Travel can sometimes make me confused. Yesterday I said TGIF but it was only Thursday. Well today was (is) Friday and we had a another great day of looking at the fjords. We had an early start, lots of great food, and transportation to lots of great sights. In other words we are on a Tauck tour.
Our coach driver (by that I mean our bus driver, not someone who is telling our driver what to do) did a great job transporting us from location to location. Our coach is large and comfy, but the roads are at times a bit narrow.
This is a two lane highway. Luckily traffic coming the opposite direction was light and drivers were very considerate (in other words they weren’t from Los Angeles or New York).
Our first stop was Dalsnibba where supposedly the view is breathtaking unfortunately for us, all we could see were clouds and snow flakes.
Except for the coach, is there much you can see?
But then we had a series of stops where we saw lovely waterfalls.
Patrice posing with me in Oppstryn, Norway.Together in front of a fjord. Geirangerfjord, NorwayIn front of a run off from another waterfall. Also in Geirangerfjord, NorwayAnd another. Also in Geirangerfjord, Norway
Finally Patrice had enough and told me to go take the picture by myself. I asked our guide if Tauck would give me a substitute for me to use in my picture. I was told, they would send a young thing to pose with me instead. YES, I LOVE YOU TAUCK.
Tauck, that was not exactly what I had in mind. With travel buddy, Matt, in Hellesylt, Norway
Back in the hotel now and getting ready for a lecture on the history of Norway (just the first 10,000 years) followed by…….. DINNER!
Talk to you soon. But since this was entitled Waterfalls, Trolls, and Fjords, I feel obligated to give you at least one Troll (other than me). See below.
See you tomorrow as our trip rapidly nears its end.
We were up early this morning and after an amazing breakfast at the Grand Cafe (part of the Grand Hotel) we headed for the bus. Excuse me, we headed for the coach (Tauck doesn’t call it a bus). It was not raining when we left but it was, soon after, when we arrived at our first destination. This would have been a great time to explore a museum but unfortunately, no such luck this morning. Our first stop was the beautiful Vigeland Sculpture Garden (aka Frogner Park). Yes, outdoors of course. Tauck can’t control the weather?
Visiting the Vigeland Sculpture Garden was a beautiful and wonderful experience in spite of the rain. The park is full of works of art created by the Norwegian sculptor, Gustav Vigeland (1869-1941). The park claims to have 1 million visitors per year. There were a number of visitors today in spite of the inclement weather.
The first piece we saw was “Lischjulet” (The Wheel of Life). It is a wreath of men, women, and children.
Livshjulet (Wheel of Life)
I love seeing statues in parks. One of my favorite things is seeing birds perched on the head of someone or something famous.
Doesn’t the bird really add to this piece?
After the sculpture park we went to another boat museum (remember the Vasa boat museum honoring a boat that sunk 23 minutes into its maiden voyage). This was the Fram Museum which is dedicated to Norwegian Polar explorers and it documents how crazy these guys were. Patrice and I have considered going to Antartica on a trip but it seems a bit too challenging. That is with tour guides and all the luxury conveniences typical of a travel vacation. Can you imagine the same trip going to an uncharted location with the technology available at the turn of the century (and I am talking 1900 not 2000). These guys were crazy and many of them paid the ultimate price.
We then had another wonderful lunch (I think Tauck means food in some foreign language). Following lunch we left the group to do our own thing. Patrice and I opted to go to the National Museum and see Edvard Munch’s famous painting, “The Scream”. I am sure you all know it, but see below to jog your memory.
Wait! That’s not it, that is a magnet we saw in a store.The Scream by Edvard Munch painted in 1893.
The museum was a real treat and I would recommend it to all. We then set out to find a “kokospollen”. This is a pastry that our friend, Linda, said we had to try. We went to a nearby coffee shop and they didn’t have it but a customer overheard our request and sent us to a nearby bakery. The bakery didn’t have it either but while waiting for Patrice I started to chat with another customer. When the bakery couldn’t help us my new Norwegian friend sent us to another location which also didn’t have the heralded treat. At this location we met a woman who spoke perfect English. She knew exactly what we were looking for and not only told us where to find it but helped us find the store. On our way, we found out why her English was so good, she is from Arizona. She is here because of her Norwegian husband. I bet we would have found out that there are some sad Arizona parents if we had talked to her further. Unfortunately her recommendation did not have the pastry. But we were sent to a local market but they too did not have what we were looking for. We then saw it was getting late and we wanted to visit the Nobel Center. We gave up our quest and headed over to the Center and found out it was closed for the day! Tauck failed us here. The handout we received from Tauck said the the Center was open until 6 pm but when we arrived at 5 pm they were closed for the day. Oh well, a reason to return to Oslo.
We went back to the hotel to rest and then had what I think was the best meal of the trip. The Grand Hotel Concierge recommended that we eat dinner at Brasserie Hansken (Christiania Torv 4, 0158 Oslo). In an attempt to experience the local culture we had herring for an appetizer followed by Veal (Patrice) and Cod (Robert) for our main courses. Our apologies to Eric, no dessert.
Crispy bread covering the herring.Herring, potatoes, and a poached egg. Just looking at the herring is making my mouth water. Patrice’s veal. I didn’t ask to try it because…………………I didn’t want her to ask for any of my cod. I did offer her some and unfortunately she said yes.
We leave Oslo tomorrow. I have really enjoyed this city and would like to stay longer but I am really looking forward to seeing the fjords which is next on our itinerary.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 