Land of the midnight sun

 We could have used more time in Oslo.  It is a beautiful, clean, modern city with a calm demeanor and a really laid-back vibe.  Once I got over my hissy fit about the size of our room, I began to enjoy myself and Randy could breathe a sigh of relief.  The building we are in is really a beautiful building that seems like it must have been a grand home once,

and it is in the west end of Oslo, which is very upscale, and close to the Vigeland Sculpture Park.  Walking that park was on my must-do list, but we never got to it, as it poured rain the first day we were there and ran out of time the second day.  Day two was absolutely gorgeous, and we grabbed a quick breakfast before setting off on a hop on hop off tour bus.  The other things on my must-do list were along the route and did not disappoint.  We have both read a lot about the explorers Thor Heyerdahl and Roald Amundsen, and Oslo has a museum dedicated to Heyerdal's adventures, the Kon Tiki, and right by it is the Fram Museum, in which they have the actual Fram ship that Amundsen sailed to try to reach the North Pole in 1893. You can actually explore the entire boat, which was too cool.  We especially enjoyed the part where you in in the lowest level of the ship, in the bow, and it is dark and they have recorded sounds of the timbers creaking; very atmospheric.  The Kon Tiki was equally fascinating, as they have the original Kon Tiki raft, as well as a replica of an Egyptian papyrus raft that Heyerdal used in another expedition.  

The real fun started when we got back on the tour bus, thinking that we could ride it back to the place we started, near our hotel, as then we could see the park.  So the bus leaves the Bygdoy Peninsula, and crosses back into the city, and comes to the Opera House (very beautiful) and stops.  The bus driver says, "this is the end of my shift, everybody has to get off here."  We are as far away from our hotel as we can get in Oslo.  We ask if there will be another bus, and he says, "sure."  We wait, and wait, and it is now past 5:00, and we decide we will go across the street and try to find a city bus.  Just then, another tour bus came along, and when it stopped in the middle of the city, we saw how gorgeous it was, with lots of shops and cafes, and got off to enjoy some sidewalk aperol spritzes.  Sometimes things just turn out well.  In the end we decided to walk the rest of the way, and we were glad that we did, even though it took half an hour, as the city is so pleasant to walk in and the buildings are lovely.