September 4 – Packed and ready to go, we pulled out of our drive about 11:30 AM for our flight on Discover Airlines out of Tampa. Concerned about storm surge this a year predicted to exceptionally hurricane active, I had sealed every door at least half way up with silicon caulk except one, the door from the house to the garage. Doors and windows were shuttered. Now we will just hope for the best. We are bound for Norway and a transatlantic crossing on Viking!
We stopped for lunch at Woody’s River Roo off Highway
301. Joanne ordered fried shrimp. I ordered fish and chips. Both selections
were tasty.
Arriving without incident or encountering heavy traffic,
we parked in the economy garage. I had reserved a space on-line months ago
receiving a QR code that worked just like magic to open the gate to the garage.
After a short train ride to the terminal, we proceeded to
the Discover check-in counters. Months ago we purchased extra legroom seats but
upon checking in online, we were assigned new seats, economy seats, mine a middle
seat in the very back of the plane. After some discussion with the Discover
reps we were reassigned our extra legroom seats. Good thing that we arrived
early to resolve this issue as the plane was nearly if not completely sold-out.
Evening thunderstorms at Tampa delayed our flight about
one-half hour but that didn’t matter as we had a very long wait at Frankfurt
for our Lufthansa flight to Oslo.
September 5 - After landing and a lot of walking through
the terminal, our hand luggage was scanned. Mine tested positive for
explosives! After waiting for the police to show-up and clear the luggage, stopping
for an expensive breakfast snack and more walking, we passed through passport
control to wait for our late afternoon flight.
Our Lufthansa flight to Oslo was uneventful.
We bought tickets for the Vy train from the airport to
the National Theater stop in Oslo. We chose one of three exits from the station
luckily finding ourselves in the park beside the theater. Thon Hotel Cecil was just a few blocks walk through
the park and a block off to the right on Rosenkrantz Gate.
After checking into the hotel, we walked a few blocks to Kaffistova,
a Rick Steve’s recommended restaurant. We ordered Norwegian meat balls; they were
tasty!
September 6 – After the included breakfast buffet at the
hotel, we walked down to harbor to take the 7:50 ferry to Bygdoy to tour the
maritime museums. Unknown to me, the early ferries had been suspended so we
waited around for the 10 AM ferry.
While we waited for the ferry, we walked around the
harbor under a blue sky on a day that would warm to 80 F.
Three museums, Fram, Norwegian Maritime and Kon Tiki, are
located next to each other so touring all three was easy. We had purchased an Oslo
Pass which covers entrance to many museums as well as public transportation
so we didn’t need to pick and choose.
The famous Viking Museum was closed until 2028 for renovations so we could not tour it.
After a ferry ride back, we shared a barbeque plate lunch
purchased from a food truck. To get to Vigeland Sculpture Park, we boarded the #12 Tram thinking the tram ran a circular route
so the direction didn’t matter; it did, we went the wrong way ending in a dead
end. Boarding a #18 tram to ride back one stop and transferring to a #12 tram
going the other way brought us to Vigeland Sculpture Park.
September 7 - After a restful night at the hotel and a fine buffet breakfast, we rode a Tram to a stop a block or two from the Munch Museum.
From the top floor of the Munch Museum we looked out on the harbor, opera house and surrounding buildings. So pretty!
Joanne had thought that she forgot to pack her curling iron and pajamas so we rode a tram to the train station and adjoining shopping mall where she bought a set cheap curlers. Our next tram didn't track as exactly as I thought but no matter we got off at the National Theater to walk a few blocks down to the harbor. We visited the National Museum and took a few photos from the roof. Such great views!
Then we stepped over to the Nobel Peace Museum. It was a touching place and we are glad we read about Nobel and his vision for peace in our world.
Walking up a block, we found that the City Hall would close in fifteen minutes, just enough time to snap a few photos of its murals. What a beautiful place - we wished we had more time there!
Richard
Discovering Norway & Viking Neptune Journey across Atlantic
After a long hot summer in Punta Gorda, September dawned. Gratefully, we set out for our Norway adventure.
We traveled
to Tampa Airport and after a 9-hour flight, we arrived safely in Frankfurt,
transferred to another plane and landed in Oslo, Norway. Thank goodness for our Rick Steves’s guidebook! It advised us how to take a train and after a
short ride, we disembarked in the center of town. We easily found our Thon Hotel, checked in
and we were off and ready for a fun 3 days in this great city.
Oslo
reminded me of Vienna – it has so much charm!
We had some busy enjoyable days with sunny warm weather, visiting the
Munch and National Museums and Nobel Peace Center. Vigeland Sculpture Garden
was really special. It has gorgeous
sculptures lining a bridge and lovely flowers, trees and landscaping. It was so well done, the fountain marvelous
and the monolith with 121 figures carved from one granite block, exemplified
the artist’s cycle of life theme.
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