Oslo

We slept in a little today, and enjoyed breakfast in the mall of the Central Train Station, which is next door to the hotel.  We wanted to be sure of where we are to be tomorrow before our train pulls out at 8:11 a.m.  This guy was outside the Oslo "Sentralstasjon".  Norwegians are big on statues.

After a rainy day yesterday we appreciate the Lord's providing a pretty, sunny day today.  We began our walking tour of Oslo by making our way to Karl Johan Avenue, which connects the train station to the Royal Palace.  The street was full of people of all sorts, including many families with baby carriages.

We've seen more than one church building that is being used for something other than a church building, which is sad.  This is one of them, now housing a restaurant and shops.

There was a concert being given in a park alongside the avenue.  These three young Norwegian rockers were doing Elvis' "All Shook Up", La Bamba, and some Beatles' stuff.  People were digging their act and dancing around the edges.  The stage was surrounded by a bazaar of some sort, with vendors in booths offering a variety of products, many of them foods prepared on the spot.

I really enjoyed the commercial architecture of Oslo.

Note Hard Rock Cafe

Note TGI Friday's on right

And then there's the Royal Palace, complete with guards.

View from the Palace

We took a ferry across part of the Oslo Fjord to the Museum District, where we visited two excellent museums.  The first was the Viking Ship Museum.  These Viking ships were built between 800 and 1050 AD.  The restoration was remarkable, allowing us to appreciate the ship-building skill of the men who knew Leif Ericson and Eric the Red..  Fascinating to think of what these guys could do (and did!).

The second museum we visited was the Kon-Tiki Museum, which held the balsa log raft that Norwegian adventurers Thor Heyerdahl and crew sailed in 1947 from Peru to the Polynesian Islands in 101 days, proving that it could be done, and thus that the islands might well have first been populated by South Americans.  The story was documented on film and the movie Kon-Tiki won an Oscar.

This museum also housed the RA II, a boat he built of papyrus reeds near the Pyramids in Egypt and attempted to sail across the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados.  This attempt was unsuccessful, but marked another chapter in an amazing life story.

Another Norwegian explorer who made his mark was Roald Amundsen, who discovered the South Pole in December 1911.  Here he stands immortalized in statuary with his crew of intrepids.

Dinner was wonderful at DS Louise on the waterfront.  Betty finally got to eat a monkfish (see 4-19 post).  I dined on whale steak.

In closing today's posting we want to say that Oslo has been a very pleasant surprise.  We didn't know what to expect, but we have thoroughly enjoyed the city and its people.  We have not encountered a single individual here who was anything but friendly and helpful.  Oslo has been a delight!

Catching the 8:11 to Myrdal tomorrow, then on to Flam for overnight.