It's the time of the year for family holidays!
We were thinking of Tokyo initially - but decided to give it a miss as we had just visited Hokkaido recently. Spain was next on our mind - but after browsing through the tourist website, we noticed that the tourist attractions are mostly cathedrals and castles, not much of natures (Cheng Kai's preference). Then, the elusive and mystical Northern Light and the picturesque fjords/charming coastal villages of Norway attracted our attention. Hence, Norway was the ultimate choice!Because it is winter, and that I have never driven in heavy snow weather before, we decided to travel by train/cruise, instead of self drive.
Itinerary:
Day 1 (Mon 24 Nov) : Singapore to Oslo
0130 H Terminal 1 Flight KL 0836 Singapore --> Amsterdam (0800H); waiting time 2H20min
1020H Amsterdam --> Oslo (1210H)
Fly from Oslo to Bergen, check into citybox
(Bergen - Voss - Gudvangen - Flam - Bergen) Finishes at 6pm
Embark on 7 days Hurtigruten Cruise to Kirkenes @ 2230 H (cabin ready by 6pm, buffet dinner 6-9pm).
Alesund (Aquarium and Mt Aksla) -- Trondheim (City tour and Cathedral) -- Artic circle and Lofoten island (Viking Feast) -- Tromso (Dog sledging) -- Honningsvag /North cape -- Kirkenes (0900H)
Flight from Kirkenes 1210 -- Oslo 1530 at Day 8 (1 Dec, Monday), Check into Oslo Hostel Central
Check into Cozy Flat @ Paris
Day 1
It proved to be a rather hectic day flying from Singapore to Oslo, spending the bulk of the travelling time either in the plane or transit.
We checked in at Changi Airport at 11.30 pm to catch the KLM flight to Amsterdam at 1.30 am. The flight took 13 hours. We cleared the EU custom in Amsterdam airport while on transit to Oslo (waited about 2 hours+). We reached Oslo at 12.10 pm (2hrs + flight) as scheduled. Getting our luggage was quite a brisk. There was no more custom check in Oslo (presumably we had been cleared by custom in Amsterdam). By the time we reached the Oslo domestic airport terminal (which was located one floor above the arrival hall), it was only 12.50 pm. Instead of waiting till 4.50 pm for our next flight to Bergen, we decided to change to an earlier flight at 2.30 pm (paying additional S $500). We reached Bergen around 3.30 pm. But alas, the wheel of one of our luggage dropped off. We soldiered on after lodging a report of damaged luggage at the arrival hall; the lady there was kind enough to give us a roll of masking tape to secure the loose piece of wheel onto the luggage. We took an airport bus to Bus Station in the city (30 min ride), then walked another 10 min to our hotel Citybox. After checking into our hotel, we went for a short walk around the city. It showered sporadically while we were strolling in the old Bergen neighbourhood (a UNESCO world heritage site). It was a pity that we couldn't appreciate the colourful facade of the buildings as depicted in postcards as it was drizzling and dark at night. Dinner for the night- instant noodles!
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| The roller wheel gave up on us... |
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| Citybox Hostel @ Bergen |
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| Bergen at night |
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| Bergen at night |
Embarking on one of the highlights of Norway - Norway in a Nutshell.
The tour started at 8.40 am from Bergen Train Station. To spare the trouble of having all waiting at the railway station half an hour before departure, I went to collect the tickets from the train station around 7am together with Cheng Yee. It rained heavily when we walked back to our hotel (10 min).
We had to carry our luggage all the way down from 5th floor to the lobby via the narrow and windy staircase as the lift broke down overnight! We left our big luggage at the TV lounge next to the common kitchen, then proceed to check out from our hotel.
Norway in a Nutshell consists of 5 parts -
1. Bergen to Voss by train (1hour) - the scenery along the journey was charming and beautiful.
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| Bergen Train Station |
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In the train, ready to go...
2. Bus trip from Voss to Gudvangen (1hour) - passed by neighbourhood that was covered with thick snow.
Arriving at Voss
   
The bus drove pass snow covered neighbourhood
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Arrived at Gudvangen
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| The cruise boat awaiting us |
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| Family Photo |
Scenery along the Fjord
Arriving at Flam for the train ride
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| Flam train station |
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| The boat that cruised along the fjords |
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| Flam train station |
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| quite spacious seats |
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| The tunnel above .... |
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| Only traces of frozen water |
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| At Myrdal train station, waiting for the train back to Bergen |
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| Snow "mountain" |
It was nearly 4pm by the time we left Myrdal. Only managed to take a few photos of the surrounding landscape before the sky turned dark.
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| fuzzy picture taken from moving train |
The entire trip ran like a clock work - very puncture. We reached Bergen train station around 6 pm, walked to Citybox Hotel to pick up our luggage, and lugged our belongings all the way to Hurtigruten Terminal (15 minutes walk) for the next segment of our tour - Hurtigruten North Voyage!
We took our dinner on board the cruise ship MS Nordkapp. The ship sailed off from the harbour at 10.30 pm sharp.
