Roots Tour Part 5

Friday, June 19, 2009 We arrived at the Oslo airport at 11:10 pm, and took a 30 minute train ride to the Central Station in downtown Oslo. There were lots of young men of every ethnic background hanging out there, and while we were told that the station is a magnet for drug dealing, we did not feel threatened. Fools rush in . . . After a long wait and several other people getting into a shouting argument with a teenager who jumped the cab line, we caught (an expensive) cab ride to our hotel.

The suite we were given was big enough for a small apartment, with a walk in closet that could have housed an entire coutre collection for Paris fashion week. We were too tired to go back to the desk, and so retired in luxury for the night.

Saturday, June 20th,2009 We checked in at the front desk, and were told we had been inadvertently given an upgrade by the night clerk, who was new. However, the day manager said that we could remain in the suite at the same bargain rate that had been promised. When I mentioned thatI'd gotten a shock off the light fixture in the bathroom, the manager offered to give us another suite. We took him up on it, and moved to a smaller, but equally well appointed suite. We had stove, microwave, refrigerator, dishes, glassware, cutlery, a combination washer-dryer and a walk in closet that would have housed most of oursummer and winter wardrobes with room to spare. Breakfast was included in the price and they have a generous buffet with meats,cheeses, fresh slice it yourself bread, eggs, cereals, real Americanstyle yogurt, pastries, muesli, fruit, juice and milk, and coffee and tea an all their accompaniments. The style of the hotel was very Euro modern, done in colors of black, white and gray. It was very dark in the halls and the rooms, so I can't imagine what it would have been like in the dark winter.

The first day we were a little slow getting started, so we rode the subway from our hotel 2 stops back toward town to the Central bus/train staion. We got a 3 day Oslo pass good for bus, subway, water taxi and free admission tomost Oslo museums. Then we went for Rick Steve's walking tour of downtown Oslo, and located the Cathedral (closed, under renovation), the main drag (delightful and lively, a pedestrian mall for most of its length), the Art Museum, the royal palace, and several beautiful parks. Then we walked to the waterfront and scoped out the watertaxis to Vigdoy. We had a delicious (very expensive) late day snack outdoors at a very nice cafe near the waterfront, then walked to the subway. Along the way we passed an Irish pub where there was a session just starting. We listened to the lads play a set, then chatted with them about the Irish scene in Oslo and PDX. It seems this pub has a session every night!

Back at the hotel, we checked our laundry which we had started when we left (5-6 hours previously) and were discombobulated to discover it still running Since the original cycle said 1hr 20 min for wash, we were sure our clothes had been shredded. We tried to open the washer door to no avail, the cycles automatically locked it. We tried various permutations of the 12 cycles listed on the dial, then finally let it run the hour still left on the dial. All was well with the clothes,but we never could get the dryer cycle to run, so we hung up everything. We came to realize that when we left the room and removed our room key, all the power had gone off. (Duh!)
Since it was Saturday night, we were entertained throughout the night by the lusty celebrants in the bar down below our room. It also looked like one of our nice looking female neighbors was running a little business during the evening and during the night. She was just seeing out the last of her gentlemen callers as we went to breakfast the next morning.

Sunday, June 21, 2009 Midsummer's Day. We got an earlier start downtown, and visited the Nobel Peace Museum, which sits on the large waterfront terrace, near the water taxis and the tour boats. The permanent display shows all the Nobel prize winners, the reason for their prize and thought provoking quotes of the winners. The display had great graphics and electronic effects. There was also a very moving photo display showing the plight of immigrants, and following the stories of 6 different individuals from all over the world.

From there, we boarded aferry to Vigdoy, to see the Viking ship museum, and possibly some of the Norwegian Folk Museum. The Viking ships and displays are not to be missed. The lines of those boats are pure poetry. There weremany other Viking treasures of great antiquity, including a wagon, tools, textiles and other good found in burial mounds. Most of the jewelry had already been stolen by the time the archaeologists arrived, but there were a few pieces on display, as well as pictures of the excavations.

We were pretty tired from lack of sleep the night before, so after a snack, and a walk up tothe Folk Museum, I took a short snooze on the grass, and then was refreshed enough for a short glimpse of part of the grounds. The Folk Museum covers several acres, so we decided to come back the next day and see it an the maritime museum. We returned to the hotel, got a good night's sleep and were refreshed and ready to go the next morning.

Monday, June 22, 2009 After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we set off early for Vigdoy. We got off the ferry at the Fram Museum, which housed ships, equipment, diaries and photos from the major Norwegian polar expeditions. The expeditions of Nansen, Amundsen and others were well documented.

Next we went to the Maritime Museum. I really got a much better idea of what life must have been like for my grandpa Cornelius, who was a ship's carpenter out of Bergen, Norway at the turn of the 20th Century. The whole place smelled of pine tar, used to preserve wooden boats. It was a very nautical smell. There were many boats of all sizes, and the equipment used for fishing and whaling from the 1600s up tothe present time.

We then walked up through some very nice neighborhoods, past the Canadian embassy, to a little local restaurant for lunch. Afterward, we went back to the Folk Museum, and looked at the Sami exhibit, then went on to a Norwegian folk dance performance. The Museum is laid out in villages representing the different cultural regions of Norway. There are old buildings, some going back to the 1300s which have been moved to the site, preserved and and restored to give an idea of life in Norway in the rural areas. There is a very impressive stave church. We took lots of photos.

We went to a lefsa making demonstration, and bought a sample to eat. It was made of wheat and barley, thick like a Southwestern tortilla, and served with butter. I got a recipe. There are as many styles of lefsa as there are different kinds of tortillas.

Last, we went to the museum's display of bunad, or Norwegian national folk costumes. These styles began in the Renaissance, and are very decorated,expensive, and handed down from generation to generation. I took photos in particular of the west coast styles. I also got a bookshowing the styles. We went home and prepared for our train departure for Geilo in the morning.