at 06.45, got dressed, mounted the Guzzi and thought about going the scenic route to Billund and Legoland, However the weather was against us so we decided to take the motorway.
Arriving at Legoland we tried to book a cabin for two nights but there were none available but we could have a hotel room for a mere 695KR per night plus extra for bed linen and towels! This would be a cost of £150 for both nights and there was not even a tv in the room. With very little deliberation we decide to give the hotel a miss and find a local tourist information centre who suggest a campsite at Riis and they have a small cabin for 300KR per night. It is situated only 15 miles from Legoloand so tomorrow we will travel there on the Guzzi.
Following the directions we were given we arrived at the campsite expecting it to be a small concern, is actually a 3 star site complete with swimming pool, shop and bar. The hut is quite small but could sleep a family of four if the children were young.
Next day we wake up to the sound of rain with an increasing wind. By 10.00 we decide to get on the bike and head for Legoland. Tickets were purchased on the campsite at a cost of 170Kr each to save queuing when we arrive. Reaching our destination we ride round and round the car parks eventually deciding on the one nearest the entrance, at a cost of 25JR to you sir!
The models inside are really amazing. The first one we saw was an airport scene with planes taxing around and even luggage being loaded onto waiting craft.
When we passed the model of Bergen we joked about the Italian Restaurant we had eaten in, up a back street away from the fish market. Sure enough the restaurant was there in the model-full marks for detail.

Many of the models were of Scandinavian cities but there was one of the Statue of Liberty,
and Neuschwanstein.
As Legoland is a theme park there were some rides for the older visitor, generally they are aimed at younger children. There was also a 4D Movie which was a 12 minute cartoon in 3D with special effects making it into 4D, for example large fans being turned on for the wind in your face experience and foam bubbles in the cinema to represent snow.
We depart Legoland at about 17.00 to avoid the leaving rush when the park closes, call in at a supermarket and then get lost trying to find the campsite. The quiet campsite of yesterday has now become a lively one with weekenders arriving and young children running all over the place.
Next day once again we wake to the sound of wind and rain, so we decided to go back to sleep for a while. When we finally decided to get up the rain stopped and Guzzisue packed the panniers while Ian and myself studied the map for a scenic route to Esbjerg.
Departing at 11.00 it is raining once again but we start on the planned route until several cars flash their headlights at us. The Guzzi has an electrical problem. We have no headlight, no tacho and after a short while no lights at all. Due to this we opt for the easy way to the port so that Ian can investigate the problem, hopefully under shelter.
The problem is nothing more than a blown fuse and this is sorted as Guzzisue wanders off in search of food.
Our ferry is already in port and being loaded with freight. We are able to check in at 16.00 and board an hour later. Due to the windy conditions on the way across we took sea-sick pills for the first time and it was just as well because it was a rough crossing. Small children were screaming for their parents to make it stop, there were many green faces with several being sick. By 22.00 there were only a handful of people in the bar. Guzzisue sat and read her novel while Ian and myself watched the waves break over the bar windows, which is on the 7th deck! until we retired for the evening.
Next morning all is quiet, the storm has subsided and we get an early breakfast. As England comes into view the tv screens come into life with Jackie Chan's movie, Tuxedo. As to why this was not played last night to help keep peoples' minds off the storm I don't know.
Arriving back in the UK, our adventure comes to an end as others are starting.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Oslo, Part II

