Baltic Countries (2018) Diary

Sat 26/05/2018
We start with  very long journey from Brisbane,

26&27-5-2018 Saturday & Sunday Flights to Copenhagen, Denmark 26&27-5-2018 Saturday & Sunday Flights to Copenhagen, Denmark
At 8pm this evening we took a taxi to the airport for our 10.50 flight to Copenhagen (Denmark), a 14 hour leg to Dubai and then a 7 hour flight to Copenhagen). We thought we were going to miss our connecting flight. Our flight had arrived in time but the movement of a large number of passengers to get on small buses and a long convoluted drive to the applicable buildings and gate numbers, was very inefficient and horrendous! We arrived 10 mins after the gate had closed but thankfully, they were waiting for us and other passengers on the same flight.

We arrive in Copenhagen at about 1.15pm but waited a very long time to get through passport control, and it was really a shambles, with no real roped boundaries for people stay in line. Finally we were able to get our bags and thankfully, there was a free shuttle bus just outside the airport which took us a little way down the road to the building where all the rental car businesses were located. We picked up our pre-ordered rental car from a company called Sixt, and drove back to the airport at about 4.30pm to pick up Dave's sister and husband, Ann and Noel, with whom we are doing our trip. We parked in the paid carpark and made our way inside where we saw the estimated arrival of their flight (from Barcelona) was going to be 7.45pm instead of the original 4.45pm, a delay of 3 hours!! We arrive in Copenhagen at about 1.15pm but waited a very long time to get through passport control, and it was really a shambles, with no real roped boundaries for people stay in line. Finally we were able to get our bags and thankfully, there was a free shuttle bus just outside the airport which took us a little way down the road to the building where all the rental car businesses were located. We picked up our pre-ordered rental car from a company called Sixt, and drove back to the airport at about 4.30pm to pick up Dave's sister and husband, Ann and Noel, with whom we are doing our trip. We parked in the paid carpark and made our way inside where we saw the estimated arrival of their flight (from Barcelona) was going to be 7.45pm instead of the original 4.45pm, a delay of 3 hours!!

So we decided to go back to the rental car place as we didn't want to pay for all that time in the carpark. Getting out of the car park was an adventure too. We didn't have any cash and so were paying by credit card but I didn't seem to be able to get the machine to work, and get the boom gate up - we felt stuck. Somehow eventually, we got it to work and we weren't charged even though we were over the initial 15 min free period. We went back to the rental car place as we knew we could park there, use their wifi and have access to a toilet - there didn't seem to be any on street parking around the airport.

When we went back to the airport Dave stayed with the car and I went inside to wait for Ann and Noel, fully expecting it'd be a little while before they got through passport control like we did, but as I was walking in the main door they were walking out with their bags - some things go well. They didn't need to go through the lengthy passport control as they were coming from Barcelona, and luckily that was the case because they were so shattered after waiting so long at the airport in Barcelona for their delayed flight. We were all pleased to see each other especially as we didn't have any way to contact each other except via facebook's messenger, if we were able to access wifi.

We loaded up the car with their bags and went on our way. We didn't have a GPS, only Dave's ipad with the Pocket Earth map which I used to track our journey, using the street names we passed, to our destination about 38kms away. Luckily there were more sets of eyes on the lookout for the street names. On the way we stopped at a shop for some supplies, some drinks and food for a late dinner. We arrived at our destination at around 9.30pm, an Airbnb at a town called Bagsvaerd (Denmark) for 1 night. It's the lovely home of a lovely young couple who live upstairs, and we had all downstairs in our own rooms with bathroom and kitchen. They provided some beers (amazing), tea and coffee, milk, bread and some sweet brioche type rolls - nice. We were all pretty shattered after a long, stressful day.

28-5-2018 Monday
We were all up earlyish probably due to a bit combination of long plane travel and stress from yesterday. It was a bit rainy and miserable as we left about 9am with all our bags and drove to an impressive Frederiksborg Slot (Castle) at Hillerod (Denmark). It is a palatial complex built as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick II and becoming the largest Renaissance residence in Scandinavia. Situated on three islets in the Slotssøen (castle lake), it is adjoined by a large formal garden in the Baroque style. There were many large rooms full of amazing furniture pieces, some with laboursome and complex inlaid pictures eg. on tabletops, in cupboard doors, etc. - labour was very cheap back then.

Denmark's Museum of National History has been housed at the castle since 1878. The museum contains Denmark's most important collection of portraits and history paintings as well as distinguished examples of decorative art. The Chronological Collection illustrates Denmark's history from 1500 until the present day. Outside was Neptune Fountain, designed byAdrien de Vries, and is considered to be the castle's sculptural masterpiece. It was created from 1620 to 1622 to stand on the castle's forecourt symbolising Denmark's position as a leading Nordic power in the early 17th century.

We were going to visit the Viking Museum today too but had trouble finding it so will try again on our way back in a couple of days. Then we continued on our way, driving over the 18 km long, impressive Odense Bridge (or Great Belt Bridge) to a big island called Funen (Denmark). We had a nice lunch in a Rib House restaurant before driving to our next stop, a nice Airbnb at the town of Nyborg (Denmark) for 1 night. The owners of this place left for the night - this was their house they normally lived in, with all their personal things like photos, etc, and we had the use of the whole place except their bedroom which they had locked. They had provided plenty of food for us like bread, biscuits, cheeses and fruit which was lovely. This was the best stopover place on our whole trip in that regard. The rest of the places ranged from providing nothing to just a few minor things.

So far we've noticed while driving in outside of Copenhagen, it is a very clean and tidy place. Everywhere is full of trees and very green - we were told by some people that it's a bit dry at the moment and hasn't rained much, so it's normally greener than this! Most of the areas I've seen so far remind me very much of driving in England.

29-5-2018 Tuesday
Packed up and leaving the bnb this morning we drove a short way to the waterfront, parked and walked around the quaint town of Nyborg (Denmark). Then we picked up some more supplies before driving to Den Fynske Landsby (The Funen Village) at Odense (Denmark). A visit to this open air museum is like exploring life in the countryside in the time of Hans Christian Andersen. The museum consists of a number of farms and houses, all of which originally stood in villages around Funen and the outlying islands. Here an environment has been recreated with the half-timbered buildings so characteristic of Funen, flowering gardens, hedgerows and domestic animals, village pond and village streets - all surrounded by cultivated fields. We enjoyed this interesting place very much.

Next we drove to Egeskov Slot (Castle) at the town of Kvaerndrup (Denmark). This was another castle but very different to the one we visited yesterday so we were glad we decided to see it and worth the expense. This was obviously a castle owned by a hunter, with all the walls of the first room we went into, being adorned with animal trophies of assorted heads and lion, tiger and cheetah skins. A nearby hallway's walls were also covered with many animal heads too, mostly of smaller species. There were other collections too like shells - one half of a giant clam shell lay on the floor.

Upstairs there was a timber and metal toy collection, displayed in many large plastic bubbles, hanging from the ceiling - very unusual. There were also other displays of china and kitchen utensils in glass cabinets. They were in the open roofing cavity (no ceiling) of the castle where the large timber beams slant upwards to form a pitched roof. It felt strange to be walking up there.

Afterwards we drove to our next stop, an Airbnb at Hus close to the town of Stenstrup (Denmark) for 1 night. We had a bit of difficulty finding this place, due to an unusual way (to us) of marking the properties out in a country type area. This house was on a large piece of land, very quiet and peaceful with the owners in a house a little walk away. An unusual thing we found at this place was the fridge didn't have a freezer compartment to it - lucky we didn't have a real need for it. The place really only had 1 bedroom with beds upstairs which was unacceptable for any of us to use, as it was accessed by a steep ladder (like the type used for an attic) and the bathroom was downstairs - not good for trips during the night. Luckily there was a lounge and enough other bedding to make do.

30-5-2018 Wednesday
This morning we packed the car and drove back over the long Odense Bridge, and exited as soon as we could to get some good photos of the bridge, and a cuppa. We're glad we did because closeby, was a small building that housed an Ice Boat Museum, which chronicled life before the bridge, and how the sea iced up during the winter across The Great Belt of water between the island and mainland. People and goods still needed to be transported across this sea ice and old black and white photos on the walls showed the various types of transport used, such as boats being pulled along on the ice, horse drawn sleighs, bicycles, and cars - one photo showed a car being pulled out of the water after the back half seemed to have broken through the ice. These would have been very hard times indeed, not for the faint hearted!

Next we found our way to the Viking Ship Museum (that we missed the other day) at a town called Roskilde (Denmark). The museum's exhibitions include five unique Viking Ships, which were excavated on 1962 from Roskilde Fjord, near the village of Skuldelev. At the end of the Viking Age - the late 11th century - a system of barriers was constructed to protect the royal seat and cathedral at Roskilde. The five Skuldelev Ships come from a barrier about 20 kms north of Roskilde. The ships were sunk across a sailing channel and were part of an effective protective barrier. The recovered remains of these five ships has been painstakingly restored onto a boat frame to show the size and type of vessel, whether it was a trading or a fighting ship.

