Category: 2014 Scandinavia

The Plan

Today, we’ll explore Bergen and drive to Troldhaugen, now a museum; it was the former home of Edvard Grieg. Norway’s greatest composer.  Choose from following Included SCENIC FREE CHOICE options: (1) take a journey up the funicular railway 1,050 feet to Mt. Floien for a bird’s eye view of the city and fjord; or (2) enjoy an active walking tour of Bergen and its surrounds; your tour takes you through the mountain paths towards Mt Floien, along the way you will be able to admire spectacular scenery and see some traditional homes.  Included SCENIC FREE CHOICE Dining.  This evening, choose to dine at one of two superb local restaurants. FB, HD

Some Information

Bergen is on the west coast of Norway with a population of around 275,000. The city is an international centre for aquaculture, shipping, offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a national centre for higher education, tourism and finance. The city will be host to over 300 cruise ships this summer season.

How the Day Turned Out

We get up early this morning for that regular walk that doesn’t always seem inviting when you are on holiday. As you can see from the photos, the fog is quite thick but it makes for superb reflections.

Walking around the little inlet, we pass the merchants getting the fish market ready for the day’s trade.  I don’t eat seafood and that’s mainly because I detest the smell. From the other side of the little harbour, we get some great photos and after breakfast head off for a tour of the town.

There are statutes along the way which just seem to be ‘put there’ for no reason. Streets are narrow and many are cobblestoned.

Stopping at Troldhaugen, we walk the 600 metres, down a beautiful avenue of trees, to the museum in honour of Norway’s great composer, Edvard Grieg. The location is magically placed on an impressive piece of land overlooking the fjord.  (I often wonder how a guy can find a fabulous piece of land, use it to make himself famous, and then leave a museum behind.  How do people become famous before they die?)  The piano concertos of his works are being played throughout the museum and gives a pleasant ambience about the place. His house is not painted or wallpapered inside, but boarded with unpainted timber at his request.  His piano is still useful today with it being continually kept in tune.

Our city tour continues and we see many interesting housing setups, probably to do with having the family living close by at some stage.  There are concert halls and museums and many little shops.

The foreshore, around the little harbour, is lined with magnificent old buildings that when you walk through, are a bit up and down.  Over the years, when they have had fires that burned many of the structures to the ground, the authorities demanded that they be rebuilt, but out of stone.  The owners didn’t want to and so most of the buildings in the town today are made of wood, and painted rustic colours.

After the city tour, we take a ride up the funicular railway 1,050 feet to Mt. Floien for a bird’s eye view of the city and fjord.  The weather has turned out perfect for this venture and the ride is awe-inspiring, to say the least. We take a short forest tour, learning about the vegetation and some of the animals that enjoy this great region.  There is a ‘grandstand’ strategically placed for people to sit and take in the vista extending way across the fjord.

The afternoon is free.  Interestingly, two parades have passed through the town while we have been wandering around enjoying the warm sunshine and checking out all the different types of people doing the same thing as us.  There are 3 cruise ships in town today, including the Eurodam which we will be joining in 7 more sleeps.

Fo tonights evening meal, we split for ‘chicken and vegetarians’ to one restaurant and ‘fish’ to a second. The company was great at our restaurant and the staff were efficient.  Norman was a tall guy with blonde hair who seemed to wooooo the ladies sufficiently for Chris to give him her card.

Seniors Moment 

Another Lyn thought she should join one of the colourful parades that made their way through town, and so walked a few hundred meters before realising that the parade walkers were waiving rainbow flags (gay pride march).  Not her thing at all, and left “the nice walk on a Saturday afternoon”.

The Plan

This morning we drive through the scenic and breathtaking Hardangervidda, Europe’s highest mountain plateau and home to Norway’s largest herd of wild reindeer. We will continue our journey to Norway’s second largest city, the Hanseatic fishing port of Bergen. One of the prettiest cities in Norway, Bergen dates back to the 12th century when the port was an important centre of European trade for the all-powerful German Hanseatic League.

Some Information

In the winter time, Norway is dark, dark, at 4:00pm until 9:00am.  On June 21 each year, Norway is dark for just one hour.  The languages of Scandinavia originate from an old German language.  There are 43 National Parks in Norway.

New Saying

Not the Sharpest pencil in the box.

