So while you were all just starting to go to bed last night, we were waking up bright and early and checking out of our wonderful Stockholm hotel, and took a quick metro ride from Slussen/Stockholm to the Stockholm-Central Train Station. We were there by 5:30 a.m. and had given ourselves some time to look around before our train arrived. Because we were so early we also had some time to grab a tea and treat for the train ride. We chose to get them at Starbucks. 2 chai tea lattes and 2 brownies to eat later, cost us 225 SEK, which comes to $34.65 CDN. Yes you just read that right. We savoured every bite of the brownie. Food is costly, very costly in Scandinavia. We knew that coming into the trip. And if you are spending your money on the bread and baked goods it's definitely worth every $. They are so good. Our train was scheduled to leave at 6:54, and it pulled into the station at 6:50 a.m. Everyone quickly boards, finds their assigned seats, stows their luggage, and the train pulled away right on schedule in just 4 quick minutes. So you have to be ready and organized. Now this part my Emmy should get a kick out of. Just as we were about to board our train that would take us west across Sweden to Norway the overhead music speakers started playing a new song, and funny enough it was Idina Menzel singing Let it Go from the Frozen Sound Track. The timing couldn't have been better. Here we were boarding the train heading to the land of Anna and Elsa. But that wouldn't be the only Frozen references or "feels" of the day. (More to come) Here are a few glimpses of our train ride west to Norway today. I can not get over how much this countryside reminds me of my hometown of - Thunder Bay and Northern Ontario. It is not a surprise to me at all that it is similar, as I grew up in the most Scandinavian city in Canada. But travelling the countryside today made Jason and I both feel very at home today. We both mentioned it on more than one occasion. We arrived in Oslo by early afternoon, and checked our baggage into a storage locker. Another very easy procedure. Just pay the fee and our bags were kept safe and sound allowing us to wander and explore the city without lugging them around or worrying about them all day. Not even a key, just a print out of the code you need to enter on return. So easy. Our first glimpse of Oslo was a walk down Karl Johans Gate. Which led right out from the Central Station and all the way up to the Royal Palace. From the Royal Palace we walked towards the water, and the harbour to another Palace/Fortress. Again visions of Frozen and the Palace of Arandelle came to mind as we walked about and explored the Akershus Fortress on the Oslo Harbourfront. The building of Akershus Castle and Fortress was commenced in 1299 under king Håkon V. The medieval castle, which was completed in the 1300s, had a strategical location at the very end of the headland, and withstood a number of sieges throughout the ages. King Christian IV (1588-1648) had the castle modernised and converted into a Renaisssance castle and royal residence. The view of the water from Akershus was lovely. Great views of the neighbouring hills, and the many vessels in the city for the day. From Akershus we walked to another building with AMAZING water views, and which stands out as a phenomenal Architectural structure of its own. Oslo's Opera House. Jason and I walked up to the top of the Opera House to take in the views, and Jason also made sure he touched the waters of the BALTIC SEA as well. From the Opera House we took another little walk about the city. Oslo City Hall- Where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year. We grabbed a late lunch, and headed back to the train station, collected our luggage and caught one more train that would take us to the airport. Don't worry, we are not leaving Norway yet. We are heading to the airport to collect our car rental which we will use over the next 2 days to drive north from Oslo and into the interior of the country. It is time to get out of the city and explore. A quick 20 minute train ride, we collected our car and drove to our hotel. Emily : You said if we got a cute little car in a light colour we had to name it Olaf! Wish granted! We'll take a picture of him for you tomorrow. It took about an hour to drive Olaf to our hotel. Once again Jason has outdone himself. We are staying high above the city in the town of Holmenkollen, Norway, at the Holmenkollen Olympic site, from the Lillehamer Games. Our hotel is one of a kind. Representing traditional Nordic architecture and ambiance. I will admit this hotel reminds me a bit of Frozen as well. It's hard to escape the references. But if you think the hotel is spectacular, Check out the view, because it is amazing too! Before dinner we took a walk around the Olympic Park. I grew up in an area outside Thunder Bay called Little Norway, so being this close to a ski jump for me is always nice. I spent my winters on ski hills and watching our Canadian ski jumpers train and compete on the hill in Thunder Bay. We even had the World Nordic Games there in 1995, and all the competitors from Scandinavia and Europe came to compete. We saw a glimpse today of where they trained to get them to those games. There is a summer training biathalon going on here right now with some young kids, so we had the privilege of watching them ski/skate and shoot on the course. We walked some of the training trails around the park and found this beautiful Stave Church and Norwegian Home. We also found this wonderful find, looking out over the Ski Jump. TROLLS!!!! And that brings us to the end of our day.
It is already 10:00 p.m. here, and we plan to get up early again for an exciting day tomorrow with lots of driving. So not sure if I will get to another post tomorrow or not, it will depend on when we return and how awake we are, but will update when I can. Having a wonderful time. Thanks for joining us. xo
1 Comment
|