Prisoner of Hopes

Category: Perspectives

  • Final Impressions: Travel Goals

    Last days in a place are always a little bitter sweet. I spend a little time either trying to figure out if there are places we need to see before we go or places we need to revisit. Today feels random. I want to return to Frogner park to get a picture of the “angry…

  • Ships Ahoy: Travel Goals

    The Bygdoy maritime museum complex is an all day adventure. We opt to visit all three museums in the complex. We start with the Norwegian Maritime Museum where we get to see a man building a Viking ship using ancient methods (and a few power tools). It is fascinating to see the overlapping construction and…

  • Viking Venture: Travel Goals

    Sometimes I just wake up feeling like a kid. On these days I forget the scholarly pursuits and the to do lists and just look for pure fun. We decide to check out Viking World. This small attraction behind Oslo City Hall is a series of video and vr experiences. Interactive computer simulations explain the…

  • Ekenberg Park: Travel Goals

    I love the great outdoors. Find me a forest and l am one happy girl. So when I read that Eckenberg Park has sculptures in a forest, I am intrigued. It is a beautiful sunny day in Oslo and it is unusually warm for the season ……so it seems like a great way to spend…

  • Books, Crockery, and Sunshine: Travel Goals

    I love libraries. Maybe because I am a woman of a certain age who devoured every book I could get my hands on over the last half century. Libraries are places of mystery and opportunity. The national library of Norway is a bibliophile’s dream. It has a coffee shop and restaurant. There are reading rooms…

  • Forest Bathing: Travel Goals

    Nothing seems as good for my soul as a long walk in the woods. The sun is shining on the frozen lake. The water is warming and thawing slowly. But the forest calls me to its shadows. Buds are appearing on the branches. Crocus and bluebells make their colorful entry to the forest floor. The…

  • The National Treasures: Travel Goals

    When I visit national museums in capital cities, I begin to understand the culture a little more deeply. What do they treasure and what do they wonder about? Why is there a large gallery of sculptures that are only copies of pieces found elsewhere in the world? What artifacts were deemed worthy of keeping? The…

  • Sleepy Little Town: Travel Goals

    When the Olympics were held in Lillehammer, pundits called it a sleepy little town in Norway. I can’t say if it is “sleepy”. I can say I find it charming. The train trip from Oslo follows endless lakes. This early in the Spring, they are mostly frozen, making the scenery a magical land of sun,…

  • Olympic Spirit: Travel Goals

    Daa. Daa. Da dah da dah dah. Bum bum ba bum. bum bum ba badda bum bum bum. Sorry the Olympic fanfare horns are trumpeting in my head and I have to get it out. Excite builds as we approach the Lillehammer Olympic museum. In my head, I see Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding and Oksana…

  • Remembrance: Travel Goals

    The Holocaust Center in Oslo is located in the former home of the Norwegian Nazi party leader, Vidkun Quisling. His mansion seems in gross excess compared to most Oslo city dwellings. It is now a center that commemorates the forced removal of over 700 Jewish citizens during World War II. Many of the deportees, especially…