How the Day Turned Out

After breakfast, we board a ‘new’ bus, which is from Sweden (must be cheaper from there), and head towards Norway’s second largest city, Bergen (pronounced ‘bargen’).  We travel to the west of Oslo and travel along the edges of many of the fjords found along the coast of Norway.  It doesn’t take long to get out into the countryside from our hotel.  The countryside is very green and the trees are mainly spruce and fir trees – great for making Christmas Card photos. It’s quite obvious that the Norwegians are expert tunnel builders for we travel through many, many tunnels.  In one, we come across two different round-a-bouts. It is an uncanny experience for us all, even having travelled through many tunnels around Europe.

The scenery is just ‘out of the box’ fantastic Nordic landscape.  The red farm barns and the white houses are very common and enhance the view on the green background.  Sorting out photos is one thing, but sorting out photos of beautiful scenery is quite a task. We have some great material to work with.

We stop for lunch at a large ski resort. There are many sales of ski and winter clothing but still the prices are above what we would pay in Australia, so not much money is left by us in those shops.  A little further on, a chasm was the destination for a couple of imposing waterfalls.  Many people have ventured a little too close to the edge of the chasm and have tragically died on the rocks below.

While travelling along the plateau, there is still snow that is melting to provide the waterfalls and some additional beauty to enhance the landscape. We stop for photos; some see snow for the first time. Our tour director sets up a cafe bar in the bus to offer tea, coffee or hot water, but no milo or hot chocolate.

When we come down from the plateau, the scenery changes quite a bit.  We are now deep in fjord territory with steep mountain sides going straight down into the water.  A large cruise vessel is in one town well up into the fjord.  The locals have requested only one cruise ship at a time as there are not enough people in the town to provide for the tourists that visit.

So, so many tunnels.  The longest I recall is 8 kilometres and it is bored straight into hard rock. Why can’t we have more tunnels in Australia – it makes sense to build a tunnel instead of a road that winds around many, many corners presenting a safety problem.

We arrive at Bergen at 5:45pm, given keys to our room, and venture out to see the lovely little town that Bergen is.  We pass shops that look very old, but quaint, positioned near the wharf where ‘silver sailors’ have moored their yachts and launches and are enjoying a before dinner drink.

Tomorrow, we investigate around Bergen so we can report on our findings then.

I must apologise that most of our photos have been taken from inside the bus and so some may have reflections shown from within the bus.  But the great scenery is just begging to be shared.

Seniors Moment

In an age of loosing things, it creeps up on most of us.  A certain leader of the pack, purchased an expensive squashable vest in Australia to christen it specifically in Norway.  Well, ‘the vest’ was left on the bus yesterday afternoon and won’t be with her until the last hotel we stay in in Norway.  Interestingly, in the morning, we found out the Tour Director left her sunnies on the bus too.  What a godsend as it was thought that the last had been seen of the vest, and now that the Tour Director wants her sunnies back, the vest will also be returned.

The Plan

Start your day with a sightseeing tour through beautiful Oslo seeing the National Theatre and Oslo’s City Hall before we make our way to the Bygdoy Peninsula, home to three famous museums we will visit, that honour the rich nautical heritage of the Norse race and its warrior ancestors; the Viking Ship Museum, the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Fram polar ship.  This evening you will enjoy dinner at Holmenkollen, home of Oslo’s ski jumping arena and the host of the 1952 Winter Olympics. FB,D

Some Information

Oslo is made up of 600,000 people.  Norway has a population of 5 million people where English is spoken by most. So having a conversation is usually no problem, in fact, many love to show off that they can converse in English very well.  The average wage is 50,000 Euros with 40% income tax paid by all.  This enables free education up through university, free health care, the pension, and most of a person’s medical expenses.  University students get a grant and a loan. The retirement age is 67 and everyone gets 5 weeks vacation. Unemployment runs at 3.5%.  The price of a 1,000 square meters of apartment starts at 400,000 euros. Norway’s cost of living is the highest in the world.

How the Day Turned Out

Our City Guide for today is Yahel. Yahel is from Israel and married to a norwegian. She has been a tour guide for over 10 years.

There are three ‘rings’ around the city of Oslo.  The green belt is the forest at the extremity of the city and the port and city itself is the inner ring. The centre ring is where you will find most of the inhabitants. Oslo was founded around BC1000 and since then, there have been 15 major fires that have affected the town.

