Europe 2023 September 7th Day 35 - Oslo to Voss and another Train

Had a fantastic sleep till 3.40am and the buggered if I could get back to sleep. Must have fallen asleep around 7am and Jane woke me at 8.30. Feeling a lot better this morning, so down for a full breakfast ( brilliant bacon here) and then packed up and checked out of the Karl Josef Hotel which was excellent in both location, comfort and amenities. Must say Oslo was a delightful city to visit. Extremely clean and efficient as expected but also some beautiful parks and excellent and engaging museums and art galleries.

Just a gentle 15 minute walk downhill to the Oslo Central station where our train to Voss leaves from. As usual arrived well in advance of departure so had the customary coffee, black tea with milk and some pastry.

When the train was ready for boarding we were in our seats quickly ( 2 seats each side of the aisle) and ready. We sat opposite an older Scottish couple who had been to Australia fourteen times so far as her two brothers lived there (Brisbane and Devonport) and a school friend in Bendigo. They were quite chatty throughout the day without being over the top or imposing. It was an 8 carriage train that was going all the way to Bergen where we will be Saturday but two nights in Voss on the way. A very comfortable ride and we were soon travelling through the mountains on our seven hour journey. Brilliant train with buffet car and also a kids playroom (think of a small McDonald's kids area) which I've never seen on a train before.

Trust the Norwegians they think of everything. After a couple of hours we were well into the mountains and the scenery was everything we were hoping for, absolutely spectacular. The photos don't do it justice and if you ever get a chance to get here I would highly recommend it. Not much else occurred for the trip, a couple of stops along the way at what appeared to be remote places, numerous tunnels and we finally got to Myrdal about fourty minutes from Voss where we had to wait for the train from Fläm to arrive for people to transfer over to our train.

We finally pulled into Voss just after 6pm and once out on the platform our hotel Fleischers, was immediately behind, a less than fourty metre walk. A large rambling building at its peak in the 1900's and still pumping and in very good condition. Excellent room overlooking the lake and all the ambiance of a 1900's hotel, waiters with waistcoats, chandeliers etc, a great choice.

We went for a short walk around town before heading back for a wine and something to eat. Salmon for Jane and a Burger for me which were both good and a couple of wines. The young guy behind the bar was having a few troubles with the influx of new tourists for the day and let's just say not the quickest bartender around, especially with 20 plus geriatrics demanding drinks and dinner. Found out later he was from Argentina, spoke Spanish and reasonable English and have only been in Norway for a week and spoke no Norwegian; poor bastard, I did feel sorry for him, massive learning curve and probably only early to mid twenties. Chatted to a couple of New Zealander ladies staying here as well and finished with a small Aberlour whisky for nightcap.

Went to book our train for Saturday from Voss to Bergen and of course, line repairs all trains cancelled for 36 hours, FFS!! All good though, as you would expect with the Norwegians, buses replacing the trains and in more frequent intervals, so booked for 10:05am Saturday, so should be in Bergen before midday.

An excellent day again and looking forward to tomorrow's adventure.

Europe 2023 September 6th Day 34 - Oslo and the South Pole

Awoke this morning with a stuffed head, pretty sure just a cold and not CoVid. Had some paracetamol and zyrtec and down for breakfast. Very nice spread available and had perfectly cooked egg with brilliant bacon on pancake (no toast available) and a small croissant with strawberry jam, all washed down with another automatic machine coffee and orange juice ready for the full day ahead.

Not a good start to the rest of the day when I found out the Viking museum was permanently closed as they are building a new one due to open in 2026🤬. Was really looking forward to visiting this and seeing the original Viking boats on display. We caught the red hop on hop off bus and went straight to the Vigeland Sculpture Park. This is a beautiful parkland full of hundreds of sculptures by renowned Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland.

A must see while in Oslo and a great relaxing park to walk around as over 200 hectares of park and garden. From here it was back on the bus and next stop the Maritime museum on the Bogdoy peninsula. There are three museums grouped together and we got tickets to the Maritime and Fram museums skipping the Kon-Tiki as this has never interested either of us and we only had limited time. ( It is apparently very good from others reports).

