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Post by marielouise on Jun 29, 2015 20:01:38 GMT
LOL...what's interesting is that the Japanese are the complete opposite. They'll happily stand single file in a line without a word of complaint - they won't even get up to board a flight until their rows are called. LOL But in Geiranger at the buffet dinner, I was just going to pick up the serving spoon to get some food and somehow I got squeezed out by the Japanese, they were coming in both directions, I was quite surprised. It was fish and I guess they were so eager for the food. It was quite a zoo at the buffet tables. It was much better the next night when there were no Japanese.
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Post by chech on Jun 29, 2015 20:01:51 GMT
2009 I think. When I went to Greece. Can't remember transiting through there any other time...
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Post by chech on Jun 29, 2015 20:04:49 GMT
LOL...what's interesting is that the Japanese are the complete opposite. They'll happily stand single file in a line without a word of complaint - they won't even get up to board a flight until their rows are called. LOL But in Geiranger at the buffet dinner, I was just going to pick up the serving spoon to get some food and somehow I got squeezed out by the Japanese, they were coming in both directions, I was quite surprised. It was fish and I guess they were so eager for the food. It was quite a zoo at the buffet tables. It was much better the next night when there were no Japanese. Yeah, the Japanese were fun to watch at the buffet. They weren't "rude" but more "eager" as you put it. Granted, I'm like a giant compared to most Japanese, so it's harder for them to push us out of the way like the Germans did.
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Post by Boop on Jun 29, 2015 20:08:15 GMT
2009 I think. When I went to Greece. Can't remember transiting through there any other time... sshhhhhhh........listen
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Post by chech on Jun 30, 2015 11:22:46 GMT
A Day of Vikings, castles, naked statues and homicidal German photographers. Day Ten: wp.me/P4wi9z-1EZ
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Post by 1jhwks on Jun 30, 2015 12:21:29 GMT
The Norwegian Resistance Museum was included in our city tour. You would not have the time to do it properly. They have a lot of stuff for a small museum.
Seems like your tour, all except for the Geiranger part, were the same as ours when we did the tour in 2000. We walked down that street your hotel was to as far as the Royal Palace. Turned back and walked back the other direction down to the pedestrian area. That was a long day. We did the Viking Ship and Fram the next day. This was a great tour: has everything in it.
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Post by poodlegirl on Jun 30, 2015 13:50:16 GMT
Yeah, it had a fairly major fire the day after we left. Started on the second floor linen room and took out part of the third story. It's too bad...it was a hotel full of character. The single room was tiny but some of the regular rooms were fabulous. And the hotel was full of antiques. I called Trafalgar and we will be at Best Western Plus Kronjylland. Newly renovated near train station (alas no antiques or character) Only good news is Aldi grocery store across street for dinner and supply of snacks.
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Post by poodlegirl on Jun 30, 2015 14:00:49 GMT
A Day of Vikings, castles, naked statues and homicidal German photographers. Day Ten: wp.me/P4wi9z-1EZ Another great day! How long did you get for lunch, I really want to see the Resistance Museum.
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Post by marielouise on Jun 30, 2015 15:37:31 GMT
I enjoyed Maihaugen which was included in our tour. We did not go on the optional of the ski jump in Lillehammer since we have one right here and have skied with the kids near the jump. One man tried to recruit my 10 year old son, lol. Your drive to Oslo was much shorter, from Bergen it seemed interminable, we did have many stops but it was around 500 km. Our TD did not take us on a walk around Oslo, our hotel was close to the rail station, but the next day we went to see the Vigeland statues and then we had optionals to see the Viking ships and the Kontiki museum. I remember I also wanted to see the Fram one but did not have enough time. Instead we went to another outdoor museum similar to Maihaugen, which I thought was strange. Our Insight tour had a lot of long driving days, yours seem to not have had as many.
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Post by marielouise on Jun 30, 2015 15:45:27 GMT
We stayed in Laerdal on the Sognefjord which was old and quaint. I don't think they stay there. Everything was closed including the salmon museum when we arrived, but the village was very picturesque. Our rooms were 1960s but after dinner coffee was served in a beautiful room with antiques and a piano, I really enjoyed that hotel. At the breakfast buffet there was also gravlax, which is pickled in salt and sugar, delicious, as well as smoked salmon.
