Norway 2024

 When we planned our trip to Norway, we had a list of places we wanted to go and things we wanted to see.  The Oslo Christmas Market, the Oslo Cathedral, the village of Drobak (the Christmas Village), Lillehammer, the Nobel Peace Center, and the Norway Resistance Museum. We walked down to the harbor to the Nobel Center...  a very impressive building.  Unfortunately for us it was closed to the public and would not reopen for three more days.  Maybe next trip.   Next on our list was the Norway Resistance Museum.  This was a learning experience in Norwegian WW II history.  I did not realize how much Norway suffered during the Nazi occupation.  Their war with Germany began on 9th of  April 1940.  The Germans attacked and occupied Norway in a totally unexpected assault.  The population at that time was 2.9 million people.  The German code name for this attack was "Operation Weserübung".  On the 10th of April the ...

 We enjoyed ourselves in Lillehammer.  Our hotel provided us with a true Norwegian breakfast.  Some of the dishes were familiar to me, others were not.  I tried a little bit of all of them. We celebrated Linda's birthday today and after breakfast we boarded the train for our return to Oslo.  We left about 11:11 AM and headed south.  As pretty as yesterday was, today was even more so.  A great portion of the train trip paralled the Ramafjorden Lake.  This is the fourth largest lake in Norway.  Our seats were on the lake side of the train.  I can't adequately describe the beauty of the scenery we saw.  We will always remember this birthday. We got back into Oslo around 1:30...just in time for a late lunch.  Linda chose the Norwegian grilled salmon and I had the fish and chips.  After lunch we made one more visit to the Christmas market.  We have a full day tomorrow, so we turned in early. I mentioned that when we got he...

 When planning our winter trip to Norway, the town of Lillehammer kept coming up.  We were familiar with the village because  the 1994 Winter Olympics were held here.  At that time there were about 25,000 permanent residents living in Lillehammer and they assumed the monumental task of hosting a worldwide event like the Olymics. This area had been settled since the Norwegian Ice Age.  The village itself came into existence in 1827 when it obtained rights as a market town for this region.  The population at that time was 50.  This area has always been popular for the winter sports, due to the abundant snow and nearby mountains.  When the 1994 Winter Olympics were awarded to Lillehammer, it put it on the worldwide map.  Map sales increased greatly. Most people, outside of Norway , had never heard of Lillehammer and had no idea where it was located.   When we got off our train today, I felt like we had walked into a Winter Wonderland. ...

In relation to European history, Drobak does not take up much time. Drobak was established as a parish in 1823 and established as a village in January 1938.  A significant WW II event occurred in Drobak on April 9, 1940.  The German cruiser, Blucher, was sunk in the Battle of Drobak Sound.  This allowed the Royal Court in Oslo to conduct a safe evacuation from the Germans. Folklore says that another significant event occurred north of Drobak when Santa was born under a rock in Vindfangerbukta.  This led to Drobak as being named the official Christmas Village.  It is the home to the Christmas House and the location of Santa's Post Office.  Chrismas is celebrated 365 days a year and is every child's dream come true. We could not come to Norway without visiting Drobak.  We took a regional bus from Oslo and traveled to Drobak today.  Elevations increased as we went high and we entered snow country.  A beautiful drive through the country.  Dr...

 Oslo is a modern city with a long history.  Oslo came into being during the Viking Age.  Its origins began in 1048 when it was established as a Trading Place by Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway from 1046 to 1066.  Harald unsuccessfully tried to gain the English Crown in 1066.  He was killed on September 25, 1066.  He is remembered as the last Viking king of Norway.  The city of Oslo was completely destroyed by fire in 1624.  It was rebuilt through the centuries and is today the capital of Norway.   As I mentioned we retired last night around 8:30 PM.  I woke up around 3:00 AM and watched the Auburn-Duke basketball game until it ended (sad face), then went back to sleep.  We got up around 10:15 AM, we were over our jet lag.   We left our hotel and went to a local restaurant Tullin's.  A good choice.  I had Norwegian grilled salmon and Linda had a chicken wrap.  I thought her chicken wrap looked a lot...

 Our flight from Montgomery, with intermediate stops in Atlanta, Amsterdam, and Oslo went as planned.  We left Montgomery and had a two hour layover.  We went to the Delta Club, ate dinner, and bordered our flight. There was a short delay departing Atlanta.  Three passengers that were scheduled to be on our flight were "no shows".  Their baggage was located and removed from our aircraft and we then departed.  Our flight was on KLM.  I think I prefer KLM over Delta for international travel.  Our dinner meal on this flight was lobster salad and a Poblano Pepper with Cotija cheese on romesco sauce.  Dessert was vanilla mousse with salted caramel syrup.   When we arrived in Amsterdam, we had a two hour layover.  We cleared customs and boarded another KLM flight for our last leg.  We arrived in Oslo at 4:00 PM.  Total time, including layover was 15 hours. One thing I noticed on the two KLM flights was, from Atlanta to Amst...