Beautiful, Beautiful Oslo Harbour........

Here is a quick pic of Oslo harbour on the way to the Viking ship museum 

This part of the city is much like Melbourne's docklands, a modern harbour jetty side redevelopment populated with lots of apartment building and frequented by hordes of tourists. So today we are gracing beautiful Oslo with our tourism faces on. 

And did I say fabulous weather, well Oslo is screaming summer at us. As I am writing this in the hospital reception the evening (9.20 pm) sun is still filtering through a set of light clouds for a peaceful wind down of the day. Our cycling buddy Knut took us up to Holmenkollen ski jump and x-c ski mountain for the great views over the city & fijord. What a venue, no wonder Norway is the best nation in the world at ski jumping & x-c ski racing, they have invested big in the facilities. Then through the city for a visit to the 2011 bomb site in the city centre. It is a poignant to the different times we are living in. A quick reminder that a white, right winger placed a 1 tonne bomb in the city alongside a government building then left it there to explode killing 8 people. Whilst he then proceeded to an island in the harbour and shot about 80 people, most of whom were young teenagers.     
Onward to the Viking ship museum to see the 4 amazing viking ships raised in the late 1800's from burial mounds dating from the 8th & 9th centuries. These boats are in brilliant condition and offer a glimpse into the past of an amazing nation of seafarers. The boats have beautiful and graceful lines from bow to stern, curvaceous and sleek. They are powered by 60 oarsmen + sail and would have created a fearsome scene speeding up a river in sleepy old England back in the day.