We we pleasantly surprised when we went down for breakfast; we had imagined the breakfast would probably be strictly continental however, there were cooked items as well as cheeses and meats, fruits, yogurts and cereals and an assortment of breads and preserves. Needless to say we made the most of what was on offer.

We had a map of Oslo and had earmarked a few places that we wanted to visit. We had worked out the tram and bus routes and bought a day ticket each from the nearby shop at 120 k each, this gave us full access to all transport within the area in a certain area.

Our fist stop was at the Cathedral, within a stones throw of the city centre. The Cathedral wasn’t as grand as some we have seen however, the sculpture of the ‘last supper’ and others as well as the ceiling paintings and stained glass windows were magnificent.

After the Cathedral we walked to the Akershus Fortress, a medieval castle which was built to protect and provide a royal residence for Oslo. We didn’t get a guided tour although walked around the grounds and areas that were open. The Fortress is not large in comparison to some although some of the viewpoints provided excellent views over the surrounding areas – as one would expect. Unfortunately, I slipped on some ice and although landed on my derrière, also smacked my head back on the ice. I was grateful that my bargain £4 H&M insulated hat had provided some protection and that my head wasn’t bleeding although the knock/shock did cause me to vomit and cry – poor me. Shortly after ‘The Fortress Incident’, we decided to call it a day and headed back out on the street to catch tram or bus to the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History.

It was quite a bus ride out to the Museum at Bygdøy and I, for one, was quite grateful for a sit down. It was interesting to see the landscape change as we rode out of the city to a lesser populated area, the houses looked so pretty with their snowy rooftops. It must have been the end of the school day as en route the bus filled with school children, all chatting but being very respectful to other people on the bus and offering up seats to adults when appropriate.

The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History or Folk Museum (easier) was full of lots of information and was extremely interesting. We learned a lot about the Sami culture and how even today, a Sami Parliament is a body elected by the Sami people to safeguard and strengthen Sami interests and promote continuity of Sami culture.

The Museum includes the first and one of the largest open air museums in Europe. Although by this time it was snowing quite heavily we did not feel we could give this a miss as had seen some of the fantastic buildings when we disembarked from the bus. We both agreed that all the buildings were impressive however our favourite was the Stave Church, a 900 year old Christian timber building of post and lintel construction with its high ceiling, was our favourite.

As well as the Medieval village, the open air part of the museum also had a ‘Street in the Old Town’ which consisted of some old houses, schools, shops, banks and a petrol station, amongst other buildings.

At this point, it was snowing like crazy and we were quite freezing, so decided to re-enter the indoor displays. It was a good way to spend a couple of hours and was situated a short walk from the Viking Ship Museum, our next port of call and needless to say, the one Terry was looking forward to most.

I must admit, even I was impressed when we entered the museum; I was not expecting to come face to face with a full sized Viking Ship which had survived the ages in such amazing conditions, and this just one of four. From my perspective, This museum was the most jaw dropping, interesting place we had visited all day; I could hardly get my head around the fact that the ships had been so well preserved under the ground; the sheer size of them and the various artefacts that had been discovered in the burial ground. A short film projected on the walls showed some of the history of the four ships, which was captivating and meaningful within the environment. We had about an hour at the museum before it closed at 16:00 hrs, just enough time to absorb all the interesting information and truly appreciate the pilgrimage of the Viking ships.

We were extremely lucky to walk straight on to a bus back to the city centre as soon as we left the museum; we decided to get off in the Theatre district where we hoped we might identify a nicer place to eat than the previous night. We didn’t have to walk very far before we came across a restaurant called Amundsen Bryggeri & Spiseri, which looked so welcoming and warm, so we went inside. We certainly didn’t regret our decision and both enjoyed a great evening meal and drinks.

We walked back to our Hotel after our meal, the city was still alive with people with most of the shops and shopping centres in the city centre still open. Unfortunately, we did have to walk down the dodgy road we had walked down yesterday on arrival in the city but thankfully, the Police presence in the area was extremely visible and we didn’t feel quite as worried as the previous day.

Terry and the ship discovered in Gokstad.