There was a blacksmith making whole nails (with a flat head) out of single short pieces of steel, by heating them in the fire and then hammering it skilfully in a thick piece of metal with a hole, the shape of the steel piece. At the Viking Ship Museum's boatyard, the boatbuilders reconstruct Viking Ships in full-scale, using reconstructions of Viking Age tools. The reconstructed ships are based on original, surviving ship finds. We saw the boatyard where there were lots of shaved timber bits on the floor under the boats in progress. During the summer, the reconstructions are moored in the Museum harbour, when they're not out sailing (you could pay to take a ride in one). In the winter, they're taken up on land.

This afternoon we drove back to the Airbnb at the town of Bagsvaerd (Denmark) for 2 nights (the same place we stayed on our first night, last Sunday night). We arrived at a much more respectable hour this time, around 5pm.

31-5-2018 Thursday
This morning we left the rental car at home and walked about 500 metres down to the railway station and caught the train into Copenhagen City, (Denmark). We did the Red Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour for about 1 hour and 40 mins viewing the sites including Gefion Water Fountain, Amalienborg Palace where the Royal Family live, including our Tassie born Princess Mary, The Marble Church, The Swedish Church, City Hall, Christianborg Palace, and the Little Mermaid Statue. There are so many beautiful old buildings, shapes with character and well maintained and painted with lots of different colours, so very unlike our cities.

We got off had lunch and then went in to the Tivoli (across the road from the central train station) which was included in our bus ticket. The Tivoli has lots of eateries, shopping, and entertainment including many rides. By the day's end we were tired and made our way back to the train and walked back to our Airbnb.

1-6-2018 Friday Embark Cruise Copenhagen, Denmark Cruise Day 1
This morning we loaded our bags into the car and drove to the cruise terminal to see if we could check our bags in, which we could thankfully, and then the four of us drove to the rental car business, Sixt, in the city to return the car. After that we hopped on the Red Bus (as we had a ticket for 2 days) and travelled to the stop, Amalienborg Palace where the Royal Family live. We couldn't go inside, just wandered around outside, watching the guards at their stations. After that we went inside the The Marble Church and then walked toward the cruise terminal, checking out the sites we saw yesterday - the Gefion Fountain, St Alban's Church and the Little Mermaid Statue.

We then caught the shuttle bus to the cruise terminal and checked in for our 11 day cruise on the Regal Princess cruise ship. We straight away headed to the buffet for a late lunch and headed to our cabins. We attended the compulsory muster station drill at 5.45pm and then to our rooms, and not long out of bed. We departed at 6pm.

2-6-2018 Saturday Port of Oslo Norway Cruise Day 2 2-6-2018 Saturday Port of Oslo Norway Cruise Day 2
We docked in Oslo Norway at 10am and we got off about 1.30pm and caught the Hop-On-Hop-Off Red Bus for 90 mins around the city. Some of the sites we drove past included The Opera House; the Kon-Tiki Museum; Nobel Peace Centre; The Royal Palace; the Norwegian Parliament; and the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History.

Dave and I got off to see the Akershus Castle and Fortress (Ann and Noel continued on to the boat) but there was a wedding going on in the castle part so we didn't get to go inside (although we weren't sure if there was much to see in there anyway). Nearby was the Norwegian Resistance Museum during WWII as Norway was also occupied by the Germans. Not sure if I mentioned this before, but I hadn't really known that the Scandinavian countries were occupied in WWII. I knew other European countries were, like France and Poland, etc, but hadn't heard much about these others being occupied too, and it sounds like they had just as bad a time of it, and fought back with the resistance movement just as hard, as the others (good for them). It was a very interesting and extensive museum.

We walked back to the boat along the waterfront and the place was full of people, being the weekend. There were lots of restaurants and we saw a Jamie Oliver one and a TGI (Thank Got It's) Fridays. It reminded me of Southbank in Brisbane. Everywhere of course were old beautiful buildings.

3-6-2018 Sunday At Sea Cruise Day 3
Not much to report - glad to have a rest day after 6 days on the go.

4-6-2018 Monday Rostock Germany Cruise Day 4
We docked at the port of Warnemunde (Germany) (Berlin 240km away by road) this morning at 7am. Warnemunde is a popular seaside resort town for the locals, located along the Baltic Sea. However we decided to spend our time in the larger nearby town of Rostock (Germany), which is a 20 minute train ride away. Getting off the boat we walked to the tourist information place where a nice lady gave us very clear directions. We walked about 300 metres to the train station and rode 9 stations, then hopped on tram for 3 stations into Rostock.

We walked around the town marvelling again at all the beautiful old buildings. We visited the Lutheran St Mary's Church (1230) which had an interesting feature of an astronomical clock (1472). The Town Hall is a double-gabled house with a vaulted cellar (1270). The front of the building is of a salmon coloured Baroque style with 7 spires. We saw the name in German which read "Rathaus" and then we remembered seeing this back when we did our big travel in 2011/12 and having a laugh because it looks like Rat House.

We made our way to the Kropeliner Tor, a tall impressive brick tower, part of the original wall built around the town to protect it against enemies. Apparently it is the most impressive of the 22 City Gates. We stopped in for a drink in a nice pub, a good way to get access to a toilet as there doesn't seem to be too many public ones in some towns. Walking down the length of Kropeline Strasse, there were lots of shops and eateries and we ended up at the Neuer Markt, a big market square where vendors were selling fruit and veg, as well as all sorts of other products. The lovely old buildings are well maintained and painted in lovely pastel colours, all sharing adjoining walls so they're just one continuous long building.

For our home journey we retraced our steps, catching the tram first and then the train, arriving back at the boat about 4pm, and rested for the rest of the afternoon.

5-6-2018 Tuesday At Sea Cruise Day 5
Another welcome rest day before another few days on the go.

6-6-2018 Wednesday Port of Tallin Estonia Cruise Day 6
This morning we docked at the port of Tallin (Estonia), had breakfast and left the boat to walk about 15 mins into the old town. Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and its political, commercial and cultural centre. It is a very small country with a population of only 1.3 million. The medieval section is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the massive stone castle called Toompea Hill, where Estonia's parliament sits (they have a female president). We saw this and other sites when we joined a free tour by a young lady (Maria), who was very good, very we ll informed, amiable, amusing and had a good loud voice which was great as there was a big crowd today (probably about 100) - there were 2 big cruise boats in, including ours.

We followed her all over the old town and saw sites including the Palace Square, Russian Orthodox Alexeander Nevsky Cathedral built in the 19th century, St Mary's Cathedral and the Gothic Town Hall. The old town was once fully walled for protection from its enemies, as a lot of towns during this period were, and some towers and parts of the walls still exist. One big round tower is called Fat Margaret Tower (don't know why). Estonia has had a tumultuous history and finally got its independence from Russia in 1991, luckily, because apparently the Russians were going to tear down the old town and build buildings of their own type. This old town is a very big tourist attraction for the country.

We walked back to the boat about 3pm and had a late lunch/early dinner.

7-6-2018 Thursday Port of St Petersburg Russia Cruise Day 7
We docked around 6.30am and are here for 2 days and had pre-booked a 2 day tour of St Petersburg (Russia). We experienced the Russian immigration before, when we were on our Japanese cruise a couple of years ago, and it's the only country we've experienced where the passport control is a long drawn out thing. Even on the way back to the boat the passport check is lengthy, as if they're afraid one of their countrymen might be trying to escape! We were supposed to meet the tour company at 8.30am at the pier and even though we got to the waiting area a half an hour before, it wasn't until just after 9am that we finally got through - the lady controller must've been new and learning as she took a very long time with each passenger and had to get help a couple times from the control person next door. Dave and I were unlucky enough too, to get this same lady on the way back in, in the afternoon and it took a long time! Ann and Noel were in a different line and they whizzed through in no time.

Luckily the lady tour guide (Oksana) and mini-bus waited for us. There were 15 passengers, 10 Aussies (6 from Sydney and us 4 from Brisbane), and a family of 5 from the USA. We visited a few places, all with magnificent artworks, sculptures, paintings, carved furniture, jaw-dropping opulence! Our visits included the Hermitage Mueum - one of the five largest art museums in the world and contains around 3 million exhibits, we viewed some paintings by world famous painters Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt; Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral - the birthplace of St Petersburg, constructed as a military fortification since 1700 but never actually used for this purpose, and the Cathedral situated in the same grounds is the burial place of many Russian emperors starting with Peter the Great (1725) and ending with Nicholas II (1917), the remains of the last Russian Tsar and his family were buried beneath the cathedral in 1998; The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood - so named as it was built on the site of the March 1881 murder of Emperor Alexander II, notable for its massive yet intricate mosaic panels created by some of the leading artists at the time - there is not a single painting: the walls are almost entirely covered with mosaics.

