Not to be confused with Purple Rain ... but the feeling was similarly extatic! Getting up at 08:00 is about as early as is decent when one is traveling ... the Swiss princesses come in late so quietness has to be considered and also a time not so early as to disturb ... it always seems to take till around ten to get out and start the days exploration. 1. Go to neighbourhood postal outlet in Tobak store ... woman immensely helpful ... green fleece left for homeless person ... would have cost 350SEK to send ... that's $60 .... other stuff I sent went as letters. 2. The Vasa Museet ... a huge ship... ornate as all get out ... two years to build ... wood from all the Baltic states and Holland ... over ... read more

Still in Stockholm. Its the fourth full day. Museums do not open until 11:00 and some close by 15:00. The mission on day four was to visit the Kings Library, the City Library, and the Royal Apartments. The libraries were accomplished. The Royals will have to wait for another day. The Kings Library requires all packs and outdoor clothing too be left in lockers. See thru plastic bags are provided for those things you want to bring into the premises. I thought originally the bag was to protect your coat from the bottom of the locker. An exhibition of posters was missed. A small representation of the 60,000 posters donated by Paul Lipschutz was found at the bottom of an impressive staircase. The book with a large number of the posters sorted according to topic was ... read more

Have had two sleeps in Oslo at the Perminalen Hostel. Liked it so much that I have booked myself in for January. Arrived at 06:25 by train from Bergen. Hostel open but room not accessible. Have coffee and eat the sandwich i had made on ship ... yesterday. Walked past fortifications to Pier 3 and paid the fare to go on a cruise around Oslo. Big deal cruise ... sailed , by motor, saw the fortifications I had just walked around, went past huge cruise ships and stopped at the Opera House. Good views of city from water perspective. I got off at the next stop, which came after a sail around a big island. Because this is the winter route I am asuming that the number of stops have decreased in number. Was dropped off ... read more

October 16 to October 27, 2009 Bergen to Kirkenes ....6,206km ... And Back -twelve days and eleven nights on the MS Nordcapp; built in 1996, holding 691 passengers, 464 berths, 45 cars, 123.3m long, travelling at a service speed of 15 knots and owned by HurtigrutenASA. -have crossed the Arctic Circle, seen three rainbows in one day, been to the northern most point in Europe, been to the point where Russia,Finland and Norway meet, witnessed the Northern Lights, stood under the Milky way, saw seals swim in the harbour and looked for trolls in the TrollFjord. -have gone on tours to see the Art Nouveau in Aalesund, seen the Arctic Cathedral and Polaria in Tromsoe, looked into a replica of a Sami tent on the way to North Cape, visited numerous museums which all mentioned the ... read more

FROM THE INTERNET: “At a latitude of nearly 70 degrees north, four days’ sailing from Bergen and barely a two-hour flight from Oslo, Murmansk or Longyearbyen, at the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia, between the island landscape, fjords and mountain peaks, you find Tromsø - Gateway to the Arctic and capital of Northern Norway. “Tromsø is situated right in the centre of the Northern Lights zone and is, therefore, together with the interior ice in Greenland the tundra in northern Canada, among the best places on earth to observe this phenomenon. Most of the Northern Lights outbursts visible from Tromsø are green, but large outbursts can also include other colours. “Tromsø was founded in 1794, although the first church was built here back in 1252. In the 1850s, Tromsø became the centre for Polar sea ... read more