OUR ARCTIC CRUISE ADVENTURE BEGAN IN OSLO, NORWAY

In order to start our Arctic cruise we had to fly…oh the joys of summer flying after Covid! Michael and I travelled from SFO and Larkin from Dulles. We all transfered through Frankfurt, Germany. We were glad we were all on Lufthansa and not SAS. Covid hasn’t just hit American workers but airport workers across the world. Larkin’s flight arrived first and she ended up in Oslo before us and waited. In order to continue to any EU country you have to pass through passport control in Frankfurt. The issue? We went toward terminal A and found a line hundreds of people long. EU passport straight through…any other country an hour and a half wait while the Passport checkers had a very long lunch. People in line with us cancelled their flights and stayed an extra night. We squeezed through and rushed to our gate right as it could have been taking off – we would have made it on time, but alas it was late so that gave us time for a toilet break.

Larkin was happy she waited in the airport as Silversea made a mistake as to our hotel but our driver knew where we were suppose to go – a Thon hotel. We would have preferred The Thief on the water but an entire group of our Arctic expedition folks ended up with us in the Thon. The airport is about 45 minutes from downtown Oslo and the port and we arrived late afternoon.

Our hotel Thon (a group of Norwegian based hotels) was on Rosenkrantz and was about a mile from the harbor. We figured they liked bold colors, carpet and unique furniture in the common areas and definitely did not want their guest to overlook their room numbers! All doors in Norwegian hotels seemed to open out. The carpet in the photo still makes me go – wow my eyes hurt! On our first evening after checking in we were very lucky to find a delicious Norwegian restaurant around the corner called Elias Mat and Sant. All other “upscale” Norwegian restaurants were booked out for a month so we went walking around the corner and “voila!”. If we ever head back I want to eat there again. I’d love to describe the food etc but I forgot to take photos of the food or the menu. I just remember the smile on my face and my happy stomach.

What was to be our only full day in Oslo we spent walking toward the port – downhill gradually toward the water. The weather was stunning.

For my high school Zebra friends – voila – a graffitied graffiti zebra on a dock.

When Larkin and I were on the first dock, we met a couple who took our photo and told us about the wonderful city hall that we had passed and how we can go in side and visit free of charge. The city decided to build the hall in 1915 in this location which at the time was a slum district at the port. Two Norwegian architects won the competition to build it. However it changed design many times over the next decade or so as to what was currently in fashion. This design with red brick was from the 1930’s called “functionalism.” It was not completed until 1950 with a hiatus during World War II. The Nobel Peace prize, the only Nobel given in Norway, takes place in this building. I’ll take note at the next Nobel Peace prize ceremony!

The main hall was impressive with its size and decor. Each room we saw after we walked up the stairs to the second floor was unique in its use, theme and design. The banquet hall has the black and white marble and portraits of the Norwegian Kings. My favorite was the current portrait of Queen Sonja. Queen Sonja is a commoner who King Harald the V wanted to marry. He told his dad, King Olav V that he would rather not marry than marry someone he didn’t love. Norwegians love Queen Sonja! All the little decorations like the doors and light fixtures were unique.

Norway dissolved its union with Sweden in 1905. It had tried to be an independent country in 1814 after the Napoleonic War but was required to stay joined to Sweden. The government of Sweden at the turn of the last century offered the Norwegian crown to Denmark’s Prince Carl, who renamed himself Haakon VII. Our guide in the banquet hall mentioned a few other royals were offered to become King of Norway before Haakon but they chose not to be royalty in Norway, their loss!

After Oslo’s city hall, we headed along the waterfront which was wonderfully crowded with locals and tourists alike on this Sunday. We were able to find a little outdoor cafe and enjoy everyone walking by as we ate. On Sundays most stores are closed and most restaurants are open.

Later in the afternoon, Larkin and I wanted to take a walk so we left Michael napping and took a walk toward and around the Palace grounds which are open on weekends in summer. We travelled back down the street in front of the palace through the park to our hotel.

Dinner was pizza across the street from our hotel. I had my first porn star martini! Then it was too easy to order another one…at the next restaurant! After dinner Larkin and I took a walk up to what we thought was a park. It was Var Frelsers Gravlund – or a famous Oslo graveyard. The walk up the hill had doors, statues and just fun stuff that Larkin and I like to take photos of. Summer light – hours of light, enjoyable light, making up for winter darkness. At 2 am of course it was still light and folks were still walking around as we were trying to snuggle into our time warped existence attempting to get past 8 hours of time zone jet lag.

SAS decided to strike and leave Europe and traveling in the lurch. So, instead of flying SAS on Monday, Silverseas chartered a plane for the entire ship – actually two of their ships on Tuesday afternoon so we could meet the ships in Tromso. We had another day to enjoy Oslo but had to be ready to board a bus to an airport hotel later afternoon. I never thought we’d do a double decker bus around a city – any city – but alas it was enjoyable and helped us see the more of the city and use up the time we had after checkout. We had tried to meet up with a friend I’d met years ago in Marin but she became sick on her way up from London. Next time! We were amazed that Monday was even more crowded than Sunday. Where did all those people come from on a work day? Norway felt like home. I guess when you finally see the land of your ancestors you can feel at home!

From beautiful green spaces with horses to building both modern and traditional it was eye opening to ride the bus. We saw the new opera house finished in 2007 which immediately reminded me of the Sydney Opera house. We finished our afternoon with a nice late lunch in a restaurant near the park that runs in front of the Palace.

Radisson Red vs Radisson Blu at the airport. I have no clue what blu looked like but red had bizarre pictures. My favorite had to be the zebra with red stripe. Once again my zebras! Notice Michael’s reflection at the desk at our hotel in the first photo!