Norway, day 2

I spent Friday right in Oslo, checking out museums and other sites. I started at Akershus Fortress, which was originally built around 1290, although the version that's there today has been reworked enough over the centuries that it probably doesn't look much like the original. The fortress served to protected the Norwegians against the Swedes or whomever else happened to be trying to occupy their country through the years. I was struck by the digital security keypad at the entrance to this centuries-old fortress. They could have saved a lot of trouble throughout history if they'd just installed a decent security system.

In the Second World War, the occupying Germans executed several Norwegians there, and then at the end of the war, the Norwegians executed several traitors there, including their most notorious traitor, Vidkun Quisling. He was a Norwegian who bargained to help the Nazis in exchange for a role as one of the leaders of Norway. The word "quisling" is now a synonym for "traitor" to the Norwegians.

Right next to the fortress was the Norwegian Resistance Museum. I'm sure that hundreds of books could be written about the efforts of the Norwegians to undermine the occupation, and the other occupied countries would have similar stories. It was a bit humbling to read about how brave and innovative they were. A lot of them were executed as a result of their efforts, but those who were successful made important contributions in turning back the Germans.

I spent the rest of the day at art museums, natural history museums, and such. I also took a guided tour of Oslo. I didn't take many pictures, but I did take a picture of this structure. I have no idea what's going on with this building, but it seemed worthy of a picture.

Here are a couple of other pictures from Oslo:

And finally, here's an illustration of how the Europeans like to keep things fun. The Oslo Opera House was across the street from my hotel, right along the waterfront. It's constructed in such a way that you can start from the sidewalk and walk all the way up to the roof. They then put a stage out on the water and have concerts during the summer.

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To quote one of my favorite sayings when I'm kicking around Europe, "You just don't see this kind of thing in Lakeville." I felt very hip. I mean, those of you who know me are already aware that I'm very hip, but I felt even more hip than usual.