Fjortende Julibreen (14th July Glacier)
Krossfjorden, Spitsbergen – Svalbard (July 2011)
[click here for the words]
Showing posts with label norway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label norway. Show all posts
While This Blog is on Hiatus …
Sunday, 29 January
Mui has finished editing the video footage of our July 2011 voyage to the Arctic. So, if you’re in the mood for a virtual trip at your own pace, you can take one by viewing the short clips he uploaded to Vimeo.
We’ve organized the clips into a 2-page video album to make it easier to find them all in one place. Click here to go to the Arctic 2011 album. Once you get there, you can click on any thumbnail to view the video. And when you’re finished with a clip, you can select another one by scrolling through the sidebar on the right side of the screen.
(If you’re interested in reading about our adventure, the ‘words’ are in the July 2011 archive of this blog; start with this post.)
Bon Voyage!
Bleached Bones
Kvitfiskstranda (White Whale Beach), Bellsund – Spitsbergen, Svalbard (July 2011)
[click here for the words]
We’re Home
Saturday, 16 July
Latitude at departure from Oslo: 60°19’42” N
Latitude at arrival in DC: 38°56’50” N
Hard to believe that our two-week trip to the Norwegian Arctic is over. Our days were filled with adventure, exploration, and fun. That’s probably why they whizzed by at the speed of light. I’m ready to re-pack the bags and go right back. Since that’s not possible, however, I’ll just wrap the trip up with one last post to bring us from Norway back to the US.
Up at 5:30a, we were ready to go down to breakfast an hour later. The post-cruise package I had booked at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia included breakfast. Not your ordinary buffet with a limited selection of offerings as we found out yesterday morning, but a really extensive one offering many different kinds of cereals, cheeses, meats, breads, pastries, fruits, juices, local specialties, and hot dishes. A real smorgasbord to start the day out right.
Our original plan had been to take the train to the airport, but as luck would have it, maintenance got in the way of that idea. No problem; we found out about it before we left the US and I booked an open reservation for a time of our choosing on the Flybussen instead. (Discounted from NOK140/person to NOK115 [$25 vs $20], including tax, when purchased online.) The best part — the shuttle bus left from our hotel! Can’t beat that for convenience.
We made ourselves comfortable on the 7:30a shuttle and were soon on our way to the airport. The bus made two stops en route to pick up passengers — one at the bus depot downtown; and another one at a parking lot somewhere on the freeway. Even with that, the ride to the airport was under an hour. Having little to no traffic early on a Saturday morning helped I am sure.
The airport was crowded, with a long queue for check-in. While Mui waited in line, I attempted to use one of the self-check kiosks, but I simply couldn’t get it to recognize any of the requested information as being valid. So, we had to do things the old-fashioned way by waiting our turn to talk to a desk agent. 30 minutes later we were checked-in and on our way to the security checkpoint. Though this line snaked around, it moved fast and we made it to Gate 53 without further ado.
The gate area was much too small for the number of passengers waiting to board the plane; there was quite a crush of people milling about. Boarding was quite messy since it wasn’t done by calling rows. In any event, we were in our seats by 10:45a. SK Flight 907 was wheels up at 11:20a, winging us back to the US. In our two-together seats, we enjoyed the amazing scenery of mountains, and glaciers, and fjords until the Airbus 330 climbed above the cloud deck, leaving us with just a view of a puffy white sea stretching out to the horizon.
Farvel Oslo!
Clouds and mountains from 36,000 feet (11,000 m) in the air.
(I decided to process the photos I took out of the porthole in B&W because the Plexiglas was scratched up and “foggy” :-( … oh well; I like them better this way anyway.)
Once we reached cruising altitude, lunch was served — a small salad of field greens; medallions of pork and potatoes in a creamy sauce; crème brûlée (more a vanilla pudding really). Quite reasonable for airline food.
