the global reconnaissance organization: time is wasting

hmm, i was on a schedule. 9:30 by the time i got out of the hostel... this gave me only a couple hours to see the museum. constrained. i didn't like that feeling. i looked at a map. blah, the museum was on the opposite side of oslo, across the harbor. guide number one gave no transport recommendations; guide number two gave ferry details. arrival at the ferry dock at 10:30; onboard, i spoke with americans and wished them a happy fourth of july. i liked them even before they told me they'd been farther north and overflowed with recommendations for the hurtigruten. no time for sleep, they said, as you don't want to miss any of the scenery. i'd been on the edge and they pushed me in.

at the museum by 11. two beautiful ships and a third, incomplete, all three burial vessels. a sled isolated for conservation. one of the most interesting were the pictures of the excavations taken in the late 1800's. i was finished with the museum truly by 12, glad that i didn't have the rushed still wanting more feeling.

ferry back and a walk to the national gallery. i saw franz standing outside reading a guide. no others around. the national gallery was closed on mondays [the wasteland, desolate; the wind picks up and carries with it a faint scream growing glowing black to red]. many museums close on mondays in europe and for that reason i had consulted _both_ guides (lonely planet and use it's streetwise guide to oslo) which _both_ indicated the gallery was open on monday. damn. edvard munch's the scream was inside. waiting, screaming, and me along with it.

we decided to visit the edvard munch museum. franz had the transport details. we found the stop with a bit of effort; the museum a short walk away. airport security metal detector; two paintings, the scream and madonna, were stolen from this museum last august [one story]. the vampire. many self portraits. beautiful use of color, the purples pulling me in for a closer look and i imagined the paint being applied to the canvas. interesting paintings and titles:

inside us are worlds
the splitting of faust
self portrait during the eye disease
the artist with skull: optical illusion during the eye disease

i'll need to do a bit of munch research to see exactly what this eye disease is all about.

to vigeland park and its central hellraising phallic symbol. writhing. crawling. if i'd been by myself, i'd have spent hours in this park examining all of the sculptures, wandering and relaxing. i didn't mind franz' company however, and i think he enjoyed spending the day with me. it seemed he felt honored that i'd want to take his picture. we sat on a bench for half an hour before leaving. i wanted to ask him about wwii but decided that might be inappropriate.

i'll be leaving oslo tomorrow and i feel that it's too soon. i haven't fully explored the city. i think two days more would be best, but i'd already booked my non-refundable train ticket over to bergen, leaving tomorrow morning. i feel like i don't know the lay of the oslo land, never took the new city walk. for this new city i had read guidebooks the night before and created a list of sites that i wanted to see; yesterday i took public transportation to those sites. while this new approach did give me an unforgettable experience the brightest and darkest which i would have otherwise missed, the lack of the walk left me wanting more, wondering if there are other places that sparkle, unexplored and waiting for me. waiting. i'm leaving her before we're both ready.