Oslo, Norway

On July second, we took a detour from our summer RV travels and flew across the pond. We left our motorhome at the new National Indoor RV (NIRV) in Nashville and flew to Oslo. We booked a two-week ocean cruise leaving from Bergen, Norway, and ending in Reykjavik, Iceland. We chose to begin our trip with a pre-cruise, two-night stop in Oslo. After arriving in Reykjavik, Iceland, we spent an additional twelve days touring Iceland via the Highway 1 "Ring Road".

We had a direct British Airways flight into London Heathrow Airport and then connected to Oslo, Norway.

We upgraded to Premium Economy, which on British Airways is the same as Business Class. We had private cubicles with lay flat seats along with a gourmet menu for the long-haul segment of our trip.

Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Downtown Oslo, homebase for two nights.

From our hotel window we could see the Oslo downtown district including the Train Station, from which we would travel to Bergen.

FROGNER AND VIGELAND SCULPTURE PARK

The park has more than 200 Sculptures from Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) in bronze, granite and forged iron. This one is named the Monolith.

The theme of the sculptures attempts to communicate the "Circle of Life," both the joy and the struggle of life.

A rose garden as well as many plants and trees were planted among the sculptures.

NORWEGIAN MARITIME MUSEUM

Within the museum is a workshop to build ships as the Vikings did over a millennium ago.

This Viking boat dates to about 900 AD.

Bow Figurehead

Polar ship Fram one of Norway's national treasures. This ship broke all the previous records of farthest north and farthest south. 

Gjoa, the first ship through the northwest passage.

Mess Hall Inside of Gjoa

We returned to the Oslo downtown district via a 10-minute ferry ride across the harbor.

The Fram museum was built around the ship.

Pots full of flowers adorned the streets of Oslo.

OSLO-BERGEN TRAIN

The next morning, we walked five minutes from our hotel to the train station and boarded for the seven-hour train journey over the mountains to meet the awaiting Viking Cruise Ship, Saturn. 

We ascended over 4,000 feet crossing the Hardangervidda plateau.

We got out at the top for a quick stretch.

This is considered one of the most beautiful train rides in the world.

We watched the snow decrease as we entered the green valley east of Bergen.

The train passed by the bridge over a fjord just outside of Bergen.