Other visits included St Isaac's Cathedral - built between 1818-1858, notable for its mosaics, lavish sculptural and pictorial decoration, and its monumental columns, 2 of them made of lapis lazuli and ten out of malachite; Yusupov Palace - former private residence of one of the richest families in Russia, notable for the beautiful artistic designs of the interiors, palatial theatre as well as the wax exhibition depicting the murder of Grigory Rasputin, which took place in the place in the palace in 1916. He was hard to kill, with first being poisioned in food which didn't work fast enough, so was shot once and then shot again after he crawled away. This still didn't finish the job, and so they threw him in the river, under some ice and he drowned.

In the middle of all this opulence we were taken to a restaurant where we had a very nice Russian lunch (included in our tour package). After getting back to the ship and through passport control after 6.30pm we had dinner and an early night as we have an earlier start tomorrow.

8-6-2018 Friday Second day of our St Petersburg Tour Cruise Day 8
This morning we again met up with our lovely tour guide and bus at the pier for a 7.30am start. It was much faster getting through passport control this morning so we were quite early this time. Our first item for the day was a subway ride, going for one stop only. The train was fast and quiet but the main reasons to do this was to see and experience the over 100 metre long escalator down to the platform - a long ride, and a problem for people who have a fear of heights. There was a official seated in a small booth, viewing the travelling passengers, presumably in case there was any problem. There were also some mosaics on the walls down there.

Next we did a one hour boat ride on the canal to see the city from the water. Known as the "Venice of the North", St Petersburg has a beautiful labyrinth of rivers (Neva, Fontanka and Moika) and numerous canals across the city giving it a distinct character. Given the iconic classical architecture here, the water is actually one of the best places to get the best views of all these magnificent structures. It was quite cool but we sat outside with provided blankets provided. This was a really enjoyable thing to do, especially as it was a sunny day and after our long, busy day yesterday.

Then we drove 25 kms to The Royal Summer Estate of Catherine Palace, located in the Tsar's Village and was originally presented by Peter the Great to his second wife, Catherine I, in the early 18th century. A few decades later the palace was rebuilt to its present appearance following the orders of the royal daughter, Elizabeth I. The new late Baroque structure is home to some of Europe's most extravagant interiors, including the world-famous Amber Room. We couldn't take photos in here. The walls were covered all in Amber stones, ranging from light to a dark colour. After that Oksana took us to a nearby park in the grounds, to have our provided packed lunch which was very nice. It even included a stubby of beer.

After lunch we got back in the minibus and drove to the Peterhof Summer Residence which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built by Peter the Great in the 18th century and rebuilt after the ravages of WWII, this complex of palaces, gardens, fountains and waterfalls is one of Russia's most famous tourist attractions, drawing millions of visitors every year. We didn't actually go inside this one, only viewed the magnificent gardens and fountains. I felt the focal point of the whole fountain/garden was the golden statue of Samson tearing apart the jaws of a lion.

At the end of this we went back to the ship, about 4pm and set sail at 6pm.

9-6-2018 Saturday Port of Helsinki Finland Cruise Day 9 9-6-2018 Saturday Port of Helsinki Finland Cruise Day 9
Our brochures tell us that Helsinki, Finland's capital, is hailed as the "Daughter of the Baltic" (we are on the Baltic Sea), and is one of the most vibrant and beautiful cities in Scandinavia. We docked at 7am but as we were doing our own thing today we had a later start, a bit more relaxed after the last 2 early mornings and full days. There's a lot of construction going on just near where we're docked so we caught the tram 10-15 mins into the old town area. Firstly we walked to the Rock Church, a very new church, finished in 1969. It was carved out of a massive block of natural granite, round inside with a round copper dome ceiling with the inner surface of the dome clad in copper tape that's 22 kms long. The dome diameter is 24 metres. Apparently the acoustics in there are very good.

We walked to Helsinki Cathedral, large and white with green domes, one of the most recognisable symbols of Helsinki and its silhouette since 1852. There were many steps in front and they were dotted with many people sitting, having a rest. We didn't go inside this one or the Uspenski Cathedral not far away, as we had to be back on the boat by 3.30pm. This cathedral was built with brown brick, green roof and at least 10 gold onion domes with spires that we could see, mostly from a distance. Nearby there was the Market Square, a food and clothing markets and there must've been some sort of festival as well as there was music and people dressed in costumes.

We saw a place with the name "Aussie Bar" and the word "Aussie" was upside down so a sign that it was a "Down Under" pub. We would've loved to go in but didn't have time. The town has a nice feel and seems clean and tidy, like the other Scandinavian countries we've visited so far. The sun sets late here and rises early we've noticed, since Denmark. Sun sets between 10 and 12 midnight and it rises around 3 and 4am, depending how far north you've travelled.

We walked back to the tram stop and caught the next one back - they seem to run fairly regularly. We had to be back on board by 3.30pm. At the pier there were temporary shops set up when the cruise boats are in so we stopped to check them out. I found some tins for sale - 100% Elk meat, 100% Reindeer meat, Bear pate, packets of Reindeer chips and Reindeer jerky!!

10-6-2018 Sunday Port of Stockholm Sweden Cruise Day 10
The cruise ship docked about 7am at Stockholm (Sweden) and we had an easy morning, having breakfast and then just doing a 2 hour Hop-On-Hop-Off Red Bus around the city of Stockholm. We chose this as we only had the morning here, and had to be aboard by 1.30pm to sail away again. We will visit Stockholm again during the next [self drive] part of our trip.

It was a lovely clear day and we passed the Royal Palace located in the old town; the ABBA Museum which of course is here because Sweden is where they are from, but unfortunately we didn't have time to visit; Stockholm Courthouse; City Hall, host of the annual Nobel Prize banquet; The Royal Swedish Opera House; and the Concert Hall. Of course there were hundreds of big beautiful old buildings like in the previous countries, something OZ has very little of because we are such a young country (only 250 years old).

Being Sunday explains why the place wasn't as busy as I'd expect it to be, especially for the capital. It was quite a bit warmer this morning than other mornings have been and when we got back on the boat around lunch time, there were plenty people on the pool deck relaxing on the li-low chairs. One unfortunate consequence was the serious damage to Dave's new phone. We were sitting upstairs at the very front and as the double decker red bus rounded a bend, it slid off his lap and straight out of the open side, crashing onto the road. The bus driver saw it fly past his window and thankfully, stopped quickly. Ann raced downstairs and out of the bus and retrieved it, luckily with no vehicle running over it in the meantime. Although the screen is badly cracked the phone and camera still work. After leaving the port we sailed out of the fjord for a very long time, past so many islands, some big and some very small, some with houses and some with nothing on them but trees. Apparently there are thousands of them.

11-6-2018 Monday At Sea Day Cruise Day 11
Relax day today except for having to repack our bags as disembarking tomorrow.

12-6-2018 Tuesday Disembark Cruise and cross the border into Sweden
This morning Dave and Noel left the ship at about 6am, so they could get a taxi early to go and pick up the rental car for the next 21 days, this time with a GPS as using the ipad map wasn't good enough. We had to be out of our rooms by 8am so they could clean them for the new passengers and our disembark time was 9am. Ann and I went up for breakfast close to 7am and back down to our rooms to collect our small bags before making our way downstairs to the waiting area. Ann told them that our husbands were waiting to pick us up downstairs (as we thought they could be back by then) so they let us go down earlier, about 8.30am. We had to find our and the boys' big bags downstairs, that were taken down for us last night after dinner, and by the time one of the workers there helped us trolley all the bags outside, Dave and Noel had just arrived - good timing.

This rental car was slightly smaller than the one we had last time so we had to do some juggling to fit everything in. Then we went shopping at a shop called LIDL for a few groceries and especially alcohol as we're told it's quite cheap in Denmark and expensive in Norway and Sweden. Apparently even people from Norway and Sweden drive down to Denmark to buy their alcohol! Then, that really was a bit of Houdini-ism, fitting all the shopping in as well, but we did it. Ann and I had a hiccough at the register though - it was my turn to pay but for the first time my credit card wouldn't work, and we tried it twice, so I tried another credit card and it wouldn't work either, twice. So Ann got out her credit card and it didn't work. They tried us on a different check out register just in case, and the cards didn't work there either. Ann tried one last different card and thankfully, it worked! We all put out a cheer, and the growing lines of customers were happy too. Noel said when he was in business, he found sometimes that happened - people had credit on their cards but sometimes there was a glitch and they just didn't work at that time.