We booked the Hurtigruten Northern Voyage Cruise (full board), a seven day tour sailing towards Kirkenes, with optional excursions when the ship stopped over at Alesund, Trondheim, Bodo, Stamsund, Tromso and Honningsvag.
Breakfast was quite sumptuous with a wide selection of dishes. There was free flow of drinks (fruit juices, coffee, milk and tea) unlike dinner where drinks had to be purchased separately (S$10 for a bottle of apple juice/Pepsi).
We had an early lunch at 11.30 am, then set off for our first excursion to Aquarium and Mount Aska.
The main attraction of the aquarium was watching a diver feeding the fish in a giant fish tank . There were quite a number of big fishes in the tank, some weighing up to 90 kg and measuring 1 meter in length. It was exciting seeing all the fishes crowding around in frenzy when the diver dished out some food (small fishes) from a bag. However due to some technical glitches, the diver had to curtail the feeding after less than 5 minutes.
On Board MS Norkapp
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| Upper deck |
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| Docking at Alesund |
Aquarium
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| Penguins |
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| Compound outside Aquarium |
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| Seal |
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| Diver coming out to feed the fishes |
Mount Aska (more like a hill) offered a post card view the town of Alesund and its nearby islands.
View from Mt Aska
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| Our cruise ship docking at the port |
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| getting back to the ship |
Random photos of coastal villages:
Dinner consist of 3 course of dry cod fish, lamb and ice cream dessert. Unfortunately the food was not to our taste. Cheng Jie had to cook instant noodles for supper at night. Partly due to jet lag, all of us retired early for the night.
Sunrise at 9.30 am. Sunset at just over 3pm.
The ship docked at Trondheim, the third largest city in Norway in early morning. After breakfast, we went for a city tour.
The star attraction was Nidaros Cathedral, built in the 11th century over the burial site of St Olav. We were then drove to a view point to have a glimpse of the city (photo taking session). It was built in majestic Gothic and Romanesque style.
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| Nidaros Cathedral |
We were brought to look-out point to have a bird eye view of the city.
We dropped off at the town centre, and took a short walk back to the port.
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| Stepping on the ice |
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| Broken pieces of ice - looked like broken glass |
We crossed the Artic Circle at 7.30 am. We were happily enjoying our breakfast then. No announcement was made until much later. It is an arbitrary line beyond which midnight sun and polar night can be observed in Summer and Winter respectively.
As we went further north, the daylight hours became shorter (sunrise at 10am, sunset at 2.45pm). Throughout the day, the sky seemed to be covered by a light blue veil. The surrounding was shrouded by tint of blue.
Before lunch, it was announced that the Viking Feast for the night and the dog sledding in Tromso the next day had to be cancelled. There was not enough participants for Viking Feast and no snow in the vicinity for sledding. What a disappointment! Dog sledding was one of the highlights of our trip.
The boat stopped over at Bodo at 12.35 pm. We took a bus tour that drove us around the city and its neighbourhood, before arriving at Saltstraumen to view the largest whirlpool in the world.
The tidal current wasn't that strong when we were there. Hence, the whirlpool was more of mega size ripples, a far cry from what was depicted in the video presentation on the bus. But the enchanting scenery more than compensated for the short coming.
Saltstraumen whirlpool
Magic Ice
Woke up late in the morning and took breakfast at 9am.
Enjoyed short hours of daylight. The ship sailed passed many fjords. The view of mountain terrains was simply magnificent!
The ship stopped for half an hour at Finnsnes. We went out for a stroll. Nothing much to see except for the fog shrouding the surrounding neighbourhood.
By the time we reached Tromso at 2.40 pm, it was pitch dark as if night had crept in earlier literally. We went for huskies tour instead of dog sledding (because of no snow for the past few days). The kids had a swelling time mingering with the huskies chained to their respective kernels. There was easily over 30 huskies being kept in the farm. They were surprisingly friendly, wagging their tails in excitement, standing on hind legs while clinging on the visitors's bodies affectionately asking for attention. We were then treated with light refreshments before being sent off to the jetty.
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| Trondheim |
Still no sign of Northern lights! .... Then just as we started to eat our dessert, the crew announced through the loud speaker that a faint stream of Northern light had been seen in the sky. Immediately, majority of the dinner guests jumped out of their seats and made a beeline to the outer decks to catch a glimpse of the elusive light. What we saw was a mere faint whitish - bluish stream of light- not unlike the reflection that we commonly seen from fluorescent light glowing in the dark.
There was another sighting of more prominent Northern lights one hour later.
Last day of cruise on board MS Nordkapp. We would disembark from Kirkenes at 9 am the next day. Sincerely hope that the weather would be good for the sighting of Northern lights!
Took breakfast at 8 am, followed by early lunch at 10.30 am. The ship stopped over at Honningsvag. We left for an excursion to North Cape at 11.20 am.
The ship sailed through rather choppy water in the evening. I felt kind of nauseaous /sea sick. Taken a tablet of dimenate and felt better after a short nap.
