It was our last day in Oslo, Wednesday January 15, and we woke up to some minus 2 weather and plenty of ice! Our second day in the Anker hotel and it was buffet breakfast again. The kids had just as many courses as the day before, and made just as much mess but somehow charmed the hotel staff into thinking they were cute!
Cruising the Olso Fjord
We conveniently had late check-out from our hotel, so we put our warm clothes on (as it was minus 1) and we were off to try for the ferry trip through the Oslo fjord and harbour islands, that we didn’t do the previous day because of the fog. The trams and buses had been reliable so far in Oslo. Not today though, the tram stop was full of waiting people, and trams from the last hour were just not appearing. Our chances of making the 10am ferry were disappearing and they only depart once every hour.
All of a sudden a tram appeared so we jumped on, and it looked like it might make it to the correct stop with 2 minutes to spare. Unfortunately between the tram and ferries, there was plenty of ice and snow. You can’t run fast on the ice so we had to tread carefully but quickly, and just made it as they were about to leave.
There are plenty of fjord sight-seeing cruises available around the harbour, but you can take the public ferry (covered on transport cards and our Oslo passes) and do pretty much the same thing. In Winter only one line (the B1) seemed to be running. In Summer there are plenty of different lines as people go to the islands for picnics. Today it was icy and cold but the scenery was stunning!
The water was around 2-3 degrees and full of ice, as was the deck. We alternated between watching the views from the decks and staying a little warmer inside. You can get off at any stop but with ferries an hour apart and limited time we just did a full lap of the harbour which took just under an hour.
The ferry hops between the different islands in the harbour. Some were recommended for picnics and hikes in the warmer months, and most had brightly coloured houses and walking trails.
There were a few big cruise ships docked in the harbour which were fun to look at, and we also got another great look at the Opera House and it’s snowy roof!
The deck had so much snow and ice that it was hard to move around, and we had to be careful not to slip. The views were worth it though! That said the big windows and warm seats inside also offered pretty good views and the ferry was pretty empty so there was no fighting for window seats.
The brightly coloured houses and buildings made quite a contrast with the snow and the silver of the water. We were glad we didn’t end up doing this trip the day before as wouldn’t have seen anything.
The ferries are electric and very quiet. Each stop they back into the dock and Soren had to be on deck to watch the precise maneuvering by the captain. It kept him entertained!
How beautiful were these fjords! If only we had the whole day we would have been keen to explore the islands more, but it’s on the list for a return visit.
As we made our way back towards Aker Brygge, where we started, we got some great views of places we’d already visited. The Alkerhus Fortress, the Opera House and the Fram Museum.
This is the Fram Museum on the edge of the fjord. Yesterday we were standing in front of those buildings and you could not see there was even water there!
There were plenty of sea-birds out and about and flying past us.
It was fun seeing Oslo City Hall and the Alkerhus fortress from the water, after having explored them during our first couple of days here.
The ferries are super comfortable, offered great views, and were quiet and warm. As it was effectively a free activity due to our transport passes we thought this was a winner of an activity. We had a great time and it was a really easy way to cruise the harbour.
Aker Brygge shopping and statues….
Next up we did some wandering through the streets of the trendy shopping district, Aker Brygge, to check out a few shops and we discovered more cool statues.
There is plenty of street art in Oslo it would appear, including the Boonji spaceman. There are several of these sculptures around the world, including one in Perth 🙂
The kids as always had to play on some play equipment, even when they are coated in snow!
This poor lady looked a little cold in the snow, with only her hat and shoes!
The trams were still running delayed, so we decided to head back on foot towards the Karls Johans Gate. There was plenty of snow shoveling in progress. They have to move a lot of snow in these parts in January! This did give us a chance to see the ‘solo bell’. This bell was originally one of the 49 bells in the carillon of Oslo City Hall (where the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is held). It was out of tune and removed so has now been reinstalled as a public art piece. Pedestrians can tap a foot pedal to sound the bell.
We also loved ‘Dykerren’ – ‘the diver’. This statue looks out over the Oslo fjord and is fully suited in scuba gear ready to dive in. The sculpture is actually polished stainless steel with a mirror-shiny surface. Today they were very frosty and white!
Souvenirs and duck feeding!
