Today was the first real day that we had concern about the weather, because we were planning to be mostly outdoors. The rain hadn’t started yet, so our first stop was at the Vigeland Sculpture Park within Frogner Park, which is a huge park displaying the sculpture art of Gustave Vigeland (11 April 1869 – 12 March 1943). With 212 statues, all but the statue of Vigeland himself are unclothed, so as to be timeless. They are all made of granite.

Probably the most popular sculpture is the one depicting an angry boy. At one point it was stolen but recovered, and visitors were encouraged to touch it after it came back.

There is one Vigeland statue in the United States and it is located in Fargo, North Dakota!

Aside from all the statues there are many colorful flower beds. Even though the sky was grey and overcast, the brilliant hues of these flowers shone through.

We next stopped at the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, the only steel ski jump in the world. It was used in the 1952 Winter Olympics and for numerous World Ski Championships.

You can even go on a ski jump simulator to see what it feels like to be a ski jumper but I wasn’t willing to hand over 95 NOK ($10.69) to do this.

We made a brief stop at the Viking Ship Museum where there are three preserved ships which date from about 900 AD. All the Viking ships at the museum were ocean going vessels before they were hauled onto land to be used in burial rituals for their wealthy owners. They were discovered in 1903 by archaeologist Gustave Gustafson who took 21 years to escavate, preserve and restore the ships and the artifacts found inside.

Here is some photos of the exterior:

The Viking Ships are in amazingly good condition, given their age!

The rain was really coming down like cats and dogs as Jo Ann Condry and I walked to a nearby bakery for lunch. From there we walked to the Oslo City Hall where we saw a couple of wedding parties emerging from their ceremonies. This place is most known for holding the annual Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies.

Inside the main hall, there are many colorful wall paintings, depicting Norway’s history.

Jo Ann noticed some organ pipes in the corner and asked the guide about them. Apparently there were plans to install a pipe organ, but they ran out of money and never finished it!

Where we are standing now is where the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony takes place. Here are some famous prize recipients.

Today is the last day of the Brekke “Splendor of Norway” tour and tonight we say farewell to our fellow tour participants at a Farewell Dinner.