All worth it for the look

About a month before we left I caught up with a mate for lunch. He was moving to Sydney but had some time off between leaving Brisbane and was going to travel. We compared notes and figured out that we were going to cross over in New York.

He is also a friend of Alison's. We didn't tell her. It was an opportunity for surprise.

The day we could meet up was cold. The minimum was thirteen degrees below zero. The maximum was twelve degrees below zero. It seemed like a good day to go to the Met.

Ali and I got a cab uptown. It was Ali's first New York cab ride, and it was a doozy. Our driver assured us as we got in that he wasn't drinking a beer. It was a malted drink. On the drive to 82nd and 5th he cleaned his ears, played with a hat, spat from the window, all while driving like... well, a New York cab driver.

None of this phased me. New York cab drivers are out there every day; I figure they know what they're doing.

We arrived in one piece ready to see some art.

Byzantine Psalm book

The Met was far better than I had anticipated. In particular, I enjoyed walking straight into the section dedicated to Medieval Europe and seeing it filled with Byzantine artifacts.

Ali was frustrated that I spent so much time fiddling with my phone when we arrived. She couldn't know that I was coordinating. I pretended to be taking photos of the Viking display.

Yeah... pretended...

In a way it was nice to go to a museum with so much variety. My last trip had been all Viking and Byzantine stuff, but history is fascinating no matter what is on display. As long as the stories attached are interesting. For that the Roman items were the best.

To my surprise the area I liked the most was the European art upstairs. So many amazing works of art in one place, but with incredible variety. It was worth the visit just to see them.

David with Goliath's head

We dawdled for a little while taking in displays of ancient art and religion and religious art.

This was amazing

Ali was just about ready to move on when someone walked up behind her and commented on the item she was looking at. She turned around and saw...

...this guy!

We were gratified to see her do a full double-take. She later told us that she was still uncertain it was Reuben until deep into the conversation which followed.

He stayed with us as we explored the rest of the museum and we agreed to meet up that night for dinner.

Reuben's return heralded the chance to do something we had missed on the last trip. The legendary Five Napkin Burger. The burgers were good, five napkins may have been an under-estimate. Afterward we searched for desserts nearby.

What we found was astonishing.

Deep dish cookies.

Deep dish cookies.

Deep. Dish. Cookies.

Top tourists

It rained, but at least the rain ate into the snow. The fog over central park cleared the remnants of ice and slush. The threat of a minus ten day still hung over the city, but that wasn't until the next day.

The rain was cold and constant and we went in search of indoor sights. The first we reached was Grand Central Station, which was celebrating its centenary.

Ali and a bunch of commuters

We bought one week MetroCards and not for the first time reflected on how expensive public transport is in Brisbane. In New York, $2.50 will get you from one end of the city to the other. You can travel as much as you like all week for $30. In Brisbane I'm lucky not to spend $9 a day and I live a stones-throw from the city.

The must-see attraction for Ali was the Museum of Natural History, which I had visited on the last trip.

Christmasaurus?

Our tickets included a pass to the Dark Universe space show in the planetarium, presented by Neil deGrasse Tyson.

It was a visually impressive and engaging presentation, and a neat addition to our price of admission. We both commented that if Oliver had been on this trip he would have loved the presentation (though it may have been a bit basic for him - for us it was at the right level).

Teddy stands watch over the museum

The last time I was in the museum the entrance hall was being renovated, so it was good to see the dinosaurs, the murals and the Roosevelt quotes without scaffolding.

Also people appreciate the seating

Apart from the planetarium, we spent most of our time in looking at the mammals, the ocean room, and the people of the Americas.

It was still raining when we set out for our hotel to get some warmer clothes. We used the subway exit and stayed underground and indoors as much as possible.

Sunset behind us, caught the reflection in that building on the right.

Rockefeller plaza is atop a subway hub, and we were able to get there with minimal shivering.

Last time I went up to the Top of the Rock during the day and the Empire State Building at night, and Ali charitably offered to do the opposite this time around.

By the time we reached the top of the tower, the rain had cleared, and we had a clear view of the city at night.

There's that weird building again.

It was especially interesting to see Times Square from this angle, where it became a blazing flame of neon, like a laser bonfire in the city's heart. At the same time Central Park was a pit of darkness between us and Harlem, with fairy-light trails across it, marking the few paths.

Times Square

Up top we could feel the cold change coming. The temperature dropped fast and while we would have loved to stay to get more photos we could not stay outside for more than a couple of minutes at a time. We got one photo together but neither of us could manage a convincing smile in the cold.

