Aug 16 2008
The rocky nature of Norway
People who haven’t traveled, not necessarily extensively but at least a little, don’t always realize the staggering differences in geography the world has to offer. Some places are fertile and people-friendly, such as the Canadian prairie provinces and much of southern Ontario. Other places are much less so for various reasons, deserts, snowy tundra, and mountains come to mind. Norway is interesting in this respect. It seems people-friendly on the outside. With some grass here and there, plenty of large forests, and water all over the place. But don’t be fooled, it’s all rock! That’s right, rock “intrudes” everywhere, into driveways, onto roads, back gardens and so on.
Of course this is what gives Norway it’s majestic beauty, it’s greatness of landscape. It does however, make it particularly interesting to watch homes being built. Builders don’t really dig to lay a foundation they… drill? Blast? I’m not quite sure what they do to clear the rock actually, but they clear rock as opposed to dirt. Note in the photo the slope of the rock hill. I guess the homeowner can feel secure in the building’s foundation. (I apologize for the poor photo quality, cellphone cameras are not known for their superb optics or photosensors for a reason.)
Another interesting factoid about Norway: the bomb shelters. To be honest when I discovered them I didn’t know what they were, as I hadn’t asked a native Norwegian nor did I know what “tilfluktsrom” meant.
But it’s hard to imagine they could be anything else. Many buildings have them and they’re always in the basement, they’re always marked with the same yellow label, they always have more than one locking mechanism, and they always close off a room. Oh and the most telling feature; these doors are about 40cm thick and made of solid steel. The first time I went through one was to go to a bathroom. I was a little unsettled by the fact that the hallway to the bathrooms had a door to it that would be so large. The male and female bathroom were down the hall, they were regular public bathrooms with attached locker rooms, so fairly large in total volume. A large number of people could certainly have found shelter there. Only later did I clue in to the fact that the door sealed the area, it was the only way in or out. Though I’m told there are other small exits in case the main one gets blocked by debris. Some of these doors I found were closed and some were open to functional areas, like bathrooms and all seemed to be older rather than newer. However, the feeling that these may have been required at one point in time, or may be required in the future. was unsettling and even a little frightening. It makes the peace that Canada enjoys that much more precious.
Interesting stuff about the bombshelters. Keep writing, I’ve never regularly read anyone’s blog. Kudos to you
Hi Tom!
I returned from my first trip to Norge yesterday and I’d found a couple of these rooms in the basements of the Haraldsheim youth hostel in Sinsen, near Grefsen station.
I was also curious about these (Mainly what “Tilfluktsrom” meant) and upon asking the receptionist about it I was told that it dates back from the Cold War, and a building ordnance requiring such rooms to be installed in all significant public buildings (Hotels, youth hostels, cinemas, venues etc) to protect the general public in the event of a nuclear missile attack launched by either the United States or the former USSR.
As Norway is more or less equidistant between the two countries, had the Russians launched a nuke and the U.S. fired off another one to intercept it (Or vice versa) then the resulting explosion and radiation discharge would’ve been right above Norway - So the requirement for these rooms is decent proof of common-sense on the Norwegen governments part.
If ye are still in Oslo, one of the most interesting examples can be found in the basement of Chateau Neuf just down from T-Majorsteuen. The “Tilfluktsrom” there is designed to accommodate the full capacity of the main auditorium plus all of the building staff, and is nowadays used as a nightclub and two-stage venue.
Farewell… >:-)
+++ DieselDragon +++