Left Stockholm by high speed train around 8.30am on Sunday and travelled westward over to Norway. The scenery was interesting - lots and lots of trees and some small towns and open farm country along the way. We had about a half hour wait at Fetsund and were told the signals were down, however all came good and we soon moved on. Arrived in Oslo around 3pm and found our hotel was within the Central Station complex along with numerous shops, restaurants and bars.
Woke next morning around 7.30 to find it was still dark outside although the square was beginning to have many people scurrying off to work. After breakfast we made our way to near the City Hall to join a day tour of Oslo city sights and various museums. First was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump - and although it was too overcast with low cloud to see the view of Oslo, the Ski Jump itself is quite spectacular. We think a good dose of insanity would be just as necessary as ski-jumping skills.
Next it was the the Museum dedicated to Polar Exploration with the main exhibit being the 'Fram' Amundsen's ship. The ship has been well set up to allow visitors on board. Conditions on board at the time of the expedition have been re-created and it is quite something to see. At various times on the walls surrounding the ship is an alarming sound and light show of very rough and stormy Arctic seas. Not something I'd have liked to experience.
Not too far from the 'Fram' Museum is the Viking Ship Museum which houses three Viking ships which had been excavated in the early 1900s and restored as much as possible. We had visited this Museum in 1973 and it was lovely to visit again. The Oseberg ship, especially, is to me the most elegant and beautiful man-made thing I have ever seen, and it was a joy to see it again and also the other two ships nearby. We were told another Viking ship has been discovered recently but is yet to be excavated. Exciting!
On our second day, we went by tram to the Norwegian Resistance Museum and spent several hours browsing the exhibits and reading about the extraordinary exploits - and bravery - of the Norwegian people during German occupation in World War 2. The Resistance Museum is located in a building from the 17th century, adjoining the memorial for Norwegian patriots executed during the war. Later walked down from the Akershus Fortress and found a nice cafe for lunch. We had a tram ride back to the square and a walk around some shops before returning to our hotel.
Our next excursion was the "Norway in a Nutshell" trip, so travelled from Oslo towards Bergen, alighting at snowy Myrdal to hop on board the smaller Flam train for an eye-opening trip through the mountains and waterfalls to the pretty town of Flam where we stayed overnight.
Next morning we boarded the brand new electric powered ferry 'Future of the Fjords' and this quite amazing new catamaran glided quietly through the fjord waters past pretty villages and farming communities for about 3 hours to Gudvagen.
Then we had another bus ride to Voss and finally by train to Bergen. Quite a trip!
More on Bergen in the next post.
Woke next morning around 7.30 to find it was still dark outside although the square was beginning to have many people scurrying off to work. After breakfast we made our way to near the City Hall to join a day tour of Oslo city sights and various museums. First was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump - and although it was too overcast with low cloud to see the view of Oslo, the Ski Jump itself is quite spectacular. We think a good dose of insanity would be just as necessary as ski-jumping skills.
Next it was the the Museum dedicated to Polar Exploration with the main exhibit being the 'Fram' Amundsen's ship. The ship has been well set up to allow visitors on board. Conditions on board at the time of the expedition have been re-created and it is quite something to see. At various times on the walls surrounding the ship is an alarming sound and light show of very rough and stormy Arctic seas. Not something I'd have liked to experience.
Next morning we boarded the brand new electric powered ferry 'Future of the Fjords' and this quite amazing new catamaran glided quietly through the fjord waters past pretty villages and farming communities for about 3 hours to Gudvagen.
More on Bergen in the next post.
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