The Maritime museum was extremely interesting and gave a great outline of Nordic history and it's close relationship to the sea. The BEST thing was they had temporarily moved one of the small Viking boats to this museum whilst the Viking museum was closed , so I got to see one anyway, brilliant.

They way the Norse moved on from dugout canoes over a couple of centuries to these ships was fascinating. We stopped for coffee and a nice chicken roll for lunch here before visiting the Fram museum. This was the name of the expedition vessel that Amundsen sailed on his historic trip to the reach the South Pole before Scott. Absolutely brilliant exhibition and the actual vessel 'Fram' was inside and you could walk throughout the ship which was decked out as it was for the three year (yes 3 years) journey. Spent much longer here than expected and eventually made ourselves leave as there were other things to do and only so many hours in the day.

Back onto the red bus and next stop was the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. Amazing architecture and we walked all over the marble covered roof to the top for a great view of the city. Inside is just as impressive with timber slats throughout. Popped into the library for a coffee and cake before heading to the Munch gallery.

Another impressive building and this time housing a large collection of Munch's work that he donated to the city, including The Scream, all three versions; pastel and crayon 1893, lithograph 1895 and painting 1910, something I was unaware of. There were three floors dedicated to his work and another to temporary exhibitions by other artists which we didn't bother looking at due to time constraints. We did a little rubbing (Frottage, thanks Merody) and by the end it was almost 5pm so we headed to the nearest bus stop and made our way back to the hotel.

We dropped our gear off in the room and headed out for some dinner seeing as it was Jane's birthday. Nothing special for dinner, crab roll for Jane and burger for me with wine for Jane  and a local beer for me. We then went for walk around a part of the city and headed towards The Royal Palace built in 1825 and still the main residence. The guards on the outside were resplendent in their traditional uniforms and the Queen's gardens which surround the palace are open to walk around. Extremely low security and excellent access compared to Britain's royal palaces.

We finally gave in on sunset and made our way back to the hotel where we concluded with a drink each in the hotel lounge. Another busy and rewarding day in a beautiful city that way exceeded my expectations. Now for sleep and ready for the approx hour train trip to Voss tomorrow on what is considered one of the most scenic railway journeys in the world.

Europe 2023 September 5th Day 33 - Porto to Oslo

Another good sleep and aroused by the alarm at 6.45am. Packed and ready for breakfast at 7.30 which once again consisted of pancakes with maple syrup, toast, juice and something brown called coffee. Both still got some sinus or start of a cold, let's not use the C word, so couple codral and all good. We ordered a taxi which arrived quickly and soon off to the airport to catch our 11am to Lisbon for connecting 12.50pm flight to Oslo. Only took 20 minutes, not the 45 the guy behind reception said , so we were there at 8.40am. Had to wait till 9am to check in and when we did the lady asked if we would like the earlier 10am, yes please. Boarding was on time however due to industrial action by air traffic controllers in Lisbon, we didn't take off till 10.45. Was a short 35 minute flight and as we now had some time till the Oslo leg, we made our way to the lounge for a sit and small bite. 

Finally boarded 15 minutes late and once again 30 minutes wait.

Suddenly pandemonium as someone collapsed in the middle of the plane. Call out for a nurse, medic, defibrillator, possible heart attack.  Jane rushed to assist along with another nurse on board and they could get no pulse. The lady shouting was actually a doctor but wanted a nurse while she supervised. They were about to start CPR when she opened her eyes. Very deep faint, quite blue and apparently she was sick earlier in the day, and it was warm waiting in the plane. Jane says that at least you can do CPR kneeling on the seat in a narrow aircraft space with the patent on the aisle floor. 😇 Doors open, medic's arrived and went through procedures before leaving the plane and leaving the patient on board 🤔. Oh well that took up a good 40 minutes. Doors locked again and small wait before taxiing off. Once in the air they bought Jane and myself a glass of bubbly each and thanked Jane, very nice.

