Our Norway trip was to start with our good friends from Seattle. 24 hours before their departure, Christina took a bad fall, needs surgery and must cancel the trip. We are so very sad for them. We needed to do some schedule pivots, changed a few plans and carried on with heavy hearts.
Norwegian pancake with brown cheese and jam and a fresh pastry
At the Oslo port, we are the last to exit the ship and see only one other group walking, the taxi line is long. With small suitcases in tow, we walk along the dock, pass the ancient city walls and the rock face of the Akershus Fortress complex. The path took us by a wonderful bakery café. We stopped and settled in for a long while as our itinerary for the day had changed. We also had our first taste of famous brown cheese. The verdict? We like it!
The original plan was for a private food walking tour late in day after Bill and Christina arrive. It was non-refundable so our guide agreed to an earlier start and Simon met us as our hotel to start what ended up being a wonderful full review of the city. In addition to covering all the primary landmarks we discussed the upcoming soccer match. The city parks and waterfront are blocked with fences, large screens, port-a-potties and food trucks, ready for large crowds to watch the next soccer match (Norway vs. England). Per Simon these areas as well as all bars have been sold out for weeks.
The highlight of the tour was the two food stops. First at a wonderful restaurant that Simon had worked at. He pre-selected for us: House made bread, moose carpaccio and smoked whale. Except for the bread, this is food that we would never order. on our own. Our verdict? No to whale, the moose was wonderful.
Second food stop was a street vendor for waffles, these were wonderful and we could eat them everyday
We ended our day with fruit and cheese in the room, some blog work, more soccer and early to bed! A few more photos of the walking tour are below
