Day 12: Oslo - 19C
This is the start of Gay Pride weekend and thousands have flooded into the city. Shops and ships are gaily bedecked and many people colorfully dressed in rainbow clutching rainbow bunches of intriguing balloons. All very pretty but a nightmare for our poor coach driver as many streets are closed off. People partied all night and will do the same tonight. Thank goodness for double-glazed windows.
We sallied forth at a respectable 8.15am for a city tour before the revelers were stirring to do a city tour by coach and on foot. I was so frustrated by driving past the Ibsen Museum which was not yet opened and will not be included in our stay here. We were told that the pavement from Ibsen' house to the Grand Hotel is decorated with extracts from his plays. He visited that Hotel every single morning at exactly the same time for his morning coffee. People used to set their watches by him.
Oslo is a city of 637,000 people with the swan as their symbol, Cross-country skiing as their national sport and fishing as their primary hobby. It was founded in the year 1000 and has burned down 20 times. There are 8 rivers which bound Oslo and it is the port for the Tall ships race. Some of them are already in. A major problem here is their moose population . Every year there are 40 - 50 traffic accidents as these beasts tangle with the traffic. Earlier this year one got into the tunnel from the city causing the main highway to be closed while they recovered the beast.
Our first stop was at Frogner Park to view the phenomenal sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland. We were there for about an hour listening to the explanations for the vast array of stark sculptures depicting man's journey through life. Too much explanation to write up for you. Google him if you're interested. Mind-blowing!!!

On we went to the magnificent City Hall, past the Munch Museum under construction, due for completion in 2020.

Half our tour group left us back at our hotel but we had paid extra to do a tour of the 3 maritime museums out on the headland. First was the Fram Museum which housed the original Fram craft which Nansen had built in 1893 in order to be the first man to reach the North Pole. It was later borrowed by Amundsen to be the first man to reach the South Pole . And there she resides in Oslo intact.
We then went on to the Kontiki Museum which houses the original balsa wood raft used by Thor Heyerdahl. It took 93 days to sail from Peru to Polynesia. You may have read the book. A fascinating museum also housing Rah I and II and his Tigris. What an intrepid explorer!!!
Finally we visited the Viking museum which was interesting but not as comprehensive as the one we stumbled on in Stockholm.
We took a very circuitous route back to our hotel trying to navigate the Gay revelers and then went out on foot for sustenance. Very difficult here tracking gluten free food. Snack bars only take me so far.
Tonight we are going to a ski-run restaurant on the slopes somewhere for dinner. However as tomorrow is another pre-dawn departure to catch our plane to Tromso on the Arctic Circle I shall end today's diary here. We may well be out of wifi contact for a few days but I'll tune in again when I can.