Gardermoen Gjestegard

... ones this time!

We saw the Fram museum. Now this was very interesting. This is the actual boat that first tried to get to the North Pole but missed by a tad bit as they got frozen in the ice and ended up cruising the currents from north of Greenland. They came damn close for early new world explorers. Columbus in 1492 can kiss Norwegian ass. The same ship.....led by Admunsen (forgot that part...he was on both adventures) successfully made it to the South Pole....to ...

... to rock. This made for an interesting/crazy time on the dance floor as the whole crowd would shift from side to side on the dance floor as the boat moved in the waves.   In the morning we had an all you can eat buffet breakfast. Then at about 9.30 we arrived in Oslo, Norway. We left the ship to do some sightseeing for the day. Oslo was very cold, windy and overcast. It was also a very expensive city. We went sightseeing to see some of the best of what Oslo ...

... a wakeup!! IT WAS AMAZING. This is what I had come to see!!! There were all sorts of artefacts buried with the ships and that were also amazingly preserved such as sleds, carts, pots and jewellery-even remains of textiles were found. Interesting to note that like the pyramids in Egypt the viking tombs had been plundered of many items. Probably not long after the burials. Had dinner at Egons with Fran from the tour. Early nigth for me tonight!

... also liked 'Winter Night in the Mountains' by Harald Sohlberg. I noted that many of these artists painted portraits of each other. The Munch room was of course the most populated by people desperate to see 'Svrik' (Scream) and 'Madonna' which were stolen from this very room in August 2004, and recovered 2 years later. They were found quite badly damaged and have been restored. You can see especially on Scream, the damage in the bottom right hand ...

... as they moved into a hostel in the city. I got it back at 3am last night after spending $20 on pay phones that wouldnt work. Also I have lost my Thai watch. I left it in the showers somewhere and someone must have taken it pretty quickly after I dropped it. They obviously recognised quality. This is a major inconvenience, and Im not looking forward to paying Scandinavian prices for a watch! Does IKEA sell watches? And my tent is feeling the strain a ...

... passports stamped, which was odd only because we never got a stamp in Norway. SAS took us from Stockholm to Oslo. We got all our bags except for one. Fortunately, it was delivered later that day to the hotel. From the airport we took a train to downtown Oslo. I slept about 10 minutes and it was glorious. We walked several blocks from the train station to our hotel, the Carlton Hotel. It wasn't a bad walk, except that some people brought a ton of luggage ...

... Asia. As the days leading up to my departure were a general mish-mash of snow, rain and cold wind I was somewhat surprised by the glorious sunshine in Dublin and I remember thinking is the sun shinning because its happy I'm leaving or is it a gentle reminder of how good Dublin can look on a summers day. Either way I took it as good omen, said goodbye to family and friends and made my way to the station. The one-way fare on euro lines cost me Eur20 from Busaras to London ...

... 40 minutes late. We walked back to the hotel, rested then went out for dinner. Decided to catch a tram down to the parliament stop and went to TGI Friday. We were told there was a wait as they were full but we could try the next door Fridays American Bar that had the same menu. We went next door and got a table and ate and then caught a tram back to Oslo S and went back to the room to pack our bags for flight on to Bergen tomorrow.

... left in hearts of Norsemen, it was the taste for all things nautical. Hundreds of white masts crowded together along the horizon, some of them fleeting resting points for eager seagulls. It was midday and people were out and about enjoying the Nordic sun in the harbour as we queued up to take the public ferry into Bygdøy, a western peninsula ...

... Almost forget to mention the Gay Pride Parade were out in force on the saturday, with their carnival and concerts. Did feel a bit intimidating on the water front where the parade took place being surronded by so many gays but they did put up a very colourful parade with lots of pink and men dressed in drag, although i was left feeling disappointed after not seeing Daffid from Little Britain not make an appearance. Not sure if this was part of ...