We spent a little time outside with the crowds around the ice-skating rink as they waited for the ice to be cleaned, and ducked through the Lego store but didn't buy anything (though I took some photos for Tom).

That's where we were. Up there.

Before we left we had picked out a spot for dinner. Another subway ride and we were at the edge of Little Italy and we walked the five blocks for some Italian.

Ali had the lobster risotto.

Would you believe we stayed for coffee and dessert?

Forward

In high school, I was in Nansen house. When I found out that the ship built for Fridtjof Nansen, the Fram, was in a museum, I was keen to see it.

Turned out to be a pretty amazing museum.

Fram

Much like the Vasa museum in Stockholm, the Fram museum is built around the ship, with three levels of catwalks providing different perspectives on the ship.

At the moment they also have a special exhibit on the tragic Terra Nova Antarctic expedition. As this was on the ground floor, it was my first stop.

Note Shackleton's crazy-eyes and monobrow

The exhibit went step by step through the Scott expedition. Some of it I knew already (the rivalry with Shackleton, losing to the Norwegians, Oates' last words) but there were some personal items on display, along with some interesting facts I'd not heard.

Roald Amundsen (whom the museum held up as the greatest explorer of all time, but they are a touch biased) left two letters at the pole. The first was written to the King of Norway confirming his reaching the South Pole, the second to Scott asking him to deliver the first. I guess you don't become the greatest explorer of all time without being a touch audacious.

None of these photos came out very well

The crucial difference between the Vasa museum and the Fram museum can be found at the top level where, to my great joy, I discovered I could walk aboard the Fram. And inside it. A number of the decks and cabins were open and items from the various expeditions were on display. Unfortunately they proved difficult to photograph due to the lighting used in the museum.

Good diorama or great diorama?

The Fram is a big fat tub. She is tall and not very long which, when you consider she was built to spend years in the Arctic ice, makes sense. She was designed so that under the pressure of the ice she would rise up rather than crack.

The Fram museum also had a number of exhibits on the explorers who had used the Fram. First amongst them was Fridtjof Nansen.

Penetrating stare

I did not know, before I went, how dedicated to science he was. In fact, he wanted more scientists on the first Fram expedition, but couldn't find any who were willing to put up with the conditions (years living on the ice shelf). He himself was a biologist and oceanographer who ensured that scientific discovery remained as important to the Norwegian Arctic and Antarctic programs as the race to the Poles.

I want one.
  

Say cheese!

Outside the museum stands a set of statues commemorating the first men to arrive at the South Pole. They're all facing south. It was a beautiful day in Oslo, hot and humid with clear skies. They looked out of place in their polar gear.

Oh ship!

Okay. This one has been a little while coming.

I went to Oslo to see the viking ships. There are three in the astutely named Viking Ship Museum (not to be confused with the museum of the same name and subject matter in Roskilde). The museum is a fjord away from the city center, where I was staying. There's a bus which goes (very) regularly but the best way to get across is by ferry.

It offers great views of the fortress.

It was good museum weather the morning I went over, and a lot of people seemed to have the same idea as me - even at 9am the ferry was full. The area it goes to has the Ship museum, the Cultural History Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Kon Tiki museum and the Fram museum all within a couple of kilometers.

Forward!

I got to the Fram museum later in the day, but I'm covering that in a separate post.

So. The ships. I fought through the eight (8!) bus loads of Spanish and Russian tourists (my first boganskiis!) and got my first look at the most famous item in the collection, the Osberg ship.

Click for the full size photo, have a look at the carving.

The Osberg ship is important for a bunch of reasons. It was the burial ship for a woman of importance (women were respected, respected women were buried like men). It is the most complete ship found to date, and there was a lot of stuff on board. All the gold and silver had been removed by grave robbers and, if there were any weapons originally buried, these were taken too. What was left was still fascinating; animals, a functioning cart, a few sleds, tools for food preparation and textile manufacture, all things to make life easier in the next world.

View from the stern; note the small rudder

The shape of the ship is also interesting. It sits low, only three or four boards above the water line. This, combined with the intricate carvings at the bow and stern leads people who know stuff about boats to think it was a pleasure craft, used for 'royal' days on the water. That this person was rich enough to have a leisure craft is fascinating as well. What interested me is that there is clearly a deck, with removable planks. I've since read that these could be lifted to bail the ship.

Next was the Gokstad Ship. Of the three, this was my pick.

