Touristing

Sunday, after dormitory meetings in the morning, we boarded buses for a sight-seeing tour of some famous destinations in Oslo. Our first stop was Holmenkollen, a very large ski jump. Skiing, in all its various and sundry incarnations is the national sport of Norway, and though cross country skiing is perhaps the most popular form, ski-jump has always held a special place in the Norwegians' hearts. It's a gigantic structure, and I'm not sure the pictures do it justice.

After Holmenkollen, we proceeded down to Vigeland's Park, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Oslo. It's really quite a strange place, as it's a park filled with two hundred statues of slightly overweight, naked people. Naked people seems to be a theme in the art around Norway, especially on the public buildings.

The fountain in the center of Vigeland's Park.

Of far more interest to me was our next destination, the Viking Ship Museum. In this museum they had three Viking ships from the ninth century which they had dug out of burial mounds, as well as many artifacts buried along with them. The ships are remarkably well preserved for how old they are.

In the foreground, a 21 year old tourist. In the background, a 1200 year old Viking ship.

After seeing the ship, we headed back to campus and prepared for the first day of class. More on class, the opening ceremony of the summer school and Oslo in general coming soon!