Norway 2015 – Day 3

Such perfect weather so far!!  Blue skies every day, but I think out luck will run out tomorrow.

Today after leaving Lillehammer we drove to Lom to see a beautiful church (Stavkyrkje):

Had lunch in the middle of nowhere (I was told if you know the 2012 movie "Into the White” you will know this area):

 

Enjoyed panoramic views from the Dalsnibba lookout (1500m above sea level – I also enjoyed seeing the tourists enjoying the view!!):

 

Cruised the Geirangerfjord:

 

All very scenic!

Food wise the day was another fail.  I think it’s me – I think I went into this with impossible standards. Lunch was a sandwich in the middle of nowhere… it was surprisingly delicious, but over all I had something more loungy and formal and picturesque in mind.  I think I have to adjust my expectations.

Supper was a buffet again, and it was a CIRCUS!!!  The food was good, a very decent selection, but it was all elbows and knees!!!!  it was like these people had never been fed before!!!  And the line ups were prohibitive, I waited until most people were at desert by the time I was able to have some salad!

What made dinner enjoyable was the socializing.  Overall we think we won the jackpot for lazy minded people on this tour (for example, someone today asked me if I thought the luggage travels with us) but on a more individual level, the people we’ve met so far are all quite nice.  I’ve only ever had to endure one Grumpy-Gus who makes me wonder why they bother leaving home. Every one else with whom I’ve spent a prolonged amount of time with is perfectly pleasant!

There was a woman in the elevator today who complained that tomorrow’s packed itinerary was a bad thing, and I replied with a “better this than working” remark – but she remained firm: too busy!  I on the other hand feel like we are not really doing all that much!!  Drive here, see that, drive over there, see the other thing… Ah well, guided tours all have their ups and downs.

There is rain in the forecast tomorrow, here’s to hoping it’s inaccurate!

Norway 2015 – Day 2 / Lillehammer

We had a lot of outdoor activities today, and holy crap it’s hot!  23 degrees? no, impossible!!!  I bet it was 32.

We visited the site where the Norwegian constitution was signed in 1814,

an openair folk museum where a myriad of old houses and farm buildings were transported and rebuilt,

and finally the Olympic Ski Jump in Lillehammer  (1994 Winter Olympics)

 

They were all in full sun with no shade; great for pictures taking, lousy for sticky grumpiness!

They were all interesting activities, but nothing mind-blowing…  more like enjoyable distractions.

 

The food situation today was very disappointing – breakfast was cold, lunch was included but it was a peppery broth of boiled potatoes, boiled carrots and boiled onions (I barely had any) and supper was a buffet again.

Longing for something a little “nicer”, after we were done with the ski jump we walked from the hotel down to the town of Lillehammer in search of a casual bite and found a restaurant on an outdoor terrace by a creek. A little silly when you consider supper at the hotel would have been free – but it’s all so bland and boring!!!

We had bar-food which objectively is nothing special or authentically Norwegian, but just being out and about felt more vacationy.

We put in an appearance at dinner to socialize a little, but the weather was so nice and the hotel grounds so alluring that I bought a cocktail to bring outside and enjoy in the garden.

Tomorrow is a full day and the wake up call is set for 5:45AM so I hope I can fall asleep quickly tonight – last night I was still awake at 2AM which is very unusual for me.

Wish me luck!!

Norway 2015 – Day 1 / Oslo

Made it to Oslo in one piece, but unfortunately I didn’t sleep much on the leg from Montreal to Frankfurt so I am running on fumes now!

Very nice city, quite small…  in the 4 hours we had on our own to explore this afternoon, we saw a lot of the main sights. The weather was nice, skies were blue, we stopped for a small yet great outdoor lunch with a view of the Royal Palace (HOLY SHIT NORWAY IS EXPENSIVE!!!) and wandered around town soaking in the sights.

 

 

Our tour director seems very nice, although we had a bit of a weird moment at the airport:  We arrived at noon, and our transfer to the hotel is included.  Our instructions were to go to the meeting point where pre-arranged transfers are scheduled at certain times… ours being at 1:30. We stood around for a while, but then decided that was dumb since we had over an hour to wait so instead we walked around the terminal and then sat down to have a coffee.  At 1:15 (the document said to be at the meeting point at least 15 minutes in advance) we met up with the guide…  who said it was too bad that we had not been there earlier because we could have left earlier – she had been waiting around for us with another couple. 

This felt awkward to me…  it was almost like an accusation for making people wait, but we were following instructions to the letter!  Ah well.

Our fellow travellers on the tour are walking American clichés. I know I sound mean when I say that, but I always feel like stifling a laugh when people ask us: “So where are you from?”.  I’m also astounded every time by the typical and predictable chit chat when meeting an American for the first time – they always give you a bio of their lives. “I was born here, my sister moved there, my parents live here, my wife is from there”….  I DON’T CARE!!!!  Ok, I know I am being harsh, it’s a perfectly acceptable ice-breaker and everyone is quite nice so far; I’m a bitch.

