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Posts tagged ‘norway’

Northern Lights Tour Day 17

Day 17, Feb 14, 2025, Valentines Day in Oslo, Norway!

We sleep in to 7:45 AM. Breakfast in the Buffet and then out to visit the Munch Museum and see the painting, The Scream. Along with hundreds of paintings by Edvard Munch. The museum happens to be a block from our hotel! Those stainless steel tracks on the floor are what robots read and follow! Scandinavia is very big on robots!

A huge museum consisting of 13 floors. We see 2 of the 3 versions of The Scream available. They show one every half hour. Our time is limited so we leave before the 3rd version comes out. Edvard Munch is a very eclectic artist. He had varying points of view in his work that changed as his life changed. On the way back to the hotel, we walk over the Opera House, literally. Up a ramp to the roof and down the other side. Stunning views of the fjord harbor on the way keep our cameras healthy!

Back at the hotel we relax for half an hour. We go down to the lobby to wait for our next adventure. Soon, Lilibet (Helene) walks in and greets us. She was a High School classmate of Elee. She takes us through the railroad terminal outside of our hotel. We board a train to Frognerseteren at the top of a mountain. This is where we meet her husband Wilheim (Vilem) for lunch. Vilem has spent his morning skiing. In past years, I would have liked to join him. But all is well and Lilibet and Vilem are perfect hosts as we dine on delicious lunches.

They take us around parts of the city and drop us off at the Palace. From there we walk leisurely through the Palace Gardens on the way back toward our hotel. We are approached at one point by some college students with video equipment. They asked if we would pose for a video. We do it happily and I give them a Blog Card. They seem to be happy to contact me and we’ll see if they do!

We stop and spend time in a French Cafe for a glass of wine and go back to our hotel. We watch some TV. Then we head out to the train station where we familiarize ourselves with our route in the morning. We go into a gastropub for dinner where a local motorcycle club mostly fills the room!

Back in the hotel, we finalize our luggage for the morning and turn in. See you tomorrow!

Northern Lights Tour Day 16

Day 16, Feb 13, 2025, Oslo, Norway

We sleep in to 8:00 AM today. Down at the breakfast buffet, something is missing. Where are the Black Currants to put in my Yogurt? They must be here someplace. But, alas, they are nowhere to be found! Oh well, there’s some dried fruits to toss in so I settle for that. The coffee machine is one of the best though. Only a couple days left to get good European coffee so I enjoy 2 cups!

We board the bus at 10:00 AM. Mikael sits to the back of the bus as we have a local Tour Guide today. The local Guide speaks very good English and has a great sense of humor. She guides us around the city and describes everything we see.

She takes us to a park, Frognerparken Vigelandsparken, where a famous artist, Gustav Vigeland, carved thousands of sculptures, mostly of naked subjects. We are told that he never explained his subjects as he was telling a more esoteric story. He was basically unknown to the outside world because he refused to allow his sculptures to be outside of this specific park.

Then she takes us up a hill to a ski jump. It’s very impressive. Too bad we didn’t have enough time to ride the simulator at the top.

She shows us a beautiful building which started as an apartment building. What a grand place to live! But, like governments will, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the apartment building as their offices. Beautiful building.

We visit the Natural History Museum and see some interesting Viking memorabilia. Viking history is very violent yet interesting.

Then we stroll through the city leisurely and stop at Olivia’s Bar and have lunch. Comical trolls greet our cameras on the sidewalks. The waitress in Olivias Bar, Rikke, is amicable. It turns out that she was in the Norwegian Marines and worked with dogs. She was impressed with our story of dogsledding a week earlier.

We arrive at the Thon Hotel Opera around 4:00 PM and take a nap. On the way in, there is an interesting statue sitting on a bench and we just know he wants to chat! Inside, we find a naked lady hugging the Invisible Man! At 6:30 PM, we join our group for a farewell dinner and wish each other well. This is the end of the Tour for most. I’m sure we’ll stay in touch with some of the group. Hugs abound as we all bid farewell!

Then it’s off to our room for the evening. Finding English speaking TV is a challenge in the evenings. We settle on a Portugal/Romania soccer game where we don’t need sound. Romania seems to dominate the first half. But Portugal comes back to tie in the second half. It’s a 1-1 Match and it goes into Overtime. Alas, it’s almost Midnight and we can’t stay awake to see the end.

Off goes the TV and we go to sleep.

Northern Lights Tour Day 14

Day 14, Feb 11, 2025, Lofoten Islands

Today we board the bus without luggage as we will return here tonight. We are off to see more of the Lofoten Islands and possibly another WWII museum. It is raining lightly. We travel to “A” (yes, that’s the name!) at the end of the road after driving through another tunnel in the Lofoten Islands. We see bridges, islands and fish farms. The tunnel at the end opens to a parking lot. There is a Kafe here and rest rooms. We stop for pics and a comfort stop.

Then we drive back to Reine where we stop briefly for a photo stop at a large waterfall. Shortly after we stop for lunch at another Kafe. There is a marina here on the edge of this fjord. It is very picturesque and our cameras are happy! Fish and Chips and another local IPA and we’re good to go!

While we are stopped, a rock slide falls near the road we need to drive on. The road is closed. We are stuck. So everyone walks around the picturesque town with their cell phones, the only cameras that this group knows. Still a mystery to me that people travel around the world with only a cell phone camera. But we find some grass roofs!

