I have been very impressed with Norway and its people. Everyone here speaks English. Some speak English exceptionally well. Anyone you stop on the street will help you. Our guides have also been really interesting. Our guide on the trip up to the Russian border was a retired politician. He was very passionate about things.… Read More The end of the journey

Elaine and I were again on our own today and we set off for the Munch museum. Edvard Munch is Norway’s greatest artist. He is best known for the painting “The Scream”. I have not seen many of this artist works before and I felt that he had an amazing way of expressing human emotion.… Read More Third and final day in Oslo

The following video was taken by my astronomy teacher on my road scholar cruise. His name was Murray and he was a wonderful instructor and person . Enjoy this video of the northern lights. https://photos.app.goo.gl/B5W3y6CSvziDbzYz7

Today we decided to take a guided tour. We went to four different locations. First the bus drove around the central area with a guide giving us some information about Oslo. It turns out that Norway was not a fully independent country until 1905. It had a constitution signed in 1814 but was forced into… Read More Second day in Oslo

Our first day in Oslo we decided to explore on our own. So first we had to master the rapid transit system. First of all it is an excellent system and really not that difficult to use. We were able to buy a pass for our entire stay so we didn’t have to keep buying… Read More First full day in Oslo

It was actually quite delightful to sit on a train for 6 1/2 hours. We definitely went through some beautiful scenery. But this doesn’t even come close to the scenery that we saw on our cruise. However being on a train certainly beats being on a plane.

On our final day on board, we only got  off the boat for a short walk into a town. On the boat we got a lecture on how they salted cod. The process sure makes that card very hard but it is supposed to reconstitute by soaking in water for a few days. They… Read More Final day and disembarking

We have seen the Northern lights on two consecutive evenings. I previously posted pictures that I took using the iPhone. They were not very good pictures. One of the other gals, who has a very fancy camera, has been taking really incredible pictures of the lights. I got a copy of three of her pictures… Read More Northern lights

I had an interesting talk with one of the shipboard guides about standard of living in Norway. I have been noticing in some of the actual stores for locals, prices have been much higher than I expected. For example I have seen plain onesies for babies that have been $20 and $30. I was also… Read More Onboard MS Finnmarken