2023-05-19 Oslo, Norway
First impressions of the capitol of Norway were early in the morning as our ship navigated through an area where the fjord narrows before the approach Oslo. It’s a pretty area and you get up close views of the small archipelago of islands and homes lining the fjord.
The cruise ship terminal is right next to Akershus Fortress, a medieval castle that was built in the late 13th century to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. The castle has also been used as a military base and prison.
Joining a guide, we boarded a bus for a tour of some of the city’s highlights. First on the list was a trip of collocated museums that celebrated Norway’s maritime heritage. First was the Thor Heyerdahl Museum which documented the adventures of the museum’s namesake. Most notable was his Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947 in which he sailed 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean in a hand-built raft to demonstrate that ancient people could have made long sea voyages, creating contacts between societies.
I first read his best selling book about the adventure when a copy was given to me as a child by my librarian grandmother.
The Norwegian Maritime Museum concerns itself with Viking ships and their construction. Besides housing ancient ships, they specialize in construction of replica ships using the same tools and methods as the Vikings.
Vigelandsparken is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist with more than 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland (1869–1943) in bronze, granite and cast iron. We walked the entire length of the park taking in this extraordinary collection.
Hey! It’s Norway whose citizens dominate the world of competitive Nordic skiing. Among those events is ski jumping and Oslo has a jump named Holmenkollbakken that is well worth visiting.
I generally only take pictures of places we tour and don’t focus on life aboard ship. So following are a few pictures that snuck into my collection for this trip.
