Fredrikstad – near the Swedish Border

We did a quick return to Vigelandsparken this morning as the photographer realised that we’d missed two important sculptures. The local’s favourite- The Angry Child, and The Clan – 21 characters defended by two male sculptures at either end. I felt like I needed to be defended from the Chinese clan, who once again tried to walk through me whilst blindly following their tour guide.
Drove out of the city on Oslo’s underground road system – no rough hewn tunnels here..you can tell where Norway’s money is concentrated.
We stopped at a little harbour to fill up with water and watched a boat being lifted up by a crane. I hope it was insured as it looked a bit precarious dangling in mid air. We left as the two men stood having a fag, deciding what to do next. 😂
Landed at Fredrikstad for the rest of the day. It has a seventeenth century fortress across the river, called Gamlebyen. Quite an unusual place as it has a sort of zigzag moat around it. The little town itself was full of Norwegians enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon stroll. It all looked a bit English to us – reminded me of walking around Wollaton Park. It does feel different down here in the the south. Very green, but no huge mountains or tunnels. In fact, we’ve been on a motorway which was a big shock to the system.
Drove back over the bridge to have a look at a tall ship in the harbour. It had been sunk once but now pulled up from the sea bed for people to look around.
We were parked right in front of the sea, when two red and white boats moored up right in front of us. It was really windy, so we’ve decided to move back from the front a little bit.
Just as it was getting dark, we noticed on Google maps that we’d missed three more sculptures around the corner. Coats on, off we went. Some nice big houses round here, but I don’t know if I’d want these three big heads looking at me! 😂 That’s it – I’m sculptured out!