Day 16: Oslo

It was a museum filled day. We started with breakfast in the room. We jumped on the tram to the City Hall and from there hopped a ferry to an island I like to call Museum Island. We got off the ferry and walked through a neighborhood that had gates to every house and was very fancy. Our first museum of the day was the Viking Museum. Three viking ships found in burial mounds were on display there. They were really awesome. One of them had very ornately carved prows. All three of them the were mostly whole. There was also an exhibit of the artifacts that had been found on board. Most of what we know about Viking clothing comes from the fragments from these three ships. 

Our next museum was another hike through the fancy neighborhood. We went to the Fram museum. It was two A-frame complex that was all about the exploration of the poles, primarily the North Pole. Lots of people and dogs died trying to explore the areas. One of the ships, the Fram, we were able to climb aboard and all over inside. It was really neat and there was a ton of information.

Our third museum was right across the street. It was the Kon-Tiki museum. If you don't know, the Kon-Tiki was the balsa wood raft that was sailed/drifted across the Pacific Ocean in 1947. The researcher did it to try to prove that South Americans from Peru could've settled in the South Pacific. Everyone thought he and his crew would not survive. It took them 101 days but they made it across. He also did two cross Atlantic trips on Egyptian based papyrus boats. The first time failed and the second succeeded. It was a great museum.

After the Kon-Tiki, we caught the bus across the island to the Holocaust museum. It was chilling and depressing as all Holocaust museums are. This had a lot about the Nazi invasion in Norway. It also had a room with all the names of the Norwegian Jews who were killed. It was hard to do but not as hard as going to Auschwitz was 4 years ago.

After that museum, we decided to head back to the hostel. We took the buss that went over a bridge off the island back. We grabbed a picnic supper and hung out in the room.

Mom wanted to go check out the opera house and so we all went out again. It was stunning, all white marble and glass. It was designed so that you could walk up the sides and on top of it. We did so and watched the sunset. We played with our long shadows and took pictures. Mom and I stayed longer than the others and saw the moonrise. After taking several pictures of that, we decided to get some ice cream. I ended up getting some of the best mango sorbet ever. Mom and I took the tram to the square by City Hall and wandered for awhile. When we got back to the room it was after 11:30 and everyone else was asleep.