Museum Day

Museums were on the agenda today, starting with the incredible new Munch museum. Everyone recognizes The Scream, but almost all Munch's work has remained in Norway. We visited here in 2019, and the previous Munch museum was housed in a tiny building with little to see. That's all changed with the completion of this incredible new 13 story museum which houses hundreds of his paintings, bronze castings, woodblock prints, etc. This is a "must see" attraction for anyone visiting Oslo.

A lively Christmas fair is in full swing along a pedestrian walkway, and the Grand Hotel is gearing up for tomorrow night's Nobel Peace Price award and banquet.

Next, we took a tour of the playwright Henrik Ibsen's lavish apartment adjacent to the theatre built for his plays. Fascinating tour about a fascinating writer!

Norwegian Literary Notes: besides Ibsen, check out Karl Ove Knausgard ( "My Struggle") who represents great contemporary Norwegian writing while Sigrid Undset ("Kristin Lavransdatter") packs 14th century Norwegian life into her 1000 page novel. She won the Nobel Literature prize a century ago. I'm almost finished with it but it could have used, in my humble opinion, some judicious pruning. Fascinating nevertheless.

Note to myself: don't order Mexican food in Norway.Read more