Note the oar holes, the difference in the depth of the keel

Like the Osberg, this was a burial ship and like the Osberg, all the pretty stuff had been nicked by grave robbers. None of that matters though, because the boat itself is fascinating.

The rudder is huge, especially compared to the Osberg; even the tiller is much larger. But most interesting; it's removable. It could be lifted to allow this ship, which has a much deeper draft than the pleasure-boat above, to move through shallow waters without damaging the steering.

Also cool were the oar holes, which could be covered with wooden flaps to stop water coming in when the oars were shipped. The Gokstad ship is easily the largest clinker I've seen (it would have had 32 Oarsmen) and was reinforced with ribs. Much larger than this and the ship can't be clinker built.

What remains of the Tune Ship

The Tune Ship is the worst preserved of the three. It's also built of clinkered oak and would have been smaller than the others (around 24 oars).

Burial tent

Along with the Tune Ship were a number of larger items taken from the other burials; a tent, where the human remains and personal belongings were found in the Gokstad burial, and the Gokstad boats.

Smaller clinker boats from the Gokstad

The burial items reinforced both the intricacy and beauty of Viking era woodwork and the extended trading network that the Scandinavians possessed.

Wagon from the Osberg

I found it interesting that while the wagon would have been used only for special occasions, the sleighs would have been in common use. Dogs to pull the sleighs and horses for the wagon were also found in the Osberg grave.

Sleigh bar from the Osberg

And while robbers took all the silver and gold pieces from the burials, they did not take every item of bronze or iron, leaving behind some fascinating jewelry.

Smaller pieces, from all over the world

A lot of these decorate other simple items; the sheath of a knife or a belt or the like.

More shiny stuff

Upstairs they had the human remains from the graves on display. For all the talk of giant viking warriors, I need to remember that these people lived a thousand years ago. Tall meant something different then. One of them, a king in his prime, had legs which were not even as long as my arm. They might have been tall for their time, but we would tower over them today.

Keep that in mind when looking at the photos of the ships. What looks impressive to us would have been enormous to these tiny vikings.

And before I knew it, it was lunch time. I stepped out into the sunlight (it had become a beautiful day - see the photos from that afternoon, below) and went in search of a sandwich, a cup of coffee and the Fram.

Forward!

Three fortresses, two farms and a burrito

"The island is first mentioned in 997, when the king, Olav Tryggvason, rowed out here, with two heads."
That got my attention.
"The head of the local king, his worst enemy, and the king's slave. They were put on stakes, facing Trondheim, so that all would know who ruled."
I had travelled to Munkholmen because it promised a fine view of the city from the water. I had not expected that the history of the place would be so interesting.

Also, it looked badass

Not many people had come out on the tour; a lot of local families had come to have picnics on the shore. But it was fascinating; from viking executions to Catholic power base, a fortress for repelling Swedes and a German flak emplacement.

Star shaped battlements for fighting with swords, round walls for guns. Things you learn.

The boat ride out, the tour and the ride back took most of the morning, so I had lunch at the Dromadar Kaffebar (best coffee in Norway!) for some lunch. There was a path uphill from there, and something strange on the map, so I wandered up to have a look.

Pretty good view from up there

It was a second fortress, recently opened to tourists. A strange experience; no ticket needed to enter, no information inside. Just a bunch of people having picnics.

Just... in a fortress

Norwegians, it seems, love picnics in fortresses. Considering the fortresses have all the best views, I can't fault them on that.

Back in town, I hopped on the number 8 bus out to the folk museum, an outdoor establishment founded by a rich Swiss couple. They have relocated historical buildings from all over Trondelag and have a traditional town, two farms and two churches set up around a high hill that was once a strategic fortress.

A typical post-reformation church with a modern era Norwegian man

One of the farms (the 'rich' farm) featured a house which was used only for wedding celebrations. I would liken this extravagance to a modern family in a landlocked country owning a boat; they don't use it very often, but that's not the point.

Inside was some amazing traditional Norwegian decoration, against a not-so-Norwegian white background (the artist was Dutch)

There was a fire a few years ago and they had to restore it.

But the best thing I learned there was the origin of the Scandinavian/Baltic cry of 'Skål!' when drinking.  It literally means 'Bowl!'

This is a Skål

At weddings the guests would all bring baskets of food. One of the women in the household would have to keep track of who brought what and make sure nobody was served their own food (a major insult). The man of the house was responsible for providing the beer, which he brought up from the cellar in large jugs and poured into a bowl or Skål which had cups floating in the beer. When a guest wanted another cup, he would call for the bowl.

