Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway, 2007

I love art and enjoy going to museums -- and as a New Yorker, have plenty of opportunites to see interesting exhibits. One of my favorite "museums," though was Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo, Norway. When Jon first suggested that we walk to Vigeland Park because there were sculptures there, I wasn't really in the mood to go. It was late, we'd just finished dinner and it was about a three mile trek to the park. He insisted, though, and I tagged along, grumbling the whole time about how it would be better if we went to this park during the daytime. By the time we got there, the sun was setting and the park was virtually empty. Again, I wasn't thrilled, thinking that this was rather creepy. But we then entered and I was blown away. The park is filled with hundreds of sculptures by Gustav Vigeland and is an outdoor museum of his work. All of the statues are naked (I feel the need to stress this because I recommended the park to a conservative friend and she was shocked when she arrived) and are in lifelike poses that reflect movement. There are people embracing, babies crying, a man flipping a woman over his shoulders, kids playing, and my favorite -- a man turning as kids hang off of his arms and legs as if they're in mid-flight. I nicknamed it "Man Flinging Babies." Anyway, the statues are organized so that they tell the story of life from birth to death and Vigeland managed to capture every emotion that one would experience during a lifetime from joy to pain to sorrow. His sculptures look so *real* it's as if the figures were frozen in time. I half expected them to come out of their poses and jump out at me. Here are some of the statues, including "Man Flinging Babies":

Being there at night by ourselves *was* a little unsettling, but it gave us the chance to carefully examine each statue. I walked around, liking one figure more than the next and truly appreciated how Vigeland was telling a story with his pieces. We returned the next day during the afternoon, but it just wasn't quite the same. The place was filled with tourists so every statue had people posing in front for pictures. It was still incredible, but the park didn't have that intimate feel that it had the night before. I'm glad that Jon persuaded me to go to Vigeland Park at night because it's an experience that has stayed with me.

Welcome To Naomi The Traveler!

The title for this blog is pretty simple -- my name is Naomi and I'm an avid traveler. I guess you can say that I come from a family full of wanderlust. My childhood wasn't like most kids'; since both of my parents were teachers, they had summers off and would take me all over the place. So by the time I was 15, I'd been to China, Japan, Israel, Egypt, Russia, Mexico, and all over Europe and the United States. The other kids thought I was a little weird ... but I always had interesting slide shows for projects. Now that my parents are retired, they travel more than ever. They've been pretty much everywhere you can think of: India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea... okay, they haven't yet been to Australia or New Zealand, or most of the Pacific, actually, but still, they've so far been to an impressive 90-something countries. Meantime, I've gotten my husband into traveling. In the 12 years we've been married, we've visited Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, England, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Mexico, Canada, Greece, Hawaii, Puerto Rico -- and just returned from a trip to the Netherlands/Nigeria. So we're doing pretty well! My goal is to set foot on every continent before my parents. They're missing Australia and Antarctica. I'm still missing South America and Antarctica. So it's anybody's game at this point, though we could fly from the tip of Chile to Antarctica. You go via a military plane and stay there for about three hours, but hey -- it's Antarctica! There are ice caps! Penguins! What more can you want? I kid, but in all seriousness, I think it's important to see the world and learn about the people and places with whom your share your Earth. We're fortunate because we live in New York City, which is a very international place, but while I love eating Chinese food, there's nothing quite like actually going to the real country. So welcome aboard my blog as we take a trip around the world! I'll be sharing travel stories from when I was a child and an adult, as well as travel tips and recommendations. And if you have any stories or tips of your own, feel free to add to the comments. To whet your appetite, here are some photos from last year's trip to Greece:

Safe journeys, Naomi