Ian is woken to a chorus of Happy Birthday as the rain falls outside the cabin. Guzzisue gives him a card and small present before proceeding with some washing. This will probably not dry so will have to be placed in the very expensive dryers on site.
We all get fed up of listening to the rain and watching the returned cable tv that we decide to catch the bus into Oslo again. On the bus there was a group of teenagers full of high spirits and when they realised that we were English we had introductions all round and continued talking until their stop. Another passenger apologised for their behaviour but compared with some we have encountered back home this group were very subdued.
Having got off the bus at the Central Station we once again walked to the booking office for a sailing over to Denmark. First we tried with DFDS but they didn't have any berths for the next day, however we finally had success with Stena and blew the expense and got ourselves a 4 berth cabin with porthole, which Guzzisue insisted on. Tomorrow we sail for Denmark!
After a bite to eat we take the advice from the Tourist Information Centre and buy Day Rider Tickets for 60 KR and take the Metro to the Munch Museum. The main reason for going here was that Ian had always wanted to see "The Scream" painting and this was in the first gallery on the right as we walked into the museum. This may have changed since the painting was stolen and recovered some time later. Ian was surprised to find that this masterpiece was painted onto card. We all enjoyed the visit finding different works of the artist to discuss.
Our next stop was to Vigeland Sculpture Park And Museum. We arrived by bus and when our stop was reached six people in uniform boarded. Ian thought they looked like firemen, but were in fact ticket inspectors. No quarter was given as three of the group blocked the bus doorways whilst the others inspected all passengers' tickets. If anyone had not paid then they were issued with a fine notice without the chance to pay the fare on the bus. Identities and home addresses were checked of the non payers and they were not permitted to leave the bus until these had been verrified!
Having shown our tickets to the inspectors we were permitted to leave the bus and proceeded to enter Vigeland through the main entrance. The park covers an area of 80 acresand functions as both a sculpture park and a public park, open to visitors all day everyday.
The park contains 192 sculptures with more than 600 figures, all modeled by Gustav Vigeland. He also designed the architectural setting and the layout of the grounds.
From the entrance there is a walk to the bridge which is 100 metres long with 58 sculptures along it plus one at every corner. One of the most photographed sculptures from this area is the one titled "Angry Little Boy, Crying"Just below the bridge is a circular area titled "The Children's Playground", containing 8 bronze sculpyures of small children placed around the circumfrence. In the centre, mounted on a small granite coloum is the figure of an unborn child with its head down.

Moving on from the bridge we next arrived at The Fountain, the earliest sculpture unit in the park. The centre of this piece has a six men holding up a large saucer shaped bowl from which water spills down. Around the edge of the sculpture there are more figures in each corner while on the fountain's wall there are many small scenes depicted.
Leaving the Fountain behind we carry on a little further and go through a set of gates to the Monolith.
This column consists of 121 figures and is so named because it was carved out of a single block of stone and its total height including the plinth is 17.3 metres. Three stone carvers worked on the colum daily from 1929 to 1943 and it was completed just before Vigeland died.
Around the steps leading up to the Monolith there are 34 more sculptures, one of which is below.
Carrying on from the Monolith we pass through another gate
and reach the Sundial, mounted on a 12 sided granite pedestal bearing circular reliefs depicting the signs of the zodiac.

The final picture is a view from the Monolith looking down the park towards the main entrance.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Oslo, Not In A Day

Hello everyone, it's great to have my computer back, devirused and upgraded. It was being set up by my friend Roy as Ian and myself returned home from the Squires Rally in Scotland. It was great to catch up with our friends in the north and wonderful to go up to Scotland for the first time in several years. I will endeavour to do a post on the rally in the near future, but for now I shall complete the Scandinavian Circle adventure.

We have a full itinerary for today and catch the bus into Oslo from the campsite with our first stop being at the Stena ticket office, which was closed! There is a ferry service that takes people across the bay and we caught this to go and do some sightseeing at three of the museums. Our first museum was the Kon-Tiki Museum that houses both the Kon-Tiki and Ra II. The Kon-Tiki balsa raft crossed 5,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean in 1947, taking 101 days for the achievement. A documentary film was produced of the adventure, winning Thor Heyerdhal an Oscar, which is on display in the museum. In May 1970, Ra II sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days, manned by a crew of eight men from eight nations. Also in the museum is a video presentation and information about the restoration of the Easter Island Stones. For the Viking Ship Museum it is a good idea to look in the car park to see how many coaches are there before entering as coaches + people = very litte looking space. We therefore decided to have a look in the Folkemuseum, which is similat to the Weald and Downland Museum back home.
Within the grounds of the museum there are rescued buildings from across Norway, including a Stave Church from 1200AD,

various town buildings and shops, selling a small selection of wares, woodland areas and exhibition halls thatconcentrate on Norwegian immigrants.

While we were there the exhibition was about the Pakistani people that had made the journey across land with one of their colourful vehicles on display.

