2022 Baltic Cruise

 A bit overcast but comfortable. We had a little over an hour drive through the countryside to the Hadeland Glassverk. As we got closer to the western coast, it wasn't as mountainous and there were larger farms with fields of grain. Our guide said that as a consequence of the war in Ukraine which supplies much of the wheat in Norway, farmers were being asked to plant wheat instead of other crops this year. The Hadeland Glassverk has been a glassblowing factory since 1752. Initially it made mostly utilitarian bottles and glassware but in the 1800s decided that it was more profitable to make higher end products like fine crystal glassware, some of which was provided to the royal family. Today it is used by glass artists to make showpiece articles, some of which were on display in the museum along with historic pieces. The highlight was being able to try glassblowing (with considerable assistance from the staff!) small glasses. There were also shops where one could buy glassware and o...

 We had a beautiful sail into Oslo this morning arriving around 11am and another beautiful day with temperatures that went into the mid-70s by the afternoon. Our ship is docked right downtown and the Akershus Fortress is just outside our window.  The ship has educational talks each day and this morning there was one on the history of the Norwegian resistance during WWII. We hadn't realized that the Germans were forced out of Norway and Denmark by the resistance and not with direct military assistance by the Allies, although the Allies had provided munitions support and some bombing support. Before leaving on our tour this afternoon I walked around the grounds of the fortress which was started in 1299 but is mainly from the 1500s. It is still the headquarters of the Norwegian Military.  The yellow buildings in the very lower-left of the fortress photo below are temporary worker housing that we've seen in many places. They are modules that can be placed side by side and sta...

 Another beautiful morning - we were told we were very lucky as this city is said to have even more rain than Bergen. Stavenger used to be a sleepy city until oil was discovered in 1969 and is now home to the oil industry with many companies located here. Our first stop was to the Iron-age museum, a re-creation of stone houses above the actual foundations of the 6th and 7th century farm. The floors were the same dirt and stones that were lived on 1500 years ago. It was really fascinating to hear of what life was like then, when a matriarch was in charge of the family group of 20-30 people. The house was quite spacious, with a large living area for cooking, eating and sleeping, a separate large room for ceremonial purposes and a large room at the end for the sheep. The sheep lived pretty much with the family and they weren't sheared - the wool was pulled from them. The guides wore wool and linen clothing that they said was authentic to the period. The one guide seemed like a real Vi...

 We woke to a beautiful sunny day, looking out at the mountains beyond the small village of Eidfjord just next to our ship. In the morning we took the bus on a circuitous trip alongside the mountains and in many places through winding tunnels inside the mountains to the Voringsfossen waterfall where we had coffee and apple cake in the historic hotel above the falls. The waterfalls are quite spectacular, crashing down over a thousand feet in the ravine and a rainbow in the mist. It is not a good place for one afraid of heights! We then went up to the reservoir that feeds a huge hydroelectric plant in Eidfjord. Just beyond the reservoir you can see the glaciers that provide water for the reservoir. This area is largely above the treeline, with many small alpine plants. The trees as one descends are scrubby white birch and then pine closer to the fjord. It is next to a huge national park, the largest in Europe, and is very popular for Norwegians to visit, for hiking in the summer and ...

 We had an enjoyable visit in the morning to a small farm near Bergen. The farm is quite ancient, having been sold by the King of Denmark in the 1400s and purchased by the family of the current owner in 1885. The farmer is quite an entrepreneur, beside running the farm with 15 sheep and 10 horses, the eco-tourism, is a professional pastry chef, teaches baking to prison inmates and is an accomplished pianist. We were greeted by the sheep that came running for a treat. They were chased back by the farm sheep dog. We then met a Fjord horse pony/horse and a Dale horse, both historic Norwegian breeds. We went inside the room above the barn to enjoy apple and raspberry juice. The farmer described some of the challenges of working such a small farm - most farms require some sort of outside income or employment. The sale price of farms is fixed very low which makes it impossible to sell and buy a reasonable home. He doesn't have any family and will sell the farm to one of his longtime farm...

 Another rainy and blustery day in Bergen with temperatures only in the 50s. It was so windy this afternoon that my umbrella blew inside-out but fortunately, could be restored. We left the hotel around 11 for a short bus ride to the ship which is docked just on the other side of the harbor, only 10 minutes walk from the main harbor area. We went through the embarkation procedure, mandatory life-preserver training and then upstairs for a light buffet lunch. Our room wasn't available until 2pm so we decided to visit the Hanseatic Museum just 10 minutes (supposedly) walk away. Unfortunately, Google Maps was confused and we lost a GPS signal so it took a bit of searching. The main museum building is closed until 2026 during repairs - since the 1700s it has sunk almost 2 feet and there is quite an effort to raise and stabilize the building. We were fortunate to arrive at the current exhibit buildings just as an English-language tour was being given of the history of the Hanseatic trader...

