Scandinavia

I bought Rick's Travel Book about Scandinavia. My husband and I devoured it! We had wanted to go to Norway, Denmark and Sweden for a long time and we finally did the trip in the last week in September and the first half of October of this year. What a great trip! We loved Oslo! The National Museum was absolutely fantastic! They have so much to offer and, since we're art lovers, we spent a lot of time in the Modern Art Section which just blew us away. If you're going, do not miss this!! We were disappointed that the Nobel Peace Museum was closed. Apparently, they are remodeling, but don't quote me on that, but it is closed. Not to worry as we did go to the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm which was so interesting and informative. We did the tour of the Opera House in Oslo which also was wonderful. No ticket is more than 95 Kroner and the least expensive tickets were much less so that all Norwegians can afford to attend the performances. Fantastic! We mastered the tram system after taking the number 12 in the wrong direction! Didn't matter, we got to see a section of Oslo that was very residential! Do not miss the Fram Museum and Kon Tiki Museum in Bygdoy. All fascinating and a lovely ferry ride from Oslo. Vigeland Sculpture Park blew us away! It was way more than we expected. Norwegian Resistance Museum was well worth seeing. The Norwegians are very open about their role in the Second World War and this museum doesn't hold back. We did the Norway in a Nutshell tour and splurged by spending the night in Balestrand at the Kviknes Hotel. As Rick tells you, the smorgasbord doesn't get any better than this! Salmon cooked a dozen ways, all delicious. Took the ferry to Bergen through the fjords and all was just beautiful. Have to say we were disappointed in the Flam Railway as at least half of it is through tunnels and the tourists were packed into the cars. If a nice view came up, everyone rushed to the one side of the train to see it, leaving others who weren't on that side to lose out. When we got to Flam, a huge cruise ship was docked there. It just didn't fit into the idea I had of the scenic fjords. I expected kayaks, canoes, small ferries etc., not giant ships. I spoke with some folks from there and they said they depend on these ships for income as their stores aren't open all year, just summer months. So I get it, but still not what I expected. Bergen, however was wonderful. We even took part in a food festival that was so interesting. Various fishes, ways to cook them, algae farm reps, just fascinating. The longest lines were for pancakes, but I'm sure that's not what they were called. We walked from our hotel to the Gamle Bergen Museum which is the Old Bergen site. This was also a highlight as you're going back to 18th century homes and characters. Actors are dressed in 18th century garb and do a little skit which is quite entertaining. You see dental offices, doctors offices, hair styling sites which will make you glad you live now and not then! So much to see! A wonderful trip to Norway made especially wonderful by the lovely Norwegians we met. Since the Norwegians all speak English (they start learning in grade school) it was easy to communicate. Any time we asked for directions, we always got help. I hope they liked us as much as we liked them! We didn't see the Northern Lights, but we didn't expect to see them at the time of year we were there, but just an excuse to go back!