Fresh air and fun — An Elegant Sufficiency

Our hotel, the Amerikalinjen is in a great location, right there in the main transport hub.

As we set out this morning, walking to catch the bus at the stop around the corner, we caught sight of where we'd walked during the Summer. Even then, we were planning to return, earmarking this to be the best location when it came to choosing somewhere to stay.

This morning, the sun was shining and we were feeling glad to be here, stepping out along the street to await our bus.

A clear, cold day is perfect for seeing a city like this.

We'd bought our 72 hour Oslo passes, appreciating the tact with which the young man making the transaction confirmed that yes, we were both of an age that allowed us Senior rates.

Climbing on board the bus, we settled into our seats and watched as we took the same route we'd taken back in the Summer. We decided to go for an easy win today to get our bearings here in the city.

Not many people about, plenty of space to see everything and in no particular hurry to be anywhere either.

All the information we needed was right there in front of us and we could simply sit back and enjoy the ride.

We were heading for the Folk Museum, highly recommended by a Norwegian friend of mine and somewhere I had earmarked as being our favourite kind of place. Our Oslo Passes included entry here, so we could stay as long as we liked and then catch the bus back or go a little further and return to one of our favourites from last Summer. We were relaxed.

Everywhere here feels as though it's getting ready for Christmas…but not quite yet. So there are a few preparations here and there, including these lovely table decorations outside the Museum.

The young woman at the entrance greeted us warmly, advised us of the best route through the park and recommended we start with the Stave Church, clearly marked on the map she gave us.

It appeared that we were the only visitors this morning. Off we went, following the path, noticing the stone wall alongside, built in the same way as our walls but from a very different kind of stone.

The fresh air and sunshine was a real bonus and it felt good to be here. We love these old wooden buildings, every one of which is remarkable in some way or other.

This one, originally a stable, had the most beautiful carved scribbles on the door.

Beautifully carved and scribed scribbles which have been there hundreds of years of course!

Next, we passed another small wooden house with yet more intricate patterns on the doors. I noticed it was raised above the ground and immediately thought back to the buildings we'd seen in Northern Spain, trying to recall the name of them.

It was a fairly steep climb up to the church and I was glad we were not in a hurry. Possibly the third stave church we've visited this year - the previous two in North Dakota - each one of them a real treasure.

This one was closed. The doors were so exquisitely carved with fabulous patterns and we stood a while marvelling at the skill of the carpenter.

Around the corner, though, there was an open door and I squeezed my camera through the wire security gate to take a photograph of the inside. Reminscent of those other stave churches we'd seen with the higher levels supported by cross beams. We stood a while gazing at it all - and got our breath back from that steep climb up here.

Just one more photo of that carving…

and oooh, look at that wonderful pattern repetition along there!

There are so few of the original wooden stave churches left, we felt privileged to have added another one to our collection.

Having seen the star of the park, we made our way back down through the more ordinary, everyday buildings here. Except of course, not one of them was anything ordinary at all, for the first one we came to was inscribed with the date 1744. Hmmm.

The next one prompted the word I'd been trying to recall, learned in Galicia and Asturias and referring to the granaries built on stones: Horreos Here was a Norwegian version, built on all the same principles and for the same reasons.

Visiting somewhere like this out of season is a real privilege and we wandered around as if we owned the place.

We could stand and stare, take as long as we liked to peer inside or just wonder how on earth some of these wooden buildings have lasted so long and still look so beautiful?

And then we turned the corner and spotted some fascinating construction detail, like this birch lining to the turf roof, held in place by a well-chosen branch. Or several similarly well-chosen branches. Isn't that clever?

Next, there was a branch shaped to create a hinge for the door. Such a clever piece of engineering using nature's design.

Of course, each detail was more beautiful than the last one!

These houses came from Telemark and the details of their owner and his life were told on the board alongside. The QR code works for clearer reading too.

Just around the corner from here were the two buildings we both coveted most of all.

With strong, turned supports at each corner and beautiful details in the construction, this first one caught our eye. Until we spotted its neighbour that is.

Considerably older than the first yet still standing rock solid with decorative details and that beautifully aged timber, we each wandered around, agreeing that this pair were our favourites. The remarkable thing is, we learned from the information boards that the first house dated from 1797 and the second one, my favourite of all was built in the 1300s! Such beautiful buildings of exquisite design.

Just one design failing for us, however.

I very much doubt whether either of us could actually make our way inside either of them. That huge gap between the top step and the house door? Ha! No way. They must have been fitter in those days!!

Loving the way the pattern of the fence construction shone in the sunshine, we were coming back to where we'd started this morning. Did we have time to take a look at some of the exhibits?

Of course we had.

The history of knitting was well told, though dimly lit and behind shiny glass which made photography impossible, so I am more thankful for that website than ever. Of course there were some lovely Dale of Norway sweaters and a collection of knitting patterns frm the 1950s which looked very familiar and rather like those I have in my Mum's pattern box.

There were also some interesting looms, though at first I failed to see any narrow braiding, even in the Sami collection. But there, in a dark corner I spotted a small decorative heddle similar in design to a far simpler one I have at home bought from Stoorstalka in the far North of Sweden. Knowing I couldn't use a flash in this textile gallery, I fiddled with my camera settings for a while and crossed my fingers - it worked!

I took so many photographs in these folk art galleries, one or two of which stand out as being particularly interesting. This little doll, for example. I spotted all the labels fixed to her clothing and peered at them to see if I could read them.

Well, numbers were easy, but the words were in tiny handwriting and in Norwegian of course.

So I was glad of the explanation in the label alongside the case. What a great way of showing this fascinating research! I find specialist language really interesting and I feel sure that we too have dialect words for clothing details like that too. I must investigate!

We'd come to the end of the exhibitions that interested us by now and there was some further research to be done in the cafe, tasting some bakery items like this skolebolle.. Delicious!

Deciding it was too early to return to the city, we thought we'd take the bus a little further and return to one of our favourite locations we'd visited in the Summer, the Maritime Museum, just a few stops from here. Look what we spotted when we stepped outside…

The bus was just turning the corner and we walked right on board without waiting at all.

The four Polar explorers looked a lonely group compared with the last time we were here when the Summer sunshine brought out the crowds.

We hoped to see the progress with the Klink project but there was no work ongoing today and the part-constructed boat was wrapped in plastic sheeting. Oh well, never mind. There was more to see here.

Before we left though, my Hero lusted after the pile of kindling there on the floor…

We spent an hour or so in the corners of the museum that we'd not had time to see in the Summer, before making our way to the bus stop to return to the city. We had plans for the evening and thought we might get a bite to eat before the concert.