We found plenty to stay busy on the full day of sailing from Bergen to Oslo and Mom’s choir gave a performance in the foyer.
In Oslo, Mom and I had a big walk planned for today and Dad decided to take a day of rest. We walked past the Nobel Prize building
And the royal palace
all the way to Vigeland Park, a park with 100’s of statues of humans. There were many busloads of people there and we ran into several people we knew from the ship.
From there we walked back to town and stopped in the National Gallery to view more art and Sunday’s were free! We walked all the halls and spent sometime in the Munch room, viewing his famous paintings of Madonna and The Scream!
From there we headed to the Ice bar for a drink in the frozen room with a few sculptures – about $26 to suit up in a big winter jacket for a single drink of about 3 ounces of wine cooler! What a tourist trap! But, Mom had been talking about it for the whole cruise so I guess it was worth to visit once.
Further in town, we visited a cathedral,
the modern opera house,
and a fort next to the ship.
On the last day at sea, my progressive trivia team took top honors on the cruise. We sailed by many oil rigs and saw a most amazing sunset – the first sunset in about 10 days and the first time it got dark at night in about 10 days! It was a nice ending to a good cruise.
Perk of the cruise – the served these huge Norwegian cheese wheels.
There were 9 cruise ships scheduled at the Bergen Norway Cruise Stop today so we found ourselves docked in a shipping yard with a free shuttle to the center of the city. We did our own walking tour of the town, stopping in the central park,
walking the pedestrian shopping street, and looking at all the interesting seafood and meats at the fish market.
We stopped for a bit in the old wooden part of town – now mostly shops. There were some interesting slopes of the buildings and staircases due to the age of these wooden buildings.
We also checked out a local supermarket to buy some chocolates – salted licorice chocolate anyone?
From there we walked through an arty area of town with murals & visited the local cathedral.
For some reason Norwegians love food in tubes. These things crack me up!
That night on the ship, they had a special American themed concert in the foyer and later had a red, white, and blue party in the night club. It was a shame they didn’t spring for a few fireworks 🙂
Are you traveling on a cruise and only have one day in Flam, Norway? Check out this diary of what I did while on my cruise on the Celebrity Summit ship, an 11-night cruise of Norway departing from Amsterdam.
We had booked an afternoon ride on the Flam railway today, so we had a full morning free. We slept in a bit and then Mom and I went for a walk in the Flam valley. We walked a few miles to the old town to visit the old church.
Along the way back, we stopped for views of waterfalls, fishing docks, and a guy’s personal grain mill, powered by the river.
We walked back thru the main town to the ship. If you’re planning to stay in Flam, check out these hotels in Flam.
We had lunch with Dad on the ship and then the 3 of us met the group to walk over to the train station. This was the only tour we had booked through the ship and it was probably my least favorite – it basically involved paying $45 more per person than you can buy the ticket from the station itself, but we had some ship credit to use. This is claimed to be one of the steepest trains in the world but we were never at the sort of incline that is claimed in the ads. The ride itself was beautiful but didn’t seem very steep at any part.
Near the top, we stopped to jump off on a platform to view a very voluminous waterfall.
Shortly after, we stopped at a hotel near the top of the hill for coffee and waffles – it was an absolute zoo of people pushing to get their waffles and hot beverages. Someone nearly knocked me over while I had two full cups that I was taking to the table for Dad and me. It’s a shame the ship trips are so crowded – it makes me even more appreciative of the small group tours we booked with a CC acquaintance.
We rode back down the hill by train on a much more packed train.
When we got back to the room, there was an invitation to attend a sail away on the helipad at the front of the ship so I opted to skip dinner for the view. They served us hot chocolate as we chatted and sailed out the fjord.
Later that night, there were interesting rays of light peeking through the clouds.
We are so far north that it hasn’t gotten totally dark at night since we left Amsterdam.
I had booked my parents on a hop on hop off bus plus a boat ride today and I decided to go solo to get a chance to hike up the hills of the arguably most beautiful fjord in all of Norway. We were so lucky with the weather today – one of the sunniest days yet.
