One of the more unusual attractions worth visiting in Oslo is Vigeland Park ("Vigelandsparken"). This free civic outdoors space is home to over 200 nude sculptures crafted by a single artist, the venerable Gustav Vigeland.

I mean -- most places in the world, a scene like this one above ^ would draw healthy skepticism about the sanity/intentions of it's creator-- but in Norway, it's all good baby!

Does this baby have an "It's all good, baby" expression?

In the piece shown above, it looks like someone is either

A) Overdue for nap time

or

B) Upset about the blatant abduction of his two compadres by that chiseled granite nude bandit man across the way

Posthumous jabs aside, I have a lot of respect for the enduring legacy of Mr. Vigeland. He has managed to provide us with a worthwhile venture that holds considerable artistic, cultural, and philosophic value -- without requiring us to sacrifice economic value! What a deal!

The sculptures in the foreground represent the various stages of human life, culminating with a phallic monstrosity ("monolith plateau") pictured dead center here -- it represents man's 'longing and yearning for the spiritual and divine'

There's no two ways around it -- Oslo is expensive. I mean, who wants to pay $10 for a pint and $47 for a haircut? And don't even think about renting a car if you're trying to mob up to Bergen or Lapland -- if you can afford that kind of tomfoolery, why are you wasting time reading? You should be betting on monkey knife fights from the comfort of your mega yacht right now. Shame on you.

But if you're like us and barely have two Nickelback albums to rub together, having Vigeland park within walking distance of the city center is just 2 cool. So 2 cool.

Vigeland Sculpture Park