Frankies Travels The final Day: sitting in airports

Despite our carefully laid plans to squeeze in one more city into this Eurotrip, our bodies gave in today to exhaustion. Coughs, sniffles and sneezes, sore knees and aching calves is what we bought with from our adventures.

I confess we arrived in Frankfurt this morning and booked ourselves into a transit lounge. We spent the day reading on comfy chairs and drinking coffee and soda.

Now we are at the boarding gate (3 hours early) watching our plane be unloaded and made ready for our return down South.

Frankies Travels Day 8: Copenhagen again.

We woke early to the ship chugging into the harbour, packed the last of our bags, breakfasted and said good bye to our tiny cabin and the crew.

We walked out of the terminal and decided to splash out on a taxi to our hotel to deliver our luggage. Our taxi driver was not Danish (not a shocker) and told us in great detail about his homeland, Algeria.

We were very glad that the hotel let us check in early and we leave our things in our room.

We decided to walk across town to the Little Mermaid first as most other sights were still closed. Copenhagen is a typical European city with a wide variety of buildings of architectural styles spanning a few hundred years. Unfortunately also typical of Europe, there is much facade restoration and general construction going on. Statues and diggers and coffee shops in churches and high fashion retail and heavy metal concert posters all rolled in one.

We didn't realise how long a 5 km cross town trek can be. We finally found the little mermaid statue and squashed through the crowd to take our pictures. After the statue we wandered back to the fort and the Churchill park.

For lunch we stopped at a coffee shop and indulged in danish open sandwiches on ecological bread (that means bread that makes your gut work hard - fibre, lots of fibre). Mine was potato, tomato and onion with clods on mayonnaise. 

After lunch we used the map and our googled directions to the highlight of Ebens day, the Tesla showroom! The saleslady seems to deal with a lot of tourists and was very friendly about us taking photos and looking around.

After Tesla we decided to go look for what google and Restaurant magazine dub "the best restaurant in the world", Noma. It is discretely located on a small pier along the waterfront and unless we had had google maps open, we would have never found it. It has a very discretely labelled entrance for such a fantastically singular and expensive place.

After Noma (we only went as far as the sign outside) we consulted our map for one final sight for the day and settled for the Artillery Museum. We walked back across the river, past the famous Black Diamond Library, round the Danish Jewish Museum and found the Artillery. We spend much time on the ground floor with hundreds of cannons before finally finding our way upstairs to the real museum. Artillery histroy from 1500 to the present. I was very impressed by the extent of the collection of armour and uniforms and guns and swords and military history. Unfortunately,  they closes and kicked us out before we could see it all.

We finally turned our tired coblestone worn out feet towards our hotel and walked back via the shopping area for some souvenirs. MrT hunted down a pharmacy for meds for his head cold (so we might survive the 10 hour flight Frankfurt to Joburg).

Tonight I think we'll be doing a nearby unimaginative and be ready to get up again in the middle of the night to get to the airport.

Tomorrow is our final day of our (North) Europe/Scandanavia trip which we will spend in Frankfurt. I am looking forward to good food and drink.

Frankies Travels Day 7: At Sea again

We took it very slow today in preparation for the hectic three days to come. Woke up too late for breakfast, went straight for the barbeque lunch and the beer garden.

We took a leisurely stroll about the deck admiring the calm seas. Today is wonderfully sunny and everyone is out sunbathing.

We will have to disembark with luggage and all by 9am tomorrow in Copenhagen after which we will be all on our own to explore the city!  (We hope the public transport will be simple and forgiving).

Frankies Travels Day 6: Bergen

We had a calm night at sea which meant I couldn't sleep. We pulled into Bergen bright and early and we lugged our tired little heads off our pillows and off to breakfast.

We disembarked and immediately found a hop on hop off bus. (yas! Free wifi) We took the entire 12 stop trip without stopping to get an overview of the sights.  Alas, the second round on the bus was much much busier so we decided to get off at the Fløibannen (something like that) which is a tram line to the top of one of the seven the mountains that make up Bergen.

At the top was bitterly cold and rainy and crowded and unpleasant so we took in the view until our discomfort won over and we return to ground level.

Near the station was a coffee shop so we stopped for cappucinos and local speciality cinnamon buns. Which were delicious! I think they were called Skillebolle.

From the coffee shop we decided to walk across the town to the natural history museum through several gardens and past some churches and interesting architecture. We arrived at the museum to find it closed and under renovation so we settled for visiting the adjoining botanical gardens.

