Blogs from Oslo, Eastern Norway, Norway, Europe - page 18

Well, that’s a wrap folks! This time tomorrow I’ll be back in Canada - or flying somewhere above it, anyway. Not much going on again today - it was another travel day. I flew from Riga back to Oslo… and uh, that was nearly an unfortunate story. I’ve grown tired of getting to airports the recommended 2-3hrs in advance, only to zip through security in 5min and have hours to kill before I even get on the plane. So, especially since I already check-in online, I decided I’d catch the airport shuttle at 10am for my 12:15pm flight. Supposed to take 20min to the airport, so 10:30am at the latest - plenty of time! Or not. First off, shuttle was 15min late… peachy. Secondly, we went to 4 other hotels along the way, which in theory ... read more

Our last Baltic stop, Oslo, Norway. We have been looking forward to Oslo. This is the land of Viking ships and explorers of the north and south poles , the Kon Tiki and international ski jumping. Today’s drive took us through the beautiful downtown of Oslo where we learned that Oslo is one of the three most expensive cities on the world. The other two being Moscow and Tokyo. In 1624 the Danish King, Christain IV, named the city after himself, calling it Christiania. Finally in 1925, the Parliament renamed the city, Oslo. We saw the ship “FRAM”, that Roald Amundsen used to race for then south pole in 1911. He also used it to conquer the southwest passage. It is a huge wooden icebreaking ship and we were able to go aboard. Amundsen and ... read more

we are now only hours away before we go on our 6 months journey across South America and Central America =) we will start writing on Iceland which we are really looking forward too explore. For all our friends back home we wish you guys a great summer and all the best! Everything is finally packed and we are as ready as we can be we think.. not easy to plan for such a long time but have gotten heaps of good tips of the internet on what to take and not to take. will recomend http://www.travelindependent.info/index.htm for all who are going on a longer trip or just a small one but want to pack light and know alittle before they go. ... read more

Day in Oslo sightseeing NORWAY Spent the day in Oslo. Went in on the scooter, carefully avoiding both the motorway and the cycle track routes. Having only a small map it was better luck than judgement that we found ourselves in the centre, near the cathedral so we parked by a cycle parking stand and walked round from there. We visited the simple but beautifully decorated cathedral, admired the round parliament building and the many fountains and statues strategically placed round the city. Took a walk up the hill to see the Royal Palace and the changing of the guard then back down to the harbour which we enjoyed immensely. A complete redevelopment of the old docks area this is now a very modern architectural marvel with some lovely use of water features, flowing shapes and ... read more

Today we left Denmark and took the 8.5 hr Stena ferry to Oslo. Overslept slightly having woken on the hour, every hour, except 7am ! No problem, packed up and at Frederikshavn we drove straight onto the ferry. Haven’t used our passports yet this trip. Took fleeces and Regatta jackets with us against the expected cold. I also packed a suntop to wear under my sweater as a vest, just in case. Came in very handy as a suntop. As soon as we were on board the sun came out and stayed out all the way to Oslo and it was exceedingly hot. Suntan unexpectedly coming on a treat. Very pleasant ferry ride. Had the buffet for lunch which was excellent and then didn’t really want anything else as we were too full. Last 2.5 hours ... read more