Three Cool Cats

I have been MIA this past week because my mom, dad, and brother were visiting. They arrived last Sunday and left this morning. We spent five days in Oslo and four days in Bergen. I'll break their visit down into a few posts.

Their trip started off a little rocky when their luggage didn't arrive in Oslo. Luckily, it was delivered the next day and it saved them from having to haul their stuff from the airport bus to our apartment. We went to Trav's last regular season game Sunday evening and started sightseeing on Monday. As I mentioned previously, the Nordic World Ski Championship has been taking place in Oslo. Because of the championship, there was a Nordic Park set up downtown that was very similar to a Christmas Market. My family got a chance to try moose burgers and sausages, reindeer sausages, and smoked whale (yes, you read that correctly--- whale!)

Opera House

Opera House

Opera House Roof

There were ice sculptures all around the market.

The sculptures were inspired by the works of Edvard Munch and created by eight international ice sculptors.

Later in the week, we saw many of the artworks that were featured in ice.

Of course we had to try a moose burger! (Elg is moose in Norwegian)

Nordic Park

Royal Palace

In front of Oslo rådhus.

Oslo rådhus (city hall).

  Their second day in Oslo was spent at the Fram Museum and Vigelandsparken.

Fram is a ship that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

The ship was used from 1893 to 1912.

Fram means "forward" in Norwegian.

The ship is said to have sailed farther north (85°57'N) and farther south (78°41'S) than any other wooden ship.

We were able to go inside the ship and look at artifacts from the Fram's various expeditions.

It was very smelly inside the ship.

Fram is designed as a three masted schooner with a total length of 39 meters and width of 11 meters.

The ship is both unusually wide and unusually shallow in order to better withstand the forces of pressing ice.

Fram was the first arctic exploration ship with a diesel engine, which proved convenient when maneuvering between the ice.

Vigelandsparken

All the steps surrounding the monolith aren't shoveled in the winter, so I decided to slide down on my rump.

New FB profile pic?

Me and Jake on this statue...

 The title of this sculpture is,  Two girls standing on their heads, smiling, 1921.

Mom and Angry Boy.

Mom and Dad

Two Angry Boys

We spotted this tourist taking pictures in his coyote fur coat and black fur hat. From the way he was smiling, I'd say he knew how ridiculous he looked!

Oh man, and I thought I was cold!

More to come tomorrow!