Doing Oslo

Yesterday I got a visit from Prague. Spencer, the yankee bartender and his Czech girlfriend Jana were in Oslo and I drove in to meet them on a gray, rainy day. Spencer is in Norway intermittently to do some work on a huge van he and a Swedish pal are going to use for racing motorcycles in the summer.

We managed to squeeze in 3 hours of sightseeing. We started out in the Vigelandsparken, a huge collection of sculptures made by Gustav Vigeland, then we drove out to see the viking ships at Bygdøy. I hadn't been to see the viking ships in years, but they were a pleasant experience. Huge and majestic, they bore witness to the fact that Norwegians have always been great travelers and some of the things found in the ships were really nice artwork.

We ended the brief visit by taking a stroll in downtown Oslo and stuffing face with Norwegian hot dogs in lompe, a Norwegian speciality. Bonus point for the fact that the sausages were made by a producer from my hometown, wheee. I've advised them that they gotta return here in mid May, to see the children's parade on the 17th, which is Norway's Constitution Day.

Some pictures from the Viking ships exhibition:

Wannabe vikings...


The Oseberg ship... containing a woman of high rank, this ship was originally used as a "pleasure cruiser" in calm waters.


The Gokstad ship... more sturdy, a replica of this ship sailed from Oslo to Chicago for the World Exposition in 1893.


The burial chamber from the Gokstad ship: