http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Norway , Eastern Norway en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 08:12:08 +0000 Tue, 21 May 2013 08:12:08 +0000 Our Norwegian business partner had invited me to speak at their client event in Oslo on the 5th of April. The event took place in the Grand Hotel in the city centre. I arrived there the night before stayed the night in the beautiful art nouveau hotel and was thrilled to be part of this event. My 45 minute talk was on Fair Testing in Web 2.0 and I was happy to present some of the ideas we h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-781004.html After a lavish breakfast I caught the under ground train on route 1 heading towards Holmenkollen. I say under ground but most of it is actually above ground. The line itself is wonderful as it snakes up the hill over looking Oslo and the harbour. Most of the snow had melted in the city centre but up here it was still thick of it. There were a lot of skiers getting on with all their gear and they l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-778872.html Today started with a fabulous breakfast at the hotel for frees. I have never had salmon for breakfast before but it was a delight along with the customary European cold meats bread and cheese including one I tried about a month back which tastes of caramel it actually exists in Norway. I thought I39d eat as much as possible as I have discovered that much like Finland was it is very expen http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-778747.html The day kicked off at some absurd hour that I39ve never heard of before called 393.45am39. I had stayed at a hotel near the airport the night before and managed to get in some free breakfast before getting the flight to Oslo Rygge. During landing it was nice to see all the small islands well defined by the blue sea most were covered in snow.I got the airport bus to the bussterminal a sho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-778606.html Jeg leken og eksperimenterende nysgjerrig og apen for a utforske egne grenser. Lyst pa ett date inom kveld Opprett ett gratis image pa Flirting ..kinky bare ngon tosete froken..ssom onsker a realisere noen drommer..kan vare bade frekk og freidigalternativt forsiktig..liker a leke uskyldig er ikke detog har behov a domineres..vil vare saken dr pirrer og tilfredsstiller intellektet f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/blog-767204.html I made a lot of plans for this short journey. There initially were featured some other cities but finally the plans took shape and everything was arranged. I lost some money on nonrefundable air tickets and in future will plan better. I chose Oslo and Vilnius because of cheap flights and Riga because its relatively near to St. Petersburg. Ive seen a bit of Riga in summer and was anxious t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-760038.html Oslo city centre is a combination of old and new buildings. The older buildings reminded me of Denmark with the darker stone colours and the new ones were huge metal boxes with windows. In a strange way it reminded me of Glasgow however not as pretty. My hostel was a dump in this case it just proved that having a central location compromised on everything else atmosphere and comfort and it was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-755679.html Troll hunting dance parties and fish soup Where do I signOslo was the destination for my first adventure of November. The schools in Ireland take a week off for midterm break so I joined my classmates Maeve and Mariana for a 3 night excursion. We reunited with a handful of others with whom we studied last year in Belgium and were welcomed more warmly than we could have imagined. Between the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-754106.html The final sprint was upon us and amidst the millions of things Sadie thought we needed to fix and yvind hadn39t even heard of there were many goodbyes and seeyousoons to be hadIn the spirit of efficiency we had a Goodbye party on October 20th and were lucky enough to be able to borrow yvind39s parents39 house for the evening and it was indeed a success if we may say so ours http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-753279.html We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the Quality 33. After being lost the day before we asked the receptionist for directions to the Munch Museum. She said it was very easy and from her description it sounded as though we would find it fairly easily. Alas perhaps she did not take into consideration the construction Because in no time at all we were lost again. But I had taken several maps fr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-752293.html Our departure date is getting closer We don39t actually have our tickets yet our deadline is next tuesday as it seems that tuesdays have been the cheapest arifare days... hope the waiting pays off but it looks like we will be leaving between october 30th and november 1st. And that means there is much to do And one of the things that was highest up on Sadie39s list was finishing work an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-749828.html So we are getting ready to leave We are planning to leave Norway by the end of Octoberbeginning of November and will be heading towards South East Asia and Oceania when we39re going where is not decided as we will make the plans as we go All we know for now is that our first destiantion is Hanoi and then we will probably work our way down Vietnam and up through Cambodia and Laos and thro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-747657.html Oslo was smokin. Literally. I mean its like the smell of cigarette is just everywhere I wasnt expecting that. But other than that its sunny blue sky here in the northern hemisphere. Its almost unbelievable how gorgeous the people are here. I mean dude why are you wiping the street You could be a movie star in Indonesia Guys or gals with their blonde hair blue eyes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-745004.html Today was a leisurely day. After a decadent breakfast that caters to Europeans the English and the Americans Allan took a nap to let his breakfast settle he said. There was quite the spread of food. I had some smoked salmon pickled herring cold cuts and cheesefresh fruit delicious coffee eggs and bacon. Tomorrow we may have their pancakes along with the other goodies.We walked down to t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/blog-743194.html Not much to report today... We ate a quick breakfast before taking the train to the airport. Navigating the Amsterdam airport can be daunting but they have helpful info stations. Seats on the SAS flight mostly did not recline. We had a choice of coffee or tea to go with the sandwich we had bought at the Airport with our last five Euro bill. Boy did it feel cold waiting for the local train to O http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/blog-742991.html All of my friends know that I love to travel photography. Close friends would observe loads of my pictures in flickr and facebook on my latest adventures. From the bustling China to the tip of picturesque Hokkaido the pre911 US cities flying high up above Cappadocia Turkey and even to a remote mirror lake in New Zealand. ltspangtltspangtltspangtltspangtltspangtlt http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-739215.html September 10 2011700 A.M. on a cool cloudy day found us in Oslo Norway the last full day of our 11 day ScandinavianSt. Petersburg cruise on the Emerald Princess.Today we planned a walking tour of downtown Oslo following a selfguided tour from Rick Steve39s travel book. Our walk took us first past the harbor and City Hall. A few blocks later we were climbing the steps beside the Nationa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-738504.html Just the crappiest weather today. Rain heavy enough to cramp your style. So of course we went on a prawn cruise. The Norwegian definition of prawn matches the Australian definition of shrimp but put enough of them on some dark rye bread with mayonnaise and lemon juice.....nordic heaven.The Oslo fjord isn39t a true fjord as we picture a deep chasm carved by a glacier more just a really really http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-734631.html Hmmm.....weather. Having awoken with the morning lack of sun at 4.30....the day did not improve. Heavy rain heavy enough for us to question the sanity of going out in it. But we did as the laundromat beckoned. Only about 5 blocks away it would not be possible to be wetter without being in a swimming pool....but surprisingly not cold.Long walk in the rain back through the centre of town. the w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-734475.html Continuing our tour to Holmenkollen the huge ski jump visible in the mountains north of the city. And more importantly to lunch.About 350m above sea level literally in the northern suburbs. views across the fjord. Noticeably cooler in the hills although we have the best sunny day.Lunch was surprise surprise fishEntree prawns maybe better to call them shrimp with a fennel salad and a crea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Eastern-Norway/Oslo/blog-734364.html