Friday, 15 July (Part IV)
After visiting two wonderful museums — the Frammuseet and the Vikingskiphuset — it was time to head back across the Oslo Harbor. The temperature was comfortable and the skies had 
We’d decided to skip the Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Museum of Cultural History) as the afternoon was growing late and we didn’t think we could do it justice. However, when we turned a corner and found ourselves face to face with the museum entrance, we decided to check it out anyway. The NOK100/person ($17) fee was a bit stiff for a quick look-see, but the empty courtyard gave every indication that we’d have the place to ourselves, so we paid up and went in.
Our decision turned out to be a mistake! Apparently many of the tour groups come in through a rear entrance. But that wasn’t the problem since the crowds were spread out pretty well, and they didn’t stay long. The problem was that there were too few docents in period costume providing interpretive information. No sooner would we enter one of the buildings that we’d be asked to leave because the docent had to lock up and go to another building where a tour group was awaiting attention. OK, the first time; OK the second time; but by the third time smoke was coming out of my ears.
So instead of touring the open air museum, which dates back to 1894 and which is home to over 150 buildings representative of the different regions of Norway, we left after a very short and disappointing experience.
This young woman was making some kind of flatbread; but it wasn’t free for the tasting.
The one silver lining of our visit to the museum: I got to see what I most wanted to see — the Gol Stave Church, which is the centerpiece of a group of buildings referred to as Oscar II’s Collection (became part of the museum in 1907). One of only 30 preserved churches of its kind in Norway, the Gol church was built in 1212. It remained in use until the 1870s when the congregation grew too big and a replacement church was built.
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built in 1212, The Gol Stave Church was remodeled in 1664 and 1802.
[front view (left) and rear view (right)]
The church was purchased by the preservation society in 1881. Although King Oscar II offered to finance the relocation and rebuilding of the church, it was another three years before it could be disassembled, moved, and re-erected at his summer residence on Bygdøy.
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Detail from the roofline of the church.
Detail from the interior of the church.
(More information about stave churches can be found here.)
After that detour, we continued our walk to the water taxi landing. Having just missed the taxi back to Rådhusbrygge, we had a bit of a wait, but the sun was out again so we didn’t mind it much. (Too bad the sun wasn’t out while we were photographing the stave church; blue skies would have added tremendously to the pictures we took.)
I’m not much into city streetscape photography, but as I wind up the story of our trip to Oslo, I’ll share a few from yesterday ...
The Slottet (Royal Palace) was built on the orders of King Karl Johan, but he died
before it was completed in 1848.
The fountain known as Christian IV’s Glove is located in Christiania Torv, the city’s
first market square. The glove points to where he wanted to rebuild the city after
the big fire in 1624.
… and a few more images from today.
The Nobel Peace Center is housed in Oslo’s old railway station.
Around the grounds of the Rådhuset (City Hall), which opened in 1950 to mark
the city’s 900th anniversary.
After returning from Bygdøy, we went to the hotel to drop off our camera bags. Since our time in Oslo was growing short, we didn't dally long, returning promptly to the waterfront to check out the outdoor eateries at Aker Brygge, the shipyard-turned-mall overlooking Oslo Harbor. Although it was drizzling off-and-on, and the early evening temps were more than chilly, we settled on a pizzeria named Olivia. The outdoor heaters had us quickly shedding our outer layers as we enjoyed dinner with people-watching for entertainment. We split an excellent seafood salad and a pizza topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, ham, and artichokes, and washed it all down with a couple of ice cold local brews. Dessert was ice cream from the Movenpick stand across the pedestrian road from the restaurant.
Collage compiled from pictures from Olivia’s website, with a photo of Aker Brygge that
I took thrown in for fun (lower left). I thought I’d process it all in B&W, except for the
pizza, which really was very good.
After wandering around the waterfront for a bit, we returned to the hotel to finish packing our bags, making sure weight was allocated properly in preparation for tomorrow’s flights back home.
Oslo has a lot to offer that we haven’t even touched upon. We’ll return someday to not only check them out, but to also tour the coastal towns and fjords that I’m told are natural wonders not-to-be-missed. And we’ll be sure to plan our trip outside the summer months during which 60% of visitors come to enjoy Norway.
