Norway, Ireland, 26 June - 02 July 2006

For the last week of my pretty pretty long vacation, I travelled to Norway (Oslo) and Ireland (Galway, Letterfrack, Dublin), Norway (Oslo) again and back.

See also the flickr set (48 photos).

Stern. Yes, b&w does that. The stern, detail of the Oseberg Ship at the Viking Ship Museum.

stern

 The Oseberg Ship at the Viking Ship Museum</a>. <em>The Oseberg Ship was found in a large burial mound at the Slagen farm in Vestfold and excavated in 1904. The ship was built in around 815-820 A.D. and had been used as a sailing vessel for many years before it was put to use as a burial ship for a prominent woman who died in 834. The ship, built of oak, was 22 meters long and 5 meters wide. The 12 strakes were secured with iron nails. The ship was designed for both rowing and sailing. With a square sail of about 90 sq. m., it could reach speeds of over 10 knots. The top strake had 15 oar holes.</em> <em>The skeletons of two women were found in the grave. One, aged 60-70, suffered badly from arthritis and other maladies; the second was aged 25-30. It is not clear which one was the most important in life, or whether one was sacrificed to accompany the other in death. Although the high-ranking woman's identity is unknown, it has been suggested that it is the burial of Queen Asa of the Ynglinge clan, mother of Halfdan the Black and grandmother of Harald Fairhair. This theory is now generally dispelled, and it is now thought that she may have been a priestess.</em>

Oseberg Ship

 Tiny me. Reflection in the protective glass case near the stern of the huge-looking Oseberg Ship at the Viking Ship Museum.

tiny me

 A big 's', for 'stern'. Viking Ship Museum.

big s

 The Oseberg Ship at the Viking Ship Museum. <em>The Oseberg Ship was found in a large burial mound at the Slagen farm in Vestfold and excavated in 1904. The ship was built in around 815-820 A.D. and had been used as a sailing vessel for many years before it was put to use as a burial ship for a prominent woman who died in 834. The ship, built of oak, was 22 meters long and 5 meters wide. The 12 strakes were secured with iron nails. The ship was designed for both rowing and sailing. With a square sail of about 90 sq. m., it could reach speeds of over 10 knots. The top strake had 15 oar holes.</em> <em>The skeletons of two women were found in the grave. One, aged 60-70, suffered badly from arthritis and other maladies; the second was aged 25-30. It is not clear which one was the most important in life, or whether one was sacrificed to accompany the other in death. Although the high-ranking woman's identity is unknown, it has been suggested that it is the burial of Queen Asa of the Ynglinge clan, mother of Halfdan the Black and grandmother of Harald Fairhair. This theory is now generally dispelled, and it is now thought that she may have been a priestess.</em>

Oseberg Ship

 The Gokstad Ship at the Viking Ship Museum. <em>The Gokstad Ship was found in a large burial mound at the Gokstad farm in Sandar, Vestfold in 1880. The ship had been built around 890 A.D. and later used in the ship burial of an important chieftain who died in or around 900 A.D. The ship, built of oak, is 24 meters long , 5 meters wide and is the largest of the three ships in the museum. It could accomodate 32 oarsmen and was much more sturdily built than the Oseberg ship. The keel and mast step are sturdier and the ship's sides are higher, with two strakes above the oar holes. The oar holes could be hatched down when the ship was under sail. Using a square sail of 110 sq. m., the ship could reach speeds of over 12 knots. Just how seaworthy it had been, was demonstrated when a copy of the Gokstad Ship sailed the Atlantic from Bergen to the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893.</em> <em>During the excavations, the skeleton was recovered of a male aged between 50-70 years. The skeleton was found in a bed in a timber-built burial chamber. Although the identity of the person buried is unknown, it has been suggested that it is that of Olaf Geirstad-Alf, a petty king of Vestfold.</em>

Gokstad Ship
The Oseberg Ship at the Viking Ship Museum. <em>The Oseberg Ship was found in a large burial mound at the Slagen farm in Vestfold and excavated in 1904. The ship was built in around 815-820 A.D. and had been used as a sailing vessel for many years before it was put to use as a burial ship for a prominent woman who died in 834. The ship, built of oak, was 22 meters long and 5 meters wide. The 12 strakes were secured with iron nails. The ship was designed for both rowing and sailing. With a square sail of about 90 sq. m., it could reach speeds of over 10 knots. The top strake had 15 oar holes.</em> <em>The skeletons of two women were found in the grave. One, aged 60-70, suffered badly from arthritis and other maladies; the second was aged 25-30. It is not clear which one was the most important in life, or whether one was sacrificed to accompany the other in death. Although the high-ranking woman's identity is unknown, it has been suggested that it is the burial of Queen Asa of the Ynglinge clan, mother of Halfdan the Black and grandmother of Harald Fairhair. This theory is now generally dispelled, and it is now thought that she may have been a priestess.</em>

soaring Oseberg

 People look small as they walk by the Oseberg Ship at the Viking Ship Museum. <em>The Oseberg Ship was found in a large burial mound at the Slagen farm in Vestfold and excavated in 1904. The ship was built in around 815-820 A.D. and had been used as a sailing vessel for many years before it was put to use as a burial ship for a prominent woman who died in 834. The ship, built of oak, was 22 meters long and 5 meters wide. The 12 strakes were secured with iron nails. The ship was designed for both rowing and sailing. With a square sail of about 90 sq. m., it could reach speeds of over 10 knots. The top strake had 15 oar holes.</em> <em>The skeletons of two women were found in the grave. One, aged 60-70, suffered badly from arthritis and other maladies; the second was aged 25-30. It is not clear which one was the most important in life, or whether one was sacrificed to accompany the other in death. Although the high-ranking woman's identity is unknown, it has been suggested that it is the burial of Queen Asa of the Ynglinge clan, mother of Halfdan the Black and grandmother of Harald Fairhair. This theory is now generally dispelled, and it is now thought that she may have been a priestess.</em>

massive

 Not your everyday life sailing ship. In the Oslo Fjord.

Oslo Fjord

 Rowing boats and sailing boat moored in the Oslo Fjord.

mooring

 Sailing ship and rowboats in the Oslo Fjord, at Bygdoy.

harbour

 From searching the web about viking ships, I guess this boat is clinker-built (fixing wooden planks and in the early nineteenth century, iron plates to each other so that the planks overlap along their edges). Anyway, pretty, isn't it?

clinker-built
From the quay, waiting for the Bygdoy ferry, I was entertained by the various preparations and adjustments made on this sailing ship.

ready?

 Two twin little sisters in shorts and barefeet in a fountain.

twins

 Statues in the park next to the Nationaltheatret

statues

 <em>It has the shape of a dog and the size of the rat.</em> I was sitting in the grass of the park next to the Nationaltheatret when something gently bumped in my lower back. I thought it was the ball of kids playing nearby. Nope, it was the little doggy.

chihuahua

 I didn't eat any of that raspberry ice cream. In fact, I'm not at all a fan of respberries. I'm just not telling you why this photo is there.

lampone

 It's two minutes after midnight. I'm at OSL airport. The sky still bears the colours of twilight. My flight is delayed for another hour. I look at the plane I'll take. It will bring me back home, where the night is black and where I can see more than 6 stars in the middle of the night. This is the end of this enjoyable vacation. In the morrow, I'll be back at work.

bye Oslo...
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koalie, 2006