Diorama of the Fram locked in polar ice
We almost slept so long that we missed breakfast this morning! I guess we were tired after the long day yesterday.
After breakfast we took the #30 bus, which stops just outside the hotel to the Viking Ship museum. This was most interesting. They have three ancient Viking boats that were used as burial chambers.
Viking ship
Based on what was found in the boats, these must have been very powerful and wealthy Vikings. The boats included many beautifully carved wooden decorative objects. Some of them were utilitarian, like cooking implements, clothing, and beautiful wooden sleighs. The assumption of archaeologists is that these materials were included in the burial chambers to assist the dead in the afterlife.
Viking burial ship
Both Enid and I were very astounded to learn of the sophisticated culture which the Vikings must have had. Iron in particular was not an easy substance to smelt in that early part of history, yet they had many iron artifacts, including large pots that would have held several gallons, and were supported on iron tripods. Many of the boxes were decorated with intricate patterns of iron nails.
After enjoying this museum for the morning, we walked about 1.5 km to the area where there are three other museums: the Kon Tiki museum of Thor Heyerdahl, The Norwegian Maritime Museum, and the Fram Museum. We went to the latter two after eating lunch.
The Fram, Roa;d Amundsen's ship to the South Pole
The complete ship “Fram” is included in the Fram museum, as well as many artifacts from the heroic age of Polar exploaration at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century. I found it extremely interesting, having a real interest in that period of history, and also it reminded me of the project Geoffrey and I did for the Saskatchewan Department of Education, “Mission to Mars” in 2000.
We had intended to go the Gjoa display, but were rather tired after completing the Fram displays, and actually forgot about it until after we’d toured the Norwegian Maritime Museum. By then we were quite “museumed out” and so didn’t bother to go back to look at it.
Boat in the Norwegian Maritime Museum
We didn’t enjoy the maritime museum nearly as much as the other two. It does however have some nice displays covering the century from 1914 -2014, starting with old wooden boats and culminating with displays about some of the modern challenges to a maritime economy, including damage to the environment caused by oil drilling in the North Sea, and transportation in general.
It was cool and cloudy this morning, but by late afternoon was quite nice and sunny. After riding the bus back to the Anker Hotel we showered, then went for supper. We walked to an area that was marked as “restaurants” on the map in the lobby. Mostly though all we saw were many small Middle Eastern restaurants, mostly from Turkey. We ate in one of them, and the food was very filling — and also very spicy and I now have heartburn.
Right next door to this hotel is the Anker Hostel. They have a laundry, and so Enid is now doing a load of wash while I complete catching up on our blog for the last two days.