There were also buildings and such

The museum's tavern came well recommended (online) and I stopped in for dinner. I had a reindeer burrito, with a kind of potato pancake instead of a tortilla. It was... pretty good.

That morning, out at Munkholmen, the tour guide had given me a nice tip.

"The statue of Olav Tryggvason, in the middle of town, has next to him a small lump. It is the head of Haakon Jarl. Most people miss it."

I know I had.

Can you see it?

Something to prove

A little explanation at the start of this post; I had no intention of going to Uppsala when I planned this trip. In fact, I wasn't going to visit Sweden at all, but a number of people recommended I visit Stockholm (to see the Vasa!) while I was in the area and I could see the wisdom in that. Then my supervisor suggested that, if I had time, I make the trip out to have a look at Uppsala.

"It used to be the capital," he said. "It's relevant to you, and I think you'll like it."

He was right, of course. This always happens to me. I went to the USA expecting to be an east-coast person and fell madly in love with the west. Now it looks like Sweden is doing everything it can to win me over before Norway gets a look-in.

Uppsala suffers from Picturesque European Town disorder

Today Sweden put on a show like it wanted to marry my daughter. Uppsala is about 40 minutes from Stockholm by train. A quick walk to the river and I found the tourist bureau. I had no idea what I could see or do in Uppsala, just the vague knowledge that it was pretty and had something to do with vikings.

I was right on both counts.

The lady at the bureau recommended getting the bus out to Gamla Uppsala (old Uppsala) about seven kilometers from the city center. But first, there were some items near the cathedral she thought might interest me.

Holmfast had the stone erected in memory of his father and brother

 Mother.

Bjorn had the stone erected in memory of __ soul

 Flippin.

Gilliog had the stone erected in memory of her daughter Gilliog

Runestones.

The park by the cathedral had eight runestones on display. These are the first runestones I have ever seen. I was blown away.

Then it was lunch time. The tourist bureau had recommended a bunch of Swedish restaurants, but they all had fish-only menus and cost a lot of money. So I found a cute cafe.

Lunch round one

That sandwich was incredible. Fresh salad, cheese, sundried tomatoes, pesto. I was too hot for a coffee, but after watching the river for a while I thought a coffee would be just the thing. Also I had made the mistake of seeing the cake cabinet.

Lunch round two

German coffee and Austrian coffee had been so awful I have become wary of European coffee in general. In Austria in especially this was confusing; they were so proud of their coffee. I asked the girl at the cafe why Swedish coffee was so good.

"We're not proud," she said. "We just love our coffee."

The view at lunch time.

I got on the wrong bus. Well, the right bus, but going the wrong way. I got to tour the Uppsala number 2 route. But eventually I made it out to Gamla Uppsala.

Are those... are those barrows?

Gamla Uppsala was the bronze-age and Viking age capital of Uppland. The area is now full of excavation sites. There are going to be 30 archaeologists working there this year and 20 next year, preparing for the new train tunnel that's going in. There used to be somewhere between 200 and 2,000 burial sites in the area, along with halls and homes and such. Supposedly a pagan temple (though no evidence has been found). Most of it has been ploughed over as farmland and the landscape has changed considerably.

There's a museum. It's full of stuff excavated from the three primary burial sites and a handful of boat burials from nearby.

Swords and spears and helmets and jewelry and just so much stuff

An archaeologist gave us a tour of the exhibits and some history of the area. There were, he explained, two sources who provided information about whose remains were in the three main burial sites, and neither of them were reliable. One was a German priest, whose account was hearsay and was mostly propaganda aimed at making the Swedish pagans seem like savages.

The other was Snorri Sturluson.

In Snorri's version, one king was sacrificed to end a terrible famine. One fell off his horse and died. The third was gored by a sacrificial bull. But these accounts don't match up with the remains found.

Ten year old boys on bearskins and such

There was a reason for this too.

"In Snorri's stories about the Norwegian kings, they alway have heroic deaths. But the Swedish kings, the deaths are silly. This is why we say, when we don't believe somebody, that they are telling Norwegian Stories."

That was not my favourite thing.

"Also, Snorri is slang, in Sweden, for wiener. So that is funny. It makes all the school children laugh when they hear it."

The view from the middle site

They also had a kids section

The on-site archaeologist got me the metal sword from behind the counter

I would have looked more fierce if I could have wiped the shit-eating grin off my face.