OSLO

A rainy dark traveling morning ( 3 July )  turned into a sunny warm afternoon.  We arrived in Oslo just before dinner time and found our apartment without too much effort.  After obtaining the key from the neighborhood grocer, we climbed four flights of stairs to find a bright apartment with a kitchen window that has a panoramic view of the city.  A loft-like bed is housed into a bookshelf, but comfortable and cozy.
We shopped for our few days worth of groceries only a couple of blocks away and then we got settled into our new place and after a bite to eat, a glass of wine on the balcony and the computer set up, we were ready to call it a day.  The drive here was beautiful with trees and a picnic spot by a lake to break for half an hour before traveling on.
Our first day for touring began with a bus ride to the downtown area of Oslo.  We went to the Central Station and obtained a 3 day pass for the city which allowed us to get on any one of the four transport sources and free to some museums and discounts on others.  We started at the City Hall and were taken with it's grandeur.  A massive inside with marble floors and a huge staircase.  It is where the Noble Prize Banquet is held.  Many frescoes on the walls and ceiling to depict the labor and history of Norway.  Large hand carved wooden plaques showed characters from Norsk mythology.  Quite a sight.
Then we went on a mini cruise around the water from the Oslo Fjord where we saw the Opera House made like an iceberg and ice flow, the area of four museums and City Hall where we began.  With our tickets, we could bet off and on as we chose at these shops....and as many times as we wanted in the 3 days.  It paid us will to do so.  We got off at the museums to see the Kon Tiki and enjoyed learning about all of that history.
Also there on that property was the Viking Ship Museum, and the Fram Museum.  ( We had seen these two before when in Norway 8 years ago ).  There is a Folk Museum there, also just a short jaunt away, but we did not have time for that.  We ate a late lunch at the same restaurant where we did on Oct. 31, 2006 (Dan's birthday)  We thought ourselves very clever to be able to find it again!  New ownership, but still very nice.
The day that began warm and sunny turned into a black sky and and wind.  We took the boat taxi back over the fjord and caught bus 54 to bring us back to the apartment.  We spent a long time at the Kon Tiki.  The original boat is in a huge room and many wonderful photos are there explaining the unbelievable feat that was had in 1947 and again in 1979 and 1980 in Ra 1 and Ra 2, the boats made out of reeds.

Day2  July 5.
Woke to warm, wonderful sun and clear sky.  We bussed to Vigeland /Frogner's Park.  Oh My!  This sculpture park was amazing!  A huge monolith made up of human forms in one pose or another to depict human relationships with male and female of all ages.   Gustav Vigeland was the sculptor and was many years working on the park for a centennial celebration.  Fountains and park areas abound for sight seeing and relaxing.
A children's section was added at a time .  There is also a " Congo Village" made of straw huts, but is not as welcomed as it was in it's first years.  We also took in the Vigeland Museum where nearly all of Vigeland's works are held which opened to the public in 1947.  Busts of many people famous and not famous are there as well as showing how all of the park sculptures were made,,,,bit by bit.  Very interesting study indeed.
After the hours of these viewings, we boarded a tram to wherever it went.............so we ended at the end of the line!  We saw the city from a different perspective and into neighborhoods where there are houses......mostly white ones.  Wonderful, white houses with black rooves, geraniums and white curtains.
Then we boarded the tram in the opposite direction to downtown so we could catch bus 54 back to our neighborhood.  A bite to eat and soon it is 10:30 pm and bedtime even though light lingered.

Day 3  July 6.
As predicted, it rained heavily through the night.  That left a balmy, overcast morning.  We started out about noon and took bus 54 back to the city center.  No rain yet at that point.  First stop was the Historical Museum: Museum of Cultural History.  This took us through 9000 years of Norwegian history and showed us Bronze Age burial sites Viking weapons, jewelry, handcrafts and mythology.  Beautiful wood carved entrance doors to medieval  churches and a large selection of gold, bronze and clay artifacts were among much other things such as textiles and glass.  Then, on to the Oslo
Cathedral only a short walk away.
Original acanthus carving is still on the alter and pulpit and the housing for the big pipe organ.  There is a second smaller pipe organ there, also.  This cathedral is not as big as others we saw in different countries, but beautiful in it's simplicity with a rotund ceiling frescoed by painters starting in 1936 and finished in 1950.
The cathedral was sanctified in 1697 and is the main church for the city of Oslo, the bishopric and the nation.  We spotted a place we think especially for the king and queen should they worship there.
We took in the Akerhus Castle and it's area and had a short time to visit the Norwegian Resistance Museum.
That time in history always shakes my heart, but we did find it interesting and well done.  The day remained rainless, but now as night draws near, a weeping sky has begun.

Oslo is an easy city to like and to like very much.  It is modern, yet wholesome.  It is clean, accomodating, friendly and hospitable.  It is bustling with young people and young families.  We enjoyed our three days here and take with us many memories that we will share for a long time.