Arrived in Oslo and quickly off the plane and straight through customs, no checks at all. Hadn't checked where the airport was in relation to the city centre, so of course it is approx 50km so gave up the idea of a cab and jumped on the train direct to Oslo Central and were there in 15-20 minutes. Simple. We then decided to walk to the hotel and that took a good 20 minutes up a gradient that looked small but it was warm and took a little effort. Once there booked in and headed out to have a quick look around and a bite to eat as it was already 7pm. Oslo is extremely clean and well laid out and we had a small but enjoyable walk looking at the beautiful buildings and gardens close to the hotel before settling on the Ergo bar for a meal of consisiting of two entrees, a pork belly and some chicken tacos plus one beer and one wine, grand total $110 AUD. So it's true, Norway is expensive 🤬.

 Had a further wander in the dark and must safe felt totally safe before returning to the hotel for a night cap before bed. An interesting day.

Europe 2023 September 4th Day 32- Not so lazy summer days

Both woke feeling like sinus issues or the start of a cold. We are NOT mentioning the CoVid word, especially after spending all day in the bus with our sick gentleman companion from Iowa.

Up and after a light breakfast we headed straight to the Porto Sao Bento railway station to have a closer look at the tiled walls, just amazing workmanship.

We then decided to walk ( in the heat again) to the Crystal Palace gardens to have a look at the gardens and the views over the river. When we got there just after 11am and because there was a book show on , the gardens weren't open till midday. We had a walk elsewhere for a while before returning at 12 to look at the gardens and views, which were impressive.

It was then a further walk back towards the Se de Porto (Porto Cathedral) which was commenced in the Twelfth Century, improved in the gothic period and was an opulent Romanesque display of the Catholic churches riches. Very impressive indeed.

It was now after 2pm so we found a little bar not far from the Ponte Louis 1 ironwork Bridge and had a cheese platter with a local craft beer and a Virgin Mary to keep in the Catholic spirit. It started to pelt down so we made our way back to the hotel where Jane had a nap while I took the washing to the MerlinWash laundry, hopefully the last of the trip. We travel light ( 12 & 14 kg respectively hence the need for laundry every so often over the 6-7 weeks away. It was about 1km away but it had stopped raining and the guy at reception said it was good. Put on the washing then went for a walk and a cup of decent coffee for the hour it took before returning to do the dryer and head back to the hotel.

We headed out again around 5pm and as it wasn't raining returned to the bridge to walk across and back. A magnificent iron bridge built in 1910 and still going strong with trams and pedestrians.

Lovely views but was cold and windy so we returned to our local area for a little wander, passing a MerlinWash laundromat not 50m from our hotel we had walked past before and totally missed; idiots 😂. Found what looked a nice restaurant ' Bubbles and Tapas' and stopped for a meal. Jane had bubbles while I had a beer and white wine while once again cod for Jane while I had chicken tacos. Finished with a shared chocolate cake with soft chocolate centre and icecream for dessert before heading back to the hotel to finish with a glass of local red and a tawny port. Another great day in spite of the weather.

Checked us both in for tomorrows flight to Oslo via Lisbon, alarm set for 6.45am so all for a good nights sleep.

Why south to Lisbon to then fly north to Oslo I hear you saying. Thanks to the travel agent that booked our initial flights and me being a bit preoccupied when told we were returning via Bergen and Amsterdam, we had to book flights to Norway. However, originally I booked with a Norwegian airline for Porto to Oslo but this went belly up before we left  (luckily lost no money) . It was then trying to get from Glasgow to Porto , train to Lisbon and the fly Oslo. As usual flights / dates etc didn't work out so in the end was easier to fly Glasgow to Lisbon, train Porto then fly Porto to Oslo via Lisbon. In the end worked out well as only a 35 minute flight between the two Portuguese cities and maximised our time in the three cities. See; always method to what appears to be madness😇

Europe 2023 September 3rd Day 31 - Duoro Valley, river cruise, wine, lunch, port and let's hope NOT CoVid

Another early start to the day as we were being collected at 7.45am for our small group (max 8) tour to the Duoro valley. We were picked up in the Renault van by Sandro and as we were the last two Jane sat in the back with a young couple from Boston and I sat in the middle row next to an older couple (he was 71) from Iowa. The other two were a young couple from Canada, but not French 😂.

It was 90 minutes to our first stop and we had a quick 15 minute break at a car stop where I had another abysmal coffee of which I threw away over half of it. First stop was then Pinhao, a very narrow windy road from the top down to the river for the boat trip up the valley which was most enjoyable. More rain of course but didn't matter as scenery was beautiful.

