Today was a day for rest and relaxation. We had the intention of going out and observing the parade of august mourners. But we were so fascinated watching the funeral coverage (with the Norwegian narration muted) that we never left our room til dinner time.
We had much better views than we would have if we had been in the midst of it. There were drone shots over the cortège route, views of the city, the fortress, the harbor and the guys who were shooting off the cannons.
Soldiers marching to assembly locations
More marching soldiers
Soldiers lining the route
Cannons aimed across the harbor
Views of the fortress, where the mausoleum is.
We also saw the very ceremonial ceremony inside the church! 
King’s coffin lying in state in the palace.
After all the military and dignitaries were in place, the coffin was moved from the palace, down the long avenue lined with soldiers to the church where the funeral service was held, conducted by the Bishop of the Church of Norway and the Bishop of Oslo.
Royal family - Widow of King Harold, King Haakon, his wife, daughter and son.
One very moving part of the service was when a small choir sang “Abide with me,” in English, while moving through the church and encouraging everyone to join them.
Our hotel is very near the parade route, so we also heard the marching bands playing and the cannon shots.
Later we watched the crowds hurrying towards the palace to catch a glimpse of the king and the royal family when they came out on the balcony.
We even watched them greeting the very VIP guests as they arrived for the reception. We could tell who was royalty by seeing who bowed, and how deeply, and to whom. Very entertaining!
Greeting the British Royals - William, Kate, and Ann, who is the godmother of King Haakon.
In the evening, we walked a bit along the parade route and up towards the palace. It was fun seeing in person some of the landmarks we saw in the coverage. There were flowers everywhere!
The Missing Man formation flew over our hotel.
King Haakon
During the day, we also did lots of sorting and repacking and deleting photos, so a productive and relaxing day overall. All ready for our next adventure.
How serendipitous to be there for the funeral
ReplyDeleteGreat you were accidentally there for all the pomp and circumstance!
ReplyDeleteFrom ancient history to the latest news - your photos ND COMMENTARY ARE TRULY informative, entertaining ND A JOY TO BEHOLD.
ReplyDeleteTHNK YOU 😊😊😊💕😊☘️ Jackie !
What a somber yet very interesting time to visit! Love seeing all the pageantry and respectful beauty. I love the hymn, “Abide With Me.”
ReplyDeleteAs for your appreciation that you could see all of this on TV instead of down on the streets, that’s how Gary and I feel about live sporting events. We much prefer to watch from home where there is no crowd, the seats are exceptionally comfortable with nobody blocking our view, and the kitchen and bathrooms are very close by!!
(P.S. Just today I updated my profile picture, but this is still ME!)