A Boat Cruise in the Oslofjord

 As mentioned already, we had been in Oslo in 2023 and had already seen the Vigeland Sculpture Park, toured the Akershus Museum and walked to the top of the Opera House, among other things. We had also been very busy and wanted some time to just hang out and maybe even get into the pool for a swim. We managed to do that, and were nicely rested up for the last day of the cruise. The ship would be leaving Oslo for Copenhagen at 2:00 in the afternoon, and we had a boat cruise around otherwise unknown parts of the Oslo waterfront area booked in the morning.

We had a huge group, about 90 of us altogether, and fortunately we didn't have to walk far from the ship to reach our tour boat. There is a large boat, looking rather like a party boat, berthed near the ships. We'd seen it in 2023 as well, and many of us thought that was our destination. As I discovered from a YouTube video featuring tours in the Norwegian fjords, it is in fact a tour boat, but not one that can be chartered privately. So we ended up going on another boat, a smaller, wooden sailing ship. There were enough seats on the outer decks and it was a lovely day, but there were rumblings of mutiny from those who were convinced we should have been on the other boat....that were finally put to rest when our guide announced that the bar, serving complimentary beer and wine (max 2 drinks per person), was open.

We had a very short walk to our tour boat from
Serenity!

We sailed around some of the islands for about 3 hours, with our guide providing interesting information on all of them, their histories, importance to defense or trade, and the fact that on some of them, summer homes costing over a million dollars had no electricity or indoor plumbing!

Some enclaves of summer houses, like this one, have
been owned by the same families for so long that it
takes a generation or two for new owners to finally be
accepted by their neighbours!

There is also quite a selection of lighthouses on these islands, some of which have other uses as well, like one which is a locally very well-known restaurant. Our guide said she had been there in the winter; it was a little more difficult to get in and out of the boat that brings guests from the harbour, but very cozy nonetheless.

Some of the other lighthouses we passed:

The islands are not just home to summer houses. There was a children's hospital facility that was used in the mid-1900s for recovery from various illnesses. There are only a few buildings left, and it is no longer in use. But currently under construction on one of the islands is a large rehab hospital that will serve all of Oslo and the surrounding area.

Along with the beer and wine, a buffet meal was offered. In typical Nordic fashion, it was peel and eat shrimp with butter, mayonnaise, dill, lemon wedges and a couple of choices of bread. It looked like many from the group didn't quite know what to do, so a couple of us went down to gather up a plateful. It was fresh and delicious!

On one island we passed by summer homes up in the hills that each had their own little 'bath house' - changing room, boat house, whatever they needed - down at the waterfront. They were all different and looked quite cute sitting all in a row. The islands are very rocky, and I imagine the water is deep right off the shore, but our guide said that the fjord doesn't freeze in the winter so there is no issue with ice damage. Actually, she mentioned that the water temperature on our cruise day was 20℃!

A family sailed by on their wooden boat. I wouldn't
be surprised if it was home-made!

After our tour around the fjord we headed back toward the city centre, passing Akershus, the old defense fortress, on the way. Serenity was docked on the opposite side, and as we passed by, I realized that we had been docked where we were sailing on our very first visit to Oslo in 1996 on Splendor of the Seas. I have photos of Akershus from the ship docked here in my very old photo albums.

The low building at the pier is the port building

And finally, the required 'ticky-tacky tourist shot of the ship'. 

That was a nice way to spend a couple of hours. Now it was back to the ship for the art show - yes, we even managed a couple of art classes this week! - and to pack up for our return home on the 22nd.

I'm still working on sketches for the trip, so the final post will cover the art show and my sketchbook tour for this week.