Oslo Day 2

We have enjoyed a lovely end to our second day in Oslo (Wed June 26).  The weather was sunny and warm and we stood on the balcony to watch as the ship pulled out of Oslo and sailed toward Gothenburg Sweden.  We had dinner outside on the aft deck to enjoy the sun and views of the islands and shores we passed.

Today we explored on our own.  After breakfast we had Viking's Customer Service call a taxi which took us to the Bygdoy Peninsula.  We could have used the hop on/off bus that stops at the cruise ship terminal but the route would have taken us the long way around back up to the ski jump.   The peninsula houses several museums and we were hoping to visit at least two of them.  As we were waiting I overheard 2 young women say they were trying to get to the Viking Museum and offered to share our taxi which had just shown up and was a minivan.  Room for all of us and we split the cost.  We started at the Norwegian Folk Museum which was in a beautiful forested setting.  Many old structures from across Norway have been relocated here to help preserve them including a wooden stave church, old farm buildings and a town street.  You could picture the same sod-covered cabins on the Midwestern prairie in the 1800s. There are also recreations of some buildings from the Finnmark Region where the Nazis used a scorched earth policy as they retreated from Norway in late 1944.  Among the gardens and farms represented was a French styled garden and a medicinal garden outside the apothecary's.

 

Stave church and a woman wearing a bunad, the Norwegian folk costume. 

Elephant above the apothecary shop but no signs or anything to indicate why an elephant.

At mid-day we asked at the museum cafe if they had any gluten-free items and were directed to 2 different desserts.  As much as I would like a chocolate tart for lunch I have learned I have to research restaurants ahead of time so we walked to the cafe I had located from home weeks ago.  It turned out to be a good choice with a flower-filled terrace, good food and helpful service.  It was however the second address we have tried to locate in Oslo that is not actually where the address indicates it should be.  Thank goodness for phones and data plans.  After lunch we walked to the Viking Ship Museum which is adjacent to the Folk Museum.  The museum houses 3 ancient Viking ships that had been buried as part of burial rituals and unearthed in Norway centuries later.  The clay helped preserve them and many artifacts with the ships.