Our first stop for photos is the Opera House which represents an iceberg emerging from the water.  The black areas on the white Italian marble are solar panels – they try to show themselves as being ‘green’ even though for much of the winter, there is no sign of sunshine.  Slowly as development takes place, the Opera House is becoming the meet-up place for people to hang out. The city of Oslo is at the northern reach of what was a fjord and is 100km to the North Sea.

History tells that the Swedes have been a problem to Norway and so the Akershus Fortress was built along the shoreline near the city.  It has been used as a fortress as well as a prison.

Parliament stands just near the city square.  There are 160 members made up of no less than 40% females, by law.  At present, the make up is 50/50.

We visit the City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony takes place each year.  This venue has been used since 1990 and has some enormous paintings on the walls, each telling a particular story.  The Norwegians are very proud that at least once a year, the world hears something out of Norway.

We pass a shop called The Ice Bar.  Everything there is ice: the chairs you sit on, the glasses you drink from, the plates – all ice.

The Fram is a polar museum dedicated to the story of Norwegian polar expeditions with the Framship used by Fridtjof Nansen as the main exhibit. The shape of the hull is that of an ‘egg’ so that when the forces of ice against the ship squash in, the ship rises and doesn’t sustain damage. We make a visit there and see a video of the Norwegian adventurers who are still well known around the world for their ventures to both the North and South Poles.  Large ships are displayed in the museum. Across from there is the Kon-Tiki Museum in which is stored the Kon-Tiki raft and the Rai I. Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Peru with a multi national crew to test if different races could put up with each other for a long time, and landed to the west in Tahiti suggesting that, in ancient times, the Pacific Islanders may have made the same voyage.

Vigeland Sculpture Park is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist. There are more than 200 sculptures made from bronze, iron and granite. We visited the Monolith plateau and the Wheel of Life.

Seniors Moment

One guy was so enthused at taking photos of the Opera House that when he hopped on the bus, he didn’t recognise the lady that was sitting next to him.  He was on the wrong bus.  We wondered why our numbers were down. Who?  Rob.

Whenever I come to Singapore, I notice the many parks and gardens.  The boulevard from the airport to the busy business centre is well kept and attractive. Years ago, the government brought in a rule to have residents and visitors refrain from littering.  This has helped to make Singapore one of the most popular hub cities in Asia, if not the world.  The place always looks tidy and, you feel safe.

I had never really experienced the parks of the centre of Singapore until my wife decided to book our accommodation at the “Hotel Fort Canning” for three nights en route to Penang.  This award winning boutique hotel has just 86 stylised rooms and suites. Ours is just a ‘basic’ room, but is well supplied with modern fixtures and fittings.  Controlling the blinds and light from the TV remote, I enjoy a comfortable sleep to awaken to the idea of a hot bath. The bathroom is on what was the balcony in a previous version. Not many bathrooms have such great views to be enjoyed but, from the large tub-bath overlooking the surrounding parks and gardens, this one has that uniqueness.

The hotel was once used as a base for the British during World War II.  For many years, it was known as the “The Forbidden Hill” as military reigned supreme.  But today, the wise developers have turned the “hill” into a parkland. Walkways extend throughout the parkland of well established tropical vegetation. Atop the hill, is a water reservoir, which is used in the metro water system. One section of the garden is dedicated to ASEAN sculpture, with some interesting forms indeed; another section contains a large variety of spices. There is also a 9-pound gun, a battle box, a time ball and a lighthouse – all remnants from war days. There is an archeological dig exposition, and many rotundas where picnics can be enjoyed, away from the bustling streets of Orchard Road and the like.  All these items and exhibits make the morning walk from the hotel that much more interesting.  You can even try out the fitness station.

Within the parklands are some older style buildings.  I was interested to see included in the marriage registry building, a Registry of Muslim Marriages.  We noticed a Muslim couple having their photos taken and they were dressed in black.  (I wonder what the black means if white stands for purity in a western wedding? Mmm.) In the ‘lowlands’ area is the Galleries Utama and Viridian Art House.

I’m glad Lyn chose this magnificent location to stay these few nights.  We look out towards other hotels and ask “why would you stay in a matchbox full of tight rooms spilling out onto the busy pavements of Singapore?”  I think whenever we come back to Singapore, we will be back to the relaxed estate lifestyle of Fort Canning Park.