As a little girl I loved Indiana Jones, not Harrison Ford, no, Indy. I dreamed about one day exploring ancient temples just like him.
Now, as an adult, many say I am a real life Indiana Jones. I'm an archaeologist with a masters degree in Cultural...
I'm still sticking with my time researching the Atlantic wall because it's easier to continue now that you guys know what I did there. I can't quite remember if this was before or after our encounter with creepy camouflage man, but that's not really important for the story.
As I explained in the previous chapter, the Atlantic wall stretched all the way to Scandinavia. Those countries were also a part of our research, but because of budgetary reasons, we couldn't afford to go with the entire team to Oslo to inspect the bunkers.
Because of that, I had managed to contact the Norwegian minister of defence at that time; a lady who was responsible for maintaining the forts and bunkers. All of them, including every single one of the Atlantic Wall. Miss minister was very kind and helpful, but advised me it would be better if we could take a look at the bunkers ourselves because they were so different from the rest of the Atlantic wall. So, I planned with her to exchange most of our information through an interview and with her expertise pick out three prominent bunkers and forts to inspect and add them to the joined map.
Well, it just so happened that my best friend, Lisa, was on an exchange program in Oslo for her Nursing school. I contacted her and asked if I could stay with her for a couple of days. She was ecstatic that I came over and even took a couple of days off so she could show me around. So, without the cost of a hotel and with the approval of Miss minister, I presented my boss with my plan, and he agreed to pay for my flight to Oslo. I paid Lisa compensation for the extra amount of food she had to buy for my stay and treated her to dinner as a thank you for her hospitality on my first day in Oslo.
The next day we explored the city until the time of the interview came, and Lisa was about to drop me off at Akershus Fortress, a castle and fortress in Oslo, when Miss Minister insisted that she joined the interview as well. We would get free access to the entire fort, even the closed off posts, and she had made traditional pastries for us. (Who can say no to free food?)
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This is Akershus Fortress
For a little background, Akershus Fortress was built as a castle somewhere at the end of the 13th century, in response to the attack of a Norwegian Earl. Akershus has survived all sieges and attacks over the centuries, but during World War II when Norway surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940, it was used by the German occupiers as a place where people were executed. Add to that that a section of Akershus was also used as a prison centuries earlier, known to the locals as the Slaveriet, meaning The Slavery, and you get a very large imposing building that holds a very layered history within its walls.
Now, Lisa and I entered Akerhus in the late afternoon, and it was still booming with tourists in the main courtyard and around the outer walls. The King's Guard was being photographed, the two museums in the castle walls were bussing with visitors, but as soon as we followed Miss Minister to the eastern part of the fortress, away from the general public, it was surprisingly quiet.
