Oslo - the Norske Folkmuseum

Marianne wanted to go to this museum and possibly the Fram Museum so we headed down to the harbour.

The closest T-bahn station was near the National Theatre which has a small park.

King Olav V.  He was apparently a very popular King and was very capable. There is a story that when he and his father were in exile in Britain during WWII, he refused to eat any desserts or sweets. When you look at the statue side on, he obviously made up for that sacrifice after the war.

The Nobel Peace Centre is across the street from the City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented.

We needed to take a ferry to see the Folk Museum and we arrived just as one left. We walked around the pier for the next twenty minutes.

It is a pretty harbour with quite a few sailing ships.

It looks like a typical sailing ship converted into a restaurant but read its history below.

To go missing once is bad enough, but twice?

Our ferry arrived.

Norway knows what to do with old tires.

We set off and soon passed the fortress we had visited yesterday.

The City Hall had not magically disappeared overnight.

The Museum of Modern Art.

No wonder I could not recognize much from 44 years ago.

I think the Lofoten could have fitted in that hole in the back.

A port hole for everybody.

We arrived at the wharf and walked for a half mile or so to the museum. This was obviously a wealthy suburb and the houses were all painted white.

Curious hedge.

I am sure this red house was reported to the local Civic Association.

Entrance to the Museum.

Inside was a large courtyard.

The first building we entered contained old objects that would have been found in people's houses. In the long cold winters I imagine wood working would have been a popular hobby.

A room of cupboards.

Weaving.

Another brightly painted chest.

I have no idea what this is.

Bears were a major problem and the professional person who hunted bears was highly thought of. 

There was a small room where they were showing an old black and white film. In this scene, the hero and heroine were skiing off into the wilderness just as a storm was moving in. I did not hang around to see the gruesome conclusion.

A section of the museum devoted to knitting. Again, those long cold winter nights.

And then we came across a long wall lined with knitted mittens. This is only a small part.

Some ladies collected over 400 old patterns from a town called Selbu using black and white and knitted them into mittens.

They were a talented group who could also do gloves with fingers.

Marianne was entranced. As she stood in front of each section, a pool of drool formed on the floor. I pretended I did not know her of course.

You can enlarge the photos by clicking on the photo.

It was a relief to see some colour after a while.

That is one ugly colour.

I seem to remember that in Norway, they don't have Rudolph with a red nose.

Of course, I was entranced by the old radio.

We scurried away from the pools of drool and headed off into another part of the building which had a religious section that was closed.

Back in the late 19th century, the Norwegian King, Oscar II, decided to create a park to save old traditional buildings that normally would be pulled down.

This was a house that the minister of a church used to live in.

A photo of the house before it moved.

Many houses had turf roofs.

An old school house.

Apparently this was still in use during the 60's.

A stave church that used to be in the village of Gol. It was built in the 13th century. We passed through Gol on the train from Bergen.

The roof tiles are wooden and covered with tar. They were renewed a few years ago.

A beautiful older lady was dressed in a traditional costume and could answer questions.

More interesting buildings. Some are old and some are reproductions.

The traditional method of fencing in Norway.

The photo does not do justice to the black colour of this soil.

Interesting tale.

This red house was elaborately decorated inside and was used to house guests.

We then wandered into an area with more recent buildings. I was particularly taken with the striped building in the background.

The stripes up close.

It was getting warm and I would have enjoyed an ice-cream.

Somebody had not made the beds. Norwegians use doonas and usually they are folded in half length-ways when the bed is made.

By now, we were tired so we decided to skip the Viking ships and return back to the apartment. We hopped on the ferry again.

This area is a bit like Sydney Harbour with the foreshore lined with houses. Very expensive houses I would imagine and all white.

The ferry also calls at the Fram museum which is devoted to Norwegian polar expeditions. Next time.

The ferry was pretty empty.

And the big cruise ship was still there.

Except for the drooling I had really enjoyed the museum and the ferry ride. I did have a good long nap that afternoon.

And for the foodie photo brigade, Marianne's lamb shank with pancakes.

Mine was lamb shank with harissa beans. The lamb was very good and the sauce delicious. Not very Norwegian but I think I had enough Norwegian food on the ship.