Bergen is in the throes of spring and all the bushes and trees are drooping with blossoms. I have also enjoyed seeing all the tulips and pansies flowering. On Norway they are very fond of planting flower beds of white red and blue flowers.

We walked to a beautiful fountain where there were several buskers and finally caught our bus again back to the cruise terminal.

We agreed before we left for this holiday to do our best to eat locally where possible. The likes of McDonalds and Pizza Hut was forbidden. We did agree to make an exception for Starbucks because we don't have that in Joburg (yet). From the terminal we took a walk to the Starbucks and we ordered lattes. Thus completing an experience for MrT.

On the way back we stopped off to look in all the souvenir shops. I would dearly love a Dale of Norway Merino jersey, but at R6000 a pop, I could buy just as good luxury merino at home (minus the So-Bad-Its-Good Reindeer design). We also visited a moose leather shop. Moose leather is ridiculously soft and I was sorely tempted to acquire a pair of soft leather boots.

We returned to the ship in time to apply for our tourism tax refund on all the souvenirs we had bought this trip and after an hour in the queue I rather spontaneously elected to get my refund in Norwegian Kroner currency to add to our collection of foreign notes.  Daft, Yes.

Now we are relaxing in the evening sunshine (first sunshine since day 1!) on the bow of the ship as we sail away from Bergen and back to the open seas where we will be for the whole of tomorrow.

Frankies Travels Day 5: Flam

Our trip from Geiranger to Flam was on very choppy seas. We were very noticeably rocked to sleep and I havent slept so well in a long time.

Flam is named after the Flam river, not the afrikaans name for custard. There isnt much like custard here but plenty of river...  And more rain.

We were not able to book ourselves on the Flam Railway, because the cruise line booked it all out and $240pp is unfathombly expensive for a Kr.800 trip. And so, despite our stingy mood, passed one of our most enjoyable days so far.

We elected to a slow quiet morning and slept in a bit. We disembarked at 10 and wandered about town for a while and finally elected to take the hike up to the waterfall. We had a very nice walk through town and found the gate to the Brekkenfossen.  The hike route wasnt long (we guessed probably a coupla hundred metres) but the route was straight up the mountain. Just about directly gate to mountain top.

Fortunately the view at the waterfall was amazing making the stiff walk worthwhile. We were pleasantly cooled down by the light (but constant) drizzle and the spray from the falls.

Once we decended once more (made treacherous by the mud and steep slope) we attempted to continue the walk on to the Flam church. Up the road to go to the church we jad to cross a bridge. Alas the bridge to cross the river Flam was washed away and the road we were on waa actually the drive way of a farmwrs house... Which means it lead to a nosy persons deadend. So we turned back and walked all the way back to town in the drizzle.

Continuing in our money saving plot, we returned to the ship for lunch and a change of our wet clothes for dry. After lunch we returned to shore to visit thw Brewery. We arrived ahead of the rush and MrT sampled a dark Raller and a pale Witbier. While we were there we saw again a couple from Philadephia that we had shared a breakfast table with earlier in the week and we sat and chatted with them for a while. This is their 20th cruise. After they left, I offered to swap our big table for a small two person table with a group that was attempting to move all the furniture around. Instead they elected to share our table and we spent the next hour chatting to them - two Australian couples on a long northern European trip. (one pair grandparents and the other celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary).

We decided to go do some souvenir shopping and browsed copious racks of winter jackets and soft shells and knitted goods and tacky porcelain trolls.

I found a beautiful fine wool scarf and MrT found some gifts for his family.

Now we are sitting in the Mojito lounge on the ship waiting to watch the ship sail out of the port onwards to Bergen which we will explore tomorrow. Our final day on land in Norway.

Frankie's Travels: Geiranger

(sorry no pics today will post tomorrow) 

We travelled overnight through the fjords from Ålesund to Geiranger. Geiranger is a tiny village established around the UNESCO world heritage site of the Geiranger Fjord.  

We disembarked early again today. This time there was a tender boat that took us from ship to shore. We found the tourism office and booked our visits for the day. The weather was wet misty and cold again. Unfortunately, as we were eager to get to shore, we had a 90 minute wait until our bus arrived. We decided to go for a long walk, take pictures and explore the village, as well as find some free wifi hot spots. 

