Oslo in a day and a half.

The first museum Lindsey and I went to was the Vikingshiphusset (Viking Ship Museum). This is one of two completely preserved Viking ships the museum has on display. It was used for sailing the ocean to faraway places such as Newfoundland. The reason it is so well preserved is because the ship was buried with some important warrior when he died. My question: how many days does it take to dig a hole big enough to bury a Viking war ship?



This is the other Viking ship which is more of a cruising ship around the fjords than a traveling ship like the one above. It was buried with some chieftain's wife, along with food, horses, jewelry, and clothes which was on display throughout the rest of the museum.



After the Viking Ship Museum, Lindsey and I went to the Kon-Tiki Museet (Museum). It's dedicated to the Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl, an adventurer who spent his living trying to prove the ability of water travel in ancient times. This is the Ra II, the reed ship he used to sail from Morocco to South America. It looks kind of big, but it's definitely tiny and held a crew of six for over 100 days while they crossed the Atlantic.



Lindsey making a snow angel behind the museum!



Me making a snow angel behind the museum!



The Hollmenkollen ski jump from the 1952 Olympic Games in Lillehammer. It's HUGE. Around and underneath the ski jump there is a little coffee shop with every Winter Olympics poster ever. They had the best hot chocolate.



The stadium at the bottom of the ski jump. During the summer, they fill the pit of it with water and the locals use it as a swimming pool. I didn't know this, but Norwegians excel in skip jumping, they've won more ski jump medals than any other country.



The Royal Palace in Oslo. I didn't realize Norway still had a monarchy in place, currently it's King Harald V. The last king, his father, let this palace get run down so the town is in the process of renovating it. It sits on a hill at the top of the main drag in town, it's surrounded by this huge park and even with all the snow people were running around the place with their dogs and kids having a good time.



Look at the kids! They're wearing reflective vests! It's dark when they go to school and when they leave, so people might not see them, so they wear vests! And snowsuits! This is also the main drag in Oslo, Karl Johans Gate. Nice street, but too many Burger Kings and Seven-Elevens.



Yeah, it was noon on my last day in Oslo when I took this picture. It's in celsius, but that's still cold after living in southern France for five months.



Things I saw but didn't manage to take a photo of:
- Edvard Munch's "The Scream" at the National Gallery
- our Australian roommates in the hostel, Sturt and Johnny
- snow-covered birch trees (seriously, it was a winter wonderland)

Things I wish I could have done but didn't have time:
- visit the National History Museum
- the Hunderfossen Vinterpark
- leftover Olympic stuff in Lillehammer
- more malls! Norway had malls!

Also, I've decided I'm taking Norwegian when I get back to IU. It's a neat language, it'd be nice to learn a Germanic language, and why not?