We stayed at the Balestrand Hotel per Rick and it was a lovely place. No tv, phone, or radio in the rooms--very quiet. Wireless was in the lobby. Owner was wonderful. Balestrand is a little more inconvenient than I thought because you really need to drive and catch a ferry to go back so plan for that. We saved Oslo for the weekend and Rick was right, great deals on business hotels. We stayed at Best Western Bondeheimen and it was okay. We ate at the Kaffistova cafeteria since we got a discount with the room and it was pretty good. We decided to stay an extra day and hotel could not match Travelocity rate so I went to computer and booked from there. Although it took hours for the confirmation to come the hotel clerk honored it. Rick didn't discuss the island ferries and we took one over where locals seemed to be going for sunbathing. Wasn't really worth it. The WWII Resistance Museum was very interesting but rather low tech (just reading) which is too bad because it's a great story. We took a side trip to Arendal to look for family history and found it was a delightful seaside town near Christiansand. I wish I had spent two days there and only 1 day in Oslo. It's a beautiful country but driving always took longer than we anticipated because of the terrain. Even when you know it's expensive, it's still a shock to the wallet sometimes. But it was a great trip and I would have really been lost without Rick's book.
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