Places we have visited: Holiday to Norway and Sweden 2016 Days 1 & 2

I don’t know how long this link will stay live for now the holiday is over, but it gives full details of the holiday from Ffestiniog Travel. click HERE

Our holiday started at Heathrow airport on Tuesday 23rd February where we met Richard our tour leader for the next 11 days. We flew with British Airways to Oslo and then transferred by coach to the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel where we stayed for two nights.
After a welcome meal we went for a wander around the locality to try to get our bearings, not easy when they build roads on multiple levels.

Day 2 was a free day in Oslo so some of us caught a local bus to Bygdøy firstly to visit the Viking Ship Museum which contains 3 Viking ships and other artefacts.





	These are three of the five carved animal heads found in The Oseberg Burial Ship, also in there where 12 horse skeletons, a Wagon 3 Sledges and 5 Beds.

From the Viking Ship Museum it was a short walk to the Norwegian Maritime Museum down by the coast. This museum houses some fantastic models of Norwegian boats as well as a reconstruction of the cabin of the DS "Sandnæs"
The DS "Sandnæs" was built in 1914 as a night ferry sailing from Stavanger to Bergen. In 1950 she was replaced by a new vessel and renamed Soma before being sold off in 1965 and then scrapped in 1972. Luckily some bits were saved for the museum.

The collection of boat models is quite extensive but we only took a couple of photos.

Outside the museum there was a good view of our hotel across the bay, it is the tall building with the wedge shaped roof which houses the restaurant and bar on the 34 floor.

Adjacent to the Maritime Museum is the Fram Museum and around the outside of the museum are statues of the Polar explorers. The Fram was a Polar exploration vessel going to both Poles .

Inside the museum there are two vessels the first being the Fram and it is set out in such a way that you can go onboard and explore all parts of the vessel.

Over the years the Fram was modified and these two models show how the superstructure was changed over her lifetime.

Around the exhibition hall there were several models showing life at the Pole, the Bear and Canoe were full size.

In an adjoining building was a second boat, The Gjøa which was the first boat to sail the Northwest Passage. Unfortunately there was no access on this boat.

There is yet a fourth museum only a few yards from here and that is the Kon-Tiki Museum that houses a boat made of rushes and a raft made from Balsa Wood.

Thor Heyerdahl crossed the Pacific Ocean on this Balsa wood raft called Kon-Tiki in 1947 before doing expeditions on several reed boats. The one below is Ra II which he sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 1970, this was following his first boat Ra breaking up a year before.

By now it was 4 pm. and the museums where closing so we caught the bus back to our hotel in town.

That evening we ate up on the 34th. Floor with views across the town. The meal was a bit expensive with a 3 course meal and a glass of wine each costing £140.

2 X 3 course meal     1310 NOK = £108.34

2 X Glass of wine         270 NOK = £22.33
2 X coffee                      78 NOK = £6.45

Total                           1658NOK = £137.12

The cost of living in Norway is very high with 25% VAT and a high duty on alcohol.

Below are some of the views from the hotel.