Sjøfartsmuseum

"It was a dark and stormy day" so we deceided to visit the Maritime Museum on the main campus of the university in downtown Bergen. Love these old sections of town.

After a snowy walk we paid our kr.40 each and had a great time for the next couple of hours.

The building sits atop a hill overlooking the harbor by Laksevåg.



This is a model of the famous Oseberg ship that we hope to visit on one of our trips to Oslo. After a long sailing life the original ship was used to bury a woman of great standing in AD 840. It is hard to imagine the Vikings crossing the oceans all the way to America in these open boats that were no wider than about 16 feet. The lines are so beautiful!

Wooden pegs, iron nails and cloth rope held everything together.

The Vikings really got around during their time - A.D. 800 through 1066.

The "sail" portion of the museum had many great ship models.

The steamship displays were also cool with walk-through exhibits.



I was partial to the Hurtigrute displays. In the 1960's I often travelled on the "Polarlys" and other ships of that line when I lived in Kristiansund and Ålesund.

This is what they are building these days in Norway. This past month another huge oil field was discovered way north up the coast near Hammerfest. With all this oil I had hoped for gasoline prices lower than $10 per gallon.



I was surprised to find that another ferry that I used to take - a high speed ferry - ran aground, sank and lost a number of people.

This is from the era of clay pipes. I'd say this guy had a habit of grinding the pipe stem with his teeth. You have to admit there is a convenience factor for the smoker.

The ship art was really cool too.

We made our way back to the parking structure to get our car. The temp was about 34 degrees with slush on the ground but we were greeted with a patch of blue sky just as the sun dipped below the mountain at about 2:30. Next museum stop we want to learn about medieval Hanseatic Bergen.