Showing posts with label sculptures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sculptures. Show all posts

"If only I could master that demon of procrastination that goes about like a roaring lion and devours all my good intentions, I should become the most punctual man in the world." ~ HENRIK IBSEN

Blame it on the demon of procrastination or the lazy haze of jet lag,
but once again I am scurrying to catch up.
And, believe me…
it is taking every ounce of determination in my being to reminisce
 while peering over sundrenched Bangkok.
I will not be distracted.
I will not be distracted.

Meanwhile, way back in September…
Ren Man and I were able to hang out in Henrik Ibsen's last hometown,
the amazing city of Oslo, Norway, 
and were pleasantly surprised.
I hearby…  

declare Oslo...
the city of…  
sculptures.

Every corner you turn...
every bridge you cross...
reveals another piece of art.
Regrettably, we didn't make it to the Peer Gynt Parken
dedicated to works of art depicting the famous novel of Ibsen...
 
although we were already on sensory overload.

Since we only had a weekend,
we had to make choices,
and the weather was lovely,
so we explored this guys creations... 
and devoured as much as possible.
We spent a few hours in the 80 acre Vigelandsparken Sculpture Park
also known as Frognerparken.

One of the most famous sculptures is the Monolith.

 The column is over 14
metres tall (almost 46 feet) and carved in one single stone. 
It consists of 121 human figures.

 There have been many interpretations of the Monolith: 

Man's resurrection, 
the struggle for existence, 

Man's yearning for spiritual spheres, 

the transcendence of everyday life and cyclic repetition.  

~ Visitnorway.com


Vigeland, the artist, modeled all of the sculptures in full-size 
and then left the carving and casting of over 212 sculptures to others.

Impressive does not begin to describe this oasis.

 Sinnataggen, Angry Boy is one of the most popular sculptures.
Why a young boy pitching a hissy fit gets so much attention...
is beyond me.
However, his golden hand has also attracted the attention of the museum
 with pleas for visitors to ignore the tantram throwing tot.
The park is a favorite spot for families 
to wander 
and wonder.

As we were leaving,
the sounds of a single voice 
began to float in the air from the stairs of the Monolith, 
over the heads of visitors standing in awe.
If I knew opera I could tell you the song,
but it was magical.

I lost count of the number of sculptures we came across,
but there is even a Facebook page declaring Oslo the city of a thousand sculptures.

Definitely worth more research.

"The lovely thing about cruising is that planning usually turns out to be of little use." - Dom Degnon

Here you have it...
 #3 of the
Top Three Very Good Reasons to Cruise the Canal du Midi.
(see here for #1… and here for #2)

All the random surprises and quirky discoveries waiting to be enjoyed 
make a week on du Midi quite the adventure.

Our second day out we stopped for a walk through the vineyards
 growing in the Minervois region of France.
Clusters of grapes hung beautifully from the vines...
and we were tempted to put snails on the menu for dinner,
but alas we had a chicken roasting.

After moving on down the canal a bit, 
we stopped for the night and had a hail storm for dessert.
Ren Man had prepared for this.
I have to admit I made fun of him when he placed that all weather gear in his bag.
He showed me.
So yes…
we lived through a grape ruining hail storm on the Canal du Midi.
And yes…
we stocked up on wine before the prices were adjusted.

Discoveries along the canal included…

very cool sculptures…
created by the gentleman
who in addition to being an artist
is also the lock attendant.
Quite entertaining.

What would a cruise be without a concert?
Further on down the way we docked for the night and took off for a stroll.
Seeing a party getting started 
we joined the locals
and grooved to the tunes of a band from Canada!
Life is good on the Canal du Midi.









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