Norway - Oslo, the Viking museum and a rural village

I hope you do not mind if I now jump back to the present . . .

I was very excited as our ship travelled along the Norwegian coast into the Oslo Fjord just a couple of days ago. I must confess that I was expecting the coastline to consist of snow-capped mountains, but instead it consisted of low wooded hills with little cottages dotted amongst the trees. As we neared Oslo, there were some small islands as well. Already many boats were out on the water, bobbing up and down on the wake of the ship. The patterns of the waves and the tiny ripples on the bigger ripples were quite remarkable.

Our first visit for the shore excursion I selected was to the Viking Ship Museum, a huge place where we saw two different magnificent ships that had been uncovered from a clay grave in Oslofjord the late 1800s and restored. They are considered to be the world’s best-preserved 9th century wooden Viking ships, which has been attributed to the particular kind of clay in which they were embedded. We also saw artefacts from the gravesite of these old longships, including sea chests, jewellery and tools. Apparently research has shown that the Vikings discovered America several hundred years before Christopher Columbus. A film was showing about these ships, but unfortunately we were not given the time to view it. As it was, the place was crowded with tourists. 

And now, much to my disappointment, I have just discovered that my phone camera somehow had jumped to another setting and took short ‘bursts’ of the exhibits, which I cannot upload onto this blog. Worst still, it kept this up when I was photographing the glass-blowing at the Hadeland Glass Works, which we visited next. I shall give it a severe lecture! 

Anyhow, we went to a demonstration of glass-blowing at this delightful little complex situated next to a lake about 40 km from Oslo. The drive took just over an hour, and was very worthwhile, as it allowed us to see some very picturesque Norwegian countryside, including some lovely peaceful  lakes and a lot of farmland. 

The glass produced by their traditional methods was very stylish ornamental glass art as well as wine glasses and other very useful and beautifully designed objects. The skills are passed from father to son in this very tight knit community. I did not purchase any, however, as it was all too heavy to carry around or to post all the way to Australia. 

We were then given a delicious fresh Danish pastry and a much-needed cup of coffee, and a little free time to explore the shops. I spent most of that time going off the site and looking at the lake, which was just so beautiful.

When we arrived back in Oslo itself on the way to the ship, I noticed a row of parked cars connected to electric cables. Our guide told us that Norwegians are given many incentives to switch to electric cars. One is that they have free parking and free recharging of their car battery in the city. We also saw many fine buildings and people sitting outside in the sun in the middle of the afternoon enjoying  coffee and cake. In this season, of course, they have very long days. In winter, it must be very hard having so little daylight. 

I was mesmerised by the ripple patterns in the water in this fjord. This photo does not really do them justice, but it was the clearest one I was able to take.

This was the only inhabited island in the fjord that I saw as we sailed close to Oslo. 

Coming into Oslo.

An old fortress next to where the ship berthed. This was my first glimpse of it. You can see one of the buses that were starting to line up ready to take us on our shore excursions. Several large ships were docked nearby. 

An interesting boat that sailed past. I zoomed in on it on my camera.  We also saw some yachts and motor boats.

This place was over the road from the Viking Boat Museum. This was the first time I had seen these very glossy black roof tiles.  They were beautifully laid out and made the buildings very attractive. After that, I saw these on many homes and other buildings in Oslo and Copenhagen. 

Pastoral country seen from the coach as it sped on its way to the glass works. 

The lake opposite the glassworks.

There were quite a few ducks swimming along the shore of the lake.  It was hard to photograph them, though, as they moved about quite quickly. 

The view from the same spot on the shore of the lake looking in the other direction. 

One of the many flowers growing in the gardens at the glass works. This variety was quite a large flower,  and I noticed quite large bees buzzing around. 

Some beautiful scenery on the drive back to Oslo. There was a large lake at the foot of the hills, but it's hard to see in this photo. The coach was going so quickly it was hard to capture a good photo. 

A very attractive building in Oslo, in amongst the many plainer apartment blocks.