Boring Travel Thursday

Thursday Morning

Not much to report today, so I’ll just blather on about a few things. Not much to report because today is all about getting from London to Oslo. We are flying on British Air. Whenever we fly British Air, (BA) something annoyingly unexpected happens. Bad seats, lost luggage, etc. Hopefully today’s annoyance has already happened and been dealt with. We had a nice 1 PM flight for the 2-hour flight. And then a few weeks ago BA cancelled that flight and we had to reschedule to a 4:45 PM flight that doesn’t get to Oslo to about 7:45 (there is an hour time difference). So we have to kill the morning and afternoon at the hotel and the airport. At least we get access to BA’s lounge at Heathrow since we are flying business class. Alas, business class on intra-European flights on BA is really just economy class with the middle seat blocked (unoccupied). No extra leg room.

I’m writing this after a nice breakfast in the Marriott Executive Lounge. Very good scrambled eggs to which I added Tobasco sauce and (to elaine’s utter disgust) some anchovies. Yum. And delicious American-style bacon on the side along with toast and good orange juice.

The Upcoming Trip in Review

We arrive in Oslo tonight and will stay five nights at the Thon Hotel Opera. There is lots to do and see in Oslo. We have been there before, but only for a day at a time on previous cruise stops. This time will see more of the many things we missed on previous trips.

Next Tuesday we leave Oslo and take the 8-hour train ride from Oslo to Bergen. It’s the highest train journey that you can take in Europe. It’s supposedly very scenic. We’re looking forward to the ride.

In Bergen, where we have also been before for one-day cruise stops, we’ll spend just one night at the Thon Hotel Orion. On Wednesday we will board the Saturn, a Viking Ocean cruise ship. The ship will spend another night in Bergen before sailing up the west coast of Norway to the North Cape above the Artic Circle (where at this time of year, the sun never sets). There are four port stops and one day at sea. Then the ship will turn left and head across the Bering Sea where after two days at sea we will visits ports on the Shetland Islands, the Orkney Islands, Edinburgh, and finally sail right up the Thames River to dock at our final stop at Greenwich just outside London.

After disembarking in Greenwich, it will back to the Heathrow Marriott for one night before flying home non-stop on American Airlines.

Here’s a map of the cruise.

Thursday Evening

So, we made it to Oslo. We hung around all morning in the Marriott at Heathrow. Then we hung around all afternoon in the British Airways Club Europe Lounge. The flight from Heathrow to Oslo was uneventful. Business class within Europe sucks. It’s just economy class with the middle seat blocked, No leg room. You do get food and drinks. Bottom line: we made it to Oslo on time. Our reserved limo driver to the hotel was waiting for the 30 or so mile drive into town from the airport. We are staying in a way-too-big suite at the Thon Hotel Opera in downtown Oslo. Anyway, here are some photos from the plane approaching Oslo followed by pictures of our hotel suite. That balcony is all ours. And there is a separate smaller balcony off the bedroom.

Tomorrow we’ll hit the town and see the best Oslo has to offer. Stay tuned to this station for further developments.