Norway Day 2

Today was a seriously jam-packed day! We were definitely tourists, and I'm completely fine with that!

It all started at breakfast. The Radisson Blu knows how to do a breakfast spread. There was a station dedicated to different types of bread/Danishes (Elizabeth I'm pretty sure that one was for you!!), a hot station with a variety of eggs, sausages, charred tomatoes and baked beans (to name a few to keep things short), a cold station with meats, cheeses, and various accompaniments, a fruits and veggies station, coffee/tea/juice, yogurt and cereal. For real y'all, this girl was in free food HEAVEN!!! And yes I got seconds....

After breakfast we decided we were going to go on an Oslo tour all day! We started at 10:00 and didn't get home until maybe 16:45 - it was a long long day. We started by touring the Oslo city center and saw the royal palace, and LOADS of people in traditional dress for their civil confirmation, then we went on to the Vigeland Gardens filled with amazing sculptures, and then on to Holmenkollen which was a breathtaking ski jump (which was lost to the clouds for the first part of our visit).

We then switched our attention to museums - starting with the Viking. Museum!! They had several ships that were all but intact and preserved, as well as other items they found buried with the queen who died in 850 A.D. She was buried with the ships in HUGE burial mounds. 

Next was the Kon-Tiki Museum dedicated to Thor Heyerhal who crossed the Pacific on the Kon-Tiki raft to prove it was possible that people from South America could have gone to the Polynisian islands by raft. He made the connection when visiting the two areas and hearing the word 'tiki' in reference to a sun god in both areas.

Finally we ended at the Främ Museum - dedicated to Fridtjof Nansen who was the first man to reach the South Pole, AND designed a boat that couldn't be crushed by the arctic ice! (That wasn't the point of the the museum but I thought it was too cool)

After that we were dropped off at city hall to find our own way back to the hotel. Found several spontaneous-fun type music groups along the way, and LOTS of people out shopping. The day started cool and gloomy, and turned into a scorching hot humid afternoon! Why is Norway so much hotter than Colorado!?!?!

Anyways, after a rest we went out for dinner at this cute little cafe - I ate Turkish food! No idea what I ate....some of it was lamb...and a few potatoes....and lots of mayo/sour cream based salads. Then we swung by a grocery store to pick up food for the train tomorrow (we are traveling ALL day!!) and then came home to re-pack. 

Tomorrow we will be up early to catch trains, busses and ferries. I can't wait to get on the water :) as soon as I get wifi that accepts my phone I will upload beaucoup photos!

Until then....goodnight! ;)

P.s. Here is a view from our room:

P.p.s this is what our bedroom looks like right now - it is 21:40 right now......THIS LOOKS LIKE DAYTIME!!! No sunset until 22:30.....