Norway has been described as the most beautiful country in the world. Its capital is Oslo, and the population is 5.2 million folks that speak Norwegian. It is a dramatic land of glaciers, fjords, the largest of Europe's icefields, rocky coastal islands, and the primeval Arctic. Norway's nature is their #1 destination, especially when you can view the Northern lights or participate in the winter sports. Did you know that the word "ski" is a Norwegian word? Aeons ago, hunters were believed to have fashioned skis made of wood used while hunting big game, and actually drew figures in the caves at the time.
What kind of food appeals to the Norwegians? Roasted reindeer, elk steak or burger, grilled or smoked salmon, dried cod, shrimp, and herring as well as Arctic char. Most favorite dishes are meatballs with mushy peas, mashed potatoes, and wild berry jam. Wild berries include strawberries, black and red currants, raspberries, blueberries, and cloudberries….a real treat. They wash it down with black strong coffee.
Have you ever heard of a breakfast that comes in a tube? Well they have it here with cream cheese and sugar-cured and smoked cod-roe cream packaged in tubes. Popular for decades, it has been around since 1893. Newer versions contain bacon, ham, salami, shrimp, tomato, and even Mexican jalapeno flavored cheeses. It is often eaten with slices of cheese and boiled eggs.
There are two basic seasons – summer and winter. Other times of the year, many operators simply shut up shop. And the weather can turn on a dime. And according to what we have been hearing for the last two days from the Captain, the weather may be turning on that dime soon.
There was a scenic sail-in commentary from the Crow's Nest delivered by Ian at 7:30am where Oslo rolls were served we understand. Darn, we did not know that. But we are not sad we missed Fiskesuppe, the Norwegian fish soup that was served on the outside decks and Crow's Nest at 10am.
Tours offered today were easy Oslo for $70 for 2 hours and biking in Oslo for $100 for 3 hours. Oslo highlights and Maritime Museum was $130 for 3 ½ hours, while a drive to Vigeland Sculpture Park and Holmenkolfess was $100 for 3 ½ hours. Land of the Midnight sun and maritime museum was $100 for 3 ½ hours. Great Norway explorers was $110 for 3 hours. Best of Oslo was $190 for 5 ½ hours. And there is always the ho-ho bus which could be booked right outside the ship.
The ship must have entered the fjord in the darkness of early morning. It is a very long fjord, so our arrival time was 11am. Last night, we had been told there would be a passport check in the upper dining room, but if this occurred it must have been later in the morning. Our breakfast was the normal time. However, we were told that the Thai crew were not allowed to leave the ship today, or any other Norway port. That extended to the crew from South Africa as well. And we have no idea why this occurred, but it is politics for sure. We always inquired about the number of guests that left in Amsterdam and how many joined this last segment. Presty said about 90 got off, and 96 joined, more or less. Some guests will be leaving along the way and will not be doing the Trans-Atlantic part. Also this morning, we saw two ambulances taking people to the hospital.
Sadly we learned that our head room steward was going home today. We will miss his friendly smile and his excellent service. There was a time when most all of the crew members stayed on for the entire world cruise. These days their contracts are honored to the letter, and when their assigned time is up, they have to go home. While watching the ship being tied up, we saw a group of new crew members waiting to board. The ship was not cleared until after 11:30am, at which time, the guests poured off of the gangways heading for their buses. By the way, there were no shuttles today as we were docked close to the center of town. And the all aboard time had been extended to 6:30pm, an hour later. Since the tours were delayed in starting, this would give them plenty of time to get back on the ship.
We stayed until the thundering herd was off. Around noon, we had a knock on our door and an officer handed us two special magnetic pins with the 150 years of Holland America Line as a gift from Gus (Antorcha). The card said it was a token of gratitude for being a member of our President's Club. Nice touch.
The early morning temperature was 44 degrees on our veranda, but eventually, it warmed up nicely to perhaps in the high 60's. Guessing it would be more sheltered in town, we wore sweatshirts and we were comfortable. Wherever the sun hit, local people were sitting in it. It was a good thing the ho-ho buses were handing out maps, since we saw no one giving out city maps. The ship had docked in a different dock today, and we needed to get our bearings. Following the crowd seemed safe enough once out of the fenced dock area. That took us through a series of cafes all the way to the Nobel Peace Center off of a huge square. On the corner was City Hall where we ran into Gyl and Howard. Comparing notes, we figured the way to the palace was up the street and to the left. Once out of the jungle of buildings, we could see the Norwegian flag flying on top of the palace. Perhaps the royal family was home today. Walking the gentle slope, we arrived to The Royal Palace, but could only see the outside with several guards at every entrance. The side garden was not open today. Locals were posing with the friendly guards, and that's when we noticed some of the guards were young women. It must be quite an honor to belong to this elite group, since almost half of the group were ladies.