Looking on the museum's website there is a mention of cricket, one of Ian's favourite sports. It appears that cricket has been brought to Norway with the immigrants. One day there may be an international match between England and Norway in this wonderful sport! We spent about three hours looking around the folkemuseum before heading back to the Viking Ship Museum. There was now only one coach in the car park, so in we went. The museum itself is quite small but inside there are two well preserved long ships, the Oseberg and the Gokstad, along with a textile gallery that kept Guzzisue quiet for some time.
The Oseberg was found in a large burial mound in Veatfold and excavated in 1904. It was built between 815-820 AD and is 22 meters long. It was used as a grave ship for a high ranking woman.
Likewise the Gokstad was also found in a burial mound in Vestfold and excavated in 1880 and was built around 890 AD. Again it was used as a grave ship, this time for a Viking Chieftain and is slightly longer at 24 meters.
As the next coach parties arrived we departed and caught the water ferry back and tried the Stena ticket office again. This time it was open but we cannot buy a ticket as they only sell them in the early afternoon and not when the ferry is in port, so we will try again tomorrow and also have a little think about any alternatives incase we cannot get on board.
Back at the campsite we pick up a large pizza and sit down for some serious tv watching, that is until the cable network went down.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Transport Days

A slow start to the day that saw Ian looking over the Guzzi and confirming his theory that the selector spring had snapped. On this bike it is inside the gearbox, so definitely not a roadside repair. No point in worrying about this so we wander into Lillehammer town centre to check out ferries from Oslo to Denmark as this is our best option now and they do not seem too expensive at around the £100 mark. This is also an overnight crossing so that will works out at a little over the cost for a bed and breakfast. This can be confirmed when we arrive in Oslo.

In the tourist information office we were told about a Harley Davidson Rally taking place. Although we are rallyists back home we have only been to two one make rallies, a Moto Guzzi Rally in Scotland and an MZ Rally that we organised ourselves. We understand that many people get enjoyment from these rallies but we prefer events where there are different marques on site.

Whilst walking around the town we saw part of a procession of classic American cars driving through the centre, complete with a brass band accompaniment.

As the storm clouds gathered we went and hid inside the Norsk Kjøretøy Historisk Museum, a museum of historic vehicles ranging from sleighs to modern day cars alongside the development of the railway with a large model railway to view. The museum is privately owned on the outskirts of the town centre. There were some interesting exhibits but generally we were a little disappointed as the lighting was poor, the floor could have done with a sweep and the exhibits themselves would have been improved if they had their tyres inflated! It could be that in the years since we visited things have improved. I have tried to find a link to the museum but have not been successful.

The rain ceased so we had a walk up to the ski jump area, tickets were purchased so we could take a small ski lift to the top. From here we spent some time watching people practise for the winter season. In order to lessen friction and gain momentum, water was poured down the slope.

Back at the campsite we had a lazy evening with Ian playing around with the tv remote. One day he may even stop from channel hopping every few minutes. We did see on the news that it was still raining heavily inland, so I’m pleased we stayed near the coast.

Today we head for Oslo. There is no rush as we only have about 100 miles to do. Ian managed to loose sight of the road signs for the campsite and proceeded to go round in circles until a passer by sent us in the right direction.

The Bogstad Camp & Turistsenter is situated 9kms from Oslo city centre with a bus stop at the camp entrance. The site boasts a service station, tavern, grocery store, laundry facilities and restaurant.

In the evening we decide to eat out for a change. The owner of the restaurant warns Ian off the curry as he tells us that he cannot get many of the spices in Norway.

We decide to book a ferry to Denmark for the Wednesday, giving us three nights here and two full days to explore. To celebrate Guzzisue buys a large tub of ice cream to keep in the freezer that is in our cabin.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - All Breakages To Be Paid For......Eventually

We are beginning to get used to these early starts as we are all packed, breakfasted, cabin cleaned and on the road by 8:30. Ian decided to take the A roads rather than the motorway and we were rewarded with empty roads once Gottenburg was left behind.

Having caught a few spots of rain the sun decided to come out making our exit from Sweden very pleasant. If only the welcome into Norway could have been the same as within minutes of entering the country the heavens opened up and waterproofs were put on and taken off all the way to Lillehammer.

Guzzisue needed to stop to cash some travellers cheques so this was done in a small town bank. This took about 20 minutes as nobody behind the counter could work out what they were!

Money sorted and we are on the way again and then Ian starts to have problems changing gear as the gear selector return spring breaks. The Guzzi is still rideable but Ian will to do a lot of left foot dancing on the toe and heel gear change for the rest of the holiday. We had thought about spending a little time in the fjord region again but now decided against this.