Dinner tonight was a buffet and that sort of disappointed me. I am happy that a large meal was not pushed on me tonight because I am tired, but buffets seem cheap to me and it seems we will have a few on this trip.

So, tomorrow the tour begins!  I’m looking forward to it!

London 2015 – Day 6

Well, that’s it!  Another vacation done.

It was GREAT, as we knew it would be…  who can go wrong with London??  It’s a given we’ll be back one day, you can bet on it!

This morning our friends went off to do the Tower of London and since my husband and I didn’t want to revisit it, we embarked another one of our long aimless walks through different parts of the city.

We started in Little Venice, then made our way down to Kensington Park and Gardens; also saw the Palace but no need to revisit it.

  

 

We saw the Albert Memorial, then walked down Sloan street to Belgravia finally ending up at Victoria Station.

We stopped into a pub for a drink, then hopped on the tube to go meet up with our friends for lunch followed by a visit to the London Museum. My husband and I were up for a revisit so we were a foursome for that activity.

 

We stayed until closing, then walked around the neighbourhood so we could show them the Machine, the Cheesegrater and the Gherkin, but I think they are not as keen on aimless wanders as we are.  We therefore decided to stop for a drink but had a hard time finding a pub with room to sit! People were spilling out of every single place we found!!  We realized later that it was because it’s was a Friday and a long weekend.

 

Eventually we found a place near Leadenhall Market and decided to eat there (as opposed to just having a drink) because it was getting close to 7 and we were not going to have any better luck elsewhere.  It was a nice stop, but SO LOUD!!!!  we were shouting at each other the whole time.

Have a look at my nachos, aren’t they pretty??  Toppings included sweet potato and pomegranate seeds.

After this, we went back to their hotel for a nightcap and say our final farewells. I hope it won’t be 2 years before we see each other again!

We left around 9:30, a final walk across Westminster Bridge to wave good bye to Big Ben and the Eye.

I can’t wait to come back to London…  I’ve already started working on my list of things to do whenever that will be!

London 2015 – Read the Fine Print!

If you are planning a trip to London, I have some good advice for you: read the fine print on admission prices! I have noticed something all over the city: Voluntary Donations.

Because it’s voluntary you can opt out, but what a cash-grab to include it in by default!! It feels so sneaky and dishonest that I’d almost call it a scam. People never read the fine print, they just see a price and pay! I don’t disagree with the idea of asking for a donation, but slipping it in to the price does not sit well with me.

So be warned: The big bold advertized price on the information board is not the real price, you have to scour the small print for that.

Here’s the latest example I saw today at the Cutty Sark, but I also noticed it at the Tower of London and at the Churchill Museum / Cabinet War Rooms:

It’s normal to conclude the price for this site is 18.50!!

 

… but zoom in on the fine print:

Admittedly, the amount is small and a donating is a nice thing to do…  but I don’t like the bait and switch aspect of the way they are going about it!

London 2015 – Day 5

It feels so redundant to say “Yet another great day” but it’s true! It was!

We started the day by visiting the Cutty Sark – one of the fastest Tea Clippers in the world. (I don’t have internet access right now, so you will have to Google it for more details). We first saw it in 2005, but did not visit the inside… if my memory is correct it’s because it was in such bad shape that we couldn’t, and that makes sense when you consider that it was being renovated from 2006 to 2012.

Now it’s practically as good as new and you can even tour the underside! They have sort of encapsulated it in a glass enclosure that is supposed to recreate the water line.  It’s really neat, but in my opinion it’s still nothing compared to the Vasa in Stockholm. (I can’t add a hyperlink right now, so search my blog for more details).

Still, very impressive!

After this, we had lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon at Greenwich. Have a look at my lunch; possibly the ugliest Fish & Chips ever!

I was up for doing the Royal Observatory in Greenwich again because like the Cutty Sark it’s been recently renovated and therefore worth another visit – also the picture I have from 2005 while standing at the Zero Meridian line is awful! I look bloated and my eyes are closed so my mission was to get a better picture.

This one is an improvement. I don’t love it, but it’s hard to do better with an Iphone 4 and crowd of people waiting for you to finish so they can have their turn.

And of course…  the obligatory foot shot. Everyone was doing this!

 

This took up most of the day so we didn’t have time for a museum excursion and in all honesty that was fine by me since the weather was still nice.

Instead we did the London Eye; third time for me and although it is on the pricy side I still think it was worthwhile.  London’s skyline is always evolving so there is always something new to see from up there.

After this it was Italian for supper near our friend’s hotel – and we parted ways around 9PM.  It feels like an early night compared to the last few days…  actually getting ‘home’ before 10!!

Here’s a last look at the Eye as we were leaving.