We had to hit up a souvenir shop for some Norwegian souvenirs on our way back. Zinnia had another visit with the giant polar bear in the souvenir shop of choice!
With a few Norwegian souvenirs obtained, we then head back to our hotel where the kids were keen on feeding all their left over breakfast bread to the ducks. Watching the ducks clamber and ice skate over the snow and ice is amusing….
Off to the airport……
Sadly our time in Oslo was coming to an end. While snacking on random left-overs in our hotel room fridge we completed the almost final pack-up of our trip. We were getting pretty sick of packing those suitcases……and it was off to the train station.
Today we thought the bag transfer would be easier than we’d experienced on our arrival to Oslo, as we had public transport cards and the tram stop is right outside the hotel. With the temperatures hovering just above zero and then dropping overnight, the snow and ice was constantly melting and refreezing, so the ice was getting worse on the non-heated paths. Even with our snow boots on (which had been great all trip) we were slipping and sliding dragging the bags from the final tram stop up into the station. Anto managed to slip over with all the heavy bags landing on him, while helping Astrid and I. Luckily he didn’t break any bones but it wasn’t great before the long trip home.
Like the trams in the city the trains out to the airport were a bit delayed today, and many were being cancelled. We had a short wait at central but were soon on our way out of the city and back to the airport. We had plenty of snowy views on the short 25 minute train journey.
That was all the snow adventures done for this trip, so the snow boots were all off and we checked them into our luggage and swapped into more sensible shoes. Continuing my run of needing pat-downs at airport security, I got flagged again in security but finally got through. My massage definitely wasn’t as good as the one I got from the security lady in Warsaw!
After a bit more duty free shopping we finally made it to lounge and it was time to relax, enjoy some food and drink, and contemplate the long trip home that we were about to embark on.
While we ate and drank, we watched our last super early 3.45pm sunset, and it was a pretty one!
100 flights for Soren and scary landings…….
This was Soren’s 100th flight – not bad for 11 year old….and he was super-excited as we had business seats (booked on points) on our Air France flight. Sadly for him it was a short flight (by Aussie standards) so not there were definitely no lie-flat seats. Still the kids were happy to be up the front of the plane and got plenty of attention.
While we were waiting for our slightly late departure, we watched the planes being de-iced and enjoyed our last snowy views of Oslo.
This was our farewell to snow and the views over Oslo were amazing as we took off.
After Soren recovered from his lack of lie-flat seats, he enjoyed the rest of the flight service. The meals were pretty good. Except for mine. Apparently despite booking a vegetarian meal (and a kids meal for Zinnia) we were told in a very French way that they just don’t do that on short-haul flights and we’d better fly Air France long-haul to get that service! I did at least get plenty of good bread and French butter, cheese and Champagne though, so I coped.
Soren did enjoy the perks of his 100th flight!
Hello Paris!
To finish off our flight the passengers were informed the weather conditions were very poor in Paris and they would be doing a GPS guided landing, so all devices had to be totally switched off. They were coming around and checking everyone complied. The fog was indeed terrible as we could see the fog layer all the way through the descent, and only the lights on the tarmac as we hit it. This was more excitement than we needed! The plane’s passengers did clap the pilots as we landed safely…..
To make life easy for our last day of the 7 week trip we’d booked the Hilton hotel at the Charles De Gaulle airport on points. It should have been a 2 minute walk from baggage claim. Which it was but not from the terminal we ended up landing in! After waiting 30 minutes for our bags to appear, and then having to find the valet train, we finally arrived at the hotel an hour after landing, at 9pm. It had been so long since it got dark that Zinnia was convinced it was the middle of the night. It certainly felt like it.
Our junior suite was bigger than any apartment we’d stayed in all trip, but they had not set up the correct number of beds. This was not ideal, and after 3 phone calls to reception and it being 10.30pm I was getting pretty cranky……. but luckily a rollaway finally turned up so we could turf at least one kid out of our bed and get some sleep. Some sleep in the world’s comfiest beds with fabulous pillows….
We did have fabulous views over the airport while we were up waiting for beds to arrive, so we got to do some plane watching.
We were hoping for a great nights sleep, our last in a bed for a few days, so we had some energy for final day of eating and shopping in Paris!
Up next….
We metro’d around Paris like champs and fit in plenty of shopping and eating in one of our favourite cities, before we boarded those flights for the long trip home!
