Early to bed and early to rise got us on our way so soon our regular cafe wasn't even open. Instead we stopped at the Red Goat, a funky coffee cart parked in the middle of an open square. Yesterday, later in the day, we had seen it surrounded by Mom's, kids and strollers, but early in the morning people lined up, got their coffee and left immediately for the T. That's what we did too.
By the time we got into town and down to the waterfront, the gray sky looked like it might clear, so we only debated briefly before picking up our lunch cruise tickets. We were among a fearless few - just six other people opted to join us. Maybe the stay-behinds already knew we'd be sitting at picnic tables on the open deck with just a tarp hanging above us, a situation that was okay when we started out and saw a bit of sunshine but not so comfortable once the sun disappeared. The waterfront however was fascinating, especially with a guide to identify all the things we were looking at, though by the end of the cruise we were huddling in the doorway of a small cabin to escape the cold and light rain that had started.
Landing at the dock just after noon, we hustled across to the very nearest museum, the Nobel Peace Center, to get out of the rain. In the warm inside, we enjoyed an excellent photography exhibit called the Dream of Europe, and a number of provocative stories about asylum seeking, but the other exhibits were very high techy - lots of flashing lights - and just seemed to be trying too hard.
From there we headed to the next nearest museum, the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, as the rain, though light, unfortunately continued. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon inside and dry, happily looking at the complete works of Snohetta Architects. The first room held models of completed and proposed projects. What we didn't understand in this first room was made clear in the second by illustrations, photographs and better labeling. The last, and best part, was upstairs where we watched a film about the Alexandria Bibliotek, followed by one showing every step in the construction of the Opera House. We were sitting down, we were warm, and even though most of the speaking was in Norwegian, we watched for over an hour, getting more eager than ever to visit the Opera House in person.