Category Archive: TRAVEL
North to the Baltic
(August/September 2026) The Oceania ship ‘Insignia’ shoved-off from Oslo at 5 pm and we settled in. Whilst a cruise at sea is not everybody’s cup of tea, you cannot knock the level of accommodation and service. Staff exemplary; passengers also were exceedingly congenial, we all being ‘in the same boat’. (You can see our map of the voyage at the foot of this post). SOME TIPS FOR FIRST-TIMERS As cruise virgins, we learnt some things that may be of interest. We, and the ship, had no difficulty negotiating the Baltic Sea, but if you’re going cruising on an ocean, and…
Continue Reading →National Museum, Oslo
(August 2026) Oslo’s premiere art gallery is next to the Nobel Peace Centre on the Stranden, and opened in 2022, another piece in the city’s modern cultural jigsaw. There is some tat; certainly; some of the Munch pieces were done on an off-day (some good however); the classical statuary are mostly plaster knock-offs. But here also be treasure – for example, TVC was not acquainted with the work of Asta Norregaard (she’s terrific) – just a taste below, all nicely presented, with a Victoria-and-Albert vibe to it: This being Oslo, home of Munch, Ibsen and Strindberg, there had to be…
Continue Reading →Water to Wine: An Italian Wine Journey
(Aboard the “Insignia” 6 September 2026) The Varnished Culture‘s first cruise (excepting 3 days on the Nile) and for the most part we avoided shuffleboard, trivia rounds, axe-throwing, bridge games, and numerous other entertainments. But we were shilled into a lecture and tasting of selected Italian wines, many out of our general price range, given by Tiru, one of Oceania’s sommeliers. This was on an ‘At Sea’ day, and we had to indulge, to honour friends who would never forgive us passing this up. We started with a Tuscan white (Tuscany in the main image), Il Borro Lamelle Toscana IGT…
Continue Reading →The Munch Museum
(Oslo, 26 August 2026) Edward Munch: Robert Hughes (in 1980) wrote of him: “Twenty-five years ago, there was no general agreement about Munch’s stature. He seemed too local, too narrowly “northern” a painter, for his work to be set against the art historical values that centre on Paris; and besides, virtually all his major paintings had remained in his native city of Oslo, not a stop on the art-lover’s normal itinerary. He therefore seemed more provincial after his death than he was in life, and many people who should have known better insisted on thinking of him as a gaunt…
Continue Reading →Oslo Scenes
(August 2026) Ánslo, founded as a major trade post in 1048 by Harald (Hardrada), later became (post Vikings) “Kristiania,” and then in 1925, Oslo. Home to the likes of Ibsen and Undset, it is a major cultural centre. Opera House, National Theatre The roof of the building tilts to ground level, but don’t bother clambering up that slippery white granite/marble slope in order to take in “the panoramic views of Oslo,” because you can just walk around the corner and take the Munch Museum’s lift to a rooftop bar and enjoy it in much more civilised fashion. Oslo City Hall…
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