For Emilee’s review of the Iris restaurant Click here

This page is in progress. Pictures will be added.

Oct 8 We left for Oslo. Emilee, Ana and me on Icelandair, Debbie on Delta. We were not impressed with Icelandair. We had to purchase meals and drinks. The plane seemed more like a domestic plane than international. After they turned the lights out, I went to the bathroom. When I came back I went too far. The man in the aisle where I stopped looked at me like I was crazy. The man in the aisle of my row came and got me. We went through customs and got an EU stamp. We went to boarding area for our next flight and passed a hot dog stand. We went on and Ana decided she wanted to try one, so she and I went back. They wouldn’t sell it to us because we didn’t have her boarding pass. Apparently, it is just for people transferring and you can’t buy it unless you prove it. We went on to Oslo and met Debbie. She had been there an hour so had figured out the train to take to the city. She had a short time between flights and her suitcase didn’t make flight. They sent it to the hotel, but it was late when they brought it. Ana and my room was fairly nice/ Debbie and Emilee’s room was really small.
Oct 9 We took a bus to the Fram and maritime museums. They were interesting. They had boats and information about Viking times. When we left we got on the wrong bus, but it ended up taking us where we wanted to go. We stopped at an outside museum. It was pouring rain. Emilee got separated and we spent time looking for her. We headed back to Oslo and went to the Oslo Opera House. It is an interesting building as you can walk around on the building. Across the water there was a sauna with a naked guy walking around. We then went to the Munch Museum (Scream painter). I was not impressed; it seemed like a lot of bad art intermixed with good art. I think they took everything he ever created – even work he threw away and put it in the museum.
Oct 10 We flew to Tallin Estonia. Emilee had us go airport to early. Ana found they had a Banksy pop up. I had never heard of him, but Ana was excited, so we went to it. He is a street artist who makes political statements in graffiti around the world. We went to Olde Hansa Restaurant for a medieval feast.
Oct 11 A fun day in Tallin, Estonia. We found out things don’t open until 11 so killed time until the Bastion Passages opened. Ana wasn’t feeling well so went back to the hotel. Debbie, Emilee and I learned a lot about Estonian history and their occupation by the Soviet Union. We also went to the KGB prison cells. We passed the Russian Embassy and there was a fence filled with signs protesting Russia.
Oct 12 We took a ferry to Helsinki, Finland. We took a 1.5 hour panoramic bus tour and saw the highlights. We also learned (according to the audio) that Finland is a leading country in education, medicine, politics and pretty much everything. It was fun, I am glad we didn’t allocate a couple days because there was not a lot to do. They had a food market so we got a couple of dishes and ate them there. They were good. We did a couple pulls of the slot machine on the ferry. There was a very large shopping “mall” on the ferry, so it was fun exploring it.
Oct 13 We spent the day in Tallin. We delayed going any place until 11. That is very difficult when you were taught to get the day going early. The highlight was the Freedom museum. They really value their freedom since they didn’t get out from Soviet control until the 2000’s and really worry about Russia’s intention if they are successful in Ukraine. Our plane was late taking off so we got to Oslo later than planned. We ended up taking the expensive tourist train to hotel instead of the cheaper local train. We had to run to catch it and the porter was unhappy he had to delay while we got on. I haven’t figured out why trains that go exclusively to and from the airport have steps. They have to know people have luggage. Debbie and I almost left the bag with our passports. She thought I had it and I thought she had it. Luckily Ana grabbed it. We stayed at a hotel right by the train station. It was very nice.
Oct 14 We did the Norway in a nutshell tour. A couple trains from Oslo to Flam. It was interesting to see the houses with grass on the roofs. Once in Flam we took a cruise down a fjord. It was beautiful, although I think the Colorado mountains can match the beauty. We stayed in a Viking Village in Gudvangen. We knew it was a tourist trap type place but thought it would be fun. It was Ok – it was pretty quiet since it was off season. Debbie tortured Viking chief by asking him questions. It was a relaxing day
Oct 15 We looked around the Viking Village some more then took a bus then a train to Bergen. I thought the bus ride was prettier than the train. The train has pretty sections but goes through a lot of tunnels. Our hotel was a fifteen-minute walk from the train station. We had our luggage shipped from Oslo, so only had carry-on bags with us. We explored Bergen a bit then had dinner at the fish market. The waiter was an older man who was flirting with either me or Debbie. Emilee and Ana ordered spicy clams, but said the were not spicy at all.
Oct 16 In Rosendahl today for the Iris restaurant experience we planned the trip around. The hotel in Bergen allowed us to leave our bags in their luggage room, so we only had small bags. The hotel we stayed in was a Victorian with no elevator, so we were glad we didn’t have to deal with large suitcases. After checking in, we were sitting in front of the hotel waiting to go to the boat and I decided I needed Dramamine. I asked Ana to go up two steep flights of stairs to get it. While she was up there, I found it in my purse. She took the news well. We took a small boat to the Salmon Eye. It is a sustainable restaurant, and my expectations were low, so I was very pleasantly surprised. They source food from the area. One comment I thought was funny. They served deer and said a local man hunts it. If everyone did that wouldn’t have big herds on ranches polluting. I am not sure that man could hunt enough deer to feed the population. They served raw scallops, and I was concerned they needed a cook not a chef but I enjoyed most of the food. Emilee wrote an extensive review of the restaurant which can be found here.
Oct 17 A travel day today so not much news. We took an early ferry to Bergen and Emilee discovered she had left her AirPods in the hotel. We messaged them and didn’t get a reply. We went to get our bags at the hotel in Bergen and asked the receptionist to try and call them, but no one answered. We took a taxi to the airport. It was probably pretty scenery, but most of it was in tunnels. Our flight to Tromso had a very short stop in Oslo. It was delayed in Bergen because a flock of birds was on the runway and the plane had to wait until they were removed . The flight to Tromso boarded then waited for everyone who was on the delayed flight. We were the last to board.
We thought about taking a taxi when we got to Tromso but a man heard us talking and said it is a rip off and would be $100. We waited (in the cold) for the airport shuttle and paid $20. We asked the receptionist at our hotel in Tromso to call the hotel in Rosendahl about the AirPods. She did and the guy who answered said he would see if he could find them. Emilee could see where they were and it looks like they moved from the hotel to a residential area.

