Where was A-Ha???

After our couple of weeks in Sweden, we caught a day-train from Jönkoping to Oslo, arriving at around 7 in the evening (another day of travelling!). We checked in to our hostel, and wandered off to eat a traditional Norwegian meal of pizza.

The following day, Heather’s mum was off on her own tour of the Norwegian fjords, however Heather and I decided to spend a bit longer in Oslo to check it out. After all, one night was not really enough.

The first place we visited was Oslo castle, which is actively used by departments of the Norwegian defence service. For example, there is the defence logistics service located in a very grand building. Also within the castle grounds, there are a number of museums – one of which is the Resistance Museum that I was particularly keen to visit. At the start of World War 2, Norway (like Sweden) declared its neutrality, however Nazi Germany needed a direct outlet to the North Sea to harass the Royal Navy. As such, Norway’s declaration fell on deaf ears and in a rapid assault by mainly airborne forces, Norway was invaded, surrendering only after France had fallen. The Norwegian Royal Family went in to exile in the United Kingdom (just escaping in time from the SS units that were in pursuit) and the Nazis installed a puppet government to oversee the running of the country.

From the outset, Norwegians in all walks of life resisted the occupying forces by various means. In addition to the attention-getting sabotage, more passive means were also used. For example, the teachers’ union boycotted all lessons when they were told that they had to use German as the primary language, causing mass arrests, deportations, etc. I think the modern British teacher barely has the spine to stand up in a force 3 gale, let alone stand up to a Nazi regime! The museum covers all this in great detail, and (for a pleasant change) actually acknowledged that Britain stood alone for 2-3 years against the Nazi war machine. It was quite surprising to hear an American tourist (on reading the text of one Churchill’s speeches) say "Thank God for Winston Churchill".

The rest of our time in Norway, was spent visiting the Royal Palace, the beach and wandering through the old town. A very pleasant start to Norway.