Norway day 2; the ship

Today has been a special day.  And a very lucky day.

I always assumed it would be busy.  On the bus to the museum there’s a party of school children.  They get out at another museum first.  Phew. 

As we walk through the Viking Ship Museum car park, we see a coach party listening to a lecture from their tour guide, before they go inside.  We zoom past.

I stand in front of this ship waiting for a few people to finish taking selfies.  I have just one chance to take this without any people in shot.  Moments later the place is full.  (see extras).

Having grabbed the shot I then go to look at it.  It is absolutely beautiful.  The detail and ornamentation is exquisite.   And seeing it close up is very emotional.  It’s hard to imagine men (and women) sailing so far in these vessels. 

There are many sights in this world that are so well known from books and films and television, that there’s always a fear that the reality will not live up to the expectation.  In my own case I’ve been lucky enough to see the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.  When I’ve actually looked upon them they’ve all exceeded expectation.  As does this Viking Ship.  It is without doubt a Wonder of the World.

By the time we leave, there are six coaches in the car park and the school party have caught us up.

From here we catch a bus to the Fram Polar Museum.  The Fram was the ship that Amundsen sailed to the Antarctic in 1912.

This museum is again astonishing.  The museum was actually built around the ship.  Looking up from ground level the Fram is enormous; (see extra).  But on board it seems tiny and fragile.  Even though a life-sized model of the ships cook does his best to reassure by offering what looks like a burger (see extra).
 
In the afternoon we take a 2 hour cruise round the Oslo Fjord in a converted sailing ship.  Compared with the Viking ship and the Fram it’s relatively young - as it turns out it’s the same age as me.  

See Anniemay for details of our adventures before the mast.