We took photos, then moved on towards the old carriage house and hillside of trees, blooming bulbs, and spring flowers. It was near 1pm by now, and something was happening. The carriage house door opened up, and a string of guards began marching around the back end of the palace, then around the front. We might be seeing the changing of the guard or something similar. The crowd approaching the palace was stopped, and the guards continued to march and go through some maneuvers with their rifles. More guards came out from the carriage house, so we stayed until 1:30pm watching this exercise. They were still at this display when we left to find a place for lunch. But we considered ourselves lucky to have stumbled upon the Royal Guard exercise. Sheer luck.
Down at the bottom of the hill, there was something else going on. A big crowd had gathered under the banner which advertised a 5 km run. It was commencing around 1:30pm, so after passing the Oslo College, we stopped and watched as a group of young kids began running the race. The street had been cordoned off and the course wrapped around the park in the center divide. Some dads also ran with their kids.
Right across from this race, we remembered eating lunch at a Hard Rock Café. The old historical corner building looked the same, but the restaurant was replaced with another. Going inside, we inquired if the HRC had moved, and were told they had closed a few years ago, and never reopened anywhere else locally. It may have been a casualty of Covid along with many other cafes. Some barricades had been removed so people could cross the street, and we followed them. The cafes along this street were totally full of guests inside and out.
Right across from the Johans Gate shopping street, we saw a sign saying Peppe's Pizza, which naturally drew us inside to check it out. It appeared to be a narrow restaurant with all the seats filled inside. However upon asking for a table for two, we were led all the way to the back, and up a flight of stairs, where the restaurant had plenty of seating left. Within minutes, we had two local draft beers called Ringnes and had ordered a large pepperoni pizza. This eatery had deep dish Chicago pizza as well as New York-style with a thin crust, which we prefer. And went it arrived, it was LARGE, almost the same as the one he had in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Sure was good and we managed to eat the entire pie. They did have a banana split for dessert, but there was absolutely no room for it. Just for general information, we noticed there were no public restrooms, and if you found one, there was a charge. However, for the special race today, there was a row of portables for the crowd. We did have restrooms in the café, but it was for paying guests only. Later on at dinner, we learned from Heo that one of the cafes they went to, had no restroom, but showed the way to one, which had a charge.
As nice as it was sitting at the restaurant, it was time to move on. We slowly made our way back to the dock, passing hordes of folks out and about on this fine sunny Saturday. The eateries that lined the alleyway back to the ship were jammed with customers enjoying the wine. This must be a fairly new area, and it is hip and cool as it comes.
Boarding the ship by 4pm, we warmed up in our room, and worked on photos and reports. Watching from the veranda, we saw numerous buses coming back from the tours, as well as several ho-ho buses. We were scheduled to leave shortly after 6:30pm, but a few people were late coming back. And they were lucky that the ship had waited. Their names and room numbers were announced, and that is not a good thing.
Leaving the fjord was no where as nice as when we entered. The light was much better early on because the sun was out and the skies were clear blue. Later this afternoon, clouds moved in, and the best of the light was gone. We were still in the fjord when we went to dinner, so that was the end of the pictures.
All of us were present, sharing stories once again. Being docked in a different area, we had missed seeing the Opera House. Greg and Heo had hiked there to find it had been re-developed and many apartments and amenities had been added to the popular area. They likened it to the rebirth of the Barangaroo area of Sydney. Fabulous according to Greg. There were several Norwegian items on the menu, but we had our usual appetizers of smoked chicken (really tasty), chicken noodle soup with spaghetti, salad, and mains of everyday roasted chicken (really good tonight), and beef stew also nice. Desserts were banana frozen yogurt and one panna cotta.
There was a barely advertised Chocolate Surprise at 9pm, where the waiters paraded with trays of everything chocolate we heard. It would last for ½ hour, but by the time we finished dinner, we had missed it. We did hear that the sweet treats were gone in a flash. And speaking of chocolate…….the pillow chocolates were missing this evening in our room for the first time this cruise. Greg mentioned their little chocolates had stopped a few days ago, so we can only assume they have run out. So sad for a grand voyage, but we will survive as we have kept many of the chocolates from day one.
Tomorrow's port is a new one for us….Kritiansand, located about the furthest south of Norway as one can get. And with it, comes the change of weather as it will turn on a dime.
Bill & Mary Ann
