My bike caught up with me and Oslo wore me out #2/13

6 August 2014
Ten hours of sleep and I was ready to tackle Oslo. You can buy an Oslo pass for 300kr that will give you access to almost all the museums in the area. I woke up at 6am only to realize that I had 3 hours to kill. I made my plan for the day over my SEVEN dollar americano. If I find cheap food in Norway I will eat until I can't move.
I took the ferry over to the Viking ship museum where they have three ships housed in a tall airy building. All the ships were found in burial mounds and date back to about 800AD.

The best preserved ship was intricately carved with figures and patterns on the bow and stern. Each piece was disassembled, steamed and pressed into its original shape, and then reassembled. 90% of the ship is original wood and metal. All 3 ships in the museum were buried with food, oxen, jewelry, rich fabrics, wagons, and sleighs. Not much is known about the vikings whonwete buried other than the two skeletons in the main ship were women and most have been very important people.

Next up, the folk museum. Throughout the site there were replicas of Norwegian homesteads from around the country. Many of the buildings were from the 1700 and 1800's and showed the different styles used in different areas.

The stave church was beautifully carved and painted on the inside and set on top of a little bluff. Throughout the museum there were people dressed in period clothes... Like a Renaissance fair.

Onto the Fram museum, where they have two polar explorer ships housed in the museum. The From was built in the shape of an egg with a rounded oval hull to withstand the crushing polar ice. It went on two polar explorations both to the north and south poles. You can walk all over, in, and down into the ship. The cabins are cramped and each expedition lasted over 3 years.
The Gjoa, pictured with polar bears was the first ship to negotiate the northwest passage. The trip took fours years and the crew had to be tougher than anyone can sanely be.

After a lunch of duck flavored top ramen and cookies, I needed a change of pace from museums. I took the metro out to Holmenkollen and checked out the Olympic ski jump. It looks like a dinosaur neck reaching out of the hillside. As you walk up to the lift you pass exhibits explaining what snow is, what skis are, and actually impressive- wooden skis dating back to 900AD.

The views from the top were dizzyingly beautiful. I cannot imagine letting go and launching off of the jump. Even sitting on the high bleachers would make you want to hang on to something.
The view looking over Oslo and the fjords made norway look relatively flat... I was going to keep kidding myself for one more day. I took the metro back to my hotel and was thrilled to find the my bike had finally caught up to me.After two days of me stomping around, the airline had delivered my bike to the hotel. Everything made it, including the additional of an electric shaving kit complete with nose hair trimmer. I am constantly left wondering what happens in customs.