In Norway - Oslo
We have found Oslo to be a wonderfully friendly, hospitable and interesting city, if not one that wears out the knees very efficiently. This morning we walked to the City Hall from our hotel and due to a difference of opinion walked the long way because my husband, Brian, didn't quite believe me when I told him that we walked towards the palace and then down Radhus Gate towards the city hall and the port. Oh well, we had a really good view of the all the dock facilities as well as the outside of Akers Fort before reaching Oslo city hall and finding that the tour we wanted to take had already left or was not running.
As an alternative we took a tram to Viegelund Sculpture Park (not sure of the spelling) and had a wonderful visit there with lots of photos to bring home. It is a most impressive place with wonderful views over the city when one climbs the final set of steps. Very rewarding indeed. To while away the time we then took a tram ride to the end of the line and back into the city to our hotel where we availed ourselves of the lounge facilities until it was time to go looking for dinner. The Scotchman Pub had a very nice eating area downstairs and we've enjoyed a tender sirloin steak and salad for me and onion soup for Brian with a beer and red wine, all at a cost of about 256Kr, about $51 dollars or so which was less than last night's meal of spare-ribs and hamburger plus drinks for 474kr.
Our hotel in Oslo was wonderful-comfortable beds, huge bathroom, tv and marvellous breakfast of so many different selections of meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, cereals, breads, cooked bacon, sausage and eggs -the mind boggles. The cost was $300 for the night including breakfast which is cheap by Scandinavian standards. A new experience for us was a hotel in Copenhagen called Cab Inn - another way of saying Cabin which it was. We could have fitted at least three cabins into our room of last night. I summed it up by calling it a storage place for people with shelves on which they rested overnight. We couldn't get into the room until after 3 pm and had to pay 10kr each for two lockers, go away and find something to do until the afternoon. We then checked in, too late to do anything about the room as most hotels would have been full up. The beds were bunks and one trundle, the room stuffy, no room to move and just as well that we didn't have our large bags with us but in the station lockers because we could never have brought them into the room. I suppose they would have offered to rent us locker space for them during our stay. The shower took up the entire bathroom floor space except for the toiler, the curtain was broken, the venetian blinds at the windows were broken and bent and could not be opened for light unless one climbed on a flimsy chair to manipulate the hooks where the rods had been removed from
Anyway we are catching the night train for Bergen tonight at 11.10pm so after one night at a B&B in Bergen we will be on the ship where I can just chill out for 12 days, no luggage hauling, no finding streets or city halls.
We've managed to avoid colds and flu so far although we had a loud rambunctious American on our tour coach who sat behind us for about a week and coughed his heart out every day. His wife ultimately caught the wog and said that someone on the coach gave it to her. Wonder who that might have been. I did feel sorry for her though as she was really sick.
Hope all is well in New York. Not so good in Budapest where we have just been by all accounts and according to CNN. Scary to think that these things can just erupt so suddenly.
Love, Brian and Margaret
In Norway - Tromso & the Trollfjorfd
Hi there from Tromso, the second largest city in Norway after Oslo, and the home of the northernmost Catholic Cathedral in world that Pope John Paul II visited in 1998. It's also home of the Arctic Cathedral, a somewhat misnomer because it is really just a Lutheran Church but tourists have proscribed a more upmarket name to indicate its importance in the landscape of this lovely city. We will be going to a midnight concert in the Cathedral-church on our southbound journey and it should be fabulous going by the appearance of the pipe organ that sits on a platform in the A-frame loft.
Our days on Trollfjord have been just magic. This morning we woke to the wonder of Harsted. The sea was calm and overnight the moisture on the ground had turned to ice. Brooding over the town were snow-capped peaks and jagged tree-covered mountains whilst beneath there lay alpine meadows where hay is grown and baled for stock feed. The farmers bale the hay in those gigantic rolls covered with white plastic. Our tour guide yesterday explained them as being toilet rolls for Trolls.
Our dinner last night consisted of two pieces of baked Salmon resting on two long pieces of asparagus and accompanied by small baked potatoes in their jackets. This had been preceded by a cheesy cauliflower soup in which the tiny cauliflower florets were almost raw, having just been added a little before serving. This was a new slant on an old favourite and I enjoyed it very much.
Sweets were a creamy dessert topped with berry sauce and one Chinese Lantern fruit. The berries here are magnificent from huge blackberries, youngberries, blueberries, red currants and the list goes on.
We have managed not to include an afternoon nap in today's programme and I believe we must at last becoming used to the sea air.
Very best wishes to you. In answer to your question we arrive home on 15th Oct.
Love to everyone, Brian and Margaret
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