July 29
Woke up to the sun shining over the hills of Norway sliding by. Not the picturesque fjords one always thinks of for Norway, but still pretty & different than home. I had ordered a small room service breakfast, so I ate that out on the balcony. So nice! When Bob got up we went and had a full breakfast in the Horizon Court. So much food to choose from, and Danish pastries - so good.
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| Hillsides sailing into Oslo |
At 10:00 the ship docked in Oslo. We made our way off the ship and bought an Oslo Card in the cruise terminal. That would get us into museums and public transportation. We walked to the ferry boat over to the island of Bygdoy. There we saw the Fram museum, a ship that made it through the Northwest Passage and also took Roald Amundson to the Antarctic on his trip to the South Pole. We also went to the Kontiki museum to see Thor Heirdol's papyrus boat that crossed the Pacific. Also went to the Maritime Museum and saw some of the naval history of Norway.
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| The Fram Ship |
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| KonTiki raft |
Took the ferry back to the city center. Had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Our waiter, Stephen, was British and when hearing we were from Minnesota, had to give us a lesson on the use of the letter T and the pronunciation of aluminum. Later when I asked for "wader" he made me say it again, "wat-ter". After lunch we walked to the Royal Palace. The road leading to it was closed for reconstruction so we didn't get in or see much of it. Walked back past the National Theater, a picturesque building and grounds, and to the City Hall. Outside were many carvings of Norwegian folk lore and inside were many big murals depicting Norwegian history and life.
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| Our lunch spot in Oslo-we sat outdoors, of course, whenever possible. |
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| National Theater |
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| Wood carving of the Norse god, Odin. |
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| Inside the grand hall of Oslo City Hall. |
By then our feet were getting tired, so we walked back to the ship. Bought a souvenir spoon in the cruise terminal shop (on sale). Bob went back on board, but I wanted to explore Askerhus Castle which was right next to the ship. Set off on my own and found a back entrance. Climbed up the hill to see a good view of the harbor and our ship. But my feet had really had it by then, so didn't explore all of it and just headed back down to the ship.
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| Askerhus Fortress from our ship (we were that close!) |
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| Our ship from Askerhus Fortress |
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| Some more of Askerhus Fortress |
We had been notified by the head waiter that our seating time was 8:15. That wasn't what we wanted so we decided to go to the Michelangelo Dining room about 6:00 and see if we could get a table for 11. We did and have a very good waitress from Thailand, Pim. (One couple in our group has a daughter-in-law from Thailand, so was very pleased to meet her.) She matched our sense of humor. Also had a beautiful assistant waitress named Viviana. Bob loved her eyes and that she made him a caramel mocha latte after each meal. We wanted to have them and that table all the time, so we talked with the head waiter there and agreed to come at 6:00 every evening and they would "save" that table for us.
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| Our big oval table on the ship. |
After supper we ended up back at the Crooners Bar for music trivia with the piano player, Chris Turner. He made us play boys against the girls. The guys won by one point, but we all got "valuable" prizes. I went to the ventriloquist show and Bob went to the casino. We asked our steward, Roger, for either an extra sheet on the bed or a light blanket. Bob doesn't care for the "dyne" (comforter) on the bed. We were happy to find an extra sheet to have on top of us when the dyne is too hot. And of course, there were chocolates on the bed!
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| Bob gives Chris another good Beatles trivia question he can use in the future. |
It's so fun to imagine you in Oslo! I'm impressed that you did so much in just one day! The museum island of Bygdoy was one of my favorites of our trip in 2008. We also saw the folk museum there.
ReplyDeleteBoy is your room on the ship impressive (from your previous post) with connecting balconies! Our only overnight on a ship was in a center room without a window and bunk beds for 4 (we squeezed the 5th). That looks like a first class cruise! Was all the food part of the deal on the ship, or was it extra? We ate like paupers while there because it was so expensive.
Keep posting!..
Randy,
ReplyDeleteMost of our days were like that - go, go, go and see as much as you can (or as much as our feet could stand). When you only have one day in each place, you have to prioritize. On our first cruise to Alaska we had an inside room. We didn't enjoy it much, so we splurged on this one. Yes, it was deluxe. We had to ask for the balconies to be unlocked so that we could go from one to the next. Normally, they are locked between cabins. All the food was included, but the drinks (except water, tea, and plain coffee) were extra. I drank lots of water, iced tea, and hot tea. We ladies went together on a wine package, so we had a bottle of wine with each meal shared between 5 of us. (About a glass each). We ate like paupers when we were off the ship. I even made peanut butter sandwiches to bring with by ordering buns and peanut butter with my room service breakfast each morning. And I had lots of snack bars with, too. Bob didn't enjoy those much, but it helped him make it through till we could eat on the ship again. Still it cost us plenty - lots more than your vacations. But we've been saving for years for this trip. It was worth it!