Seafarers
Trip Start
Aug 20, 2008
1
7
15
Trip End
Sep 15, 2008
Oslo,
Norway
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Oslo was our fifth major city in a week. There is just so much you can digest and we feel that we did not do it justice, nor learn very much. The weather had turned overcast with intermittent rain after two splendid sunny days. We were there on a Sunday and the downtown was closed up except for a few cafes. (Although there were some people strolling around.)
Oslo is built to much larger proportions than Copenhagen and the central city is largely commercial with residential areas outside the center. The waterfront harbor area is large, stretching out several miles from a small downtown area fronting the City Hall. Our ship docked in an area specifically for cruise lines about a 15 minute walk from the city center.
We had chosen to focus on history in while in Oslo and took a public ferry from the city center to Bygdoy Island. When we disembarked at the dock on Bygdoy and began to walk up the hill through a lovely residential neighborhood we were reminded of Shelter Island with its hilly, winding roads devoid of much traffic with fenced in yards and gardens and the occasional glimpse of the water. While the island is home to several historical museums, it is clearly a vibrant contemporary suburb as well.
We went first to the Folksmuseum, another Sturbridge Village-like place. The Norwegians had collected buildings from all over the country with a special emphasis on old farmhouses dating from as early as the 12th century but
mainly from the 16th and 17th century. The houses were timber structures (logs) with sod roofs and seemed surprisingly roomy (although given the large families in those days, they were still pretty cramped.) The one I enjoyed most was a house with a central entrance. From the exterior, the "wings" on each side of the entrance were identical, but in fact one side had been built in the 16th century and the other 50-75 years later as an addition. What a difference those years made! The older wing had no windows, the only light coming from a smoke hole in the roof. There were chests for storage and benches for sleeping and sitting around the periphery of the room. The cooking was done at a central fire area. The "addition", however, was a major upgrade with leaded glass windows for illumination, a corner raised hearth with a whitewashed chimney to vent the smoke, and a table with chairs for eating.
We also saw the emergence of the concept of a porch. Some of the houses had a double wall, the house having a narrow passage running around the house between the wall of the house and this second exterior wall. This outside wall probably provided extra protection from the snow and wind in the winter and the enclosed area, storage for firewood. As insulation and heating improved, it was only a short step to removing the wall of the "porch" to provide a sheltered place to sit or work but one where views and breezes could be enjoyed
as we do now.
We then visited three seafaring museums, the Norwegians being such explorers of the seas throughout history. The first housed three Viking ships from the 9th century. (Very large open boats, crudely constructed.) The second museum had a replication of the Kon-tiki, the large raft with a single sail that Thor Heyerdahl and a crew of five sailed from South America to the pacific islands. (The original Kon-tiki had dashed on the reefs of the island it finally reached in the South Pacific at the end of its voyage. The raft could drift with the currents and the trade winds but could not be steered away from the reefs upon reaching its destination. Fortunately, they had had no particular island in mind and the one they reached had friendly inhabitants who came out to the reef and rescued them.)
The final museum we visited housed the FRAM, the strongest wooden ship ever built(1893). It was used for three major polar expeditions by Norwegian explorers (including Amundsen) in efforts to reach both the north and
south poles. After seeing the Viking ships and the Kon-Tiki, it actually looked pretty good! Among other amenities, it had a piano, individual cabins, and provisions to last 5 years.
In Oslo, Marilyn and Bill opted out of the maritime museums and visited Vigeland Park, an open air display of over 200 nude sculptures by the famous sculptor, Gustav Vigeland. The existence of this lovely park and its somewhat shocking depictions of naked bodies in every state of life and emotion struck those who visited it as somewhat ironic in that by nature the Norwegians are quite reserved and conservative in nature.
