a tour of the draken

today we met at the harbor for a tour of the viking ship draken harald hårfagre.

 the weather was once again warm and humid but the light was beautiful for our walk downtown. 

 we scheduled a late tour so that chanda could join us after her show.

 we met her with korrina and brian who went to see the her this afternoon. they said it was a great performance and korrina was pleased that chanda came out so often with the other "witch apprentices" and it wasn't just a few moments in only one part of the ballet. francis made good use of them throughout and gave them some nice choreography.

and then it was on to the draken . . 

the sides are all of oak, but the mast is one big douglas fir tree from scotland. the original spruce mast split and i don't remember the story as to how that happened. it's possible a member of my sleeping family does, but i'll have to wait to add that info. 

i really found the mast very impressive in a way that's difficult to see in a photograph. it was just so tall and i couldn't imagine having to take it down as they did for the new york canal locks. it was even hard to imagine a tree so big, and straight! wayne, our guide, said that it was a concentrated search to find the perfect tree.

they have two sails. the one in the photo above is made of silk. their second is made of canvas. 

 they have beautiful engravings throughout . . 

the ship was named for harald hårfagre, a king who unified norway into one kingdom. i believe draken means dragon, and it was built in the town of haugesund, in western norway with the expertise of their boat building tradition, information from their norse literature, archeological finds and old sailing records.

 beneath our feet is the bottom of the ship where the stored various ropes that they weren't using. the planks simply pull up.

 to the right of korrina, behind the pole, is the capstan that they use to wind their ropes. they put a pole through and turn together.

 you can see the tar on the ropes. they constantly oil them to keep them in good shape. one of wayne's main points was that the crew is constantly working to keep the ship oiled and clean.

 here he is showing us the windlass, used to wind rope and haul up the anchor. (their cooking area is on the left behind the woman who is bending over. their cook uses propane, but the vikings would have eaten dried fish and meats).

 the magnetic compass is on the right and the satellite compass is on the left. the vikings would have used the stars and a sunstone (the mariner's sextant wasn't invented until the 1700's) to help determine latitude and keep them on the course they wanted.

they also might have had crows on board the ship. when they needed to find land they would release the crows who would fly in the direction of the nearest island. the draken has two "crows" on board: hugin . . . 

and mun (mun looks real here!).

in this picture you can see their sleeping tent: the second orange canvas to the right of greg. it has about thirty bunks (not sure of that number), but if a crew member wanted to sleep on deck that was permitted. i guess it can get a little stuffy in the tent, though another crew member said that one of the  difficulties of sailing across was the cold and the wet and that he was happy to sleep in the tent. i think they said six days was the longest they were at sea in one stretch. among the sea animals and birds they saw were orcas and puffins and lots of icebergs.

it was a really fun family field trip.

we then said good night to korrina and brian so that we could all go home and get ready for our trip to florida tomorrow.

chanda has her beautiful rose flowers from korrina and brian.

a pic brian took at the theatre.

late blooming roses along the river walk . . 

a type of black eyed susan?

echinacea . .

 sunset . . 

and the roses at home . . settled in their vase.

a viking invasion

morgana and i walked downtown to the brookfield marina to see the draken viking ship come into port. greg and chanda didn't join us as they both had other things to do. chanda had a macbeth show, and greg  had a florida state football game he wanted to watch.

here you can see the draken on the river with the verrazano in the distance.

the ship's musicians had been brought in from the boat so they could play on the dock while the draken sailed in.

i apologize for the jumpiness of the movie. i guess i need to focus on filming and not watch what is going on. actually, i was laughing with the couple next to me as they were imagining being on the coast of england in the eighth century and seeing the ship sailing towards us, we would most likely be terrified and running away.

 once in the harbor, the musicians stopped playing so we could hear the crew sing and the horn blow.

giving a cheer . . 

and then they got ready to disembark . . 

 morgana found their many different shoes very interesting.

i'm not sure what animal horn they blow here . . . 

 the music was fabulous. i could have listened all day.

 it was very moving and special to see her come into port. i'm so glad morgana and i were able to be there. tomorrow all of us (including korrina and brian!) have tickets for a tour on board. chanda was shocked and extremely happy. she thought she was going to have to miss seeing her because of the scottish play ballet, but we were able to get a late tour. you can check out their website for more information about the ship and it's journey: draken expedition america. you can also read about eva and her family's experience visiting the draken on the new york canal locks here. 

 having a bite to eat before getting on the train and heading uptown.

 we came up to the alliance française as morgana had a movie to return. she took a two week beginner french course just a week or so ago, and now has a year's membership during which she can check out books and movies from their library. our visit coincided with their open house, so i was able to go upstairs with her and see the library and her classroom. they have it beautifully decorated with deep blue rugs and blond wood bookshelves. we found a few books and magazines on sale that i bought for my sister for christmas. she likes to keep up with her french.

 they were having a degas exhibit and we found the little dancer. (there are twenty eight of these sculptures throughout the world.)

 the title of this degas painting is young spartans exercising (this one is a print; the original is in the national gallery, london). it reminded us of our greek and roman studies when we read theras and his town.

 on our way uptown again . . 

morgana went to her babysitting job, and i went to meet chanda.

 i treated her to a between shows meal at the asia society on park avenue at 70th street, just a few blocks from the kaye playhouse where the patrelle company is performing.

 she had jasmine green tea, but i had an infusion of ginger and ginseng and lemon. it was refreshing and warming (i chose to have it hot).

 lentil soup with cilantro . . 

tempura with jasmine rice.

 a backstage pic of chanda in her apprentice witch costume.

 looking mysterious . . 

 chanda and i had an uneventful ride home, but morgana's train was delayed due to an explosion in a dumpster on 23rd street. everyone kept themselves occupied: the couple is doing duolingo, the woman is grading middle school papers . . 

the ladies are probably doing instagram . . . ? and i guess the man must have a good book (like my van gogh biography which i enjoy reading on the train, though i have it checked out of the library as an ebook and i read it on my phone . . isn't it nice to see this gentleman with a large hardcover book!?)

well that's all . . it was a very busy day!