The authorities send up drones to assess the damage. Apparently, the slide fell near the road but didn’t block it. Good News! One hour later the road opened. We drive away and shortly come to a surf beach where we stop for photos. Fun surf. There is a surf rental shop nearby. Not exactly a choice in the winter!

Viktor drives us back to the hotel. Some of the group goes to a (new to us) WWII Museum and then to a sauna. I opt to go back to the hotel, having learned enough at the last museum. Saunas are not my thing either. The rain obscures photo taking through the windows so we just watch the landscape in the rain.

We eat dinner in the closest restaurant tonight to avoid the rain and have duck and halibut.

We visit with new travel friends and turn in for the night.

Northern Lights Tour Day 13

Day 13, Feb 10, 2025, To Svolvaer, Norway

Another morning arising at 7:00 AM. Go to the breakfast buffet and fill up. We load our luggage and board the bus at 9:00 AM. The weather is dreary this morning and we drive around a fjord. Even in the dreary weather, the mountain scenery is spectacular. Shooting through rain soaked windows is difficult but our cameras insist! We pass through small enclaves of picturesque towns. There are a lot of one way bridges which forces us to stop a lot.

We stop at a Kafe for lunch and rest break. The scenery around the Kafe is interesting and I take a walk. My camera thanks me! I even see what appears to be a tipped over outhouse? What’s up with that? There is an electric charging station in front of the Kafe. We are told that over half of all the cars purchased are now electric!

We experience light rain all day but our parkas and hoods protect us. There are fish drying racks everywhere. This area is famous for “Lutefisk”, mostly Cod that is dried and stored. Then it is reconstituted and put into soups and stews.

Today we are traveling to Svolvaer by way of Evenes. We come across Henningsvaer, a part of Evenes. Evenes is a fishing village with a soccer stadium. We hike up a very picturesque trail overlooking the stadium. We find unique angles of a small lighthouse behind a hill from the stadium.

It is unlikely to have a chance of seeing Northern Lights tonight due to the weather. We walk around the town of Moloen on the way back to the bus and have a brief stop for a drink. I find another IPA and all is well!

We are in another Scandic Hotel tonight, apparently a favorite hotel chain of the Tour we are on. The rooms are a bit cramped as a rule but they are comfortable. Add to that the breakfast buffets and there you have a popular package.

We all meet at a pub a few blocks away for drinks and jokes. We have effectively taken over this pub as we are 25 people and the pub holds about 30. There are a few patrons in the pub but all but one leaves. The one left is a genial man who sits and observes us. Upon buying drinks for Elee and I, I also buy the man a drink from our group and everyone cheers! People take turns telling bad jokes and we all laugh.

Then we go our separate ways for dinner. We meet up with new friends John and Di and go to a fish restaurant, ‘Bacalao’. Here we order their signature dish, “Bacalao”, which is a stew featuring dried, salted Cod that has been reconstituted. This is similar to a famous Norwegian fish, called “Lutefisk”. If you look it up, it sounds unappealing but we found it amazingly good!

It has been a tiring day, so we turn in. Elee is nursing a sore ankle after taking a light fall in the crowded pub.

Northern Lights Tour Day 11

Day 11, Feb 08, 2025, Tromso Cable Car and Northern Lights

We actually sleep in today with no alarm! We get up around 8:30 AM and go down to breakfast. We continue to negotiate our evening schedules and meanwhile head off to find the mountain tram. We ride the local bus, stopping to visit the Arctic Cathedral where we pay $8 each to go in. It’s nice but not worth the money.

We get back on the local bus and arrive at the queue for the Fjellheisen Cable Car at 11 AM. It takes over 2 hours in line to get to the tram ride up.

Our cameras are entertained and take several photos from the top. It has only cost $65USD for the round trip ride. Some people choose to hike one direction! Crazy!

We get back to the hotel to find our evening schedules are working perfectly. We dropped the reindeer excursion (there wasn’t enough snow for the sleigh ride) in favor of a Northern Lights Chase Bus. So we kick back for an hour and bundle up for the night. We find a local restaurant that serves good seafood soup and have an early dinner. Outside the hotel is a Sami Shop store and Elee clowns around with a stuffed reindeer in front! We even see an electric Porsche charging station!

Then it’s off to the bus for the Northern Lights Tour. This is a different Tour Group from our main Tour. We meet the bus at an agreed upon location and board. The tour guides deliver. Brendan and Meda deliver a fun night with Adrian driving the bus. The bus travels approximately an hour to get away from the city lights. We are taken to a fjord with magnificent mountain backdrops and get a Northern Light show that is fun! Brendan and Meda describe how to spot when the Aurora Borealis begins and it is different than we thought. What we look at when we look up looks like high wispy clouds. So I set the camera up on a tripod and take a shot of the ‘high clouds’. Whoa! Those ‘high clouds’ are green! So exposure after exposure are taken and before I know it, the ‘green’ is evident with the naked eye!

The band of Auroras grows brighter and darker green within a half hour. This show goes on for almost 2 hours.

More fun shots are taken and our cameras are having a blast!

Brendan and Meda light a campfire after and teach those interested how. Many campfire stories are told of Northern Lights lore and Sami legends.

After everyone boards the bus again, we head out towards Tromso. There is the promise of stopping on the way back if any activity is spotted. No activity is seen. We get back in our room about 1 AM and turn in.