Denver to Oslo, A mighty long airplane ride and some time in Oslo.

DEN to OSLO and a bit of an Oslo Day. 

Our flights progressed pretty normally until the flight from Newark to Oslo. We were a couple hours delayed. Flight was still nice etc, but getting in late changed our personal itinerary for the day. 

After land and clearing Passport Control and Customs we made our way to the NSB (train) ticket vending machines and then the platform. The train ride in took about 27 minutes and all went well with this very prompt service. Cost was 90K each. 

Our stop was at Nationaltheatret. From there we had about quarter mile walk to our accommodations the Thon Bristol Hotel. When we entered this hotel we were harkened back to day of travel gone by. The lobby, desk, sitting areas and lounge are very inviting as they are decorated in dark woods, the columns and ceilings are decorated with  gold leaf. We were further greeted by a most helpful and welcoming staff.

We found our room to be large by European Standard room standards. Ample room for us to spread out and start our luggage adjustments for the next leg of this journey. 

After cleaning up a bit we went for a walkabout, through Slottsparken (a city park) and made our way to the water front area. Here we enjoyed views of the harbor and Akershus Festning (the castle).

We learned we could purchase our ferry tickets today for tomorrow. So that is exactly what we did, thus saving us some time tomorrow morn. More on our plans for tomorrow later. 

We continued walking around the waterfront till we found a Hot Dog stand. Yes we did get one each and must say, while it is a good hot dog, Iceland dogs are better. These were also served with the fried onions (think Frenchs Onions).

The rain started to fall and sleep is calling but we are resisting. We made our way back to the Thon Hotel Bristol neighborhood and did some local exploring. We did find a local grocery market and looked about to see what may be interesting tomorrow evening. We grabbed a pre-made sandwich and other items to eat later. 

Back at the hotel we went to the lounge and had a drink. I enjoyed a very local beer and Lynn had a local apple juice, which was more like a fresh cider. 

As we were making our way back to the room we met some of our expedition staff and learned a cocktail reception will be held tomorrow evening at 7:00. We advised we would be doing some touring on our own tomorrow morning but would be joining the group for the trip to see The Fram. 

Back to the room, shower and laundry, and try  to stay awake a bit. 

Tomorrow we will be off to the Viking Ship Museum and the Maritime Museume, before another hot dog sampling. 

TIME FOR SOME SLEEP.