Afterwards, Mui did what he usually does on a long-haul flight — surf the entertainment channels before settling in for a snooze. I did a bit of surfing of my own, but the audio was really bad, so I gave up on watching anything. Instead, I reviewed my Oslo photographs to weed out the really bad ones and took some notes for the blog.
With the laptop put away, I took out Cold Recall, the book I had purchased at the Fram Museum. I was soon lost in the words, imagining myself right there with Amundsen and his men as they made the trek to the South Pole. I have to say that the book is a good quick-read with images from the lantern slides Amundsen used during his lecture tour following the expedition. I’ve read other books on the subject, and sometimes they get a bit heavy, if you know what I mean. But because this book is based on the manuscript of the lecture, the words are simpler, more succinct, and easier to follow.
I had the in-seat screen set to the moving map. When that map showed that we were over Greenland, I turned to the porthole to see what I could see. Beautiful; we actually had breaks in the clouds and were able to catch glimpses of glaciers and icebergs peeking through. Now my interest in visiting this ice-blanketed land has really been whetted. But I have to find the right itinerary first!
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Once past Greenland, the clouds moved back in below us, dashing any hopes of seeing bits and pieces of Newfoundland and Labrador. So I focused on finishing my book before it was time to land. We were wheels down at Newark International at 12:45p and through passport control 20 minutes later.
Luggage in tow, we went through customs, re-checked our bags, and continued on to the Continental counter to get boarding passes for the final hop home. Here we got caught in the Continental-United post-merger net while the agent tried to figure out which flight we were booked on. Luckily, our reservation was intact; the problem was determining what the new flight number was. After about 10 minutes, boarding passes for the flight operated by Colgan Air clutched in our hands, we were on our way to the last security checkpoint of our travel day.
Welcome to the US — Newark International.
Flight 3262 was delayed over an hour. But once we were finally airborne at 4:00p, the 40-minute hop aboard the Dash-8 Q-400 was uneventful and reasonably comfortable. Things went smoothly after we deplaned at Dulles. Our bags were on the carousel by the time we negotiated the maze through the airport, and getting a cab was easy as usual. Even the traffic cooperated. By 6:00p, faced with an empty larder at home, we were having dinner at Sweetwater Tavern, one of our favorite restaurants.
Wheels down at Dulles International.
When I post this blog entry, the adventure that took us from 38° North to 80° North and back will be officially over. No wonder I’m having a difficult time clicking the “Publish” button. I don’t want to let go. But like all good things, this one must come to an end. There will be other adventures. So for now … farewell, and as the Immigration officials say to returning US residents, Welcome Back Home!
Oslo: Norsk Folkemuseum and the Rest of the Story
Friday, 15 July (Part IV)
After visiting two wonderful museums — the Frammuseet and the Vikingskiphuset — it was time to head back across the Oslo Harbor. The temperature was comfortable and the skies had 
We’d decided to skip the Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Museum of Cultural History) as the afternoon was growing late and we didn’t think we could do it justice. However, when we turned a corner and found ourselves face to face with the museum entrance, we decided to check it out anyway. The NOK100/person ($17) fee was a bit stiff for a quick look-see, but the empty courtyard gave every indication that we’d have the place to ourselves, so we paid up and went in.
Our decision turned out to be a mistake! Apparently many of the tour groups come in through a rear entrance. But that wasn’t the problem since the crowds were spread out pretty well, and they didn’t stay long. The problem was that there were too few docents in period costume providing interpretive information. No sooner would we enter one of the buildings that we’d be asked to leave because the docent had to lock up and go to another building where a tour group was awaiting attention. OK, the first time; OK the second time; but by the third time smoke was coming out of my ears.
So instead of touring the open air museum, which dates back to 1894 and which is home to over 150 buildings representative of the different regions of Norway, we left after a very short and disappointing experience.
This young woman was making some kind of flatbread; but it wasn’t free for the tasting.
The one silver lining of our visit to the museum: I got to see what I most wanted to see — the Gol Stave Church, which is the centerpiece of a group of buildings referred to as Oscar II’s Collection (became part of the museum in 1907). One of only 30 preserved churches of its kind in Norway, the Gol church was built in 1212. It remained in use until the 1870s when the congregation grew too big and a replacement church was built.