Oct 18 Today was our northern lights chase. It was rainy in Tromso so we drove to just inside the Finnish border to find clear sky. It is interesting, the road is called the Northern Lights road, and they have turnoffs all along it for busses and cars to park and watch for the lights. Our driver took us up a hill and we put on our arctic suits. Debbie handed me her phone while she suited up. Our guide pulled out tripods for us to put our cameras on. I got mine on and couldn’t unlock my phone. Debbie did the same and her phone wouldn’t unlock either. We were trying to figure out what was wrong until Emilee pointed out we had switched phones. We switched back and put in the right codes and they worked fine. We stayed on the hill a couple hours and didn’t see any lights, so started to a different spot. They noticed them as we drove so pulled off the road into a grove of trees and we saw several. We were not in an official spot and the driver scrapped the side of the van when he was turning around. We got back to the hotel after 3am.

Oct 19 We slept in so didn’t get started until afternoon. We wandered the city center and noticed all of the stores had hung flags. We asked why and it was in support of the local football (soccer) team that has a game that night. We had lunch at McDonald’s – they have some different options than we do i.e. fries with cheese and jalapeño, a Kit Kat McFlurry and several pastries. We went to their aquarium, which they advertise as the northern most aquarium in the world and watched them feed the seals. We walked by the stadium after we left and people were excited and chanting about the game. We went to a native Sami place to feed reindeer then eat reindeer stew and learn about the culture. While we were there the sky danced for us. There were so many borealis it was hard to know where to look. It was a fantastic sight. A great way to end the trip.

Oct 20 Sunday is a national day of rest. It was the first time we saw trash on any street in Norway. They may have been celebrating the game. Our flight to Oslo didn’t leave until 3:40 pm, so we hung around Tromso. We had lunch at MacDonalds and took the bus back to the airport. In Oslo we stayed in a hotel near the airport. We took a bus to it. The rooms had a view of the airport runways,so it was neat.
Oct 21 Monday Debbie’s flight left a couple hours before Emilee, Anas and mine, so she left after breakfast. We waited and took the bus back to the airport. We had a layover in Iceland and discovered what a horrible airport it is. The number of flights have outgrown its capacity for sure. We got something to eat and when they announced our gate for the flight to Denver we headed to it. The area with the gate was so crowded we could hardly move. We got a few snacks for the flight and I decided I wanted to use the restroom. Ater discovering there was on;y one for all gates and it was through the crowd I decided not to bother. We ended up having to stand in crowded lines then all being stuffed onto a bus to be taken to the plane.