Our first trip was a bus tour of the mountain passes around town. We had a beautiful 2 hour trip along the winding roads up and down the mountains surrounding the fjord. The views were breathtakingly beautiful and we feel very fortunate to have been able to see them. The fjord is very deep so the water is like slate. The fjord is bordered by tall mountains that disappear into the clouds (okay maybe that was just cause of the rain) there are numerous waterfalls cascading down the mountain faces into the water. Due to that damp atmosphere, everything is covered in moss and tiny flowers and green shoots are popping out of everywhere not already covered in moss. As it is still spring time, the mountain tops were still capped and sprinkled with snow which meant that the snow melt had closed on of the roads. Fortunately, to ensure we still got our money's worth, they took us on an extra long section of road on the other side and we were able to see some of inland Norway. 

After our panoramic bus tour, we had some spare time to do some shopping. I was lusting after a wooly sheets skin rug and MrT was lusting after a very nice Norwegian style snow jacket. Alas we settled for more affordable, for compact trinkets. 

We also made our way across town to mail a postcard as a surprise for some one (won't say who) and complete part of the waterfall walk.. Oh and also order and consume a HUGE pizza labeled as "Serves 2-3" which should have been labelled "4-6". 

We had booked a boat trip down the fjord in the afternoon. It was lovely after our top down view in the morning, to get a bottom up view and learn more about the waterfalls and mythology around them. As is usual on boats zooming about, the damp rainy weather was bitterly cold to experience on the boat (we sat outside to get the best view for photos) . We managed to get some great views but I confess, I sat and shivered in my jacket for quite a bit of it. 

We finished just in time for the final tenders returning to the ship and were very glad for our warm cabin. Tomorrow we will be in Flam! 

Frankies Travels: Day 3 Ålesund

We woke up early to catch the sunrise (4:30am) and took one look outside at the dense clouds and fog and went back to sleep.

We reset our alarm and woke up again at 6:30am and peeked out our porthole as the ship glided into Ålesund port.

(say "Oo-le-sun-dt")

We hurried upstairs to the early morning breakfast buffet and were off the ship by 7:30.

We purchased a Hop on Hop off bus ticket and decided to wander about town until 9 when the rides started. Ålesund being 62 degrees north is somewhat typically cold wet and windy.

But we don't care! We are finally setting foot in Norway!

Finally on the bus we headed out to the first lookout point giving us panoramic views of the islands that make up the town and the multicoloured houses.

Ålesund town burned down in a fire in 1904 and more or less the entire tiwn waa rebuilt. There is a lot of very beautiful buildings to see. My favourite are the ones with spires! (architecture we don't see much back home)

We visited the Art Nouveau centre and made deep thoughts over the modern art on exhibition. Then we visited the church - a stunning building of pink and white rock.

By the time we reached the church, the rain was pretty set in so we skipped the final look out point and the aquarium. Instead we elected to take the bus route all over again, back into town and find some lunch. Unfortunately the Dirty Nelly Irish Pub only opens at 3 so we elected to wander our way back to the ship and try the lunch buffet.

We relaxed until the ship eased out of the port and onwards through the islands towards Geiranger.

The snow capped fjord islands look like they belong on postcards and chocolate boxes.

We caved and got dressed up and went ro the fanciest dining room for dinner. (It was too cold and windy outside for much photography)

frankies travels. Day 2 At Sea

We slept gloriously late this morning in our teeny tiny cabin. The washing of the waves provided the white noise.

The rocking of the boat is often unnoticable until you peek outside and your sense of balance freaks out for a second as you realise how fast we are cruising northwards.

We got up and wandered about the ship like lost souls looking for breakfast. We eventually found the main dining room which had a long queue of other passengers waiting for a table. They asked if anyone was willing to share a table for eight and we volunteered fast.

We sat with a Russian couple, a German couple and an American couple. All at least 30 years older than us. We decided to break the ice and spent the meal chatting about the comparisons in the tourism opportunities between SA and USA. (I am pretty sure SA won)

After our brunch we collected our camera and reading books and explored places on the ship to read and to have a view. Not surprisingly, the upper decks were windy and freezing cold and we gave up for a window seat inside after a while. The ship has several hot tubs and they are very popular. We had giggle at people climbing out of the hot tubs and feeling the 4 degree wind. They jump for their swimming towels very fast.

The inky North Sea seems to be choppy today and we have been admiring the "white horses" as we watch the waves go past. As the seas get choppier, the rocking of the ship is a lot more noticable.

We can see the shadow of Norway on the horizon. We are looking forward to getting a much closer view tomorrow. There is a flock of seagulls cruising on the wind over the bow of the ship. As we move forward, it looks like the birds are just floating in the air.

Overall we have had a very quiet restful day, getting ready to make the most of the day in Alesund tomorrow. The Land of Trolls.

