Buses, trains and a boat

Also known as Norway in a Nutshell. This was the perfect tour with my parents. My feet don't hurt and I saw lots of Norway.

We were supposed to start on a train out of Oslo. Their train station is closed. The whole thing...not just some tracks. Weird. So we started on a bus that took us to a train.

While my feet didn't hurt, my arse does after sitting on a train for hours. Not a complaint. I saw beautiful country, quaint little towns and snow. Yep - lots of snow.

And lots of waterfalls which must be a result of snow melting. It is July so the snow must be melting.

We then got on a ferry, in the rain, for a two-hour fjord cruise. I love water. We had terrible visibility because of fog....or were we in the clouds?

Our adventure began at 6:30 am and we didn't get back to Oslo until 10 pm. Long day. Full day. The scheduling was very precise and I appreciate everything that was packed into a single day; but the most we had at any stop was 15 minutes. Most of the beauty and splendor had to be appreciated en route because there was no time for exploring any of the quaint little towns.

I can imagine doing a similar trip on my own sometime, but I will rent a car and drive the big parts of it so I have more flexibility. I would still take the Flam train and the boat though.

Dublin, day two

The Book of Kells - in the book
Shelbourne hotel - in the book

The Book of Kells is in Trinity College. It is a historically significant book and extremely rare. It was hand painted. However, it was difficult to actually see because of being kept in a dark room, and trying to fight dozens of other people to get close enough to try and read it.

Shelbourne hotel is one of those hotels that I will never stay at, but was neat to see. I was greeted by men in top hats.

We took a double-decker bus tour around Dublin. It is a great way to see lots without killing my feet. We sat on the top deck. One of the highlights was seeing a naked guy in his condo. He obviously knew he could be seen and didn't care. It made me giggle.

We went back to The Temple Bar to listen to Irish music. It was a group of three men and they were very good.

I am glad to have experienced and seen Dublin. I wouldn't make a point of returning, but mostly because there are so many other places on my travel bucket list.

There were five of us on this trip and here are our nicknames:
Me - boots
Jennie - sassy pants and tiny bladder
Jeff - smasher and Jeff-Jeff
Dave - Guinness Master
Nevenka - long pour

Use your imagination. I'm afraid I am not at liberty to explain the origins of the nicknames. You really had to be there!

London day 4 - June 2009

Otherwise known as first full day of no tube (subway) access due to a strike. 11,810 steps.

The family took a ride on a double-decker red bus. They went to the British Museum and to Covent Garden.

I worked today, but Jill and I just walked across Hyde Park to Harrods and walked around the store.