So off we drove, over the Odense Bridge that we'd driven over the last time we had the rental car, across the border and into Sweden. We drove to our stopover arriving about 12 midday, at the Hotel Garden at the town of Malmo (Sweden) for 1 night. We couldn't check in until 3pm but we were able to put the car in the secure car park, leaving all out stuff in it, and we walked around the town for a while. We firstly had lunch at a nearby Asian place called the (comical) Kung Fu Dumplings. We checked in a bit after 3pm, and had to get what we needed out of the car for the evening. We were all a bit tired so we just went to our rooms, reorganised our bags and had an early night - it's a bit much when you can't manage to get your Nanna nap in on these busy days.

13-6-2018 Wednesday
We had a lovely buffet breakfast (included) at the hotel which partly made up for there being no fridge in our rooms, or air conditioning, and it was quite warm. A fan only partly cooled the room down and I noticed when I went for a shower that the towel rack was heated - no wonder our room was so warm. After breakfast we packed up, left the hotel and by the day's end we'd driven about 300kms. Our first stop in Sweden was Marsvinsholm Castle, very majestic and lovely outside with well kept grounds, which is all we can report on as it's a private residence and you can't go inside.

On the way we stopped to enquire where the castle was, and where we stopped was a very big old barn type of building. We could see the door was open and a couple men standing there. The area we'd been driving in was like the country, lots of open land and few houses. When Dave went over to the doorway he gestured to us to come inside - it was full of beautifully renovated classic old cars, mustang, chevrolet, cadillac, olds mobile, etc. The man spoke good English and was very generous allowing us to view his collection. The guys were ecstatic to be amongst these gorgeous machines and Ann and I could also appreciate their beauty. The man chatted with us for a while and introduced us to his daughter who also shared his passion for the cars, and also worked on, and renovated them.

Next we drove to Alés Stenar (Ale's Stones) - erected sometime during the period of 500-1000AD. It is basically a stone ship, or rather, big stones placed to represent the outline of a Viking ship, the type often built during the Viking Era between 800-1050AD. It is located high above the steep coastline of Kasehuvud, on the ridge above the old fishing village of Kaseberga (Sweden). It comprised 59 large boulders in the form of a 67 metre long and 19 metre wide ship. It took climbing up a few steep steps from the fishing village and then an uphill track to reach it. Like Stonehenge the stones have been placed in alignment with the Summer and Winter Solstice. Once we trekked back down we got our supplies out and made a sandwich for a late lunch.

We then drove 2 hours and 50 mins to the town of Vaxjo (Sweden) and an apartment at 63 Kungsvagen for 1 night. We thought it was a hotel type accommodation but it was apartment buildings, with a coded door for entry, no building person to talk to and we had no information as to how to get in or which apartment. Luckily a lady came out who didn't speak much English but she went to another apartment block and got a young guy who did speak some English. He rang the contact phone number we had (as we didn't have phone service), and used a translation app on his mobile to communicate with us. This way he got the code for the door for us and found which apartment and showed us in. We were pretty tired by this time and were very grateful to this guy. We then found out that there was only one apartment available, not 2, as Dave had booked. When he checked his emails later there was an email sent a couple days earlier, advising that one apartment had been made unavailable but we didn't have access to wifi at that time to find out. It's also a late stage anyway to be advising a cancellation and leaving us in the lurch. Luckily Dave hadn't paid for these beforehand and because it was a big apartment, we were able to manage to sleep all of us.

14-6-2018 Thursday
We left our stopover this morning and drove a total of about 500kms today. Firstly we drove to a small town called Granna, set along the eastern shores of Sweden's second largest lake called Lake Vattern. Granna has a population of 2,578. The town is situated at the foot of Granna mountain and is characterized by its steep streets and old wooden houses. Granna is known for its red and white polkagris (literally "polka pig" in Swedish) stick candy also known as peppermint rock. The town is popular with tourists and is a connection point for the ferry service to the island Visingso which rests inside the big lake.

We tried to go to Lagerlunda Castle but no public roads seemed to lead there, which was strange because it was an icon in the gps as well as a site that Dave had marked in our Ipad [Pocket Eart]. There were minor roads/paths but there were signs on each of these roads that said "no cars/motorcycles" so we weren't sure if that meant they were for walking only, no motorised vehicles(?) Dave and I decided to walk up one of these roads to see if we could find the castle, while Ann and Noel stayed with the car. It was a lovely walk, up a tree-lined road and all very green. When we got to the end there were 3 buildings, the main one in front was beautiful but no sign of it being a castle or open to the public. Once there, we could also see that there were other residences dotted here and there, like in a country setting, and all with cars, so the 'no car etc' signs on the road didn't mean it was only a walking path, just a private road. Surely it would be better to say "private road" than to confuse things by saying "no cars or motorcycles". We didn't see anybody about so took some photos and walked back.

Then off to a town called Linkoping to see Linkoping Castle but it wasn't really much like a castle outside and the only inside open to the public was a small museum with a $10 entry, so we gave it a miss. We walked around the town which was of a decent size and visited the lovely Linkoping Cathedral. We dropped in to a small shop for lunch called Sam's Fish and Chips with a promise of it being authentic English, with a Union Jack as part of the advertising up on the wall. He's from London, married a Swedish girl and now lives here. He was right across the road from a hotel where the fish and chips were quite expensive, so we walked over to him. The business hasn't been running long but it should do well as it was very nice, and complete with being served up on fake newspaper.

We had a long drive then to our next stop at the town of Bromma (Stockholme Sweden) and the Appelvikin Hotel for 2 nights. It wasn't your traditional hotel with a reception as we expected - there were envelopes in a rack for us with the keys to our rooms and to pay you had to see the lady who does the included breakfast, at breakfast time.

15-6-2018 Friday
After breakfast we walked down the road about 500 metres to the train station, bought a 24 hour ticket for the train and tram, travelled into the city of Stockholme and walked around. We had visited here 5 days ago on the cruise but only had time to do the Red Hop-On bus so now we could explore a bit more. We happened to be at the Royal Palace at the right time and so witnessed the changing of the guard. It lasted about 45 mins and was fantastic, with the musicians mounted on horses. The 2 drummers were astride 2 big beautiful Clydedales type horses, and as they needed both their hands to hold the drumsticks they steered the horse with the reins attached to their feet! A lot of the guards standing around near the crowds appeared to be quite young, probably cadets, and some were women.

There are plenty waterways around the city and fishing is permitted and free. There was a billboard showing photos of people with the very large salmon and sea trout they've caught in these waters, off the bridges. This billboard was very close to the palace. It'd be nice to catch a big salmon for dinner, not far away from where you live and not even have to go out in a boat. You could have fresh fish every day!

We caught the tram around to the ABBA Museum but decided not to go in as too expensive (AUD41 each), so we just looked around in the souvenir shop which was also quite expensive but interesting. Outside we got someone to take our photo with our faces in the lifesize wooden cutouts of the four ABBA members. Next we went to the Vasa Museum where the big boat the Vasa, recovered and restored, fills the whole museum. It sank in 1628 not long after it set sail, apparently due to its bad shape and being top heavy with lots of cannons.
The Vasa
Around 4:00 PM on August 10 1628 the warship Vasa set sail in Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage as the newest ship in the Royal Swedish Navy. After sailing about 1300 meters, a light gust of wind caused the Vasa to heel over on its side. Water poured in through the gun portals and the ship sank with a loss of 53 lives. The Vasa lay in shallow waters of Stockholm harbor (at 32 meters depth) and after initial attempts to salvage it failed, was largely forgotten until it was located by Anders Franzen in 1956 In 1961, 333 years after it sank, the Vasa was raised and was so well preserved that it could float after the gun portals were sealed and water and mud were pumped from it.
Today it is housed in a museum specially built for it, near the site where it foundered. That the Vasa is so remarkably well preserved is based on two factors: 

the sheltered present in the Baltic.

After that we had an early nice dinner of ribs and beer at Jen's Boffhouse (beefhouse) before catching the train back to our hotel.

16-6-2018 Saturday 16-6-2018 Saturday
This morning we packed up and left our stopover and thought we'd stop at the Robot Missile Museum in a small town called Arboga, as it sounded interesting. We didn't know until we went into the museum run by volunteers, that the word "robot" in Swedish means missle! We thought we were going to see some robots! It was quite good, the older male volunteers having been involved with the industry and so very knowledgable of the items and the history. Apparently the manufacturing of these were done in Arboga and it was done underground during the war to prevent detection. Afterwards we walked around the town and it was lovely but very quiet - it only has a small population now due to closing of industry. We walked along the river with interesting houses to the town centre and then visited the local church The Holy Trinity Church (12th century).

