Quality Hotel And Spa Holmsbu Buskerud

Tonight is Sunday evening and we are, technically, no where. Let me explain that more in a minute or two. This morning we woke and ate some more danishes, started packing, and then did laundry again. Todd and I both mentioned how (pleasantly) surprised we've been by the weather. In looking before we left, the temps were in the high 50's - 60's. Therefore our packing included a few more long pants and less shirts. Oops, we've had to work around that ...

... all you can eat buffet. I ate so much food. It was very average but all you can eat is too tempting to pass up. After that we headed back down to the cabins to drink and have fun amongst ourselves and the other cabins. CBS had basically taken up the whole bottom floor of the cruise ship so there were plenty of familiar people wandering around visiting cabins.   That night went to the boat's premier nightclub, Heaven 11. We had a good time dancing and then the boat ...

... dogs. I stuffed myself for the millionth time, they really are to good. They wont let me do dishes or even set the table. Medwin called and wished me luck and I thanked him over and over again. I dont think they will ever know how much I appreciate all that they have done for me. I am taking the night bus to Copenhagen and will finally meet Dylan in the morning. I hate to leave, but I must continue down the road to new places. Caio!

... there are paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Manet, Cezanne, Monet, Renoir, even a self portrait of Van Gogh. It features sculptures, notably by Rodin, including 'The Thinker' and 'Danaide'. The gallery is most noted for it's Norwegian art, featuring paintings by artists Harriet Backer, Johann Christian Dahl, Christian Kroeg. I also found my new favourite painting 'Bridal Voyage on the Hardangerfjord' by Adolph Tidemand and Hans Fredrik Gude ...

... of Puffins and where you can see how half the town was destroyed by a volcano about 40 years ago, but I was to buggered and my wallet said no also. Since Tuesday I have been in Oslo and my money woes have continued. This has been a very expensive week. The exchage rate with the NZ dollar is 1 to 4 kroner, however nothing for sale in the supermarket is below 10 kroner, and the cheapest you could hope for a meal at a kiosk is 60 kroner, but more like 80. Plus ...

... waited to take the famous Flam Railway. Flam Railway is one of the highlights in this Norway in a Nutshell trip. The 20-km long ride from Flam up to Myrdal mountain station. From Myrdal, we took the Bergen Railway - Northern Europe's Highest Altitude railway line, to Olso, where we will stay for the night.

... He barely lived long enough to see the fruition of his work. There's a cool labyrinth on the ground near the fountain - it supposedly takes an hour to trace the correct path, so I didn't bother. And what have the insane food prices in Norway done to me? I also passed a beautiful girl carrying six pizzas and didn't look twice or drool over her - but I DID look at the pizzas several times, and almost slipped on my puddle ...

... and after breakfast we headed off up the rolling green fields, through forest trails to whats known as "the longman". The south downs area was once populated by the Celts and the marks they have left behind are things i have only ever seen books. Why they left these markings we will never know but these chalk drawings etched into the hills cant help but make you wonder and marvel at their magnitude. After a spot of lunch we continued on our trail to Alviston, a small but quaint ...

One Norwegian and a group of us exchange students went to Oslo for the day. We visited the Viking museum where we saw 3 viking ships and then went to the Edward Munch (pronounced Monk) museum. I went to the Edward Munch museum mainly because it was free I have to admit but it was interesting and revealed Munch's issues with women. It appeared as if he saw women as evil temptressed and a symbol or cause of death. The Viking ...

... guy had some gnarly stuff going on in his head and it definately came out in his paintings. The Contemporary Art Museum - wonderfully odd, and highly imaginative works. The Viking Ship Museum - a cultural must see for any trip to norway. that is really all i have to say about oslo. while in olso i dropped by the norwegian hiking association office to make ...