Finally - Oslo - most recent port by default (of de wind_)

Thought I’d better get back to this. This rough sea isn’t very conducive to computer activities but today is quite calm – so far. Still a pea souper outside. In fact even pea soupier than ever! We like to eat outside but with the fog horn blasting every few minutes it’s not the best either. Inside it tends to get a bit stuffy, but if that’s our only complaint – hey, how spoilt are we?

We went to Oslo on 16^th July – it’s now 22^nd!! –

And I’m back again. Such a busy life you know. Had to have lunch, go to a rum tasting, enter a talent quest – don’t ask- and get ready for bean bag tossing at 3 pm. And I saw some sun – they said the fog would clear this arvo. We’ve also turned the corner to head directly west to New York in three days’ time  - just passed 14 kms away from where the Titanic went down – yeah!                                Yes, Oslo, Norway. These Scandinavian ports feel more like home - maybe it’s the green and the wooden houses. We took a tour to the glassworks – mainly again, to get out into the country side and it’s so pretty. Fir and pine trees and cleared areas of farms and crops. The barns are traditionally painted red with white joinery and the houses yellow. It’s not economical to fell their own trees so they import timber from Sweden. Must be very pretty in the winter with snow on them. They have several artificial ski jumps and include cross country skiing in their popular winter activities. 164 of the 200plus ski runs are illuminated remembering the low daylight hours in this part of the world. One in particular, the Holenkollen Ski jump , is right behind the city, and really dominates the scene, especially with the sun shining off it. They also have a zip line up there. Public parks are full of sculptures and here also, the famous Edvard Munch’s “The Scream “is kept  in the National Gallery. The Hadeland glassworks, on the shores of Lake Tyrifjord, are nothing like those in Venice, which I presumed would be the case. Here they make glasses, vases, platters – very modern and stylish. They used to get the sand from the nearby lake but now import the glass pellets from Sweden. The country side is extremely pretty. Green grassy areas running to the lake side – it’s a huge lake – also called a fjord – a description for fresh and salt water areas. After the coffee and Danish refreshments and some non-productive shopping despite being factory prices and “tax free” haha, we set off back to the capital – a ride of 90 minutes. The Norwegians don’t hesitate to tunnel through the mountains either so the trip was very pleasant. We had a brief tour of Oslo before going to the Viking ship museum where some burial ships were on display. This particular one belonged to a queen who was buried in a mound with all her possessions – three smaller boats, a very ornate cart, two sleighs beautifully carved, toys, shoes, all put in the boat with her. It was a local area boat because of the low sides; 8 metres wide and 22 metres long. The other boats had a deeper draft so were sea faring vessels.  Quite fascinating. These countries and Europe and the UK have such entwined histories it’s a wonder they are separate at all but they manage to maintain an individual flavour. No love is lost between them that’s for sure. They all have many many marinas and lots of small boats.

Well. Captains cocktail party tonight - free booze and nibbles. The Captain is leaving in New York so better shake his hand for luck – again. He’s actually quite funny – English – and at the noon reports he’ll describe us variably as “thundering along”; “tootling along”; “going like the clappers” etc.

We didn’t win a valuable lanyard or water bottle at the bean bag tossing – devastating. Thanks for your feedback and comments. It’s so nice to be able to keep in touch. Love it. Technology is pretty marv. after all (when all goes well- obviously haven’t master the photo thingy yet; give us a month or two!)

See you later – maybe after New York New York!!!