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Post by chech on Jun 30, 2015 16:26:43 GMT
I enjoyed Maihaugen which was included in our tour. We did not go on the optional of the ski jump in Lillehammer since we have one right here and have skied with the kids near the jump. One man tried to recruit my 10 year old son, lol. Your drive to Oslo was much shorter, from Bergen it seemed interminable, we did have many stops but it was around 500 km. Our TD did not take us on a walk around Oslo, our hotel was close to the rail station, but the next day we went to see the Vigeland statues and then we had optionals to see the Viking ships and the Kontiki museum. I remember I also wanted to see the Fram one but did not have enough time. Instead we went to another outdoor museum similar to Maihaugen, which I thought was strange. Our Insight tour had a lot of long driving days, yours seem to not have had as many. That's one reason I opted for the TT tour. It had only one long continuous drive and that was Oslo to Stockholm. The second longest was Denmark to Norway and that day was broken up by the ferry ride. I found the Insight direction of travel to be a bit strange.
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Post by chech on Jun 30, 2015 16:31:57 GMT
Yeah, it had a fairly major fire the day after we left. Started on the second floor linen room and took out part of the third story. It's too bad...it was a hotel full of character. The single room was tiny but some of the regular rooms were fabulous. And the hotel was full of antiques. I called Trafalgar and we will be at Best Western Plus Kronjylland. Newly renovated near train station (alas no antiques or character) Only good news is Aldi grocery store across street for dinner and supply of snacks. Ah, a plastic box! However, it's only about 1 km from the Hotel Randers so if you wanted to walk about the old city, you could. We had just under 2 hours for our lunch in Oslo. If you went straight for the museum, you could probably see some of it no problem. If you walk toward the Fortress from City Hall, don't follow the road along the waterfront when you get to a spot where you see stairs off to your left. Take the stairs and walk around the wall until you see the entrance. The Resistance Museum is inside there and I believe this was it:
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Post by marielouise on Jun 30, 2015 16:45:54 GMT
We had at least 3 long travel days, Northern Denmark, Fredrikshavn to Stockholm, Falun to Lillehammer, not very scenic, lots of coniferous forests and Bergen to Oslo.
We went on our own to the Resistance museum, it is small but very interesting.
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Post by chech on Jul 1, 2015 12:26:49 GMT
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Post by purvis on Jul 1, 2015 18:35:48 GMT
Chech: Just finished reading day 11 and really enjoy both your's and Oz's tour tales as they are accompanied by history lessons which make your tales more understandable . Thanks Purvis
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Post by californian on Jul 1, 2015 19:25:32 GMT
What a great trip and tale, very sad is about to end! Thank you once more Chech.
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Post by poodlegirl on Jul 1, 2015 20:45:45 GMT
LOL...what's interesting is that the Japanese are the complete opposite. They'll happily stand single file in a line without a word of complaint - they won't even get up to board a flight until their rows are called. LOL But in Geiranger at the buffet dinner, I was just going to pick up the serving spoon to get some food and somehow I got squeezed out by the Japanese, they were coming in both directions, I was quite surprised. It was fish and I guess they were so eager for the food. It was quite a zoo at the buffet tables. It was much better the next night when there were no Japanese. I guess it is a "when I am away" issue for some people. I was in Bavaria winter of 2010 and fell on some ice. I could not get on my feet and was crawling up the driveway pushing camera bag ahead of me. A woman turned her car around and got out to help. She had a great deal of trouble hoisting me up and getting me to safety. With a smile and a wave she was off! Of course I had been the first one outside before we left for the days' touring and "found" the ice...
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Post by poodlegirl on Jul 1, 2015 21:05:51 GMT
Thank you again for your posts. The pictures, history and your experiences bring it all to life. In Lillehammer I will probably go to Maihaugen on my own. Get a bit dizzy with heights lately. Rode ferris wheel (car type) in Chartres a few years ago and I had trouble taking pictures. Can you imagine siki lift with feet dangling? In "Stockholm Discovery" you got to walk around Drottingholm gardens was this a surprise, not in the description of optional. Hoping that Fjell fortress is available with Televag.
