Oslo; Tuesday, 21 December, 2004

Dawn and I'm already up and about and on a day when there is snow in the air, going up the side of a mountain!! A couple off stops down the hill from Voksenkollen is Holmenkollen, home to the first purpose built ski-jump in Norway & also home to the ski museum.

The museum tells the history of skiing in all its forms (cross-country, downhill, jump) and concludes with a lift and 100 step climb to the top of the ski jump for views over the fjord and to see what a ski jumper would see before they took off. Just below the museum is the opportunity to experience what it actually feels like on the ski-simulator.

After slipping and sliding my way back down the hill to the metro stop I caught the train back towards town and then the tram back out to Vigeland Park, this time in the daylight! The statues look almost as bizarre in daylight as they do in darkness!

As I had done Vigeland Park in the daylight I also decided that I would have another look at the Royal Palace as well.

After a quick comfort break and a diversion to the tourist information centre to pick up a 24hour Oslo pass I got the metro out to the Botanical gardens. As it was so close to Christmas most of the site was shut with the exception of the zoological museum.

This is an interesting museum that mostly focuses on the natural fauna of Norway, but also has a small amount on the rest of the world.

From there I wandered over to the Reptile museum which is housed on the 4th floor of an office block almost in the centre of town. As with all reptile displays all the creatures were asleep and hiding.

Just before heading back to the hotel I took a short stop at the Cathedral. Although it is much smaller than it's counterparts in the rest of Europe, what it doesn't have in size it makes up for in decoration. The inside of the cathedral is warm and inviting (useful in a city where the winters can be very long and cold!) The ceiling is completely painted in various colours and religious images and the compact interior helps make it look very light, despite the Dark wood finish to everything.

After a brief stop in the hotel I headed back out again to the edge of Vigeland Park and to the Oslo City Museum (Oslo Bymuseet)

The museum is well laid out and has some of the information translated into English. It deals with the history of Oslo/Christiania (as it was called from 1624 until 1925!) from the earliest settlements in around 1000 up to modern day Oslo.