Day 11: More Rain in Oslo!
Today is Tony’s only full day and our last day in Oslo. We’ve got a full itinerary.
Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating at all.
Nasty, serious rain, all day!
But that didn’t stop us. We got up and went right to the gym (where Tony and Dean just completed their workshop) for a lift. Tony squatted, I did a little RDL & glute bridge thang:
And then we hit up breakfast, for the last time! (We’re so bummed).
Showered, dressed, and out da’ door!
It was so rainy that one umbrella just wouldn’t do. On our way to the pier, we came across a metal fence and many, many military people. We made it to the other side of the street just before they blocked the way, and decided to watch for a few minutes to see what was going on.
Can you see the street lined with military?
It was serious!
We couldn’t figure out who was coming, but since the street leads directly to the Royal Palace, we assumed it was someone important. Lo and behold! A few minutes later, many police cars, a few SUVs and a gorgeous limo with two fancy-looking military men in the back cruised by.
Who could it be? Since we can’t get anything out of Norwegian news, we figured we’d probably never know, and just went on our way, happy to have seen someone important get, literally, the royal treatment.
On to the Viking ship Museum!
We needed to take a water taxi to get there. Here’s ours:
It was raining so hard! We had a good 10-minute walk off the boat to the museum, but man, it was worth it! This modest museum holds the remains of four Viking ships, dating back as early as 800AD??!!
W.H.A.T.?
These boats had been used in the water, but after a time they were used for the burials of VIP Vikings. Along with the VVIP’s (get it?!) were all kinds of neat gadgets and artifacts. After checking everything out, we took a fifteen minute walk to another museum, called the Fram Museum.
This little museum houses the very large, very serious “Fram” ship, which sailed many voyages, most notably to the South Pole and the North Pole. We got to go around, on, and down in the boat! Check it:
Just outside this museum was another dock with people waiting for the water taxi, so we walked over to get back to the city. Here’s how it was looking:
When we returned, it was 1:30, and time for a bite of lunch. Two caesar salads, one glass of house red, one Coke Zero, and one side order of fries… $75.
No joking. (Thank goodness we have not had to pay for meals here! It’s outrageously expensive).
After lunch we made our way over to Akerhus Fortress/Castle. Much like the Prague Castle, Akerhus dates back to the 13-14th century and very much emulates a scene out of Game of Thrones.
Here’s a few photos:
We couldn’t find the way into the castle, so after some walking around we went into the info center to inquire. The woman within told us, “Sorry, the castle is closed today because the President of Poland is visiting today and has a special tour.”
BOOM!!!
That’s who we must have seen in the stockade earlier! Tony was super bummed we couldn’t go into the super-medieval looking castle, but we took a deep breath and moved on.
Back in the city, we decided to pop into Parliament.
All we did was check our coat and bag, go through a metal detector, and walk upstairs. We got to sit IN the main chamber of Parliament and watch some Norwegian government in action! I wish I had pictures to show, because the room was gorgeous and we were totally close to the people working and speaking on the Parliament floor. But, I couldn’t bring my camera up. So here are two much less cool photos of the outside of Parliament:
By the time we made it back to the hotel, we had been damp and a bit chilly for a little over five hours. We needed a hot shower and dry socks! Then it was time for a little dinner – our last free and delicious meal here at the hotel! A cod stew with salad and amazing bread.
We spent the evening packing up and getting ready for our super-early departure tomorrow. I booked us tickets on the express train to Stockholm!
Talk to you then!!
Lisa (and Tony).
