Karl Johan is Oslo's main street. starting with the king's castle at the west end
and ending in the east at the central railway station. in between is the house of parliament, the cathedral the oldest campus of the university, and the national theatre, along with a plethora of shops, cafes restaurants and hotels.
the main entrance to the castle faces the street which for the most part is a for pedestrians only. the perpendicular streets are open to motor vehicles. the 17th of may is constitution day and is celebrated with a long parade of all the city's school children. the king and family stand on the balcony above the entrance and wave as the children pass the entrance.
the west end of Karl Johan is more open and monumental. There's a large park to the right and prestigious shops and cafes etc on the left. on a warm summer day the tables are full.
the university's law school is quiet during the summer
the park has a pond fondly referred to as 'spikersuppa', most known as a public ice skating risk in the winter. the name means 'the nail soup'. as a gift to the city in the 1950's, the Christiania nail factory donated the funds for a facelift of the run down area. that project included the construction of the pond.
Victoria nasjonal jazzscene is likely norway's premier jazz club. Any Angelina Jordan fans out there, wouldn't it be something if she would perform here. it's a great place for an intimate concert.
proceeding east i pass the iconic house of parliament. beyond which the street becomes more narrow with buildings lining both sides
and the crowd thickens. Oslo's population is about 650 000. while it is norway's capital and biggest city it is still a small metropolis compared to many countries
david andersen is one of norway's most prestigious goldsmiths
street vendors are side by side with high fashion shops
as i passed this shop window a woman happened to be standing right behind the headless mannequin
the cathedral originally had many solid stone auxiliary buildings that are now in private hands housing restaurants, bars, art studios and galleries etc
right by them are makeshift street food stands, this one specializing in norwegian waffles
and various vendors
then there are the normal shops
where 'only normal' people shop. i'm not sure if it is coincidental but the shops 'only' and 'normal' are next door to to each other and from where i was standing their signs on the wall happen to line up. i didn't notice it until afterwards when i saw the photo
the original central railway station has been renovated to a popular shopping mall and food halls. the new station just beside it is a far less interesting structure.
the city houses more than just people. most of the animals are scavengers and life can be tough, like here when somebody left some slices of pizza on the street it didn't take long before the struggle to survive erupted into a fight
i took all these photos in color with my S22 phone and edited them to black and white. after zooming in on this last one i could not decide which version i like better so i included both
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