We then drove to our stopover near Kopparberg (Sweden) and Airbnb at Grona Anas Ostra Loa for 1 night only unfortunately. It was a lovely house on a big open green property owned by a couple who grow most of their own food. We could see their crops and there were also fruit trees. They live in a house also on the property. Our house had 4 bedrooms with shared common areas like kitchen, bathroom and lounge. Luckily we were the only ones staying the night so we had it to ourselves. The only downside was this was one place where you had to bring your own sheets and towels and make your own bed (we did know this before we left home though so had brought them). Not many of the Airbnbs we stayed at had this stipulation. We felt it was a small price to pay such a beautiful homey house in a quiet country setting.

After setting up we drove into town for dinner, about 12 kms away. The lady had told us what places were available and the best place, which was a Greek restaurant. The Turkish guy who took our order didn't speak English much at all so we pointed to the menu. We ordered spaghetti bolognese each and also a big pizza. He gestured with his arms, making a large round circle, basically saying the pizza was this size. We thought he was exaggerating and said we could take the rest home for tomorrow, so we ordered both lots of food. Well the spag bol was a decent size meal anyway, but the pizza was as big as he said! It was enormous and took up half the table area next to us - luckily the four of us were sitting at a table for 8. We couldn't get over it - none of us had ever seen a pizza that big before. It was as big as 3-4 of our family size pizzas at home but the price didn't really reflect that! Ann and I didn't eat all our pasta so we took that and half of the pizza home. The leftovers did us well for breakfast and lunch over the next couple days.
(We thought it funny - we were Ozzies in Sweden, having dinner in a Greek restaurant, run by Turkish guys!)

17-6-2018 Sunday Norway
We got away this morning by 8.15am, crossing the border into Norway and all up, driving about 400kms for the day. About 6kms south of our stopover we stopped at the town of Hamar (27,000 people) to see and have a ride on the DS Skibladner. Originally from 1856, it is the world's oldest paddlesteamer still operating a scheduled service, and is an important part of Norway's history. Lake Mjosa, Norway's largest lake, has always been an important transport artery. The boat route across Lake Mjosa was also used as part of the pilgrimage route to Nidaros Cathedral in olden times. In the Middle Ages, many pilgrims came by boat to Hamar and were put ashore at locations along the shore of the lake. Today's pilgrims can cross the lake on the paddle steamer as part of their pilgrimage. It now has protected cultural heritage status. Skibladner is a pilgrimage boat and therefore offers special prices to pilgrims who carry a pilgrim's passport.

Unfortunately the times did not suit our timing so we couldn't go for a return ride like we wanted. In the water nearby there was a tall unusual structure consisting of 2 thick concrete footings with steel posts rising up out of them, and at least 24 bells of different sizes hanging from the top. We wondered what it was for but couldn't see any information boards around that told us, and the shop lady closeby didn't know. At 3pm while we were still there, one of the bells chimed 3 times and then they continued to play a delightful little tune before falling silent again - seems like it could be just an unusual, expensive, bells clocktower.

We then tried to make our way to our next stopover, which wasn't far away, but had a lot of trouble because there was a lot of roadworks going on and we weren't having success with our gps and blocked/closed roads. Further hindering the trip was the overcast and rainy day. Fortunately I was keeping track of our trip on the ipad and was able to see and advise an alternative route. We finally got to our stop in the town of Hamar (Norway) and the Scandic Ringsaker Hotel for 1 night. There wasn't anything closeby so we went to a buffet dinner at the hotel, but were disappointed by the quality and quantity of the food. Apparently the head chef didn't turn up and the replacement one wasn't great. Ann cracked it and told them it wasn't good enough, and that we were only prepared to pay for 1 meal out of each couple, not 2. They accepted.

18-6-2018 Monday
In contrast to last night's dinner, we had a beautiful buffet breakfast (included) at the hotel this morning. It was a rainy overcast day again today and the boys couldn't get the gps to work so we made enquiries and were able to buy a new one just the same, at a nearby business. We drove 350kms to the town of Hafslo (Norway) and an Airbnb at 3 Solvivegan Rd for 1 night. This was a lovely house, owned by lovely people who lived upstairs, and we had a lovely view as we were high up - it was a pity we were only staying 1 night.

This was a sentiment we thought often about our 1 night stopovers. We had a few in a row which made it quite rushed, getting in late in the afternoon after a long day, unpacking in the new place, making dinner, cleaning up, trying to unwind before bed, and then packing and leaving relatively early the next morning. We made a note for future reference that our stays should be at least 2 nights to really appreciate where we were and to be able to not feel so rushed and pressured all the time. Sometimes this wouldn't be practicable where the stop was really only to avoid a too long a driving day, but for the most part it would be beneficial to stay at least the 2 nights. Of course, there are other considerations too like when you're trying to fit a lot of destinations in, how long you want the holiday to be, and the cost.

On the way we stopped at the Ringebu Stavkyrkje (Ringebu Stave Church) c1220, one of 28 surviving stave churches and is one of the largest. A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building which has large vertical posts standing inside the church, with wall planks resting upon sills (ground beams). This is known as a stave wall. No nails were used in the construction, with all the joints being dovetailed. The outside of stave churches are also very distinctive with the walls being a light brown colour and many slanted roof sections of a dark colour, putting me in mind more of a castle than a church. After we drove off, Noel, who was driving and hadn't gone far from the unlocked car when we stopped, told us how he hopped back into the car to wait for us, put his phone in the door pocket, adjusted the seat, and then realised he'd hopped into the wrong car! He'd hopped into another rental car (same company) which had parked next to us. The passengers had gone off and hadn't locked their car - luckily they didn't see him. It took us a while to stop laughing about that one.

We had lunch at Annis Spisested - a place renowned for its sausages, the European type not the ones we put on the barbie at home. They were really nice. They also had a butcher shop next door with all types of sausages, cheeses, meats, and other products but we resisted as we didn't have the room in our little car fridge. Onward now to our stopover and we went over the Jotunheimen Mountains, which proved to be slow as the road was twisting and winding and was narrow in places, although very good bitumen roads. We rose up quite high, seeing lots of snow capped mountains, with patches of snow/ice right down low as well, and the scenery was just beautiful. There were big blocks of ice quite close to the road and at one time we got out of the car and took some photos with one which was right next to the roadside. There were sheep running around everywhere in their nice warm coats, and we saw chalets, tents set up on the ice, and people doing skiing training - and it's summer here!

19-6-2018 Tuesday Joy's Birthday
We left our stopover this morning and drove what should have been about 300kms but it was a fair bit more than that and extra time due to an unintended wrong route detour. After 2 ferry crossings and lots of bridges between islands, some bridges quite impressive, long and high, we finally reached the town of Runde (Norway) on Runde Island and an Airbnb at 87 Goksoyrvegen for 2 nights. As we crossed one low bridge with no sides, the wind blew the seawater up over our car. It was very rainy and overcast and there were plenty snow capped mountains and snow/ice beside the roads, and many waterfalls. This stop was the ground floor of a house with the owners living upstairs, but we only had 1 bedroom. There was extra bedding to use on the lounges but this wasn't actually what had been ordered, but we made do.

We have come here to see the puffins, beautiful small black and white birds about the size and appearance of small penguins, but these can fly. They are classed as the clown of the bird world due to their colourful and comical (but I think beautiful) faces. At 7.30pm, after setting up in our new stop, Dave, Ann and I braved the cold and strong wind to walk up the long steep stepped path to the top of the hill, and follow the track to see the puffins that nest on the cliff faces. The wind was so strong that we needed to bend our knees and crouch down with our backs to the wind, to stop it from knocking us over! Ann and I held hands and kept our bodies close to try to prevent each other from being blown off our feet. It was really strong, so strong that in the end we decided it was too dangerous and to turn back and try again tomorrow. At one point Dave was standing in front of us with his back to the wind, and all of a sudden the wind blew him along and grabbed the tissues and his mobile phone out of his spray jacket (shallow) side pocket and blew them about 10 metres away. Dave had to chase them but of course, had no chance of retrieving the tissues. It was quite funny (Ann and I couldn't stop laughing), and amazing and scary all at the same time. At 7.30pm it was still very light. It was still light at midnight and Ann said it was also light at 3.15am! If you lived here you'd definitely have to have block out curtains in the bedroom to help sleep.

On the drive here we stopped at Nordfjord Folk Museum - displays inside of some very old items used many years ago such as a sulky that'd be pulled by a horse, old barrels, furniture, and an array of shop items, such as cash register, assortment of clothing buttons, old tins that held tobacco, food, etc. Outside were a few old buildings, built with big round logs of the pioneer days and inside various displays of living quarters with kitchen, beds, chairs, weaving machine, spinning wheels, etc, very similar to what we've seen at other heritage villages and also in Australia.

