Day 24, 6 July 2014, Oslo, Norway - Mini-cruise of Oslo Fjord aboard MS Helena, Astrup Fearnley Museum of (Phenomenally) Modern Art, Munch at The National Gallery, Follow the Money/The Heavy Load at The Historical Museum.

Of course the major achievement of the day was actually getting up after yesterday's five museum extravaganza. Three day city passes are definitely a marathon, not a sprint, so I headed into Day 2 with an easy start - a 1.5 hour "mini-cruise" around the inner fjord. I got to the pier nice and early to avoid the crowds for the 9.45 am first sailing... as it turns out there was a crowd of two and I beat the other person up the gangway no problem at all. It was a nice way to start the day, but chugging about with fuel fumes wasn't a patch on the Gatsby-esque Shearwater yacht in New York. Would have made the thousands thronging off the two Celebrity cruise liners just that much more jealous if we'd been under sail. I disembarked at the last stop, the snazzy new modern art building designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. (He designed the ABN AMRO building in Sydney - and has a definite "look" to his work.) The Astrup Fearnley is so modern it made my eyes water. I think modern works are an acquired taste. I've definitely made it there on red wine. But not on blue cheese. Sometimes with modern works I think I never will - but I keep trying. Particularly challenging were the pieces by UK artist Damien Hirst. Preserved cows, sliced in half. A canvas covered with resin and a thick crust of flies... entitled Leukemia. Even his pretty works with butterflies (actual butterflies) puts me in mind of some evil little b***** pulling wings of living creatures to make "art". But it was certainly nice to look at. With my art appreciation good deed/education done for the day, I headed to The National Gallery to see 1) The Scream by Edvard Munch and 2) his other masterpieces of which I'd never heard. Note well - only first day Oslo newbies call him Munch as in "Bunch". It's actually Moonk - sort of Munk with a Scottish accent. Aside from it being free Sunday at the Gallery, there were also the afore-mentioned 1000s of ship tourists floating about, but I managed to slide through the gallery with very little resistance and have decided Munch was a 100 light years ahead of his time and really did create some amazing art - check out today's album for favourites - Madonna, Puberty and of course Scream - had to download these since it was strictly no photos in that room. I also learned by accident that Astrup Fearnley wasn't some rich bloke who endowed the modern art museum - but is the names of two of Norway's early and most famous artists. Head will explode with all this new information any day now. Completely satisfied (and looking forward to Monday's jaunt to the Munch Museum), it was out the door and round the corner to The Historical Museum. Excellent collection of all things Viking, Egyptian Mummies, Indian Fashion and an exhibition on the Nazis in Norway - just some of the highlights. One of the really fascinating stories, told in cartoons, was how they smuggled Norway's gold and currency reserves out of the country and all the way to UK/US/Canada - in the hours before the Nazis marched down Karl Johan's Gate and occupied Oslo. The last of the gold was finally repatriated in 1987. Incredible. Strolled home just around the block - almost detoured to see the Royal Palace, but my feet threatened to go on strike if I didn't get them back to the hotel for a snooze. It didn't seem an unreasonable request since tomorrow is the third and final day of the Oslo Pass marathon - and I'll need them on side!