Warm sunshine all day today in Drammen and Oslo. The hotel we’re staying at here in Drammen is very comfortable and cosy with breakfast and dinner and provisions for picnic lunches – they even provide you with paper bags for these lunches when you make them from the breakfast buffet. To the right side of the photo you can see red buildings. It’s a very popular house colour here.

This is one of the views from the hotel – you can just see a sliver of water between the trees, but there’s a high wall and a railway line between the hotel and the water. Fir and pine trees on the mountainsides.

I had pickled herring (amongst other things) for breakfast and Norwegian brown cheese. I’m more than happy to have pickled herring again – it was good. The Norwegian brown cheese I’d pass on however! Philip had bacon and eggs.

Peter Holst who is a few years younger than Philip picked us up this morning and drove us 45 minutes to Oslo – past water inlets with boats, past farms green with crops – fast highways and high bridges.

He drove us to the Viking Boats Museum, but it was closed due to renovations. So we went next door to the Norwegian Folk Museum. What an amazing place to experience Norwegian history and culture through the centuries from the Middle Ages on.

We were there for five hours and didn’t nearly see everything.

Wild redcurrants – they were deliciously tart!

They have buildings from different regions of Norway from the Middle Ages up till today spread over several acres. (By the way, you know you’re a relic yourself when you see items you grew up with in a museum!)

They had farmhouses, storehouses, schoolhouse, shops, bakehouse, blacksmith, green fields and cobblestone streets.

You can go into the houses and dwellings and see them set up as rooms as they were used at the time.

Here are three pigs amongst some farm buildings

They had dozens and dozens of different houses and buildings on acres and acres.

There are old town urban and suburban houses to show life for different social groups for different eras.

Peter showing Philip a storehouse – set up on stilts to keep pests out.

Like everywhere, there were comfortable well-off people, those who managed to get by and those who lived in abject poverty.

This is a “gaming room” in a middle-class house in the late 1700s

Inside one of the huge buildings they had exhibits to display national treasures through the centuries. Everything worth a photo and there were thousands of objects there – here’s just a few that caught my eye.

Chests down through the centuries, used for storing anything & everything.

A sleigh from the 1700s

I knew a little of Norwegian history – a lot of it from teaching history with Mikan and Cody in homeschooling and Philip knew hardly any, so he appreciated learning more too.

Children playing under the apple tree of the schoolhouse

Norway never had an elite nobility. Their merchants and public officials were the elite. Norwegians have always been famous for their maritime activities – from raiding, trading, exploring.

Grass on the roof of the storehouse to help insulation.

Historically the Church was rigidly controlled by the Monarchy and government, and were very influential, especially in improving education and life for the lower classes.

This is a Stave, a church from 1200s, restored in the 1800s. No windows, so very dark inside.

Philip at the doorway of the Stave.

Inside the Stave, at the altar.

Looking out the window of an urban house.

I really enjoyed a short demonstration of music and dancing.

A light horn used for music and communication over distances.

A lot of the wars fought were with other Scandanavian countries and Norway didn’t become independent till 1905. Usually, the soldiers in the army down through the centuries were farmers and peasants with guns and spears.

Blacksmiths made the guns they needed

I took some photos but realise now I missed many opportunities as I was too busy exploring and learning about it all.

These are wild Norwegian bluebells, and showing the beautiful craftsmanship in making their storehouses and other buildings with basic tools

We’ve had another great dinner here at the hotel. Tomorrow is our last day here in Drammen. The sun is still high this evening but for now it’s “Ha det”.

Last photo for the day. It’s a Bridal Crown with images of saints. The lower part made in the 1500s and the upper part in the late 1600s, used by the upper classes from Middle Ages on.