So, I hiked through town, past the church,
through a meadow, and up the hill to a llama and goat farm.
From there I hiked left and down the hill to a ledge for one of the best views of my life – the ship in the fjord with surrounding mountains was spectacular. It’s amazing how far the ships can get to the end of these fjords – literally at the end! For awhile I was the only person at this serene spot – it’s so nice to get away from the crowds when on a cruise.
From there I hiked back up to the farm where a big group was having a late breakfast or early lunch of waffles and continued going up the hill, passing many waterfalls.
I hiked to the other famous viewpoint in town, but this one is reachable by car and bus so certainly not as peaceful.
From there I followed the road about 2/3 of the way back to the ship and stopped off at the large fjord center that looked to be a run of the mill museum. There was a metal boardwalk along the side of the town’s waterfall all the way back to the ship. I looked in a few shops at then had a late lunch back on the ship.
We had a treat as we sailed out of the fjord – there is one spot where there is a waterfall on each side – on one side, the Seven Sisters Falls, with 7 distinct separate drops. On the other side is the Suitor, a single heavier drop. It is said that the Suitor is there to choose amongst the 7 sisters. Music played on the boat as we did a 360 degree “donut” in the fjord with the ship. The maneuvering of the captain is amazing.
We had booked another full day bus ride with our friends from Cruise Critic. On this date, we had a bus ride on the loop through the Trollsteigen, or so called “Troll Road” of Norway. There are many stories of trolls in Norway – as little children were told they would be kidnapped by these creatures that could hide as stone.
It was a long drive on what started out as a very gray day. We drove by fish farms and thru looooong tunnels.
We were worried that we wouldn’t have nice views but the further up the mountain, the clearer it got. It was amazing as the bus snaked its way up the very sharp switchbacks and past a thundering waterfall to the very nice viewpoint at the top.
Crazy Roads – the Troll Road
We drove down thru a valley and stopped at another waterfall before having lunch at a berry farm.
In town, we drove to the town viewpoint.
Since the ship was not departing until 10 pm, I got on the ship for a quick dinner and then headed out to the town with Heather, a woman that lives in east Bay, in California.
A guy from Cruise Critic had organized a full day tour today, with a bus load of others. We took the bus north on the Great Atlantic Road, a recently built road connecting many islands with bridges that has become one of the top tourist attractions of Norway. There are great views along this road.
You can still see Viking graveyards.
On a neighboring island, we stopped at the stave church in Kvarnes. There are only a couple dozen of the wooden churches left in Norway, built about 500 years ago.
Lastly, we stopped in a little fishing village of Bud. Most of the group was to have a seafood buffet, but with the large amounts of food on the boat, Mom and I decided to have a walk around the cute village.
We drove back to Molde, past the Jarlsburg cheese factory and ski jumps and stopped at the top of Mount Varden for a view of the ship and Molde town.
The sail up the fjord to Olden town is great. The sunny morning highlighted the views, including a mountain that’s the Norwegian version of Half Dome.
Norway’s Half Dome?Sailing into Olden, Norway
Today I had booked my parents on a tour and I was going to catch the public bus to the Briksdal glacier. Upon arriving, I walked with a few others into town to only find that there were no public buses on this Sunday. So, I visited the local churches.
and then headed back to port to see if I could catch a private bus to the glacier. I found the private buses were $70 per person for just a 13-mile ride to the glacier and the last bus back was quite early, leaving little time at the glacier itself. Since my parent’s trip hadn’t left yet, I decided to meet them and see if there was room. By chance, the 2 buses to carry 36 people that had booked from a guy from Cruise Critic were short 2 seats so they called to get a private car for the extra two, leaving a seat for me! I’m so glad that tour was available – we paid a great price for a great day and I got to hang out with my parents more. We drove to a nearby lake and got on an Amsterdam-style canal boat for a beautiful ride on Lake Loen. The cruise provided views of the beautiful glacial lake, mountains, and glacier. The weather was great until the last few minutes, when the largest rain drops I’ve ever seen started to fall.
Luckily as the rain started, we had arrived at a restaurant to enjoy waffles with homemade strawberry jam and sour cream – absolutely yummy.