We then went back up the hill to a small family owned winery, Quinta do Jalloto ,(20 hectares of grapes, 60 varieties and olives, 4 varieties ) who produced their own wine, olive oil and approx 2 tons of honey from the father's bee hives. Had a small tour then sat down for a tasting of the wine, olive oil and honey. White and rose were nice but 2012 red was average in my opinion. The view over the valley from this vineyard was spectacular.

From here we then headed back down into the town of Pinhao, where we had a look at the tile friezes on the railway station from early 1900's before crossing to road to a small restaurant where we had a brilliant, very filling meal. Pork and beans, sausage, veal and potato , drunken cake, all extremely filling, with red and white wine of course.

Now here is where things were a little interesting. The older man from Iowa who had a cough from the minute we joined the tour had fallen rapidly in health and didn't drink any wine at the first place and then decided to sit in the van during lunch. When Sandro bought the van back after lunch with him inside he didn't seem well at all. Nurse Jane got him to have a paracetamol ( his wife did not seem concerned) and after a while he did pick up a bit but still didn't look good, brilliant here we go with CoVid. We left Pinhao and travelled across the river and up more winding roads, this time to a small port producer, Quinta do Tedo, only 15 hectares of vines. They were processing some grapes when we arrived and we had a small tour and explanation before a nice tasting of a rose port (unusual) tawny and LBV which were all very nice. During the tasting the heavens opened and the power even went off for a short time.

However it was now 4.30pm and time to get back in the bus for the trip back. Old timer slept most of the way with his hacking cough.🤬 No rain on the way back and we were at our hotel a bit after 6pm.

As we had been sitting most of the day in the bus we headed out for a walk around in the twilight, found the laundromat recommended by the hotel for tomorrow.  We were still so full from lunch we ended up with just a glass of wine each and a plate of chips to share.

Caught a nice glimpse of the setting sun and after another long day, hoping the tummy will feel a bit better tomorrow and that it was a cold and nothing more sinister from our Iowa chap.

Europe 2023 September 2nd Day 30 - Palacio da Bolsa and Soup

So this morning I was the one that woke with how shall we say it ' a delicate stomach ' . Popped downstairs for breakfast and didn't have much while Jane was feeling better and had a good feed.

First stop this morning was to the Palacio da Bolsa where we got a booking for the 11am English tour. This gave us enough time to find a place for a coffee, followed by a mad dash to find a toilet, oh the joys of travel 😂

Walked back to the Palacio da Bolsa ready for our tour which was only 30 minutes but an excellent one. The final room they take you into is breathtaking. Just look at the photos and if you ever make it to Porto make sure it's on the to do list. 

From here we walked down to hill to catch the ferry ride include in the red bus tickets and as it rained we stayed inside and enjoyed a leisurely hour up and down the Duoro river. We then walked back to the bus stop and caught the next one across the river the the Gaia side to see the port houses and wharf. I was a bit agitated today and made us get off at the wrong spot which now with the rain stopped and the sun and humidity rampant did not make for a very pleasant 800m walk down to the bottom. First stop was a restaurant for lunch seeing as it was now after 2pm and a great little place Adega do Manuel, for a charcuterie board with a lovely pumpkin chutney, beer and wine, excellent.

We then wandered along the wharf front, sticking our heads into a couple of the port houses but not bothering with a tour, before we set about heading back up the hill, via a different route past Cockburn's which we stopped at but all their tours were full, to catch the bus back.

Man that was hard work !!! As we got to the top and about 50m from the bus stop we saw the bus coming. We waved frantically and the lovely driver stopped for the two oldies and said in broken English, 'no stop ' and smiled guessing we felt they way we looked in the heat. It was then a slow drive back to the Porto side and off and to our hotel for a shower and nap.

Neither of us felt that hungry tonight so we found a small cafe after running into a couple from Perth who had just done a cruise and both had soup ( me vegetable and Jane green Portuguese soup) with potato chips. Grabbed a bottle of red and a half bottle of vinho verde for Jane at a small supermarket just round the corner from the hotel we had missed yesterday and headed back to the hotel where we sat in the lounge with a couple of glasses,  feet up relaxing after a long, hot and humid 10km day.