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built in 1212, The Gol Stave Church was remodeled in 1664 and 1802.
[front view (left) and rear view (right)]
The church was purchased by the preservation society in 1881. Although King Oscar II offered to finance the relocation and rebuilding of the church, it was another three years before it could be disassembled, moved, and re-erected at his summer residence on Bygdøy.
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Detail from the roofline of the church.
Detail from the interior of the church.
(More information about stave churches can be found here.)
After that detour, we continued our walk to the water taxi landing. Having just missed the taxi back to Rådhusbrygge, we had a bit of a wait, but the sun was out again so we didn’t mind it much. (Too bad the sun wasn’t out while we were photographing the stave church; blue skies would have added tremendously to the pictures we took.)
I’m not much into city streetscape photography, but as I wind up the story of our trip to Oslo, I’ll share a few from yesterday ...
The Slottet (Royal Palace) was built on the orders of King Karl Johan, but he died
before it was completed in 1848.
The fountain known as Christian IV’s Glove is located in Christiania Torv, the city’s
first market square. The glove points to where he wanted to rebuild the city after
the big fire in 1624.
… and a few more images from today.
The Nobel Peace Center is housed in Oslo’s old railway station.
Around the grounds of the Rådhuset (City Hall), which opened in 1950 to mark
the city’s 900th anniversary.
After returning from Bygdøy, we went to the hotel to drop off our camera bags. Since our time in Oslo was growing short, we didn't dally long, returning promptly to the waterfront to check out the outdoor eateries at Aker Brygge, the shipyard-turned-mall overlooking Oslo Harbor. Although it was drizzling off-and-on, and the early evening temps were more than chilly, we settled on a pizzeria named Olivia. The outdoor heaters had us quickly shedding our outer layers as we enjoyed dinner with people-watching for entertainment. We split an excellent seafood salad and a pizza topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, ham, and artichokes, and washed it all down with a couple of ice cold local brews. Dessert was ice cream from the Movenpick stand across the pedestrian road from the restaurant.
Collage compiled from pictures from Olivia’s website, with a photo of Aker Brygge that
I took thrown in for fun (lower left). I thought I’d process it all in B&W, except for the
pizza, which really was very good.
After wandering around the waterfront for a bit, we returned to the hotel to finish packing our bags, making sure weight was allocated properly in preparation for tomorrow’s flights back home.
Oslo has a lot to offer that we haven’t even touched upon. We’ll return someday to not only check them out, but to also tour the coastal towns and fjords that I’m told are natural wonders not-to-be-missed. And we’ll be sure to plan our trip outside the summer months during which 60% of visitors come to enjoy Norway.
Oslo: Vikingskiphuset … the Finds
Friday, 15 July (Part III)
As noted in the background post, the Vikingskiphuset (Viking Ship House [or museum]) turned out to be a real gem. We’d added it to our list of must-sees with rather high expectations and it didn’t disappoint one bit. I’d gladly pay the price of admission again to spend more time exploring the chamber where the finds from the burial mounds are displayed. (Reminder about the museum link inserted above; remember to click the British flag for the translated version for each of the pages in the sidebar.)
Although Viking funeral rituals varied, the dead were often placed on a boat together with offerings, including slaves. The boat was then covered over with rocks and soil to create a tumulus. It was from such a mound that the centerpiece of the museum, the Oseberg Ship, was excavated in 1904.
Historic photos of the excavation Site show how amazingly well-preserved this find was.
(above and below)
The sleek lines of the 72-foot (22 m) long ship, constructed of oak timbers, was truly a sight to behold. Considering it was built around 820 AD and was buried for nearly 1100 years, it seemed amazingly fantastic to me that it was in such great shape; just look at the pre-restoration historic photos above. In reality, it was the blue clay in which it was buried that did such a good job of preserving the ship for posterity to enjoy.
