A Day of Touristing in Oslo

We had just enough time to fit in two tourist-musts in Oslo: the Viking ships, and the Folk museum. It’s like Norway, condensed.

The display said that this ship was buried with a noble woman, and it was constructed more as a pleasure boat than a true Viking-on-the-high-seas kind of boat. It’s the best preserved, too.

This ship was a more funcational design than the first one, with higher sides and panels above the oar holes to prevent water splashing in, as well as covers for the holes when not in use.

The ships were used as burial vessels for important people, and they were buried with all kinds of stuff: jewlery, textiles, clothes, ale barrels, tools, etc. Many ships were looted, but a few weren’t found until recent times.

They built their churches just like they built their ships, except upside down.

I love the smiley faces as the top of the columns, at the corners of the archway.

My favorite photo of the day.

This lovely carving detail was next to a door in one of the little villages at the Norskfolkmuseum. I immediately recognized it as the same pattern shown in Annemor Sundbø’s book (I have the english translation, the picture in on page 57.) The hinges even look the same as the ones in the book! And it’s clearly knitted loops to me.

This is one of my favorite houses. The bed is amazingly tiny(people were short before they started getting a lot of protein in their diets!), and then hanging baby cot is so cute. Unfortunately it was all smokey in there because they were roasting coffee beans on an open fire.

I think this is when the guys were waiting for me and Wendy to look around in the textiles workshop. They were very patient!