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 [View Full Entry]

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Day 7, September 7 We beat the sun up, walked to the central train station, stood in line to buy a 42 DKK/$8 supplemental ticket, and got on the train to the airport. At the x-ray security two guys got in a verbal screaming match when one attempted to butt in the line. As we sat in the parked Norwegian Air plane they announced, "As we are presently refueling the plane, please remain in your seat with the seatbelt unfastened." I suppose, when the cigarette from the pump jockey ignited the huge fireball, we could all run screaming with clothes and [View Full Entry]

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At 8:30 we walked to the tourist information center and got two 72 hour Oslo Passes for 820 NOK/$137. Bus 30 dropped us right at the door of the Vikingskipshuset/Viking Ship Museum. Three burial ships about 1100 years old thrilled us along with the associated artifacts. They had platforms to look down on the ships and with no tour busses dropping off hundreds until we had finished we walked through and enjoyed the museum almost by ourselves. Back on the bus we rode to the Kon-tiki Museum where full sized replicas of the Ra and Kon-tiki along with movies and [View Full Entry]

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Day 9, September 9 After a half banana 2 cookie breakfast we left at 8:30 and picked bus 54 north to the cemetery. Most graves had red flowers, and while neatly arranged lacked variety of tombstones. Busses 34 and 30 took us and 12 preschoolers to the Norsk Folkemuseum which had buildings from all over Norway including Gol stave Church from the 11th century, old farm buildings, animals, towns, people in traditional dress, displays, and a playground full of kids in identical school neon vests. With very few people and perfect weather we thoroughly enjoyed 2 hours of Norge/Norsk/Norway's [View Full Entry]

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Day 10, September 10 Our last sightseeing day in Oslo started with the Munch Museum via two busses. At the stop, the only sign was a road sign up the street. We started walking and brushed past a group of preschoolers dawdling on the sidewalk. A block up it became evident the preschoolers knew where they wanted to go and we did not . A university student directed us back in the direction we had come. After walking around the building, we found the entrance. A bunch of college students stood blocking the entrance doing nothing. We flashed our Oslo Cards [View Full Entry]

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Oslo Airport Reykjavik and then Gardermoen Airport both sport hardwood floors. Almost felt embarrassed when I asked for little footsies during the customs control check. It was only as I was putting myself together again that I realized how spotless the area appeared to be. The toilet paper is less bleached, the toilet seat less bulky, the stalls less spacious and the counter tops around the sink less existent. The layout of furniture, stores and cafes is more streamlined ... Scandinavian ... and pleasing to the eye. Found the magazine Marie Claire Ides immediately in the Reykjavik Airpo [View Full Entry]

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Wow! It started Tuesday morning, Sept 22 and just finished today September 27th at about lunch time. I was into the beer at 9am on Tuesday morning, and it didn't stop until my last sip of wine for breakfast this morning. And this was a sports trip... Every year, students from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland studying at Life Sciences Universities get together to participate in the Nordic Games. There is track and field, swimming, soccer, hand ball, floor hockey, volleyball, basketball, horse riding, shooting, orienteering, etc. I participating in swimming, soccer, volleyball, and or [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so I´ve been in Sweden since Thursday (coincidently, that´s the last time I showered, but that´s a whole other story.) Not a lot of time to blog between almost being hit by a moose, swimming in the freezing cold ocean and eating Swedish meatballs. Back to Honefoss for a minute. One of my days there, Ingi took me to an amazing sculpture park not far from the town. To put things in perspective, Honefoss has a population of about 13,000 (pretty much the size of Brattleboro), surrounded by hills (can we techinically say fjords if they don't sink into an [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in the rain and fog again, but by 10 a.m. the sun was out and no more rain. We went to the sculpture park (Roger, Roxie and I stayed in the bus - in fact I took a little nap) and ski jump again, but did drive on a few different streets and got a very detailed description of Oslo people and their lifestyle. They are every active and like most Europeans they walk and bike just about everywhere. Cross country walking and skiing are everyday events. Don’t think I saw an overweight Norwegian. We in the U.S. could learn [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in the rain and fog, but by 10 a.m. the sun was out and no more rain. We have been so lucky with weather. Roxie and I took a tour which included the old & new town, the Vigeland sculpture park and an open air folk museum. The Vigeland park contains 214 sculptures with more than 758 figures, all modeled in full size by Gustav Vigeland without the assistance of pupils or other artists. He also designed the architectural setting and the layout of the grounds with their expansive lawns and long, straight avenues bordered by maple trees. Then we [View Full Entry]

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