We sailed all morning up the Oslo Fjord, passing many islands along the way. Oslo is the capital of Norway. It is a city with lots of new buildings along side many old ones. Although our day here is a Monday, there were lots of people outside enjoying the nice weather (60 degrees).
We learned some history of the city, which was the capital and then not. The hierarchy goes back many centuries and at one time this part of the world was part of Norway, Sweden or Denmark. It currently is a royal country, with a king. The population of Norway is around 5.5 million with around 1 million in the Oslo area. Many people commute to the city by ferry from the island and surrounding area. It is the largest, in area, capital in the world covering 175 square miles.
Norway has half of Europe’s coastline. The king and queen live in a palace in the center of the city, but the grounds are open to all to enjoy.
Our tour for the day was called Viking Explorers. It included visits to an exhibit about the Vikings of old and to the Fram Museum, with the ship Fram that Roald Amundsen sailed in the Arctic and Antarctic. We were even able to get on the ship and walk around.
We then went to the Kon-Tiki museum. They had the actual raft that Thor Heyerdahl used to travel from Peru to Polynesia. They also had his papyrus boat, Ra II, that he used to sail from Morocco to Barbados. For a man who never learned to swim, most of his adventures were at sea.
Our final stop was Viking Planet, which had interactive displays about the Vikings and their culture. They were not the barbarians that films depict them to be. The Viking Boat museum is closed for renovations but this stop had a 3-D site and we were able to see boats and artifacts from about 800.
We had a quick stop at the Town Hall where the Nobel Peace prize is awarded. All other Nobel prizes are awarded in Sweden.
Poor internet service, no photos today.
Bette and Bob See the World 
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