From there, we drove to the base of a glacier for a short walk and a closer look at the amazing waterfalls and glacier.
There were lots of delicate wildflowers near the base of the glacier.
On the way back to the ship, we stopped at a viewpoint and a sod roof farm.
This was one of my favorite days in Norway. That night as we sailed out the long fjord, the ship slowed down for a group of local boaters who wanted to greet our ship. It was a small parade of small boats with cheering locals, flares, and Norwegian flags.
We had a full day at sea before our first stop in Norway in the oil town of Stavanger. I walked around the town with mom and dad for our own free walking tour. Everything is within walking distance from the cruise ship port. We stopped at a playground of recycled parts,
a tower viewpoint,
the cathedral (it was over $5 to enter so I gave this one a skip – lots of other free churches to be seen in the world),
and the old town.
The best views in town were actually from the cruise ship:
If I ever go back to Stavanger, I will visit Pulpit Rock. I had originally wanted to do the Pulpit Rock hike but I wasn’t in the best rock hiking shape and there was a single bus/boat return trip and if you missed that, you would miss the cruise ship so I decided to not take the risk. The handful of people from the ship that did this trip said it was a highlight of their cruise.
I only managed to get a couple hours of sleep on the overnight bus from Paris to Amsterdam. Upon arriving in Amsterdam, I caught the subway to the central station and then walked to my hostel for the night. Check-in wasn’t until 2pm so headed out for a day of sightseeing and didn’t want to spend much money, so decided to do this cheap day trip from Amsterdam. I’d been to Amsterdam several times before and seen some of the museums, the Anne Frank house, and the Heineken brewery so I decided to head out to the countryside to see the windmills and one of the villages in the Netherlands. A 6 euro return train ticket heads northwest of the city, thru Rotterdam. From the train station, I walked a little over a mile with the scent of chocolate chips (from the Chocolate factory there)
to the Zandan Sanns village – a touristy spot with windmills, shops, and restaurants in the lovely bit of country land on a river.
I stopped at the cheese factory and sampled about 20 kinds of cheeses, watched a demo on making wooden clogs, and hiked past the windmills. Here you can buy stroopwaffel and other typical Dutch food.
I bought some very addictive stroopwaffels – buttery wafers with caramel in the middle. This little “tourist trap” is a worthwhile ½ day trip out of Amsterdam. There are lots of tour groups leaving the city to visit this site but as you can see you can cut costs incredibly and do it on your own time by just taking the 6 euro bus. With snacks, free cheese samples, and the train I only spent about $10 on this day trip.
After returning to Amsterdam, I took a nap and woke up in the evening for a nice stroll in the city and walk through the red-light district. I had a few beers and watched France vs. Ecuador in the world cup games. Holland’s team has been doing well so the country is really football (soccer)-crazy with orange flags and inflatable soccer balls everywhere.
I made the most of my last half solo day in Amsterdam and went for a walk around the canals and to the flower market.
The next stop was the international cruise terminal, which is walkable from central Amsterdam. I was hoping to run into my parents but instead waited close to 2 hours to board the boat. Upon getting on the boat, I headed to the room where my parents had also just arrived. They had been lucky to avoid the lines by checking in for the cruise at the airport. We did a tour of the ship. It was nearly identical to the Summit, which we had been on 1.5 years earlier in the Caribbean. The ship departed in the late afternoon, sailing the canal. At dinner, we met the 2 other couples that would be our dinner table mates. It was me plus the 70-80 years olds :(. While eating dinner, we headed out of the lock that protects the low lying Holland from flooding and into the open sea.
My friend Dean, who I met while flashpacking in the Philippines, picked me up at the airport in the middle of the afternoon and we drove to his house in Esbly. His girlfriend was setting up for their party that night – to celebrate their first year in the house and all the work that was done. They had purchase a 100-year old fishing house and updated it considerably.
That night they had a garden party complete with about 50 guests, a local boy acting as waiter, and a musician! I had fun taking to many of their friends, many of whom were international (from Britain, Japan, and Colombia) .
