Today we had a great day in Oslo, Norway, thanks to locals Lauren and Lars showing us around. The Prinsendam docked near Akerhus Fortress, a short walk to the City Hall where we met our local friends and peaked into the main hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each December.
We got Norwegian krone from an ATM and headed to a Tram (#12 we think) which departed between the City Hall and Aker Brygge ( a nice waterfront area). We took the tram to Frogner Park – also know as Vigeland as it is filled with 225 of Gustau Vigeland’s bronze sculptures. The tram ride was our first taste of Norway’s prices – at 30 NOK or $6 US for each one way ticket.
After enjoying the park, we started walking back towards the downtown area with Lauren’s guidance. We stopped for an excellent lunch at Lorry’s, an outside café. Small beers were $11 each and a club sandwich with fries was $35. Lauren (who recently lived in Seattle) says that Norwegians are used to the high prices. Regardless, we enjoyed the food.
Next we walked to Royal Palace and watched the changing of the guards, which occurs daily between 1:10 and 1:30 pm. All Norwegian males must serve one year in the military at age 18, and some of these troops are the guards.
After a little more sightseeing downtown Oslo, we headed back to the ship.
Back on board, we enjoyed a few G & Ts and then ordered club sandwiches from room service, agreeing we were glad to be touring Norway via cruise ship in US dollars.