December 16th was another day I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn and hit the ground running. I had breakfast at the hotel and then walked down to the harbor front to take a boat over to Bygdøy. Bygdøy is the location of several of Oslo's museums. I finally found the correct pier and then saw a sign that said the boat wasn't running until Spring. So I went to my google maps and figured out that I needed to walk back up to where I had just come from and catch a bus. I figured out which bus I needed and had a bit of a wait, so I was able to hit up the 7-11 and get a coke (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had 7-11's all over the place).
Sidewalk in Oslo
The first museum I visited was the The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. I guess I should have gotten my degree in Anthropology because I'm so interested in how people lived/live, so this museum was right in my area of interest. It has a few indoor exhibits, but is mostly an outdoor museum. I spent several hours here.
The indoor portion featured several re-created rooms from homes in various parts of Norway, but also clothing, dishes, furniture, and even an explanation of the history of Christmas celebrations in Norway.
This sled was very pretty
Woman's skiing outfit
There was a whole room of trunks which was where people kept the most precious possessions
I left the indoor displays and headed to the outdoor portion. Some of the places you could go inside (some were closed in winter but open in the spring and summer). One of the things I found so interesting is that they had the buildings historically decorated for Christmas with an explanation of how they decorated in that era, celebrated, etc.
There was a grocery here on the end that you could go inside and buy candy, etc. It was from the 1930's.
You couldn't go inside the Chrystie house, but you could read about how they were celebrating
The pharmacy was closed
There was a several story apartment building and you could walk through various apartments that were staged from different eras with informative information about how a Norwegian family would have lived in this apartment including what type of job's they might have, their furniture, food, etc.
Once I left the apartment building I starting finding buildings that have been brought to this museum from all over Norway. They tell you about where the buildings came from and even show you pics of the building in it's original setting.
Who knew you needed to protect against witches!
They have a stave church which I was excited to see
From the back of the church
Front
You couldn't walk inside, but you could walk under the eave and look inside.
Loved the pink house
Next, I took the bus to the Kon-Tiki Museum. I had never heard of the Kon-Tiki before planning my trip to Norway, and don't know if I would have visited but for the Viking Museum which is also on Bygdøy is closed for renovations, I was already over there, and the entrance fee was included in my Oslo Pass I purchased.
Completely bonkers!
I took the bus back to Oslo, which requires 2 busses, and it ended up being a fiasco. The busses were all running late, and then they flashed messages saying they were late because of "the demonstration". Then the bus didn't stop at the stop I wanted because of "the demonstration" and drove for a while before they stopped, so I had to walk back to my location. It seemed to be a demonstration related to Gaza and Palestine. I finally made it, but not with much time to spare before closing, to the Norwegian Resistance Museum (yes, first the Danish Resistance Museum, now this...it's another area of interest for me).
King Haakon VII was King when the Nazi invasion of Norway occurred. He and his son Olav fled to London for the duration of the war and ran things from there.
This is King Olav V, the only chid of Queen Maud and King Haakon. He was Crown Prince during the war and his wife was Princess Märtha. She actually went to the United States during the war and took her children, including the current Norwegian king as a child.
King Harald V of Norway who has been King since 1991.
After the museum closed, I walked to the tram stop and was able to catch one to near-ish the food hall I had visited the day before.
A park I walked through on the way.
I wanted to visit a little restaurant that is located not too far from the food hall. It's called the Focacceria
After, I went to the food hall for another cookie and cupcake (they were that good), and then I walked around the shopping district and Christmas market again before heading to the hotel.
That's a wrap on Oslo. I was on to the next location early the next morning so stay tuned...
Comments