I was so enthralled by the delicate carvings on the hull and so deep in thought trying to figure out how I was going to photograph the length of the ship that I almost didn’t notice the narrow corner balconies designed for just that purpose. From those vantage points, and by waiting for the lull between the waves of crowds coming in and out of the museum, I managed to get some reasonably good shots after I was finished studying the detail from the floor-level.
The ship was manned by a crew of 32 men, including the helmsman and the lookout.
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Left: the Initial view of the Oseberg Ship hints at the beautiful carvings on the hull.
Right: the serpent’s head at the tip of the stempost was designed to frighten away sea monsters.
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Such delicate details hint that the ship might have been built as a pleasure vessel to
sail coastal waters, but it was seaworthy nonetheless.
Serpent motifs on the hull; the Vikings were a superstitious lot.
(above and below)
Next was the Gokstad Ship, which was found in 1880. The longest of the three ships in the museum, it was built around 890 AD. It is believed to have been used to bury a chieftain who died ten years later. Any weapons that would have been buried with a man of the deceased’s stature were lost to grave robbers long before the ship was excavated.
32 shields, alternately painted black and gold, once decorated the exterior of the Gokstad ship.
It is thought that they were displayed only during battle or when approaching land
as they would have otherwise prevented the oars from being used.
With higher sides, and lacking the decorative carvings of the Oseberg Ship, this one definitely felt and looked like a seaworthy, ocean-going warship; or perhaps a trading vessel.
Note the oar holes lining the hull. these holes could be sealed by covers that
rotated in place to keep water out. It’s thought that the oarsmen used their
sea chests as rowing benches.
In the chamber where the last of the three ships is displayed, we found artifacts from the Gokstad Ship — namely, the timber burial chamber and the tent verge boards topped with animal heads — and two small boats that were also uncovered from the burial mound.
The rough construction of the burial chamber is an indication that it was not part of the
ship’s finely crafted original structure. The verge boards on the wall were once painted
black and gold; the same color as the shields that decorated the ship’s exterior.
The last ship we saw was the Tune Ship, which was actually the first ship to be excavated (1867). Highly deteriorated, the ship that dates back to 900 AD is exhibited as it was found. As was the case with the Gokstad Ship, the burial chamber contained the remains of a male assumed to be a chieftain.
The Tune Ship with the artifacts from the Gokstad Ship displayed at the rear of the chamber.
According to archaeologists, the Tune Ship was built in the style of the Oseberg Ship.
Hard to see any resemblance, isn’t it?
The real surprise at the Viking Ship Museum was the chamber housing beautifully carved burial furnishings found in the Oseberg mound. As the human remains found in the ship are those of a female and her slave, these artifacts are referred to as the Queen’s burial furnishings. There was a separate room that contained textiles that had survived over 1000 years of burial. Didn’t get to see them, however, as each time I attempted to go near the displays, I was kept away by the crush of visitors already in the room.
Photographing these treasures was made difficult by the lighting, as well as the fingerprints and glare on the glass cases in which they are displayed, but here are a few that turned out reasonably well.
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This carved beech ceremonial wagon is the only one of its kind in Norway that dates
back to the Viking Age. It is estimated to have been made around 800 AD, well before it
was placed in the grave.
Detail from the richly ornamented Oseberg wagon.
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Left: one of three sled runners; each 6.5 feet (2 m) long and carved from one piece of wood.
right: One of several animal head posts found in the burial mound.
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Some of these animal head posts had a rope running through their mouth when they were
found. Their use is not known, but they may have been carried in religious processions.
Found in fragments, the sledge was reconstructed before being put on display.
That we enjoyed our visit to this museum goes without saying. On a scale of 1-5, it definitely gets a 5-star rating from us. There’s a surprising amount of information on the web about these ships. If you’re interested, just search on the name of each find.
As for us, it was time to head back to the water taxi stand and return to Oslo. Too bad we didn’t stick to that plan …
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