Norwegian Folk Museum

After the Viking Museum, Kristina and I headed over to the Norwegian Folk Museum. The "museum" was, in fact, an enormous compound of buildings gathered from around Norway by the king in the late 19th c. One neat feature was this English garden that was built in front of this house from the 18th c.:

An old barn from the 17th c.

One 15-16th c. farmsted house had a girl in period dress who was knitting the day away:

Another 17th c. barn:

There were also farms on the grounds that used only period methods of cultivation, etc.:

A 16th c. (?) storehouse. Notice how wide the logs are:

This was a really neat row of 15-16th c. farm houses and barns:

Notice the intricate carving and hardware. This was on a very simple farm house:

Again, see how big those logs are!

Men in period outfits gathering hay the oldfashioned way:

Viking Ship Museum

One of the things Kristina and I were really looking forward to in Oslo was going to the Viking Ship Museum; it did not disappoint. It was situated in what seemed to be an old cathedral (yes, ironic), which was necessary due to the sheer size of the ships. There were three ships that have been recovered throughout the years though only two were really in tact. Archeologists have taken these from burial mounds around the Oslo fjord. Here is one of the main attractions (see how big it is):

Close-up of the prow of the ship:

This is the rudder, which was held to the ship by an intricately woven leather strap:

It was unbelievable how well-preserved the ships are:

On the far left is a sort of "burial room" that was onboard the ship:

The second major ship that was recovered belonged to either a minor queen or an aristocratic woman. Included in the ship were three beautifully carved wagons:

A close-up of the detail:

Some of the artifacts recovered from the ships were pretty unbelievable. For example, here is a dog collar and a couple of dog whistles:

Intricately carved sled, which was also a gift to the "queen":

This is what was described as an Asian-influenced character, which shows the expanse of the Viking trade routes:

This is an ale bowl:

Brass-plated horse harness:

Oslo

After about a week in Göteborg, we took a three day excursion to Oslo. Kristina booked an extremely nice bus for the trip over, which was about three hours. The seats were like first class, and there was even free WiFi:

We were invited to stay with some old friends of Kristina's, Linéa and Ruben, and their son Titus. They lived in an amazingly beautiful area on a mountain outside Olso. In their neighborhood, there are some unique Norwiegan-looking homes. Grass on the roof is a popular choice:

Check out those views:

There were a couple of mansions too:

Another unique home:

Mansion #2:

Ruben and Titus enjoying some quality time:

Last but not least, here is Linéa and Ruben's very beautiful home:

Visiting

En av de saker vi såg mest fram emot att göra i Göteborg var att få gå på gudstjänst i Kvillebäcken. Det var jätteroligt att få träffa vänner och få se den nya församlingslokalen (fast den är väl inte så ny längre, när de redan har varit där i ett år). Johanna o Paki var också i Göteborg den helgen, så fick tillfälle att umgås lite mer med dem efteråt. På måndag åkte vi in till FFG, ett annat mycket emotsett besök. Det var roligt att få se de nya lokalerna där också, men framför allt att få träffa mina gamla lärare och kolleger. Det är en nåd att ha fått tillbringa tre år av mitt liv där. Jag har lärt mig så mycket, och är så tacksam över allt jag fått.

Two of the things we really were looking forward to doing in Göteborg were visiting my church there, and visiting the seminary were I studied and did my intership. The congregation is wonderful, and the seminary is an amazing place. I'm so thankful for three years I got to spend there. Unfortunately we don't have any picture from those places, but we really enjoyed visiting with the people there.

Johanna and Paki were also in Göteborg that weekend, so we got to spend a little bit more time with them.

Utflykt

Ännu en vacker dag i Göteborg. Vi gjorde en utflykt till det mysiga samhället Rönnäng på ön Tjörn. Jättefint område. Jag var nog mer ut i solen under de här dagarna i Göteborg än jag varit under hela sommaren, så jag fick en liten solbränna till sist.

On another beautiful day, we took a day trip to a little town, Rönnäng, on an island named Tjörn north of Göteborg. It was a wonderful, relaxing day, visiting with my sister and her family, hiking around in the town and enjoying the views.

This is actually the two of us, even if you barely can see us in the gray clothes against the gray rocks:

Lots of bright purple heather:


Hiking up to the highest point above the town gave us great views of Rönnäng and the surrounding archipelago:

Hakefjord, between mainland and Tjörn:


The bridge, Tjörnbron, between mainland and the islands. The old bridge was destroyed in 1980 when a ship hit it, killing 8 people who drove off the bridge.