Day 10, Oslo Norway.

Oslo fjord, stretching apporximately 60 miles from the sea, has had sea-farers living there since the 8th Century.The city probably dates from 1048. Just before 1300 King Hakon V selectedOslo as his principle residence and the trappings of a carpital city followed with the Akershus Castle built to provide additional protection for the thriving town.

We arrived and berthed at Oslo at 07:00 with a warm start to the day.

Left :- The Parliment Building. Centre :- The Main Street. Right :- The Kings Palace.
Left :- View Off Of The Bow While Moored In Oslo. Right :-Views Down Olsofjorden

Assorted Views As We Come In To The Berth, With Good Views Of The Akershus Castle & Fortress.

Below:- The Provisions Arriving By Container & Some Of The Coaches Ready For The Excursions.
Our excursion in Oslo was to cover The Viking Ship Museum, The Vigeland Sculpture Park & Holmenkollen (The sight once of the Winter Olympics).

The Sun Rising Over The City Of Oslo.
Above & Below :- The Viking Ship Museum.
Above :- One Of The Church's At The Museum Of Culture.
Photo's Of The Banks Of The Fjord & Some Of The Small Esturies Leading From It.
Our First Sight Of Oslo As We Slowly Ease Our Way Along The Final Part Of OsloFjorden Just Before 06:00.

Left :- As We Left The Viking Ship Museum We Past Through The Countryside To Get To Our Next Place On Our Excursion.

The Vigeland Sculpture Park, home to the stone, iron,& bronze sculpturesof Gustav Vigeland depicting human life from birth to death.

Right :- One Of The Gates On The Entrance To Vigeland Park. With A Previous Job As A Blacksmith Work Like This I Find Amazing.

Some Of The Craftsmanship On Ships This Age Is Unbelievable.
Holmenkollen held the World Championships in 1930, 1952, 1966 and 1982, and the Winter Olympic Games in 1952, when 101,400 people paid to watch the jumping and another 40,000 packed the viewpoint of the Gratishaug Hill. An Olympic spectator record!

The Viking Ship Museum is Norway's best known attraction & is home to three oak Viking long ships dated 800-900 A.D. with the largest of these requiring 30 rowers.
These fine ships were used astombs for noblemen, who were buried along with jewles, food, and furniture for the afterlife.The blue clay along Oslofjord kept themwell preserved until their discovery in the 19th Century, (Pic' Above).

Above & Left :- Some Of The Sculptures & Founains In The Vigeland Sculpture Park.

Right :- One Of The Views As We Climbed The Hillside To Get Upto Holmenkollen, The Site Of The Ski Jump & Winter Olympics Site Of Some Years Ago.

Day 10 PM

Leaving Oslofjorden.

As early as in 1866 ski jumping competitions were already organized in downtown Christiania, Oslo. To secure good snow conditions, the competition moved to a nearby hill called Holmenkollen, where the first jumps at the "Holmenkollrennet" took place on 31st January 1892 with well over 10.000 spectators present. Since then, the world's skiing elite meets at Holmenkollen every year, and the 50,000 spectators turn it into an annual celebration.
After Getting Back To The Sea Princess We Noticed In The Castle Grounds A Norwegian Naval Sea Rescue Helecopter. A Short While Later It Took Off Giving Me A Chance To Try My New Camera.