Day 3: Oslo

A LEAFY RESIDENTIAL STREET IN BYGDØY


SOD-COVERED HOUSE AND STAVE CHURCH, NORSK FOLKEMUSEUM

Sunrise: 4:39 a.m. Sunset: 9:49 p.m.
Arrival: 7:00 a.m. Departure: 4:00 p.m.
Treat of the Day: Almond Croissants

We had a stellar day in Oslo today. The weather was picture perfect. Brilliant blue skies with puffy white clouds. Sunshine brought warmth to a day with high temps in the mid-50s.

We started the day off with a stroll through Akershus Slott, Oslo's medieval fortress, conveniently reached directly across from where the ship was docked. It was not long before we were besieged by a gay and colorful parade of children all dressed in national costumes. In fact, a great majority of Norwegians were decked out in traditional clothing as they were celebrating the 100th anniversary of their independence today. The bad thing about this was that most shops and many cafes and restaurants were closed. The good thing was that just about everywhere we turned there were festivities or parades or street vendors celebrating the national holiday. We spent a little time exploring the city center and seeking out an ATM before hopping on the ferry to Bygdøy, a peninsula across from the central harbor.

Our first stop at Bygdøy was the Norwegian Folk Museum. Because of the holiday the indoor exhibits were closed, so admission was free today. We were able to wander around the open-air exhibits: 17th-19th buildings from all over Norway. But before entering the open-air exhibit area we sampled some coffee and chocolate cake at what looked like a bake sale table. The coffee was strong and tasty. The cake appeared to be homemade and was moist and excellent. After our snack we wandered around a pleasant park where we saw many rustic buildings, sod-roofed barns and stables, wooden storehouses with rustic carved details and a wonderfully fanciful 13th-century stave church.

Next stop was the Viking Ships museum which houses a fascinating exhibit of three Viking ships dating from the ninth century. The ships had been recovered from ritual burial grounds in southern Norway. All three ships had previously been plundered of their riches. Two of the ships were in very good condition as they had been buried in bogs, the third ship did not benefit from such environmental benefits and was in a much more deteriorated state.

We decided we'd better head back to the ferry dock and catch the return ferry to the city center. We needed to be back on the ship by 3:30 p.m. But before catching the ferry we had a crisp, clean and delicious beer at a restaurant right in front of the ferry dock. On the ferry boat ride back to town we were joined by a large party of Norwegian revellers. They were all dressed in traditional costumes and had brought bottles of wine and beer and glasses along for the ride.

Back in the city center we decided to try some traditional Norwegian festival food. We'd seen people eating sausages wrapped in what looked like a tortilla, so we bought one. It was a nice mild sausage much like a hotdog, the mustard had a sweet taste to it and the tortilla-like wrapper was a bit bland. We also bought a waffle from a vendor dressed up as Pippi Longstocking. I always thought she was Swedish. Anyhow, the waffle was pretty good topped with strawberry and raspberry preserves.

Soon it was time to head back to the ship. We made one last stop at a Norwegian sweater shop where Brad bought me a beautiful cardigan made of Norwegian wool. (Isn't it cool, Norwegian wool?)

We watched our departure from Oslofjord from our balcony and gawked at the beautiful scenery. I took over 100 pictures today! Thank god for digital cameras. I'm sure I'd never have taken that many with film.

At dinner tonight we learned that Marie had an unfortunate accident in Oslo: she fell into a hole! It sounded like the hole was pretty deep. She suffered a few bruises and is limping a bit but luckily did not break anything. We also learned that Jerry owns racehorses and he droned on endlessly about them.

Now that we are back at sea the weather is beginning to get a bit rough again. I sure hope I don't have a repeat of last night's illness. So far I'm feeling okay. It is 10:30 p.m. and the sky is just beginning to get dusky. The sun didn't set until 9:50 p.m. How wonderful to experience such long summer days. On the other hand I certainly would not want to endure the long winter nights at this latitude. The long days also make it unlikely that we will catch a glimpse of the Northern lights. Ah well, one can't complain after having had a picture perfect day.