 This morning it was raining as expected. We went on a bus tour of Bergen this morning that stopped at the Old Bergen Museum and the Bergenhus Fortress. Bergen was at one time a major hemp rope producer and had many "rope walks" where the rope would be made. We assumed that the hemp came from Norway but our tour guide said that it came from Russia and North Africa! The Old Bergen Museum is a collection of houses from the 1700s and 1800s that were moved to one place with people in period costumes in some of the houses, a bit like Sturbridge Village in Massachussetts. Some of the merchant houses were quite luxurious - Bergen was a major trading city and some of the merchants were quite wealthy. It was quite interesting to see and we were lucky that it was only sprinkling. Then we went to the Bergenhus Fortress which was the home of the first Norwegian king and originally constructed in 1270. It originally included the royal residence, bishops residence (when Norway was Catholic...

The morning started with a mix of clouds and sun in the low 60s. After some orientation from the Viking guide in the hotel, we walked across to the train station and to our train. We were surprised that it wasn't exactly on time at 10:09 - it didn't arrive until 10:21. For the first part of the trip the train wanders up the hills through forests and some valleys with significant farming - we think wheat, oats and hay but it is difficult to tell from the train. Alongside the train were flowers similar to the Adirondacks, lupine just finishing blooming, purple loosestrife, daisies and ferns. The trees are mostly conifers of some sort, aspen and birch. After about 4 hours, the elevation goes above 3000' and the terrain is quite barren, mostly rock with snow and glaciers near the top, going up to about 4000'. It is not any higher than the Catskill mountains but due to the northern latitude, it is treeless. The scenery is quite spectacular. We seemed to spend as much time go...

 We were happy and surprised to see blue sky when we woke up and were lucky to have temperatures in the mid-70s much of the day. Between the good weather and the weekend, all of Oslo and the surrounding region must have been out. Some of the broad pedestrian streets were so crowded it was difficult to get through. In the morning we took a bus tour with guide Nina. First we went up to the mountain east of the city which looks down at the harbor. We stopped at the site where Munch is said to have gotten his inspiration (despair?) for his most famous painting, "The Scream". Nina explained the efforts Oslo is taking to make the downtown "green", making it very difficult to use vehicles, promoting public transportation and bicycles. There is a steep toll for vehicles coming into the city, many roads are only for buses and bicycles and parking is very expensive.  We then visited the Norwegian Maritime Museum which has short but very interesting videos about Viking boat bu...

 The flight was uneventful, arriving only half an hour late in Brussels. The fasten seatbelt light was on much of the flight but fortunately it was only slightly bumpy most of the time.  We were concerned about the connection time but it turned out not to be a problem. Getting from one set of gates to the other was quite convoluted, going through two duty-free shops and the food court. It was like being forced to go through the museum shop when exiting a museum. The flight to Oslo was fairly smooth as well although the captain had said that it might be bumpy. Our luggage came out quickly and we were able to find the Viking reception desk outside baggage claim. The 40 minute ride to the hotel was in a very futuristic Tesla with "gull wing" doors. It sprinkled off and on through the afternoon but wasn't a problem. The temperature was in the low-60s. Carmen suggested going to the Munch Museum after we had rested a bit - the museum is only 5-10 minutes walk from the Thon Hote...

 Well we are trying it again, after a sad cancellation of our planned lower-Danube cruise in June due to coming down with Covid two days before departure. We are taking the "Viking Homelands" 15-day cruise from Bergen, Norway to Stockholm, Sweden with a pre-cruise extension in Oslo and a train trip over the mountains to Bergen. We are staying one extra day in Stockholm at the end. We were originally supposed to visit St. Petersburg and Latvia but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Viking decided that wasn't a good idea. Viking added extra time in Oslo and stops in Bornholm and Mariehamn. We had thought we would rent a car instead of parking at Newark for 21 days but after discovering that it would cost $266 each way, we decided to drive and park. We packed up the car before lunch as the sky was very dark and there was a severe thunderstorm warning. There were only a few sprinkles. We left just after 1pm. It was a smooth trip all the way down and we were glad that the...