First we took the 10 minute public ferry ride over to Bygdoy peninsula (please don't make me try to pronounce this one again, it sounds nothing like it's spelled, and I completely slaughtered it *grimace*) and here we found the: VIKING SHIP MUSEUM!!!!! I was excited for this one if you cannot tell!
These are the 3 best preserved Viking ships discovered in burial mounds where they had been buried to serve as vessels for their wealthy owners final journey into the realm of the dead.
The ships were laid with food, jewels, and (supposedly live)servants and horses to aid in the passage of the journey.
Look at the detail work! Research shows that this was all carved between 820-900 AD!
There are about 5 animal head posts displayed here that were found on one of the ships of a very powerful woman.
What a shot without a body in it?! Well, the body of the man that was found in this ship has long since been removed, I meant no "tourists" in this shot! This was one of the first vessels to be discovered in the Oslo area!
The only thing that was terrible about this museum, were the hoards of people who were also excited to see it just as much as we were.
Since we were already over here and wanted to make the most out of our ferry ticket (as there are 4 really good museums on the peninsula) but not as excited about another tourist trap, we trudged our way over to:
The Norsk Folk Museum. And am I so glad we did!
Authentic Gol stave church from 1200 AD.
Look! Kathy is in fengsel- AGAIN!!!!
The open air museum was well worth it and spread out enough that we didnt feel rushed or crowded! On our exploration we even did our good deed of the day (we have a limit on our doings of good deeds you know) by finding and turning in a cell phone we found laying on the path. It started ringing and we were too chicken to answer it thinking we would not understand the Norsk on the other end so we turned it in as quickly as we could!
Farmsteads, shops and buildings shown through the years of Norway throughout it's development. Hundreds of years all within walking distance!! What a great beginning to our trip of this country!
Even our feet got thirsty! We could have spent 8 hours here alone, but as we were exhausted we decided to only visit a select few of the indoor exhibits. I still cannot believe how beautiful the weather has been for us!
Sun every day so far, we are going to come home tanned and nobody will believe us when we say it happened while in Norway!! We walked nearly 12 miles today, its now time for a well earned rest!
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Location:Oslo
Neat ships! Also I think street signs (or really signs in general) make some of the best photo mementos. They are so distinct from country to country but they are always there.
ReplyDeleteA song came up on my itunes genius mix yesterday called "Oslo in the Summertime" (by the band - Of Montreal), and I thought of you. Bring some sunshine back, please!