BOOTboys

cracalt to Oslo

Saturday 13th July 2019:

Train to Manchester. SAS flight to Oslo. Bit of a wait for the right bus (train would have been better) to city centre. Thon Hotel Terminus close to railway station and main shopping area. Comfortable room.

Walked up Grensen and Kristen 4's Gate. Fearful of expensive restaurant prices, we dined at MacDonalds on a side street! Excellent!

Trondheim

Oslo

Oslo to Bergen

Sunday 14th July 2019:

Went for breakfast about 9 and thoroughly enjoyed it all. Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon hi-light for D and the pancakes with caramel sauce were great finishing touches for me. All excellent with Norwegian specialities and beautifully presented.

Went to the main railway station to collect train tickers only to discover there had been a fire at the first part of the line meaning a bus to Drammen (about 40 minutes). Unexpectedly nice with big views (because of a reclined baby seat) of Oslo’s natural huge surrounding harbour (reminding us of Sydney).

Embarqued onto the train right at the front. Nice seat but the window was disappointing as it was split 2/3 rds. Did get used to it though.

Lots of the lovely scenery especially by the lakes and rivers. The hi-light was the central mountain area reaching 4,000 feet at Finse 1220 and saw glaciers in the distance. Passed through Geilo and other ski areas. Plenty of tunnels here and down to Bergen. All in all a great trip and impressive railway.

Met immediately on arrival by our man from Hurtigruten with his 50 seater coach just for us! Delivered to the Clarion Admiral hotel on the waterfront. Don took exception to our room at the back as it had a funny and unpleasant smell. After a very civilised discussion with the reception man during which Don offered to pay for a room with a view, we were upgraded for nothing.

Victory and it’s a great room for size and looks. Although the Oslo room was more efficient.

After a quick rest whilst Don saw the last over of the Cricket final- exciting!- we walked across to Bryggen, a very old merchant area on the seafront- now a UNESCO heritage area, before I was taken to Olivia’s Italian restaurant.

Sitting outside watching sun set and eating a very fine scampi linguini. Lovely. Had the overhead heaters as temperature has dropped markedly.

Came back to hear Ellie has won Best Baby (!) Ballet Trophy, not surprising as she was definitely the best in her dance group. Not biased in any way!

Trondheim

Oslo

Bergen

Monday 15th July 2019:

Good night in lovely hotel room. Sadly the breakfast not a patch on Oslo treats. But some good bits.

Decided to go to Greig’s house. Perhaps ill advised not to go on special tour from hotel as the long journey -20 minutes by local light rail to Hop (and many minutes negotiating ticketing system) and another 20 minute walk uphill. When we finally arrived (with friendly Helpful Norwegian couple) the road was blocked by an artic lorry using Sat Nav wrongly and nearly toppled off.

We had to wait nearly an hour while breakdown vehicles tried to rectify situation. This all combined to make me tired and frazzled. This hi-light was the wonderful piano concert given in the beautiful concert hall overlooking the water above where Greig composed in a wooden hut. Excellent pianist in a Norwegian costume.

Time was going on and decided to have only a quick visit to the beautiful house (if somewhat musty and crammed with artefacts- Greig’s lucky frog which he had to have with him when performing was lovely. All in all, didn’t do this lovely place justice.

Back to Bergen for subway beer by the waterfront. Then wash and brush up before catching the H coach to terminal.

Notes from Norway

Trondheim

Oslo

Photos have been gleaned from many sources although mostly from me. Likewise written comment. I apologise if I have failed to acknowledge properly the source or infringed copyright. Please let me know and I will do my best to put things right. Unless stated otherwise, please feel free to download the material if you wish. A reference back to this website would be appreciated.