Oslo

Our last stop in Norway was Oslo, the capitol and largest city. We took a short plane flight from Aalesund and then the high speed train (200km/hr) from the airport into downtown Oslo. Trekking to the hotel with our bags and Leif with his lame foot was an exhausting endeavor. If we had known just how far of a "10 min walk" it was, we would have taken the tram or a taxi. We stayed in a hostel type hotel with bunks- Leif on the bottom this time!- and industrial looking rooms and service. It served its purpose though and was not ridiculously expensive like much of the accommodation in Oslo. After a cafeteria style breakfast we walked down to the harbor and took a ferry across the bay to another section of the city where there were several museums. We started with the Folk museum and got to see some traditional Norwegian dancers, a replica village with pharmacy and post office and typical houses. Many of the houses were built with a living roof which had many advantages for energy conservation. We peaked in the old school house and watched some children having their lesson. Then we saw an old wooden cathedral, commonly built in Norway where stone was too expensive or difficult to get. We sampled freshly made lefse (hot and slathered with butter) from a working farmhouse and also the homemade licorice from the pharmacy.

Our next museum was the Viking Ship museum where they have a couple examples that were unearthed from their burial sites. An important woman and a viking cheiftan were buried in the ships, along with all the things they needed in the afterlife: horses, food, shovels, tools, money, chickens, dogs, etc. It was very interesting. Also interesting to learn the things they discovered from the bones like diseases they may have had, what caused the death- the cheiftan was killed in combat by stab wounds, how old, and so on. A short bus ride took us down the road to the Maritime museum. In there we watched a panoramic video of the Norwegian coastline and learned about the seafaring life in Norway. Right across the lawn was the museum Fram that was built around the ship which was used in exploring the Arctic and Antarctica by several Norwegian explorers. You could go inside and onto the decks of the ship, which was pretty exciting for the kids. Norway discovered the south pole just one month before the fatal expedition of Robert Scott. Our last museum was the Kon Tiki museum which had the raft and "boat" used by Thor Heyerdahl in his trips across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The Kon Tiki was just a raft of balsam wood, lashed together by ropes and a small shelter on top. None of us could imagine "sailing" across the ocean on it with 6 people.

Oslo