We can tell that we are back in Norway as the price of the cabins increase. The one we stayed in at Lillehammer costs as much as a motel 20 miles outside of town. On the plus side we can walk into the town centre and cook for ourselves.

In the evening we catch the news to find that there has been serious flooding with tunnels being pumped out by the fire brigade and campsites along with some roads being washed away. It was a wise decision not to go round the fjords. There was also a story about New York being plunged into darkness with a massive power cut.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Gottenburg, Universeum And Beyond

This morning we awoke early to the sound of rain and a much cooler day. Guzzisue did a little washing followed by breakfast. We purchased our train tickets from the local petrol station and were in Gottenburg for 9:10am to find nowhere open! The shops open at 10:00, museums at 11:00, so we just wandered round not sure what to do, taking the occasional photograph like this sculpture of the gun. We have seen a similar one in a film with a scene in New York, so we think they may have been done by the same artist. Any information greatly received thanks.

While walking around we came across the Universeum and after a little deliberation decided to go in. The fact that it started to rain helped in the decision here me thinks.

The Universum is a national science discovery centre for all the family, basically an indoor nature trail with a tropical rainforest and aquatic environments with live animals ranging from birds to reptiles and sharks. The Universum really grabbed our interest and we were in there for over three hours! This would have been longer but we could not understand the Swedish signs in the experimental part. In conclusion a place well worth a visit and it gets my recommendation.

Mid afternoon we enter Liseberg, Scandanavia’s largest amusement park. Inside they have a large wooden roller coaster based on a 1920’s one.

The queue for this ride was 40 minutes and the rain turned to short heavy downpours, so we decided against this ride. We basically just ambled round the park for a few hours before catching the train back to the campsite.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Öresundsförbindelsen, Breakdown and Gottenburg

Surprisingly we were up , breakfasted, showered and on the road for nine o’clock, a new record for us! We picked up the E20 and headed for Copenhagen and onwards for the Öresundsförbindelsen, the bridge linking Denmark and Sweden. Having paid our toll we proceeded into a tunnel and came back into daylight in the middle of the Baltic Sea. This was an experience that we will not forget as we could not see any land at all! A must do trip if you can and I strongly recommend going from Copenhagen for a lifelong experience.

On Swedish soil we entered a tourist information centre to see if we could a campsite hut in Gottenburg, however there was a big festival on so everywhere was fully booked. We discussed this between and decided to head on towards Gottenburg to see what we could find in way of accommodation, or we would have done except the Guzzi didn’t want to play!

While Ian was changing relays and fuses a Swedish Harley rider came over and we had a little conversation telling him that we were last in Scandanavia in 1997. He remembered that summer well as they still talk about how good it was, just like the Brits talk about the Summer of ‘76.

Problem solved we headed our separate ways and slowly made our way north. We were a little taken aback when the speed limit went down when we left residential areas. This was explained when we saw our first moose near the roadside. They are built like the proverbial outhouse. A few days later we saw a report on television where a moose had charged at some cars, writing them off! Definitely an animal I don’t want to mess with.

Arriving in Gottenburg we spied the railway and decided to follow this away from the city. Our aim was to find somewhere near a railway station in order to get back into the centre in the morning. This was accomplished when we found a campsite with huts at Lerum, about 20kms out.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Highs & Lows Around Copenhagen

We were woken up during the night by heavy rainfall but by the time we had finished breakfast the day was warming up. To quote from our guide book “July is normally the warmest month with an average temperature of 20 C”, so here we are in mid August and it has been in the mid 80’s F!

Having taken the train back into Copenhagen it was time to act like tourists and take a canal tour. The tour was interesting with commentary given in Danish and English explaining the various sights including the Royal Palace and Yacht, some old dock buildings which were being turned into a concert hall complex, some have been developed into apartments (not sure where we could put our bikes though) and onto The Little Mermaid.

Later in the day we climbed to new heights when we went to Vor Frelsers Kirke, The Church Of Our Saviour. There are approximately 400 steps to climb, 150 of these on the outside of the tower, giving a wonderful panoramic view of the city. We were unable to look inside the church as there was a funeral service taking place so we picked up a leaflet giving a brief history of the building.

Slowly wandering round various shops we ended up at Tivoli, an amusement park and concert arena in the centre of Copenhagen. We felt a little cheated on this as we had to pay to get in and then pay again if we wanted to go on any of the rides. We much preferred Bakken! Tivoli is aimed more at the tourist and we try to avoid the tourist traps as much as possible.

