I forgot to let you know that Victoria's luggage was found and delivered to the Hotel Alexandra before we left for the ferry to Oslo. She was very happy about that. She is also healing very nicely from her ordeal earlier.
Breakfast on board ship was in a private dining room for those staying in Commodore Level rooms so we didn’t have to contend with the crowds. This was great and very relaxing. Halfway through our meal we were joined by Victoria and Linda C. After breakfast we returned to our rooms to pack. I went up to see how close I could get to the bow so I could see Oslo from the ship since I had already packed my suitcase. When Mom. Victoria, and Linda C. were finished packing, the four of us tried to find an inside viewing area. I noticed on the map of the ship that there were windows in the restaurant on the 7th floor. We went down but they would not let us in at first, saying the restaurant was closed. I told them we just wanted pictures from the bow of the ship. The steward let us snap a few.
Back at the room we hung around a little while longer waiting for the crowd to lessen. When we got to the elevator we still had to wait as the line was snaking down the corridor a short way. Evie caught up with us at the elevator. We made our way down and out to the waiting van and Elizabeth, our guide for next four hours of the day.
The tour took us all around the city of Oslo. Elizabeth pointed out many of the city’s unique buildings: Nobel Peace Center, the Oslo Opera House, the Norwegian Parliament building, the Kings residence, and a few others. Along the way we learned about Norway.
- The population of Oslo is 600,000 with 5 million in the country
- Oslo is place where the Nobel Prize is awarded.
- There is one synagogue in Oslo with 2000 Jews in Norway.
- During World War II 772 Jews were sent out and only 34 returned.
- Norway and Denmark split into two countries in 1814.
- The Swedes ruled Norway from 1814 until 1905.
- The head of the government is the Prime Minister who is a woman
- The royalty are only figure heads but the King does meet with the ministers once a week.
- Parliament is made up of 169 members and 9 political parties.
- Any car whose licence plate starts with EL and EK are electric. 42% of all cars are electric.
- McDonald’s was the first foreign business in Norway and Starbucks was the last one.
- Ski season is from mid November to mid April.
- There are 450 national costumes for Norway. They are worn on national holidays and birthdays.
- Famous Norwegians are Erik the Red, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Munch, Roald Dahl, Sonja Henn, and Alfred Nobel to name a few.
- The three types main types of trees in Norway: Spruce, Pine and Birch.
- Farm building are built in a U formation; one structure is the living quarters, the second one is for living animals and the third is for equipment.
We stopped to see the Sculpture Gardens, the Viking Ship Museum, and Holmenkallen Ski Jump Facility.
We were staying at the Thon Hotel Opera. We tried to check in but only two rooms were ready so we stashed everyone’s suitcases in the two rooms and headed out to find lunch. Across the street from the hotel was the train station. Inside the station were several little eating establishments so there was something for everyone. After lunch Linda C., Linda H., Evie and I went for a walk down Karl Johans Gate, a walking street to see the King’s Residence. This appears to be a high end shopping area with such stores as Michael Kors, Boss, Armani, Guess, Burberry and many more. After taking pictures of the Kings residence, we turned around to head back and found this great souvenir store. Inside was a cute little troll display.
We headed back to the hotel and I made reservation at a restaurant I thought was recommended by Elizabeth earlier in the day.
We met in the lobby of the hotel and Linda C. distributed the boarding passes for the train we are boarding in the morning Across the street from the hotel was a taxi stand and we were very fortunate that there was a 14 passenger taxi waiting there. I gave the address to the driver and off we went. I thought I knew where we were going but when he went into a tunnel I began to get a little worried. If I had not seen the spot on his Google maps before we left I would have been really worried. It ended up that the concierge had made reservations at Lofoten Fiskerestaurant,a very good seafood place on the water’s edge. It just wasn’t the one we were expecting. The food was very good and the service was excellent. The manager called for a maxi taxi (a 14 passenger taxi) to take us back to the hotel.
We packed up our suitcases for the next day. Everyone’s luggage was being picked up by a portage service at 6:00 am.