Oslo Fjords

The Oslo Fjords are the next wonder on our trip. To see them as we sail into Oslo means an early morning; well, early for the cruise. Dad and I were up on deck by 6:30 just as we entered the fjords. Now the argument rages about fjords and what is a fjord and what isn't. The passageway into Oslo is considered the Oslo Fjords but they are not the spectacular fjords found in the northwest of Norway - they are spectacular in their own right anyway. Our hour-long travel through the fjords was beautiful. Again we had great weather, even with the patch of fog we sailed through, the sites were beautiful and the sea gulls flew alongside the ship escorting us into the port. Getting up early was definitely worth it!

We again had an afternoon tour so we spent time in town on our own and this time the stores were open so we were able to do some shopping! After a simple lunch at Hansen's Bakerii, we were off to the dock to meet up with our tour guide. By far, this tour guide was the one who left a lot to be desired. Okay, she wasn't very good. Her English skills were lacking and she spent waaayyy too much time in the detailed history of the sights we saw. She lost the attention of the group very early on and had difficulty getting it back. The highlights of this tour were the Vigeland Sculpture Park, the Viking Ship Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum. There are more the 200 sculptures in the park and the guide told the history and insights on seemingly all of them. After the first 2 we wandered off on our own (what bad people we are - she told us to stay with her!) and had a relaxing time seeing the main sculptures and people watching. On the way to the Viking Ship Museum Dad's seat mate, George (an eight year old from Florida) fell asleep on his shoulder. Dad didn't realize he was going to be playing Grandpa on the trip! After going through the Kon-Tiki museum and seeing the simple balsa wood raft sailed from Peru to Polynesia, we went to the snack bar outside to taste Poffertjes - Little Dutch Pancakes. We had them with butter and powdered sugar on them. They were great! They reminded us of Aebleskivers (Danish pancake balls) only flat. Yummy!!