20-6-2018 Wednesday Ann and Noel's 48th Wedding Anniversary 2nd night
Well we weren't really in a position to do much to celebrate my birthday yesterday nor to celebrate Ann and Noel's Anniversary today but we knew we'd have a nice lunch or dinner somewhere, sometime to make up for it, but not today. At about 11am we drove a short way down the road to the Runde Miljosenter Museum and thought there might be a nice place for a meal near there but there wasn't, in fact there didn't seem to be any eatery businesses at all on this island except the cafe at the museum. The museum had good displays, especially of the taxidermied animals, like puffins, eagles, otters, other birds, etc, and had a display about all the foreign plastics and rubbish that get washed into the sea and cause problems for the marine life. There was a good film on the puffins and their food source, the herrings. The film detailed the problems that arise right from the beginning of the herrings' life cycle, when the water temperature (and so climate change) can have an effect at the egg laying stage. Then there are many predators right throughout the life herrings' life cycle, and problems at any stage, right down the food chain, can cause problems for the puffins' survival.

We drove back to our stopover and Dave and I decided to brave the track again up to the puffins. It wasn't as windy today so we were able to make the full trip up the steep stepped hill and across to where the puffins nest on the sides of the cliff face. We were glad we didn't keep going yesterday because even if we'd made it to the top of the hill, the last bit to the best photography spot, was over very large boulders and you had to be very careful. The strong wind yesterday would've made this part impossible and dangerous. We were perched right at the top of the cliff face, looking down as the puffins flew into the spots where their nests and partners were waiting. We got some photos but only because there was one nesting spot not too far away from us. There were plenty of people there doing the same thing but some of them had really serious photography gear. Even though they appeared clumsy they were very quick flyers, and quite skilled at landing on the small part of the ledge which was outside their nesting spot.

21-6-2018 Thursday
This morning we drove about 380 kms south-east to the town of Voss (Norway) and an Airbnb at Nr 12 Vetleflaten Street ( 2 bedroom nice apartment) for 3 nights. We did have to carry our bags upstairs so glad we're staying 3 nights. On the way there were many stunning views of mountains with patches of partially melted snow. We took a detour to see Briksdal Glacier but just viewed it from a distance as we didn't have the time to park and get a commercial bus up to it and back before getting to our next stop at a reasonable time. There were lots of camping places along the drive, and seems people are allowed to camp anywhere. Our trip included one ferry trip today. There were many impressive waterfalls due to the continual melting snow from winter. We wondered how the houses at the bottom of these tree and snow covered mountains cannot be in danger when the summer thaw starts (I would be very worried).

As we were driving down a fairly steep winding road, we saw a young woman on long skates, skating up the winding road with ski sticks in each hand, a hard slog. We thought she was probably training for a skiing competition, and thought she could probably have found a safer place to train than the public road. We bought stocked up with groceries on the way.

22-6-2018 Friday 2nd night
After some early morning starts we were able to sleep in this morning (some of us who aren't early risers). We had a leisurely breakfast and then Dave, Ann and I drove to the nearby Voss Folk Museum - an excellent example of how farms in Voss looked in older times. The museum bought Molstertunet farmstead and opened as a museum in 1928. There were 16 buildings, in use until 1927. The farm was first settled more than 1,000 years ago. Early in the 1500's the farm was divided and since then there have mainly been 2 holdings. The oldest house dates from around 1600, while most recent ones built around1880. All the buildings occupy their original locations so the farmstead looks largely the same since that time. It was an interesting place with old machinery, the types of beds they made themselves, animal stables and barns, and being self sufficient - it would've been a hard life.

The rest of the town of Voss has built up not far away from, and on lower ground than the farmstead. It's a nice feel town. We visited the Vangskyrkje, the local church built 1271-77 but locked and partly covered up outside for renovation - shame as appeared a nice church. We ate in tonight, feasting on a nice meal of meat and veges, as we would do at home.

23-6-2018 Saturday
Today we drove about 160kms to a viewpoint called Stegastien, up a narrow winding road where it was only one lane in places so there was turn- taking by traffic in opposite directions, and at times, it was quite close passing other cars. There was a fantastic view up there so worth the trip. Thankfully it cleared up a bit so the view wasn't wasted. We also stopped at a village called Gudvangen where there's a viking village which we didn't see as you had to pay and time was limited. We walked around, taking a photo next to a small old viking boat, and then checked out the souvenir shop. There was also a cafe and the tables were big long ones and the chairs were big wooden ones, all to be in keeping with the viking theme. There was also a single, really big, ornate wooden chair which was meant to be for the viking king. They may have viking type dinners here. We then drove to see the 152 metre spectacular Tvindefossen Waterfalls (12km north of Voss). Over 200,000 people have been estimated to visit the falls each year. In addition to its beauty, legend has it that a drink from the falls will give one a long love and sex life. All the way on our drive there were wonderful views of fjords, tree covered mountains and lovely houses at the foot of them.

We thought we'd driven through many of Norway's tunnels, but probably not really, seeing as there are over 1000 road tunnels in Norway. As Norway improves it's road system there are more opening each year. Some tunnels are often long (up to 24km), narrow and many are unlit. Norway's geography is dominated by fjords and islands. As of 2011, the country has 33 undersea tunnels. We did experience some of these unlit ones and also the undersea ones.

I don't think I've mentioned the 'hairy roofs' (sod roof) on some of the buildings. It looks like there's a lawn or garden growing on the roof. They look very strange to us, as if people haven't been careful about vegetation seeds depositing and growing up there. Apparently it's an environmentally good/friendly roof. Some information follows:-

A sod roof, or turf roof, is a traditional Scandinavian type of green roof covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark, on gently sloping wooden roof boards. Sod is the surface of the ground, with the grass growing on it; turf. Until the late 19th century, it was the most common roof on rural log houses in Norway and large parts of the rest of Scandinavia. The load of approximately 250 kg per m² of a sod roof is an advantage because it helps to compress the logs and make the walls more draught-proof. In winter the total load may well increase to 400 or 500 kg per m² because of snow. Sod is also a reasonably efficient insulator in a cold climate. The birch bark underneath ensures that the roof will be waterproof.

The term ‘sod roof’ is somewhat misleading, as the active, water-tight element of the roof is birch bark. The main purpose of the sod is to hold the birch bark in place. The roof might just as well have been called a "birch bark roof", but its grassy outward appearance is the reason for its name in Scandinavian languages: Norwegian and Swedish torvtak, Icelandic torfþak. A sod roof is well suited to the dynamics of a barter economy because the materials are ubiquitous and cost nothing, although the work is labour-intensive. However, a typical household in the era that sod roofs were most common would usually possess a lot of manpower, and neighbours would typically be invited to take part in the roofing party, similar to a barn raising in the United states. Roofs in Scandinavia have probably been covered with birch bark and sod since prehistoric times. During the Viking and Middle Ages most houses had sod roofs. Churches and other buildings with steeper roofs were covered with boards, wood shingles, or lead.

24-6-2018 Sunday
Left our stopover this morning and drove west about 100kms to the large town of Bergen (Norway) and an Airbnb at 1B Gartnergaten (street) for 2 nights. It was rainy and overcast again today. Luckily our apartment was on the ground floor so only had to carry our bags up the front few steps (there were some other apartments upstairs). This apartment was unusual with only 1 bedroom and other beds made up in the dining/living room which was inconvenient. The only bathroom was the ensuite belonging to the bedroom which wasn't really good but again, we had to make do. Our stopover is located in a densely populated area with narrow paved streets, and Dave had to put the car in a public underground car park as there is very limited street parking - appears any street parking has to have permits.

After setting up Ann and I went for a walk around the town, looking for a place to have dinner later. It was Sunday and most places were closed so we bought a takeway.

25-6-2018 Monday 2nd night
After a late breakfast we walked around the nearby town of Bergen. It was rainy and overcast again so there was no point going on the funicular up to Mt Floyen, which Dave would've liked to have done. We walked to Bryggen - a world heritage site. The very first buildings in Bergen were built alongside the wharf and called Bryggen, lining the eastern side of the harbour, a lively and important area of the city for trade for a thousand years. We walked through the fish market, with giant King crabs, cooked and live in tanks, and all sorts of seafood including fish, crayfish, mussels and sea urchins.

There were lots of other market stalls nearby, some providing meals and others selling products. Meals available included whale, the picture looking just like a piece of cooked red meat. Another stall had salami like sausage for sale with samples - whale, reindeer and moose. I thought they all tasted very much like salami but with a minor variation to each other in taste, and was really ok but didn't buy any. After walking around for a while we happened on a small Chinese restaurant and decided to try it for lunch. We were the first ones there so wondered how good it was, but the restaurant gradually filled up and the food was very good.

