Day 3 - Exploring Oslo
At 7.30 am voice over the tannoy told us that the gang plank was ready for us to go ashore. I wasn’t, but an hour and a half later I made my way to the exit, only to find a queue – thinking this was something to do with passport control I joined the end. 10 minutes later I realised that it was not a queue, they were waiting for the rain to stop! Being a Townswoman I’m made of sterner stuff and set off to explore the city on foot, at brisk pace. Oslo has definitely followed the UK in developing its docklands and repurposing warehouses.
As a city it is eminently walkable, provided you keep your eyes open for trams, bikes and electric scooters. The traffic seemed relatively light and there were lots of crossing points. I had no real plan but was delighted by the huge number of statues. and fountains. By the end of the day, I had found the Royal Palace, Museum of History, Cathedral and Fort, not to mention a number of shops and a café for tea and a pastry that cost almost £10 (bad choice). I later discovered that some members had been on booked tours, some had braved a slightly unreliable hop-on, hop-off service, many had wandered like me. The adventure prize, however, must go to the members who were determined to get to the folk museum. The ship had moored in a dock we had not expected which meant their planned root was unavailable. Not faint hearted, they took a ferry across the harbour and had a very enjoyable day. I’m pleased to report that all members were on board before we sailed.
The sun came out at about midday which definitely improved the experience. In the evening we had our Group drinks reception – provided by Fred Olsen as part of the Group package. This was a great chance to catch up with more of our members. I was very surprised to find 9 members from Brackley Guild in North Wales (almost a third of their members). These ladies are certainly no light weights – some of them had been in the disco until 1am on Monday night. Meeting so many members has encouraged me to believe that we will have a centenary cruise in 10 years’ time.
Tonight we have begun our journey to Helsingborg in Sweden ………..
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