Was entertained by local fishermen bringing on board king crabs for display.
Managed to see Northen Light one last time in the middle of the night.
Day 8
Arrived at Kirkenes in the morning. The deck was covered with snow!
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| Kirkenes |
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| In front of Kirkenes airport |
Arrived in Oslo domestic airport around 5pm. Took a local train to Oslo Central Train station. The train ride was quite smooth. We had some difficulty locating the Oslo Central Hostel; instead of getting there within 10-15 minutes, it took us about half an hour to get there (after asking around).
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| 4 bedded dormitory |
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| Staircase |
We went for a short night stroll in the neighbourhood of our hostel after checking in.
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| City Hall @ Oslo |
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| Akershus Castle |
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| Night Bazaar @ Bazaar halls |
Day 9 Walking tour around Oslo
It finally snowed in Oslo; the entire city was covered with snow. We walked along the main tourist street (Karl Johans Gate), whereby most of the tourist spots are located.
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| View from my window |
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| Entering into Karl Johans Gate |
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| Parliament Building |
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| Bazaar Halls |
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| National Theatre |
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| National Theatre |
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| Oslo University |
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| Leading to Royal Palace |
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| Royal Palace |
After visiting the Royal Palace, we braved through the snow, and soldiered on by foot for another half an hour to visit Vigeland Park (over 200 stone sculptures carved by Gustav Vigeland).
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| Nobel Institute |
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| Taking a break (had walked for over 20 minutes) |
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| Finally, arrived at Vigeland Park! |
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| Wheel of Life |
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| Vigeland Monolith 14 m high composition of 121 figures carved out of one piece of stone |
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After taking our lunch, we took a bus to visit a Viking Ship Museum. It is a rather small museum, showcasing two remnants of ancient Viking ships and some artefacts that had been excavated in modern days. It came with free tickets for entrance to another history museum in the city - nothing much to see there though (perhaps we are not really keen on museum).
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| The board displaying arrival time of buses |
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| Viking ship on display |
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| Outside Viking Ship Museum |
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| Waiting for bus back to city |
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| Oslo Cathedral |
Day 10
Departing from Oslo Central Hostel.
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| Oslo Central Station |
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| Outside train station |
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| Spacious train |
Flew to Paris around lunch time - reached Paris international airport around 3pm. By the time we reached Paris Chatelet les Halles train station, it was around 5pm. We had a rough time trying to locate the Cosy Flat apartment - there were simply too many alleys around that messed up our general sense of direction.
After checking into the apartment, we went for dinner at a fine restaurant (DOME).
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| the colourful display of the DOME |
Day 11 Paris city tour
- City Hall
- Notre Dame Cathedral
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| The glass window |
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| Entrance to Sainte Chapelle |
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| Cour d'Appel de Paris |
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| Tribunal de Grande Instance |
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| Pont Neuf |
- Louvre Museum
- Jardin de Tuileries
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| Place du Carrousel |
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| Arc de triomphe du Carrousel |
- Eiffel Tower
The queue was fortunately not that long. Managed to get into the top in less than 1 hour.
The queue was fortunately not that long. Managed to get into the top in less than 1 hour.
Day 12
Took Metro train from Chatelet les Halles to Jardin Luxembourg, then hopped onto another train to visit Les Invalides, followed by Arc de Triomph.
The Stravinsky Fountain is located very near to our apartment. Next to it is the Pompidou Centre, which looks very much like a "factory".
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| Stravinsky Fountain |
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| Le Centre Pompidou |
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| Buying breakfast |
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| Waiting for Train |
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| Double decker train |
It has amazing collection of armours and various weaponry.
We spend 2 hours looking at the exhibits related to first and 2nd World Wars.
The other attraction is The Tomb of Napoleon.
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| Tomb of Napoleon |
The view from the top of Arc de Triomph was exhilarating!
- Gallery Lafeyette
Super crowded in the evening.
The first floor has many branded goods. The sales girls/men are mostly Chinese - catering for the superfluous Chinese customers who splurge relentlessly on the branded goods on sales.
Printemps - another shopping complex (next to Gallery Lafeyette).
Day 13 Half day Disneyland Paris tour, then took a flight home
Our flight back to Singapore is at 7 pm. We decided to go for a half-day trip at Paris Disneyland.
The apartment we booked was unable to offer us late check-out services or places to keep our luggage. So we had to carry all our belongings to Disneyland. Fortunately, the train ride from Chatelet le Halles was quite smooth.
We opted for Disney Studio, where most of the adventurous rides are located. It was rather crowded (being a Saturday). We queued for over one hour for the Hollywood Tower Hotel (one of the elevator broke down). The children went for a roller coaster ride - but end up having to wait for 2 hours because of some technical breakdown.
By the time they completed their roller coaster ride, it was nearly 3.30 pm and just in time for Cheng Yee to buy her Lego set. We rushed to train station for the ride to airport. Charles de Gaulle airport has many terminals. Terminal 2 itself is further divided into many segments. It took us another 15 minutes before we reached the correct check in terminal.
