When we woke up, the ship was in Oslo, Norway. Oslo was founded in 1048 by Harald Hardrake. After breakfast we decided to go for a nap first! When we finally did go into Oslo, everything was an easy walk from the ship. We toured the city hall and saw the building where they give out Nobel Peace Prizes.
Then we bought ferry tickets, which brought us to the Viking Museum. They had 3 Viking ships on display, 2 that were restored and one displayed in its original condition. One of the ships dates back to 820 AD, the other two to 900 AD. They were beautiful oak ships, about 23 meters long and 5 meters wide, and it required 30 men to row. They were found intact in some farmers fields, preserved in clay, where the whole viking ship was buried under a mound. These were apparently burial plots for famous people, and they were buried with all sorts of stuff for use in the afterlife, including chests of supplies, sledges, several dogs and horses, and of course their own handmaiden.
After a short walk, we found our next museum. The Kon-Tiki boat was on display, this is the boat that was built to prove that Polynesian people could have travelled across the ocean in a reed boat, and thus explain how Easter Island became populated. Likewise, another reed boat called the Ra II proved that explorers from the Old World could have travelled to the New World using primitive technology.
The next boat museum was the Fram Museum. This ship was built in 1892 and used by both Amundsun and Shackleton in the explorations of the South Pole. Fram means "pushing forward", so named because the boat was very effective for getting through ice. We were actually allowed to board this boat and explore its 3 levels.
We took the ferry back to city center and walked through the royal palace grounds. The flag was flying which meant that the royal family is currently in residence. We stopped to have Frankie's picture taken with one of the guards, and Frankie actually made him smile.
Our last explore in Oslo was the fortification, then back to the ship where we caught a presentation describing tomorrow's port of call, and then we both napped (again!) before dinner as we sailed back through the fiords of Norway.
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