A Day in Oslo!

In the morning, Lauren and I were ready to stretch our legs and explore Oslo! Keeping in theme with our coming embarkation and voyage to Svalbard, our plan was to dig deep into some of the polar history to be found in the city to bring alive the journey we were about to embark on. We decided we would focus our day on the Bygdøy Peninsula, located in Oslofjord. The island is home of beautiful countryside, vibrant green forests, hiking trails, historic buildings and lots of swimming spots to visit. Seeing as we were visiting on a brisk May day, swimming and hiking were taking a back burner to our interest in navigational history. 

After a very Norwegian breakfast of brown cheese on toast (Sounds strange...but try this at least once while in Norway. It's delicious.) we wandered down to the ferry dock, just a quick walk from the City Center, and purchased two tickets across the Fjord to the Bygdøy peninsula. The ferries dock right at the walkway leading to the Fram museum, making this a very accessible and easy adventure to navigate on your own.

Our first stop was the Fram Museum, located right by the coast along with the Kontiki Museum. After purchasing our ferry tickets at the nearby dock, we hopped on the boat and headed towards our adventure. The ferry ride was quick and quite a scenic motor along the coast, and dropped us at the dock leading right to the Fram Museum. The museum is home to the legendary polar exploration vessel, the Fram, used by Nansen to navigate the Arctic and by Amundsen to sail South to claim the discovery of the South Pole. The peculiar triangle-shaped building also houses numerous polar exhibits and artifacts, such as the Gjøa, the first ship to sail the Northwest Passage fully, a display of the airship the Norge, gear and supplies used on expeditions, historic photos, and exhibits of arctic wildlife, including musk oxen and polar bears spread throughout three floors. We spent hours walking through the decks of the Fram, learning about its history, and imagining the lives of the crew on board in challenging polar conditions. The experience left us excited and anticipating our upcoming journey even more.
After lunch with a view of the water on the museum's patio, we strolled across the lawn to our next destination, the Kontiki Museum. This museum chronicles the legendary adventures of Thor Heyerdahl and his expedition sailing across the Pacific Ocean on a hand-built raft, the Kontiki, starting from South America.

In the evening, we returned to downtown Oslo in time to climb to the top of the Opera House and enjoy the sunset along the fjord before gathering our luggage and hopping on to the FlyTo Get express train back to the airport to check in to the Radisson Blu where we would meet our fellow passengers at the Quark pre-embarkation briefing and tuck in for an early start in the morning.