Oslo: Day 2

The weather forecast was for rain and from about 9 am to 5 pm it absolutely threw it down. Luckily we did the "outside" stuff yesterday. We needed a day of "inside" stuff to do.

We bought a 24 hour Oslo Pass, which entitled us to unlimited public transport and entry to over 30 museums.

First up we caught the ferry to an island called Bygdoy. Bygdoy is home to several museums and lovely houses and lots of yachts.

The first museum was called, Vikingskipshuset ( for those who don't  read Norse..Viking Ship Museum). This had 3 real Viking ships (dated about 900 AD) , that were used for burials of some important Vikings. The were also some other artefacts that were also buried.

From the Viking Ship Museum, we had a little walk around to a group of 3 Museums, we went to 2 of them, the third being the Maritime Museum.

The first was the Kon-Tiki Museum. This museum is about the life of Thor Heyerdahl and contains the two boats, the Kon-Tiki  and the Ra and a large section on Easter Island. It also had an Oscar, for the documentary that was made for the Kon-Tiki trip.

Next door was the Fram Museum. The Fram was a 19th century polar exploration ship, housed inside, there was lots of information about Roald Amunsden and a few stuffed polar bears. You could explore the the boat and it was a great place to visit.

We caught the ferry back to the mainland and went to the Nobel Peace Centre. The museum had 2 floors. The first floor was dedicated to the current Nobel Peace Laureates, Malala and Kailash.
The second floor had the more permanent collection which details all the Nobel Peace Laureates.

After a short lunch break we headed to the National Gallery (we had intended to go to the Munch Museum, but it is closed on Tuesdays.) In the Gallery there were works of art from Goya, Cezzane, Gaugain, Monet, Manet, Picasso , Rodin, Munch and many more.
The highlights were Rodin"s Thinker and Venus and of course Munch's The Scream (there are 4 copies in the world and Modonna. One room had over 30 of Munch's  works, no photos were allowed but Andy found a way to take a few shots.

We left the National Gallery and it was still pissing down with rain. A few stops to get out of the rain and the rain began to ease off. We had to buy Kristin a new suitcase, as her suitcase (which we purchased just before the trip) was damaged on the trip from Tallinn to Stockholm.

After a short break back in our room at the Hostel ( which is in a great location and is pretty good).
We went out for dinner in an area called GRUNERLOKKA. This was a very hip area. We had Vietnamese for dinner but nothing like we can get in Richmond or Springvale.

Observations of Oslo. Very expensive, on the Big Mac Index it is equal with Switzerland as the most expensive  place to buy a Big Mac in the world. Very windy. Lots of Gypsies. Good public transport system.

So expensive, even the taxis are Mercedes!

Off to Balestrand ( fjord country near the West Coast of Norway) tomorrow by train.

Cheers,
A & K.