I promised my young friend Bob T Bear something to show his sister from our trip to Copenhagen and here they are.

We found these dragon statues outside a hall that had a Far Eastern type of open day with various stalls inside and the other dragon was hidden on the steps outside the rear entrance to the building.

We returned to the campsite for our last evening in Denmark and had an early evening as tomorrow we head for Sweden. With visiting two amusement parks, JC Nimbus, a canal sight seeing tour, climbing the steps at Vor Frelsers Kirke AND the meeting with the drug squad it has certainly been an eventful couple of days!

2003 Scandanavian Circle - Bakken And The Drug Squad

Departing JC Nimbus we caught the train to Klamenborg where there is the Jaegersborg Deer Park. From the train station a visitor can ride in a horse drawn carriage, or walk the small distance to Dyrehavsbakken, Bakken for short. This was our port of call as this is the retreat for many inhabitants of Copenhagen, being an amusement park that is over 400 years old. There is no entrance fee for this and is open from April to the end of August. At the start and end of the season there is a large motorcycle ride out to Bakken as shown in the two clips below.

The main attraction of the visit for us was an old wooden roller coaster. Guzzisue and myself went for a very bumpy ride on this while Ian had to miss out due to his dodgy back.

Having spent a very enjoyable afternoon watching people on the various rides and managing to see a red squirrel, but no deer, we headed back to Copenhagen where Ian spotted a green Nimbus. It didn’t take him long before he was chatting away to the owner. It appears that many Nimbus riders around the area appear to know each other.

As we were watching an activity across the waterfront from ourselves things went a little weird. An Italian approached Ian and asked him to take his photo, which he obliged, taking two, one landscape and one portrait. He jokingly offered to take one diagonally before passing his camera back.

The Italian asked us if we knew of any cheap hotels, but as we were on a campsite a few kilometers away and not being local we could not help him out. The Italian then departed only to be back with us accompanied with two very large men who proceeded to flash their police identity cards at us speaking to us in German. They were a little taken aback by the fact that we could not understand them, so in English asked if we had exchanged money with the Italian and where were the drugs!

Ian explained that we had only taken the mans photograph of him with his camera. All passports then had to be examined and wallets and pockets emptied to see how much money we were carrying. Further questions were asked like how long we were staying in Copenhagen, which hotel were we staying in etc. The answers that we gave certainly were not what they expected as we explained that we were staying on a campsite outside of the city and that we had been to a motorcycle shop.

Eventually the policemen wished us a good holiday and gave us a lecture about not exchanging money on the street! The rest of the afternoon was spent looking over our shoulders to see if we were being followed. The strange thing about this incident was that the Italian when he emptied out his pockets was very nervous as he had a large roll of US dollars in his pocket and when we all went our separate ways he was followed!

To this day we are unsure as to if we had walked into a setup. Lesson of the day is do not take photos of people with their camera!

After this the rest of the day was an anticlimax as we just wandered around aimlessly before catching the train back to the campsite and picking up some food for dinner and breakfast.

2003 Scandanavian Circle - The Nimbus Den

After a slow start to the day Ian eventually managed to get himself motivated and we were able to get to the railway station and purchased 24 hour tickets. The tickets were for a full 24 hours from when bought so that if one was obtained at 10 o’clock on Monday it would be valid until 10 o’clock on Tuesday, unlike at home where a day ticket is only valid until midnight!

Our first stop was to Nordhaven, which is just to the north of Copenhagen, as this was one of the reasons for coming here. Back in 1997 when we were in Andalsnes, Norway we sighted our first Nimbus and fell in love with them. In Nordhaven there is a wonderful little company, JC Nimbus, that deal in all things Nimbus related. Guzzisue had been in contact with the shop and had obtained directions on how to get there, so when we arrived we were made more than welcome. Ian was in his element and our visit lasted about an hour as we were shown round the workshops and restoration projects in hand. T shirts were bought and Ian was also given a key fob that he still treasures today.

Here is another link to a Nimbus site that you may find of interest.

To finish this post here are a few photos of Ian on one of these great little machines. All he has to do now is win the lottery!

It is a very rare occasion to see a Nimbus for sale as they often stay with the same owner for many years. To borrow a phrase, a Nimbus is not just for Christmas! What do you think about these motorcycles?