In our travels in Scandinavia we've come across many statues of creatures called Trolls (a better, nicer alternative to internet trolls). All the souvenir shops have them in varying sizes and cuteness to purchase, and there's usually a couple of 3 foot tall (1 metre) ones at the entrance of these shops. Trolls seem to have been embraced by these Scandinavian countries as their mascot, similar to Australia and our koala or kangaroo.

Trolls Definiton - A troll is a class of being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell deep in the wilderness of Scandinavia, in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings. Trolls are humanoid creatures with appearances that range from monstrous to eccentric to cute, but they are almost all unfriendly, no matter how charming they might look. Unless you are a quick-thinker, an encounter with a Troll never ends well.

Trolls are traditionally dim-witted creatures, so they aren’t in the habit of cultivating talents. The greatest skills they have are the skills they were born with: brute strength and a strong connection with nature. The larger ones (jontars) can uproot trees to use as clubs and hurl boulders as missiles. The mightiest of them are capable of stirring up thunderstorms or avalanches.

Small Trolls are more advanced than their massive cousins, and they have more tricks up their sleeves. Female huldras, for example, have beautiful voices that mimic wind and falling water. They can lure men into the wilderness with their sweet songs. Others have minor magical abilities that can make humans fall asleep, lose track of time, see visions of treasure, etc.

Some Trolls support themselves by hunting or farming, but far more of them are pillagers. They waylay travelers, strip them of their valuables, and perhaps even eat them. The most daring individuals might even launch an expedition into a village, destroying buildings, plundering treasure, and kidnapping children or beautiful ladies.

26-6-2018 Tuesday
Leaving our stopover we drove 138 kms south to the town of Haugesund (Norway) and an Airbnb at 33 Skjoldavegen (street) for 1 night. This was a quaint little yellow timber 2 storey house on the corner of a busy roundabout, which made it a bit tricky for Dave to park the car in the small driveway, and in a way that we could get our bags out easily. Once we settled in we walked a couple hundred metres to the co-op supermarket to buy something to make for dinner.

On the drive here we stopped at a stave church, Fantoft Stavkirke. It was smaller than the others we've seen. The church was originally built in Fortun in Sogn, a village near inner or eastern end of Sognefjord around the year 1150. In the 19th century the church was threatened by demolition, as were hundreds of other stave churches in Norway. The church was bought by consul Fredrik Georg Gade and saved by moving it in pieces to Fantoft near (now in) Bergen in 1883. Outside the church stands a stone cross from Tjora in Sola. On 6 June 1992, the church was destroyed by arson; the first in a string of church burnings by members of the early Norwegian black metal scene. After the fire, re-building was soon begun and was finished in 1997.

Next we stopped to view the Haraldshaugen Monument, located 2kms north of the town centre and overlooks the coast. It is the national monument of the unification of Norway. It was erected in 1872 during the millennial celebrations of Norway's unification into one kingdom under the rule of King Harald Fairhair. The monument, commemorating the battle of Hafrsfjord (872) 1000 years earlier, consists of a large mound surrounded by 29 granite memorial stones, one from each of the historic counties of Norway. At the top of the mound stands a 17metre high granite main obelisk with four bronze panels around the base. Each panel depicts important scenes from the life of King Harald I. Modern historians claim that Harald was a west country king who sought to bring all of Norway under one ruler, most probably driven by the desire to secure the coastal shipping. These shipping lanes were the Vikings' main trade routes (c800-1050AD).

The nearby stone cross of Krosshaug is believed to have been erected in early Christian times. Early stone crosses of this kind indicated that the country was Christian, and they were erected to both "christianise" heathen graves and indicate Christian gathering places before churches were built. The Krosshaug cross is 3 metre high, possibly raised to commemorate the death in England of Harald Fairhair's son, Erik Bloodaxe in 945 (no doubt he died quietly while on holiday). The cross broke in the winter of 1846 and is now held together with iron braces.

Harald Fairhair (Old Norse: Haraldr Hárfagri, Norwegian: Harald Hårfagre, (literally "Harald Hair-pleasant"); c. 850 – c. 932) is remembered by medieval historians as the first King of Norway. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, he reigned from c. 872 to 930. Two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, succeeded Harald to become kings after his death. In the television show Vikings, a character broadly based on Harald appears in Season 4 as one of the main protagonists and is portrayed by Finnish actor Peter Franzén.

Not far from the monument we could see motorhomes and caravans parked up and wondered if it was a free camping area, but Professor Google says there is an official camping grounds, Haraldshaugen Camping. This would be a nice place to camp, right near the sea and it looked like a nice area.

27-6-2018 Wednesday
In the morning we drove 87 kms south, over several bridges and one ferry, to the big town of Stavanger (Norway) and an Airbnb at Apartment Nr 2(?) at 1 Eigenesveien (street) for 2 nights. The (wrong) address we'd had actually took us to the other end of this very long street, to a beautiful house that we assumed couldn't be an Airbnb, and it wasn't. The lady there was very helpful and rang the contact number for us a couple times but there was no answer. So we drove down to the town, parked and went into a coffee shop that had wifi so we could email her. When Dave logged in to the site there was a message there for us giving the full address details and location of the key.

Luckily we got here early as this apartment had only 1 bedroom and this would be the fifth time this has happened, where we didn't have a proper second bedroom, and we weren't happy about it. Also luckily we were able to access the wifi in the apartment, to email the lady concerned, and she was able to come over fairly quickly to talk to us. She indicated that the couch in the living room made up into a double bed, and we said we were still not happy with that as we were 2 couples and wanted 2 bedrooms. Again, luckily, she had another apartment that was 2 bedrooms, but it was booked by a couple with a young child, and they were to arrive soon. She said she'd need to talk with them when they arrived and see if they would take this apartment instead. Thankfully this Americal couple were only staying one night and were happy to swap (we thanked them when we saw them later). This 2 bedroom apartment was also up only one flight of stairs, not 2 like the other one, and no elevator! There was no parking at the apartment building, but we could park in the next street over, in a front yard of some building - this wasn't far away and turned out ok.

Before leaving the town of Haugesand we packed the car and parked down the road, to walk around the town centre, located on the harbour. Firstly we saw the Vår Frelsers Kirke (1901) (Church of the Redeemer) but we couldn't go in as a service was in progress. Then we walked down the paved and stepped walkway to the harbour, past the Haugesund fountain, with a statue of 2 fishermen, celebrating the fishing industry. It was a nice area with plenty of shops and a pub called the Irish Viking (didn't have time to stop in).

The ferries here are very big, efficient and user-friendly. The one today had 3 lanes of traffic coming off at the one time, quite impressive to see. There were 3 deck levels with vehicles on 2 and the top level being a cafe. After settling in to our 2 bedroom apartment we walked to the corner for an early and thankfully, nice Chinese dinner, after our tribulations.

28-6-2018 Thursday 2nd night
This morning after breakfast we walked the short distance down to the centre of town, down at the water, and the pier where 2 big cruise boats were docked. The place was quite busy, probably due to the boats being in, and a markets was happening right at the pier. We visited very good Stavanger Maritime Museum and then the very interesting Canning Museum. This museum told the history of the business of canning of sardines. A film was on a continuous loop of very old footage, showing the catching, processing, smoking and canning of the sardines. There were lots of machines everywhere for different stages of the process, some cut out the cans, some made the lids, some made the labels but the film showed that women actually packed the cans with the sardines, and very fast at it they were too! Men operated the machines.

There was even a working wood (oak I think is preferred) smoker (for the museum customers to try) where a special trolley was wheeled into it, filled with rows and rows of real sardines hanging on metal lines (speared through the eye socket). It's left to smoke for a certain time before being brought out and normally then canned. We could even try them, pulling the smoked sardines off the lines, detaching the body from the head (left on the line), and eating it. They were quite nice.

There were many old posters/plaques on the walls, of all the different brands and labels used over the years. All the canning is now done in Poland, not Norway, with the Norway's sardines catch being sent straight to Poland. In the reception/shop area there were rows and rows of canned King Oscar sardines, of all different flavours - including jalapenos, pepper sauce, tomato sauce, mustard sauce, just in oil and there were even cans that said chocolate sardines (yuk) but I'm not sure how they were done, coated or in a sauce, but wasn't interested in finding out.

We walked around the lovely "old town", buildings beautifully maintained and excellent gardens. Walking up a hill we reached the Valberg Tower and Guards Museum (didn't do this one). After that we walked back to where the car was parked and drove a little way to a feature on the coast, nearby where people were sunbanking and swimming. This was the impressive Sverd I Jell (Swords in Rock).

Sverd i fjell T[English, Swords in Rock] The monument was created by sculptor Fritz Roed from Bryne and was unveiled by King Olav V of Norway in 1983. The three bronze swords stand 10 metres (33 ft) tall and are planted into the rock of a small hill next to the fjord. They commemorate the historic Battle of Hafrsfjord which by tradition took place there in the year 872, when King Harald Fairhair gathered all of Norway under one crown (commemorating the same battle as Haraldshaugen Monument at Haugesund that we saw 2 days ago). The largest sword represents the victorious Harald, and the two smaller swords represent the defeated petty kings. The monument also represents peace, since the swords are planted into solid rock, so they may never be removed.