Frankies Travels: Being tourists.

I feel a little naive admitting this, but this cruise is definitely a "for profit " event. Despite that we have drinks packages included,  the drinks come with an 18% gratuity (not covered) and despite what non alcoholic drinks are included, water is not!  So yip, we have to pay for water.  All the Pepsi you can stomach but no water.

But it is no big deal, because honestly we are not here specifically to experience a cruise on a huge boat. Having a room to ourselves for the week and three meals a day is a perk of this mode of travel not our purpose of the trip. We have decided to make the most of the time on land as Scandanavian-culture-ravenous tourists and the ship is for chilling.

However, somehow, despite all the research and brochures we downloaded for this trip, the only travel guide we have with us is the Norway in your Pocket booklet that we picked up at the embassy in Pretoria. So we plan to walk about the towns and see what takes our fancy. Because, there is no way we will fork out the $150 per person at 200% markup fee that this cruiseline is selling city tours and shore excursions for. We would rather be lost in a foreign town and pay for the bus.

So here's our plans, The pocket book says Alesund is an art nouveau town so I guess we'll be there for architecture and galleries, Geiranger is for the fjord and the Seven Sisters waterfall so maybe we'll find a boat ride on a smaller more nimble vessel, in Flam we will hike (since the railway is sold out) and Bergen we will see the aquarium and some museums.

We have been away for three days already and the adventure is only just beginning. Yaay!

Frankies Travels: Copenhagen Airport to Sea port

We landed in Copehagen after some spectactular views of Denmark and playing "Spot the off shore wind farm".

We got a transfer to the port and had a nice 40 minute tour of the central city. We are looking forward to a more detailed city tour when we return. Especially since we drove past a certain very popular electric car dealership.

We arrived to a HUGE ship. So huge, I didn't realise that the two ships I could see on either side of the terminal building, was the same ship!

There are 2500 other people travelling with us which wasn't the type of cruise we thought we signed up for so I'll say not much about that.

We couldn't access our room yet so we went exploring the ship. They were serving burgers and hot dogs for lunch so we found that and got chatting to the chef. The huge staff compliment is from all over the world. Lots from the Phillipines (sp?) but plenty from elsewhere. Even a lady from Randpark ridge!

We found the jogging track and the perambulation track and had fun exploring all the views from the ship. There are lots if deck chairs so it is easy to relax in the sunny chill wind and take photos. (and nap!)

In the late afternoon we assembled at our allocated emergency evacuation point and had a safety demonstration and then we were off!  Slowly slowly we eased away from the port where the boat was moored and moved north. At about 8pm we saw the last of land now we are in the open sea until tomorrow when we will arrive in Alesund.

We were exhausted from our long airtravel so we were grateful to be able to settle in our teeny tiny cabin. It is a little tragic that we spent our precious savings on a fantastic holiday and it lands up we are in one of the cheapest cabins in the bowls of the ship. But the joke is on them, because our porthole view is amazing.

Frankies Travels: Scandanavia day 1

We were fortunate that our flight to Frankfurt wasn't too full and MrT with his long legs could recline. We travelled on an A380 which is as huge as advertised. Overall, flying Lufthansa is mostly pleasant... As pleasant as a long flight in Economy class can be.

We were fortunate to peak out the window at just the right moment to see the lit up night time outline of Italy and the island of Sicily (I think) go by.

The weird thing about this airport here is how warm everything is. I am sitting at the boarding gate in a sleeveless dress and still sweating. It can't be more than 8 degrees outside.

The airport is very quiet. Simultaneously efficient with dreary long queues. I understand that there is a flight ban between 11pm and 5am to reduce noise for the residents nearby.

Hopefully more interesting travels to follow.

Frankies Travels: Scandanavia day 0

MrT and I are all packed and ready to hit the road.

We are flying off to Copenhagen (via Frankfurt) where we will arrive tomorrow morning.

From there we will ride off to the Port and board a Cruise Ship bound for Norway.

We will see plenty of fjords and hike, bike, paddle and explore. We haven't booked much yet but have packed very sturdy walking shoes.

Ah, fjord Norway in the spring. I expect it to be colder than SA in the summer, and to see plenty of lovely lovely rain.

But first! 10 hours of economy class. woo.

Updates shall continue as we find wifi along the way.

Scandinavia bound

Tuesday night MrT and I will be setting off for our Last Big Overseas Adventure off to Norway via Frankfurt and Copenhagen. 

Excitement is endless right now. Two. More days!