Californication: The Viking Ship Museum & Museum of Cultural History & Parliament

This morning we started out with a drive to Bygdøy, a very rural part of the city that houses some of the country's most important museums. We focused on two; first the Viking Ship Museum, then the Museum of Cultural History, which sounds like it should have "for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan" after it.

A Viking ship from around 8-900 AD. The Americans were duly impressed.


They were hardy sailors, these Norwegians of yore. Me, not so much.


The ships were used for burial and contained a lot of other objects, among them this little carriage.


We then hauled ass over to the Cultural Museum, which is basically a huge outdoors museum with lots and lots of historical buildings from different areas and different time periods. Again, the Americans were duly impressed and it was here they started their now lifelong love of grassy roofs.

Exterior of a stave church. Norway is pretty much the only country to still have a number of these very old wooden churches intact. As stated on numerous occasions, I'm not one for religious buildings, but these are aesthetically pleasing and important historical structures, so I'll let them stand once I come to power and start burning the various churces, mosques, synagogues and mumbo jumbo temples of the world.


The interior. This church was from around 1200AD.


A typical Norwegian "stabbur", a storage house built on pillars so as to prevent rats and mice and such from getting at the food stored within. Sometimes servants or hired help would live in it too.


Some of them are really quite stunning to look at. Wish I had one.


We then drove back downtown to meet up with Hassi and Heidi, who took us inside Parliament, where she is now a regular MP. Here she is, pointing to a picture of herself. Honestly, will the self promotion never cease?


The chambers of Parliament, where they debate and vote. And probably sleep and play Pokemon and fornicate and defecate for all I know. Throw the bums out!


Video from inside Parliament.


Naturally, I was deeply skeptical of Parliament.


We then drove up to a huge food market close to the apartment. After browsing and buying and a lot of ooohing and aaahing by the Americans, we walked the last ten-fifteen minutes along the river Akerselva. We've had a lot of snow this year and the melting has sent all our many rivers and waterfalls into full tourist mode. The day ended with dinner at Heidi & Hassi's where we played Cards Against Humanity for way, way too long into the early hours.