Page 13 - Talk of Tequesta - November '20

The Talk Of Tequesta, Page 13

travEl from page 12

Children of the World by Eva Rybakken, located at the North Cape

The scenic village of Geiranger and the Geirangerfjord, a branch of the Storfjord

By using soil to insulate their roofs, early Norwegians inadvertently created Chia homes. scaled a path up the sheared face of the Cape. During the
summer months the sun never sets at the Cape; instead
it forms an orange ball on the horizon at midnight. It is
from this event that the Cape gets its name, “Land of the
Midnight Sun.”
The Laplanders, with their unique heavily embroidered
four corner hats, inhabit the northern part of Norway.
These hearty people track their reindeer herds across
four countries and pay little attention to territorial
boundaries. The Lapps, or Sami people as they prefer to
call themselves, trace their heritage back more than 8,000
years. There are approximately 40,000 of these people in
all with about half of them to be found in Norway. Because
of their self-imposed isolation and lifestyle, they have
been able to conserve their rich culture and many unique
747-PALM traditions, such as the Sami language.
Less than a century ago, the Lapps imported reindeer
747-7256 from the mainland to Mageroya, the island off the North
Cape. The animals now graze openly on the sparse
vegetation, and seem to be the only life on the barren rock
with the exception of tourists. The North Cape is marked
by a visitor’s center as well as a globe-shaped location
marker and two unique sculptural works.
One of these pieces is called Children of the World –
this work by Eva Rybakken features the sculpture of a
mother and child facing north as the child points to seven
bronze and stone wheel-like disks. These disks were
sculpted by children from seven different lands, aged
between 8 and 12, who visited the Cape in 1988. They
depict Norway as seen through the eyes of a child.
On the other end of the nation is the business center and
capital of Oslo. Its skyline is dominated by the City Hall
at the end of the harbor. The building’s interior walls are
covered with murals and it even contains an art collection.
The main travel axis of the city runs parallel to the end
of the harbor and behind the City Hall, with the Royal
Palace on one end and the Parliament building on the
other. Numerous museums proudly display the Norwegian
history from before the time of the Vikings to the present.
There is even a “Resistance” museum that houses the
relics of the Norwegian resistance movement during
World War II, when the country was occupied by the
Germans. The city has built a heritage museum in a large
parklike setting that also boasts various period structures
from all over Norway, which have been dismantled and
reassembled on the site.
*Source for population of Norway is CIA World
Factbook (July 2020 estimate)
Don Kiselewski writes from his personal experiences,
having traveled in 122 countries and cruised the oceans,
seas and rivers of the world. Palm Beach Gardens Travel
Leaders, his family owned and operated agency, is located
at Mirasol Town Square, 11360 North Jog Road, Building
A, Suite 102-6, Palm Beach Gardens. The agency has been
serving the travel needs of the South Florida area for over
a quarter of a century. Contact him at (561) 694-9696 or
Aussie@PBGTravel.com.

Photos by Don Kiselewski