The rock jumping was actually yesterday now we started yesterday with some swimming (and jumping) then we went to downtown and went to the viking museum which is on a peninsula called Bygdoy we spent about 3 hours there. then walked to the ferry terminal where there are 3 museums the Fram Museum, the Maritime Museum, and the Kon-tiki Museum. then we took the ferry back to the to the city hall where the nobel Peace Prize is given and to get to the metro station we went past the church where most of the roses are.then we came back home and had dinner with Olaf before he went Tango dancing.
My historical note: Vikings came from Scandinavia they are mostly farmers and are only part time pillagers. their helmets actually don't usually have the horns like in the movies they only have the horns at parties. the vikings pillaged to trade and capture slaves. the society had the nobility the free men and the slaves. the three ships at the museum were sailing ships that were used to bury the nobility one was used to sail for luxury, a second was a working vessel (of attacking), and the third was hard to tell because it was mostly deteriorated when they found it. the names were Oseland, Gokstad, and Tune in the same order as above. they were named after where they were found. when they found the ships they had been robbed. but they have part of the skeletons from the Oseland (two women) and the Gokstad (chief who was killed in battle) And the Tune (another chief). they still found lots of objects on the burial mounds even though they were robbed they were buried with food, sleds, animals, carriage, even peacock feathers, (and lots of other little odds and ends.
The ferry stop on Bygdoy is at the Fram Museum, where they have placed the Gjoa (upper left), the boat that Roald Amundsen used to sail the Northwest Passage for the first time beginning 1903. Walking through Oslo Centrum, everything looks "normal" in terms of everyday life until you get to the National Cathedral and the area blocked off around the bomb site. At the Cathedral, a large street is blocked off with flowers and tributes about the tragedy. It was raining when we got there, matching the overall mood. It's obvious that all of Norway is in shock. I can only wish the country well in its mourning and healing.
The rock jumping was actually yesterday now we started yesterday with some swimming (and jumping) then we went to downtown and went to the viking museum which is on a peninsula called Bygdoy we spent about 3 hours there. then walked to the ferry terminal where there are 3 museums the Fram Museum, the Maritime Museum, and the Kon-tiki Museum. then we took the ferry back to the to the city hall where the nobel Peace Prize is given and to get to the metro station we went past the church where most of the roses are.then we came back home and had dinner with Olaf before he went Tango dancing.
Olaf seems to be a real "man about town". First with his "thing" for "high quality gravel roads" and now we find out he also has an affinity for tango dancing (as well as non-functional slippers)! I wonder what else you will find out about him as the days go on........
ReplyDeleteI thought Viking ships were bigger. I also thought the Vikings' full time job was being pillagers. I guess I've been watching too many Hollywood movies or else they need better public-relations agents to polish up their image.
Nice new wall paper! Maybe you could get even more adventurous and get a viking inspired tattoo while in Oslo. I am thinking a nice little rune symbol on your ankle. Not on your face though. David Clinger did that and it kind of stalled his cycling career. Although I think he is now a spokesman for the Hells Angels Chapter in New Zealand. However, I digress!
ReplyDeleteSo did you learn what the name Kon-tiki means and why Thor Heyerdahl chose it? I liked your history post regarding the Vikings. They certainly did have a very impressive trade network in their time. I know the horn helmut thing is a but over hyped but you have to admit, it does look pretty cool. Did you learn about Eric the Viking? Both the Monty Python version and the read one? Apparently, there were no bathrooms in Viking homes - which Instead of toilets, people used cess-pits - does Olaf have a cess pit? Did he make you all dig your own when you got there in true viking tradition? Slimy muddy cess-pits have been found by archaeologists studying the remains of the Viking town of Jorvik (modern York). Check Olaf's back yard. There might be some cess pit remains there. HAHA Your dad's collegues sure have eccectic hobbies. Andreas spears fish and pokes octopi. Olaf collects uni-slippers and dances the tango. xooxox
Once again please ignore the Jedi Queen's spelling mistakes:-) You would never know that I was Fraser Valley Spelling Bee champ in 6th grade. Blame it on my uni-slipper. I tried to go down the stairs with it on and fell and subsequently sustained a head injury. This ruined my chances of ever winning the World Championship for Spelling and resulted in a law suit banning geometric uni-slippers worn by tango loving Norwegians to be banned for sale in Canada.
ReplyDeleteyes the wall paper is a close up on part of the design on one of the ships.the horns are cool there was no cess-pit but it was only furniture we had to make.the ground is firm at the back.
ReplyDeletesorry the last comment was actually made by me. I just signed in on the wrong user
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