Ferry to Bygdøy

Europe » Norway
July 11th 2013

Published: June 29th 2017

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Tofor85

Walking to the ferry

Geo: 59.9138, 10.7387

Today was our final full day in Oslo. Still a bit on the drained side, we didn't set too many objectives. We got up for the standard breakfast banquet buffet at around 9.30. The highlight of the Oslo breakfasts hasn't been the omelettes, bacon or fruit, but the chocolate brownies. Yes its evil to serve brownies for breakfast but they are amazing. Our destination today was the museum district of Bygdøy. The means of getting there, by public ferry. A 20 minute walk to the Town Hall had us by the ferry terminal. The 15 minute ferry ride in the gorgeous sunshine was nice enough but the walk to the museum was even nicer. The area surrounding the museums was green, quiet, full of beautiful homes and little shops and cafes. We had blue skies and perfect warm sunshine.
The first museum we chose was the Flam Museum, which specialized in Arctic exploration. The main drawcards were a polar simulator with -10c temperatures, and a simulation of the Northern lights. Sounded like an unusual attraction not to be missed! In actual fact, these aspects turned out to be the worst part of the museum.. The polar simulator was out of

Fram Museum

order, and looked small and lame anyway. The Northern Lights display didn't thrill me about the prospect of seeing the real thing.. it was very tame. The content of the museum itself however, was really interesting. Stories of explorers from the 14th century onwards with ambitions to map and explore Greenland, the North Pole, Antarctica and the North Western Passage. The fate of Franklin's expedition to the North west passage and subsequent efforts to recover his ship and unveil what became of his men was also fascinating.
Our second museum was the Viking Ship Museum, part of the History Museum. Entry here was free with yesterdays museum ticket. We spent the rest of our Norge coins on a couple of sausages for lunch, the only meal we purchased in Oslo. Tragically, reindeer sausages were sold out! The Viking museum included three ships from the 8th and 9th centuries, all used for various purposes, but eventually being grave ships. Bones of those chieftains and noble ladies they bore were also on display. The final corner of the museum contained clothes, jewels and other artifacts retrieved from the ship ruins.
We headed back to the hotel via the ferry to relax, pack, and enjoy