A Bygdøy Day – Mon Feb 29, 2016

 

First off an apology for not getting these posts upto Facebook like we have during past trips. Linda uses dlvr.it.com to sweep the blog posts over into Facebook, and at the start of the trip we had to reset a password and somehow things didn’t go right. It should be fixed now, hopefully.

 

The original plan for today was to spend the day sledding at the Korketrekkeren (the corkscrew), the 2 kilometer long sled run we visited briefly a few days ago when we were at the ski jump. At last cooler heads prevailed and remembering we saw no one within 30 years of our age there, and the fact the run hasn’t had any new snow in over a week so it is icy and much faster than normal, we decided there were more sane ways to spend the day.

 

 

I had a shock when Linda sat down with this plate after grazing the breakfast buffet counters. I thought she had found another of my favorite breakfast foods, smoked oysters. She laughed as she told me it was mushrooms, though sitting across the table from her it sure looked like smoked oysters to me. So she ate one just to prove they weren’t. Disappointed Bob.

 

 

Just a heads up to anyone contemplating visiting Oslo, the public transportation system here is great. We’ve used the metro, trams and buses with absolutely no problems. But just make sure to either buy individual ride tickets, transportation passes or the Oslo pass, because the inspectors are all over and the very, very high fine absolutely must be paid on the spot. Twice already we have seen people being fined, and no excuses are accepted. We buy the Oslo pass because besides a transit pass it also gives free admission to the many attractions we are visiting.

 

 

Descendent of Vikings standing in front of an actual Viking ship. Happy Linda.

 

 

Prow of a Viking ship.

 

 

We think of Vikings as sword and axe welding plunderers and pillagers. The intricate carving on the ship’s prow suggests there was far more to the Vikings. How else could I explain how Linda could be the sweet, calm, even keeled, kind and loving person she is. Coughing Bob.

 

 

More detail, this time from the only complete surviving cart from the Viking age. Is it any wonder we really enjoy the Oslo Viking Ship Museum.

 

 

Interesting find in the lower level of the Kon-Tiki museum.

 

 

Mr. Kon-Tiki himself, Thor Heyerdahl, interrupting his writing to greet visitors in the museum library. This made missing out on the sledding more than worth it, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get his autograph. Maybe next time we visit. Bad Bob.

 

 

It’s not the Kon-Tiki, it’s the Ra-II, a papyrus reed raft  Heyerdahl and his crew sailed this from Morocco to the West Indies.

 

 

No, Linda is not on Easter Island, but the reason she is smiling is that this is a plaster cast of the type of sculptures will see there when we travel there this fall. Bob and Linda, the traveling twosome.

 

 

The real Kon-Tiki. Awesome!

 

 

The actual Kon-Tiki, a balsa log raft that Thor Heyerdahl and five crew members sailed from Peru to Micronesia in 1947 showing the similarities in the Inca and Polynesia cultures was due to contact between them via voyages across the Pacific Ocean. I can remember reading Heyerdahl’s book, Kon-Tiki when I was a boy and dreaming of doing the same kind of thing. At least I finally got to Fiji last fall.

 

 

 

Linda gazing up at the polar exploration ship, Fram. We really love this museum, and even though it looks surreal, it is the actual ship.

 

 

An old polar explorer from one of the Fram expedition’s.

 

 

On board the Fram. What’s not to like about this museum.

 

 

It is just like sailing in the polar regions, complete with the northern lights. The same lights we hope to see sometime in the next two weeks.

 

 

I know, too many Fram photos, but we really like it, and besides, it’s my blog so I'll put in what I want. Egotistical Bob.

 

Pulling like a dog

 

They had a belt attached to a weight  that simulated the weight a sled dog pulls. Guess I wouldn’t qualify as a sled dog. Weakling Bob.

 

Linda was also a little lacking in pulling power. Okay, so Linda had absolutely no pulling power. Take it from me, she more than makes it up in other departments. Badly Bitten Bob.

 

 

I started the day with a food photo so I’ll end the day with another. Beef patties topped with lingonberries and root vegetables. Talk about good food, wow. We both chowed down majorly tonight. Must be our Scandinavian ancestry showing. How did each of us get so lucky as to marry someone who loves beets. It’s the little things that make Life what it is.