After that we drove to IKEA and had an early dinner of Swedish meatballs - just had to try them in a Scandinavian country after having them at home (seeing as IKEA comes from Sweden).

29-6-2018 Friday
Driving north east this morning we reached the town of Rjukan (Norway) and our Airbnb at 2A Tveitolia (street) for 1 night. It was a very nice place and our host Mette (lady), was very nice and very helpful. On the way we drove up over the mountains, more snow capped mountains and many waterfalls. We saw an impressive one at Folgefonna National Park - Langfoss Waterfall. It is the 5th highest waterfall in Norway. The high volume slide drops 612 metres (2008 feet) into the Akrafjorden (Akra Fjord). Surprisingly this waterfall remains completely untapped for hydro production - a rarity for streams of this size and waterfalls of this height in Norway. The scenery was just gorgeous all along the drive - it was difficult to rein in the photo-taking and this applied to just about everywhere we went in Scandinavia.

We visited Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum located in the Vemork power station. You can walk over the bridge and up the winding path from the car park to the museum (about 10 mins), or you can pay to take the shutte bus which runs regularly. The research and exhibitions of the museum span the history of power-intensive industry in Norway after 1900; including hydroelectricity, electrochemical industry and the premise for the workers. The museum was established in 1988 to allow the preservation of industrial society created by Norsk Hydro when they established themselves in Rjukan in 1907. The museum is an anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage - a network of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. .

It is also the site where one of the most important sabotage operations of WWII took place. A series of operations undertaken by Norwegian saboteurs (Norwegian Resistance) prevented the Germans from developing nuclear weapons from the heavy water that was produced here. Raids were aimed at the 60 MW Vemork power station at the Rjukan waterfall in Telemark, Norway. Between 1940 and 1944, the sabotage actions, by the Norwegian resistance movement - as well as Allied bombing - ensured the destruction of the plant.

Heavy water is a form of water that contains a larger than normal amount of the hydrogen isotope deuterium, rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope that makes up most of the hydrogen in normal water. It is used in certain types of nuclear reactors. Heavy water is not radioactive but it isn't completely safe to drink, because the biochemical reactions in your cells are affected by the difference in the mass of the hydrogen atoms and how well they form hydrogen bonds.

After that we drove to the nearby cable car Krossobanen, opened in 1928 and the first of its kind in Northern Europe. It was a gift from Norsk Hydro to the townspeople so that they could get up high enough to see the sun during the winter. Two cable cars, "Tyttebær" (cranberry) and "Blåbær" (blueberry) carry passengers up to an altitude of 886 metres. Noel, Dave and I went for a ride to the top where we had a clear view of Gaustatoppen, the 1883 metre pointed mountain in the distance. It is the highest mountain in southern Norway and is very popular with skiers and climbers. There wasn't much to see at the top but there was a cafe where you could buy lunch and sit and look at the beautiful view.

Beneath the Krossobanen lies the Ryes Veg road, the escape route for the Norwegian saboteurs after the heavy water operation at Vemork during WWII. There is a memorial stone close to the upper station.

30-6-2018 Saturday Oslo Norway
We left our stopover and drove a short way to take a guided tour by a young knowledgeable man, of an historical ferry called the MS Storegut. We were shown all over the ferry, dining rooms, recreation rooms for the first class passengers and those for the peasants, up to the bridge and down to the engine room, typically smelling of engine oil and grease. As of 2008 she is used as part of the heritage railway or for chartered trips and while we were nearly at the end of our tour, people were arriving and being seated out on the railway deck as this was one of the chartered events. It was nearly lunch time and they were being served a lovely smelling stew - we briefly considered whether we could just sneakily sit ourselves down for lunch but decided against it. Even the scenery here of the lake and mountains was beautiful.

MF Storegut is a railway ferry that operated between Tinnoset and Mael on Lake Tinn, Norway. She was launched on 25 May 1956 and taken out of service after 4 July 1991 when the Tinnsjo railway ferry ceased operations. As the fourth and last delivered railway ferry for Lake Tinn, Storegut was the largest and the only one not steam powered. She has a track length of 156 metres (512 ft) on two parallel standard gauge tracks spanning the length of the vessel; allowing 21 cars of chemicals weighing 800 tonnes to be carried. In addition she could carry 400 passengers above and below deck. When she was launched she was the largest lake ferry in Northern-Europe at 1,119 tonnes. The (heavy water) company Norsk Hydro used the ferry service to transport its fertiliser from its plant in Ryukan to the port in Skien. She has three diesel engines, each at 590 kW (750 hp). The ferry remained in service until the closing of the ferry service, after which she became docked at Tinnoset in an operational state, along with Ammonia, a sister ferry that was docked nearby.

Next we drove to Oslo and visited the Kon-Tiki Museum, opened in 1949 on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, Norway. It houses vessels and maps from the Kon-Tiki expedition, as well as a library with about 8000 books. I had heard of the Kon-Tiki expedition many years ago but never really knew what it was all about. Ann had studied the book at school so she was very keen to go to the museum and it was very interesting. The museum exhibits the original amazing Kon-Tiki balsawood raft and objects from Heyerdahl’s other world famous expeditions.

Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002), Norwegian explorer and writer, gained worldwide fame when he crossed the Pacific Ocean on the balsawood raft Kon-Tiki in 1947. He is one of history’s most famous explorers. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after the Inca sun god, Viracocha. This was his first expedition to be captured on film, and was later awarded Academy Award for best documentary in 1951.  He hand picked 5 other crew members, all Norwegian except for 1 Swede. Knut Haugland, one of the saboteurs of the heavy water project at the Vemork power station in WWII, was one of these crew members.

The trip took 101 days over 8,000 kms from Peru, with them finally crashing into a reef in the Tuamotu Islands of French Polynesia. He had proved what he set out to prove - that people from early South American civilization could have reached Polynesia across the Pacific in a balsawood raft, using the South-east tradewinds with the aid of wind patterns and ocean currents. He later completed similar achievements with the reed boats Ra, Ra II and Tigris, through which he championed his deep involvement for both the environment and world peace. He was also responsible for important archeological excavations on the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island and in Túcume.

After that we drove to the town of Stabekk Oslo (Norway) and the Vandrerhjem (backpackers) Hotel for 1 night. We thought it was a hotel but it turned out to be a backpackers place which we've never tried before. I was a bit taken aback, especially when we were given sheets and towels and expected to make our own beds, and bring them back down in the morning on leaving. We were pleasantly surprised however, as the place was quite clean and decent (albeit basic with 4 double bunk beds), with our own bathroom, and the included breakfast the next morning was quite exceptional for what we thought a backpackers place would provide. It was as good as any hotel buffet breakfast. The place was located in a nice area too, and it was pleasant sitting outside. We had our window closed during the night so didn't really hear anything but Ann and Noel had theirs open and the backpackers were a bit noisy outside til late.

1-7-2018 Sunday Sweden
This morning we drove 380kms south across the border into Sweden (no passport check) to a town in Angelholm (Sweden) and an Airbnb at 10 Jarnvagsgatan (street) for 1 night. We stopped and bought lunch on the way and whentwe got back to the car, had an $80 parking fine! It was really petty because it was Sunday and there was hardly any cars in what was a private car park. Our airbnb is a nice apartment with 4 bedrooms, very high ceilings and some very old furniture - especially a very unusual tall, pink coloured, ornate ceramic piece (heater) that nearly touched the high ceiling. This is obviously a family's normal home (parents and 3 kids) and I'm surprised they would be happy to rent out to strangers, allowing them access to all their personal belongings and some very expensive, and some priceless, pieces of furniture.

We didn't do any sightseeing today as we needed the time to empty our bags and rearrange them for our flight home tomorrow - horrible job, but we had some alcohol to ease the pain.

2-7-2018 Monday Denmark
We left this morning at 9am and drove for about an hour and a half, crossing the border into Copenhagen (Denmark) and to the airport, as we fly out today at 3.35pm. The boys dropped Ann and me with all our bags, at the airport while they took the rental car back. We waited inside until they returned on the free shuttle bus. Our flight stopped at Dubai, which is the only stop we thought we were having until we got our tickets (at the beginning of the trip) and saw there was another stop at Singapore of one and a half hours which was a pain and a nuisance.

4-7-2018 Tuesday HOME
Apart from arriving at 3am, about one and half hours later than our scheduled flight time, the 3 flights were thankfully uneventful. We lost a day coming home (due to the time difference) and over the next couple days we lost another day catching up on sleep, but glad to be home, as always.