Alborg, Denmark was a smallish college town. We toured historic buildings including a monastery built in 1506. The story was: a monk and a nun had an affair, and the nun had a baby. So, they walled up the nun and her baby, alive, around a support pillar. The guide explained that that was why the pillar was so much thicker. Nothing happened to the monk. They probably couldn’t figure out which one was the father. All the women in the tour were outraged, of course (as I suspected were the men), but it’s done. Thank God we’ve come a long way, baby. During the walk we kept running into costumed students celebrating the end of exams or something. They shared their beer with some of our members. It reminded me of Hobo Day at South Dakota State University. The kids were having a ball as they staggered down the street. They kept it up for hours and the parade just got bigger. It was fun. But it was time to go back to the ship. We were on our way to Oslo.
Remember me mentioning Pat and Linda? The couple we met on the first tour? When we got back to the ship Pat was sitting in the atrium with a mask on. He explained that Linda’s spit had tested positive for COVID that morning. He tested negative so he was allowed the run of the ship, but he had to wear a mask. Pat said Linda felt fine except for being forced to spend a portion of a very expensive trip in quarantine on the third deck. We learned later that some crew as well as tourists tested positive for COVID. I don’t know how it spread. We all supposedly tested negative before we were allowed on the ship. It explained the daily spit tests and the crew in hazmat suits. But I felt bad for Pat and Linda. Put a damper on their trip.
We didn’t take the downtown tour of Oslo. Wish we had but there wasn’t time. We toured a lovely park with spectacular artwork. Sort of an outdoor museum. Then we were taken to the training facility for the ski-jumping team. Those kids must have a death wish. The guide told us the kids started jumping at age 9. There was also a training ground for cross-country skiing. No wonder the Norwegians clean up in the Winter Olympic games. They earn it. We saw the summer house and church where the royal family spend their down time. I wish we’d gotten inside the parliament, but I’ll make a point of visiting those sites if we ever manage to get back. Oslo is a lovely city.
We chose to visit the Fram museum the next day. The Fram was an Antarctic expeditionary ship that is housed in its own building. The Norwegians were famous explorers and I enjoyed learning the history of the ship. They treated us to champagne then we went to another building that housed Viking boats. I learned a lot about exploration; it was fascinating. We were disappointed when we couldn’t get into the Kon-Tiki building. We peeked through the windows but couldn’t see anything. We asked why we couldn’t get in and were told that it was a holiday (boy, they have a lot of holidays) and even getting to see the Fram was a big deal. Kon-Tiki is something else to see if I ever get back.
We went to Stavanger the next day. We took a RIB (rigid inflatable boat() tour of the fjords. We knew it would be like white-water rafting so Gordon and I tried to get the front seats to get the most bounce for our buck. Another couple beat us to it so we sat behind them. Turned out to be good for us. It was cold and started raining. We huddled down behind the couple in front of us to cut the wind and rain. The woman turned at one point and said, “The wind is blowing the rain down the front of my thermal suit. Even my socks are cold and wet.” It was a long trip for her. I enjoyed bouncing around and the close-up view of the fjords was spectacular. I’d do it again if given the chance.
We went to Eidfjord the next day. They drove us on a bus for an hour and a half to a small cruise ship. We were supposed to have a lovely cruise down the river so we could enjoy the waterfalls in the fjords but it rained again. We spent the entire cruise huddled inside. Then we had that LONG bus ride back to the ship. It was a wasted day for me. I learned that Norway is still having trouble with their roads. There’s little flat land and getting roads next to the fjords is difficult. Those fjords are gorgeous but all you can do is look at them. Farming and industry are hard businesses. We were told that Norway was a very poor country until an American oil company drilled. The company was allowed to take the oil for ten years then everything reverted to Norway. So now Norway has money. Thank you, American industry. I thought the snide comments about American business were thoughtless. The Norwegians would still be trying to make a living on a fishing economy and still be poor without oil. And the Americans lived up tp their agreement. You wouldn’t see the Russians doing that.
We spent our last day in Bergen. It rained again. The guide said it rains 280 days a year. Depressing. Then he asked if anyone in our group had Norwegian heritage and I pointed to Gordon. Gordon explained that his family came from a farm outside of Bergen and the guide said, “I thought you looked Viking!” All of the tourists stared at Gordon which embarrassed him, but he really does look like pictures of the Vikings; aggressive nose, high cheekbones, broad forehead. He should be wearing a wolf-pelt and swinging an ax. Anway, we saw the theater dedicated to Ibsen and statues of Grieg. I was surprised that the arts were celebrated more in Bergen than Oslo. The guide explained that Bergen had been the capitol until some king decided to move to Oslo. Maybe it doesn’t rain so much there. But it’s a charming city. I wish we could have spent more time there. One interesting note: the Norwegians are solidly on the side of Ukraine in the war. We saw graffiti of a dove pooping on Putin’s head.
We had one more night of dining and entertainment then we had to pack for the trip home. Our luggage had to be outside our room by ten o’clock and we had to be in the atrium of the ship by three a.m. in order to catch our plane to Copenhagen where we changed flights. We landed in Copenhagen at 7 and were dreading the day ahead. We had a 5 and a half hour lay-over before catching a flight to Washington DC where we had another 5 hour lay-over. On our way to check into the next flight I noticed on the departures board that there was a non-stop flight to Los Angeles in two hours. I looked at Gordon and said, “Why the hell aren’t we on that flight?” So, we buzzed over to the SAS counter to see if we couldn’t change flights. We were even willing to pay if we had to. Well, SAS didn’t give us a hard time. They changed our flight and made sure our luggage traveled with us. The flight home was as uneventful as the flight over had been hard. We saved nine hours of travel time and were home in time to feed Gracie ourselves. She was glad to see us.
Scandanavia was a pleasure. Everybody there speaks English. I was told that English is required in all the schools. Most of the people I talked to didn’t even have an accent. They sounded American. Even the Ghanaian barista I met sounded American. One of the guides made a joke about American Imperialism with reference to culture. And he was right. Our marketing expertise is a powerful thing. But it makes traveling easy for someone like me who only speaks one language.
I recommend you save your pennies and travel with Viking. The hotel travels with you instead of you having to shlep luggage all over. I enjoyed the food and entertainment. I got to dip my toe in various cultures. And I know where I want to spend more time if I go back. Good time.