Norwegian Cruising Adventure 2022 - Oslo

We broke the cardinal rule of international travel immediately after checking into the Grand Hotel. The rule states “you will assimilate into your new time zone by avoiding naps and staying awake until your normal bed time.” We checked into our room and took a two hour nap. At 5 pm we were up and out ready to explore Oslo. There is a beautiful park that extends for several blocks in both directions in front of our hotel. There are thousands of beautiful flowers on display all around us. We strolled through the park and noticed the harbor was only two blocks away.

There was a drizzle from the low hanging clouds as walked on cobble stone streets toward the harbor. Then it started to rain. We were only steps from the refuge of a waterfront bar called Pappabuene. Safe at last! We took a table on the waterfront and ordered a beer and glass of wine.

We had a magnificent view of Oslo harbor. There are dozens of ferries and sailing ships tied up all around us. Several cocktail cruise boats were headed out with music playing.

The table next to us had ordered two large pizzas. We ordered one also. Our first meal in Oslo. I paid with a credit card. The vendor enters the amount of the transaction then I type in the same amount and approve it.

After dinner we strolled the docks and saw a fjord and harbor cruise boat. We have the next day available so we decided that would be our morning activity. There were some interesting statues including a chrome SCUBA diver and a large church bell that passers by could ring using a foot pedal.

As we walked back to the hotel I noticed a lack of pan handlers and homeless people. Then I realized the genius of a cashless economy. If no one carries cash then beggars have no chance of getting donations unless they take Venmo. A cashless society would never happen the US. We can’t even agree to stop making pennies that cost more than a penny to make each one. Canadians don’t have pennies, they just round each transaction up or down.

That evening I sat on our 7th floor balcony and played my ukulele for the people passing by below.

On Thursday morning we were at breakfast by 8:30 am. The hotel has a delightful buffet. Whenever I travel I always have baked beans for breakfast. I have never once made baked beans for breakfast at home. After breakfast we filled out the half dozen Civid disclaimer forms and turned them in to our tour Tauck tour director Dale Spurrell. Dale is a woman and will be our constant companion for the next eight days. Later in the day we will have our Covid test at the hotel clinic to determine if we will be allowed to board our ship.

It was time to depart for our fjord and harbor tour. We ended up on the elevator with a woman we met in the limo coming from the airport. Mary Yates is a recent widow and the airline lost her luggage. Over a day later she still does not have her luggage. She flew on SAS airways. They had been on strike since July 4 and had just recently resumed operations. Apparently not everything is back to normal. We did admire that she was traveling as a single woman. Mary walked with us to harbor and split off to visit the National Museum.

We walked over to cruise boat ticket counter and bought our cruise tickets. We boarded the boat which is an old two masted schooner converted into a sight-seeing boat. Fortunately she had full canvass overhead because it immediately started to rain heavily. Off we went in the pouring rain for our two hour fjord and harbor tour. If you wait for perfect weather you will never go anywhere.

This is our fjord and harbor cruise boat Helena.

The harbor tour took us past the Oslo opera house with its floating sculpture

We also saw many small islands with vacation homes. Most of the homes have mini bath houses on the shore. The bath houses have ladders to get in and out if the water and provide changing rooms.

After the harbor cruise we visited the Nobel Peace Museum. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded on December 10 each year in Oslo. The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine and Literature. Alfred Nobel is the inventor of dynamite. Nitro glycerin was too unstable so he mixed it with sand to make it more stable therefore creating dynamite.

This is the Nobel Peace Museum.

This is a photo of the Nobel Peace Prize. It is made from gold mined in Columbia. Therefore it is humanely mined by people that get fair wages and good working conditions.

We are headed to the clinic to get our Covid test. We will know in an hour if we will be allowed to board the ship. Stay tuned.