I’m not fishing for compliments…yet.

I love street art (or graffiti, whatever you choose to call it). I could get deep about it and describe the way that street connects the city to itself, to its people, to its tourists, to the history. It’s like taking the pulse of the city. BUT, one of my favorite things about it – that sounds so much less pretentious – is the surprise of it. Turning a corner in a new city can unveil a new piece of art.

Even when I’m hunting for certain spots in the city that I’d heard about, there’s no building to prepare me for the art. In Oslo, I’d heard that Bla on the river, was a cool area with lots of art and a different vibe – “Cambridge-ish.” It was some trek away from pretty much everywhere else that I wanted to go ,but I strapped on my raincoat (it was pouring) and went regardless.

And oh man, was it worth it.

As I walked through the streets to get there, there did seem to be a neighborhood, which was later confirmed to be accurate. No matter. I had found Bla. Walking down a steep hill, I wondered if it was just going to be basic tags and some old buildings.

‘Twas not! Turn the corner and there was a chandelier hanging in the middle of the alleyway, several statues posing against tagged brick warehouses, and a bridge lined with bikes, all roped off with caution tape. What really capped off the area was the decorative (fake, I’m assuming. And hoping.) animal ribcage hanging over the river, suspended by a giant metal abstract sawn in the river.

But it still gets better. There was a huge wall of vibrant graffiti on the other side of the river, so I started walking towards it only to be cut off by a very aesthetic couple and an old man with a fishing pole.

The couple immediately started their moody photoshoot, but the old man could have cared less. He stoically jumped the fence to the river, and pulled out his fishing pole (with no bait that I could see), and started fishing. I honestly have never felt more alive or more understood.

Fishing with no other supplies than a raincoat and a pole, and with what I would suspect is a tragically low chance of actually catching anything other than a cold). But hey, what a view. And, a coffee shop is only a couple of minutes away.