Oslo, day 2

Today was our only full day in Oslo so it was time to do the grand tour. Actually our tour was called 'Oslo Experience' but it was going to be a busy day! The tour did not start until 12:30 so it was a nice easy morning. We had breakfast, hung out in the room, and watched some free movies due to me being a VIP, LOL. Okay so the whole VIP thing really isn't anything but it is funny. For years I have carried around every frequent visitor card created and never gotten anything out of them, never! When I was trying to find a hotel in Oslo the first night (Wednesday) was cheap and the second night (Thursday) was almost double than the first. I had stayed at the Clarion Hotel (same family as Comfort Suites) last year so tried it . . . well, I could not believe that I had enough points for one free night! So for Wednesday I paid and Thursday used points . . . so today is a free hotel day! I liked the location and had free breakfast and free wifi too! I guess since I used my points I am considered a VIP . . . finally I got some thing from all those cards! Now if I could just get upgraded to business class when flying one of these days too . . . not likely of course. So on with our day . . . it was gray outside and very cloudy . . . I knew it would rain all day but I wasn't expecting it to pour as much as it did. About half way to our tour stop, I broke down and bought two umbrellas. Of course keeping our shoes dry was going to be a challenge! There were three places I wanted to see and two more that were on the list in case we had time . . . so I grabbed a brochure for every tour company I could find and found the one that had a tour to those 5 places. I arrived and paid for the tour when someone decided they were hungry! I swear we had just eaten breakfast two hours earlier. We almost missed our boat . . . the tour started on a boat ride to the museum 'island' which was basically a shortened version of yesterday only pouring rain. We did get a close up of the Opera House . . .

. . . it doesn't have steps but you walk up the ramps on each side . . . it was designed to look like a glacier coming out of the water! I was glad when the boat ride was over and thankfully we were with a tour and the bus dropped us off and picked us up at the entrance/exit. Three of the Five museums were outside and considered 'open-air' . . . at least we had umbrellas. So on with the tour . . .

First Stop: Kon-Tiki Raft . . . now this was more than I was expecting. I had heard of the Kon-Tiki raft but really had no clue. Our tour guide was good and Colin enjoyed it too. If you care to know more go here.

Next Stop: Norwegian Folk Museum . . . this was way more than I expected. I guess I had low expectations for Oslo or something. Anyway, I don't know how to explain it except it was a village of old Norwegian houses . . . it was a village with all the typical buildings such as school, stables, guest house, etc. They even had people doing the day to day 'chores' of that time too. The rain managed to cooperate for the most part and we were able to wander around outside.

Third Stop: The Viking Ships . . . these were really cool. I have become fascinated with how these vessels are preserved over a long period of time especially after seeing the Vasa in Stockholm, Sweden last summer. I can not imagine being a Viking . . . man what a tough life. The carving is so detailed!

. . . okay so we had a brush with royalty while at the museum today. I was standing by the tour guide and she was all giddy and told me that the lady that was about to pass me was the Princess of Thailand . . . cool but she was old! The funny thing was I would see all these men dressed in suits and ties who looked official . . . she sure did have a big entourage!

Fourth Stop: Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Museum . . . super cool; literally! This is a huge ski jump that I can't imagine why anyone would want to participate in this sport. We did have time to take the lift to the top of the ski jump . . . I mean how scary must this be? It will be used again in 2011 for the Nordic World Championships or something like that. A view from ground level . . .
. . . and looking down from the top. I was looking down and the narrow white strip is the actual jump. YIKES, sure looks scary to me!
A view of the Oslo Fjord from the top of the ski jump . . .

Final Stop: Vigeland Sculpture Park . . . not the best place to visit in the rain but glad we went. The park is huge but we only toured the sculptures which had a theme of the circle of life . . . Colin said that there were lots of naked people. The flowers and landscaping were beautiful . . . the roses amazing . . . and not one single photo!
. . . this one is called 'Angry Boy" and his hand is shiny because everyone wants to touch him . . . he looks big in this photo but maybe 3 feet?

As you can tell the weather was not so grand but this was the only day in our entire trip where the weather was rainy or bad so guess we were overdue some bad weather! I am really glad we took the tour and I did not have to think about how to get from place to place. After the tour was over we were dropped off in the Aker Brygge area and I knew exactly where I wanted to go . . . Big Horn Steakhouse . . . I ate at this place last year two days in a row when in Bergen, Norway . . . it was that good! Colin chowed down too . . . our belly's were full and my feet were soaking wet. Both of our shoes were beyond hope . . . glad I brought an extra pair just in case! I gave up keeping Colin out of water puddles because it really was a lost cause . . .

. . . we finally arrived at the hotel for a hot shower and to bed . . . tomorrow is an early morning. The end is almost near.