Day Three - Oslo

We will spend this day in Oslo.  We will go on a tour of Oslo through lunch time and then have the afternoon on our own.  We start with a wonderful breakfast buffet at the Grand Hotel.  We are on the bus and ready to go at 9AM.  We will have an Oslo city guide leading the tour.  As we travel to our first stop - Vigeland Sculpture Park - the guide tells us a bit about Oslo.  There is a lot of road construction going on and our driver maneuvers the bus around it quite well.  We visit the Park and are told about the sculptor Vigeland.  He did not put clothes on his sculptures because he didn't want to date them.  His sculptures are of all ages.  He did not have a relationship with his children yet depicts many fathers playing with their children in the Park.  One of the most famous sculptures is the mad boy.  The guide also walks us around figures depicting the life cycle.  The figures were in their life trees.  It was very interesting.  He also designed a labyrinth on the ground which we took pictures of but didn't do.  It is a beautiful day and although we wear long sleeves it is nice - about 65 degrees and sunny.  We travel next to the ski jump in Oslo which is to be torn down soon.  There is a statue of King Olav 5 there with his poodle.  He was the first King of Norway, a much beloved avid skier.  On to the Norwegian Folk Museum where we see the original stave church from Gol as well as a house.  We learn about norwegian life.  We also visit the Viking Ship Museum.  It is designed to resemble a church because the viking ships we used as burial sites.   We head back to the hotel.  We were told that the changing of the guard was to happen at 1:30, so we walk up the hill to the Royal Palace.  Soon we hear the drum beats coming up Karl Johan (past our hotel) to the Palace.  We watch the changing of the guard and drill demonstration.  We then walk behind the Palace and look at the gardens.  There is surprisingly little obvious security.  We then grab a quick lunch at the University of Oslo Law School (recommended in the Lonely Planet guidebook - good cheap food, we were the only ones there!) and spend the rest of the afternoon walking around Oslo, visiting the fjord, the old city wall, Parliament, and shopping.  That night we have another wonderful dinner at the Grand.  Tomorrow we must be ready to leave for our journey from Oslo through the Hallingdal Valley to Voss.