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Post by chech on Jul 1, 2015 21:23:07 GMT
Getting to Maihaugen would be a pain in the cat's behind as the hotel is some distance from Lillehammer. The cost of the taxi (if you could find one) would be more than the cost of the whole optional. (Or as Amanda would likely say...you could buy a car for what the taxi would cost you...LOL). You don't have to go up on the ski lift at the Olympic Park. Seeing the park itself is worth it. Drottingholm isn't part of the optional. It was part of the city tour and when we finished, the non-optional people got on the bus to return to the city and the optional people got on the boat. I'm thinking, this summer, there won't be any visits to Fjell Fortress. It's only open on Sundays and the free day in Bergen doesn't fall on Sundays this year.
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Post by poodlegirl on Jul 1, 2015 23:31:00 GMT
Getting to Maihaugen would be a pain in the cat's behind as the hotel is some distance from Lillehammer. The cost of the taxi (if you could find one) would be more than the cost of the whole optional. (Or as Amanda would likely say...you could buy a car for what the taxi would cost you...LOL). You don't have to go up on the ski lift at the Olympic Park. Seeing the park itself is worth it. Drottingholm isn't part of the optional. It was part of the city tour and when we finished, the non-optional people got on the bus to return to the city and the optional people got on the boat. I'm thinking, this summer, there won't be any visits to Fjell Fortress. It's only open on Sundays and the free day in Bergen doesn't fall on Sundays this year. Thanks for the reply. The hotel made it look like it was 500 metres away. But then I would miss the park. I would probably be okay on lift if I was by myself and did the pics at top LOL Too bad about Fjell.
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Post by 1jhwks on Jul 2, 2015 0:26:47 GMT
Oslo to Stockholm was also our longest day on our Globus tour. Yummmm! This was at my local IKEA which opened last year.
_
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Post by chech on Jul 2, 2015 12:30:17 GMT
I heard that you could get Swedish meatballs at Ikea. <sigh> Just one more thing to tease me with....LOL The last two days are up: Day Twelve: wp.me/P4wi9z-1G2Day Thirteen: wp.me/P4wi9z-1GO
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Post by Boop on Jul 2, 2015 16:58:47 GMT
How on earth did "they" get past the attendants with 3 large carry on bags? Did they just shove their way past They should have been made to check a bag and perhaps miss the flight..lolol! Great tale Chech.........thanks for sharing, Switzerland coming up! <---- don't foget to pack your balaclava!
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Post by purvis on Jul 2, 2015 17:24:06 GMT
Chech: Now I know why you left it until day 13 was up to explain your dislike of some German tourists. You should have muttered something about being in some African country and getting sick just to give them some anxious moments. I have travelled to Germany,Switzerland and Austria and found the locals very easy to get along with. Like you I have had some very unpleasant incidents with the German tourists perhaps when they leave "Der Fatherland" their true personalities surface. Purvis
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Post by poodlegirl on Jul 2, 2015 18:06:18 GMT
Lovely tale would make me sign up but wait, I am already going LOL.
Enjoy Switzerland to the fullest
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Post by poodlegirl on Jul 2, 2015 18:12:11 GMT
Going a day early with 6 am arrival (yikes) and a two night stop-over in Reyjkavik on way home. Icelandair with no meals included but the price difference will buy some good eats overseas haha.
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Post by chech on Jul 2, 2015 18:39:42 GMT
Oh...two nights in Reykjavik! Have you made plans for that free day? Blue Lagoon? Walking through fault lines? Descending into a volcano? A stroll through a lava tube? All is possible there.
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Post by poodlegirl on Jul 2, 2015 20:21:30 GMT
Looking into a very full day Platinum Circle with tour Iceland combines Saga trail, Highland road and Golden Circle evening.
A bit of local stuff on the Saturday and Blue Lagoon on the Monday before flight.
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Post by chech on Jul 2, 2015 21:20:52 GMT
Ahhh...that'll give you a good look at Iceland. Thingvellir is amazing! I visited Iceland in 2013 and wrote a detailed tale on it. It's on my website.
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Post by 1jhwks on Jul 2, 2015 21:34:32 GMT
Yes, Chech! The Ikea here has a cafe upstairs where you can get cheap breakfast for $0.99 and Swedish meatballs for lunch or dinner. There is also a 'store' after the checkouts at the end of the store where you buy coffee, frozen meatballs and other stuff.
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