Oslo, Norway – day 2

We were able to sleep in a little this morning. Bob did his walk on the treadmill and then we went out to walk in the nearby area. We walked to the Opera House which was opened in 2010. It is an amazing looking building. We got a peak inside and then climbed up one of the outside ramps to the roof for a view of the harbor and some of Oslo.

We then returned to the ship for lunch and to pick up our rain gear. We had an afternoon tour and although the morning was cloudy it had been dry. The afternoon not so much. It was drizzling as we got to the bus, and then the rain really started.

We were on our way to the Bygdoy (pronounced Bigbay) to see the Folk History Museum. This is an outdoor museum, with houses and buildings from all over Norway. It is there to show how people lived in this country for almost 1,000 years. There were farm buildings and houses with turf roofs. The best was an actual Stave church from 1,200. We were lucky that the church was open so we were able to go inside and see it. It was originally a Catholic Church, but now is a Lutheran church. Our guide said that it was available for weddings but you had to reserve it well in advance.

Our next stop was the ski lift that was used in the Olympics in the 1950’s. It was massive and quite impressive to see.

Our final stop, and the highlight of the day was the Vigeland Sculpture Park. All of the sculptures in the park were by Gustav Vigeland. He was supported by the city of Oslo and donated all of his work to the city. All the figures were nudes. They were amazing to see. His theme was the circle of life. There was a tower that had over 120 bodies working their way up from the bottom to the top. All the sculptures were busy doing things like dancing or talking or hugging. The one I liked the best was an older man holding the hand of a young boy with the boy looking up at him.

It was a great day and fortunately the rain did not slow us down even though all of the sites we visited were outdoors.

We sailed at 6. Tomorrow we are in Kristiansand.

Not great internet so no pictures. Have been trying to upload our first day in Oslo all day today.