The Worlds Longest Tunnel... through the fjords!

Wonderful drive through the country side... lots of pictures of course... you can only imagine how many I have!!!!!  We left Oslo about 9:00am and meandered through the city and then, before you knew it, we were watching the beautiful fields and farm houses!  The scenes were spectacular!

Visited a Stave Church... built in the late 1100's... in a completely different style.  The Vikings originally built them for 'pagen' worship... but when Christianity made it's way, they became Christian Churches.  They are completely built of wood, but it is based on a stone foundation, so there is no rot from bugs.  Then they were (and still are every so many years), coated with a tar/pitch substance. 

Went through the world's longest tunnel... took 20 minutes to go the 15 miles.  All through the fjords.  Had my camera out for all the views.... NOT!

Got to our place... Beautiful!  Clear waters... cold waters... steep fjords... just what we imagined Norway to look like.  And from what we have heard, it will continue to get prettier and prettier!

Jerry's been looking for his ancestors.... Could this be one?

Sun was shining... and my camera was set wrong... but these were black, black, black...Shingles with the tar/pitch dripping...

 Roofs all over Norway have vegetation growing on them... on purpose!!!!

 View from our room

 There is a river that runs into the fjord... this is just how clear it is... awesome... but COLD!

 Those of you who know Jerry... he's picking up litter here... and emptying a plastic bottle filled with rocks so he can recycle it....

 Our digs for the night...

Oslo... not nearly enough time!!!!

Slept quite well on the ship... kinda lulls one asleep and there was no foul weather... Got up, had some brekky and the next thing you know, we have arrived in Oslo, Norway!  We will not be here long, so we saw a few things, but did not pack our day too full just sorta full!   

We visited the Vigeland Sculpture Park... Phenomenal... A tortured soul who was an artist and created beautiful works... Bronze/metal sculptures and sculptures out of granite.  So they would be timeless, the artist created all the people without clothes... but, trust me, it's just beautiful... it's not erotic or anything!  The recurring theme throughout the park was 'the circle of life'... from babies to youth to adults to old age to death. 

We did go to Viking Ship Museum.  These ships are unbelievable... The Oseberg Ship was built around 820 AD.... that's 1200 years ago... So, I was trying to figure out how they happen to come upon the ship.  It was actually used as a burial ship, and this particular one a wealthy woman and, just like the Pharaohs, they pack a whole bunch of stuff for the afterlife... Then, they literally bury the boat by digging down partially and then loading it up with rocks and stuff and creating a mound.  The clay soil here really helped preserve it.  The were two boats and one partial boat in the museum...  Something to think about as you stand there and look at this thing... and think of the folks who touched it all those years ago...

Also... big fallacy:  The Vikings did not wear helmets with horns on them... They did not place their deceased kings out on ships and burn them as they floated out to sea to bury them (that's from a Kirk Douglas movie and suddenly it became fact...)... and lastly, they were not as barbaric as they are made out to be.  When discovering artifacts, they find very few weapons...

Check out the weird magicians or whatever they are... HOW'D THEY DO THAT????

Got in our hotel around 3ish after a great lunch at Louise... Jerry did some work catch-up and then we headed out for just walking around... a beautiful place to do so. And, of course, out came the GPS and we did some geocaching... found 4 of them!  We leave this city tomorrow... Seems too fast! 

 I love this one of the older ladies...

A mom doing her daughters hair...

 Families....

How did these guys do this??????

Walking around... geocaching.. walking by The Parliament Building

Two fire alarms yesterday... both false, so that was good... Pain in the patootie having to walk down the stairs... but, boy if that's the worse things that happen... Life is pretty darn good!

Today we started late... due to Mr Jerry... Real Estate beckoning and he had to get some stuff off in the internet for clients and, of course, things are never quick and easy when you're under a time crunch...  As I'm writing this now, we have NO internet access and it feels weird...

Went to a humongous castle today... Enjoyed the walk and the history of the place.  The Castle Fredericksborg now belongs to the people of Denmark... and is a beautiful museum.  It also includes a huge Lutheran Church (to quote more than one Scandinavian tour guide and written documents, they 'kicked out' the Catholic Church during the Reformation) and on top of the cathedral the Great Hall was built.  This whole thing was built in early 1600's... way more history, but I won't bore you...

Traveled the countryside here in Denmark.  We were able to go through a small village (town) that had several homes that still had thatched roofs.  Very different from what we had pictured in our heads.  Rolling fields, forest, water in the distance... very, very pretty!  For lunch, we had an honest to goodness Danish Meal... I skipped the pickled herring and the marinated herring... A mental thing...  but, the Rye Bread... so, so, so good... and the Danish Meatball and the Pate... those were nummy... Jer and I took a bit of walk after lunch then back on the coach and we were headed for the overnight ferry which would take us to Oslo.

Got on board and we were not going to take off for an hour.  Gave us some time for some drinks and enjoying time with our new friends while we soaked up some rays! We have a very nice private cabin looking out on the water.  Dinner was looooooong... Over three hours... needless to say, we're exhausted.   No internet here... and that's good... 

Posted on July 17.... Reflecting July 16th

Thatched roofs... not what I thought they would look like!

 Pretty Fields

A real moat!

 

 Beautiful Gardens, and the Moat, surrounding the castle.  The Gardens were to be viewed... not to hang out in....

 Interesting story... when the Queen had a baby... many men were in the room as she gave birth to make sure it was a legitimate heir to the throne... and especially if it was a boy, make sure they didn't swap the boy from a girl who might have been born... How fun... having a baby with an audience!!!!  This bed, however, was the King's bed... they each had their own room...

Worked up an appetite after the castle and we were treated to an authentic Danish meal in an old inn... I'm no so much a fan of their herring, etc...

Then off to the ship!  An overnight ferry to Oslo Norway!

 Typical bed setup... we each have our own comforter... Scandinavian tradition... Nice, nights sleep...!