Several people stayed overnight after the party, as the national rail service is on strike and there are limited train services. The musician was one of them and my friend drove us to the train station so we could head to Paris. He was originally from eastern Africa and he helped me buy some subway tickets and then gave me some advice on staying safe.
I took the subway over to the Montmartre neighborhood and visited the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.
Then I walked around the arty district and on to the red light district, the home of the Moulin Rouge.
From there I took the subway to the Eiffel tower. The lines were really long and my sister and I had been up the tower about 20 years ago so I decided to skip it.
I watched the scammers in the park with their ball/shell game, watched a visiting Japanese band, and watched some Sri Lankan protesters.
I was planning on heading out to Versailles today, but as I was sitting on the train I didn’t see any other tourists. Upon reading my guidebook, discovered it was closed on Mondays! So I hopped off the train in the center of Paris. From here I made my way to the Arc de Triumphe. It was relatively early and there were no tourists on a traffic island I was standing on to take a picture of the Arc. I pulled out my camera, took a pic, turned around, and there was a Roma woman picking a golden ring off the ground. I pointed at here and yelled no and then hightailed it out of there. This would be one of multiple scam attempts on me in my few days in Paris as well as stories that others had told me:
* at the basilica, there were young men trying to tie a “friendship bracelet” aka string on my wrist. I avoided this and later found out they would harass you for 20-50 euros if they stringed you.
*the ring trick – see details above
* all over, there were teenagers trying to get your signature on various petitions. I heard there are several tricks with this. One is that you signed something that in some foreign language says “the undersigned promises to give this girl 500 euros” they will then chase you around until you pay them something. They would also ask for a donation. A Chinese woman told me she went into her wallet to give them a couple euros and they used the signature paper to cover her wallet and steal the money from it.
* the shell and ball game – they tried hard to get me to play, with planted players in the crowd. It would be so obvious which shell the ball is under every time, and time after time the planted players win some and lose some. Eventually they try to get you to bet $50 because you are so sure you know where that ball is, but they palm the ball and take your money.
* I met a Canadian who got pickpocketed when someone dropped some glasses at his feet and then tugged on his pants as an accomplice was taking his wallet.
* guys selling Eiffel tower key chains for 10 for 1 euro – I’m not sure if this is a scam or they’re just stolen goods or bootleg goods, but they all go running when the cops show up.
In general, I didn’t feel very safe in Paris. Due to immigration from eastern Europe and northern and western Africa, the pickpocketing and scamming risk is really high.
After the Arc, I walked down the Champs Elysees to the Obelisk and then over to the Latin quarter for lunch. I stopped at the Notre Dame and enjoyed the local ice cream on the island just across from Notre Dame.
For my last day in Paris, I was to visit the Palace of Versailles. If you know which day you’re going, it’s best to buy tickets on the internet. I didn’t do this and the hassle was even worse as I was lugging my luggage.
So, a day in Versailles begins as a train full of people descends on this town and the line to buy tickets AND then get in the line to enter the palace itself. I originally got in a line at the local tourist office where you could pay a couple euros’ commission and buy a ticket to avoid the official tourist line but it was obvious the line was moving very slowly so I took a chance and found a small tourist office just to the left of the gates where I bought a ticket with no line and no commission. So, I paid my $30+ for the ticket and then got in the official LINE! It took nearly 1.5 hours of standing in the sun in a snaking line, dragging my suitcase behind.
Inside the palace was beautiful – but packed so you couldn’t really enjoy the palace rooms without being pushed to the next room.
After the palace, I headed out to the gardens where I watched the boaters and swans. It was a hot day and it was frustrating to be in a garden with sprinklers and fountains but no drinking water – the cost for a small Evian was $4 euro!
After the palace and gardens, I headed back to the very packed train station and was so happy I bought a return ticket in the morning – there were 100s of people in line to buy the return ticket. Back in Paris, I got off the train near the Notre Dame that was in nice afternoon light.
I had a fixed price meal at a Moroccan restaurant in the Latin Quarter and then headed to the International bus station – it was super easy to transfer from the metro to the station. At 11pm, my Euroline bus to Amsterdam departed, and very full.
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