Oslo, Norway

June 14: Last Day
Mixed emotions: We were sad that the cruise was coming to an end, but happy with the thought of getting back home. Both Hayley and I were pretty much done. Oslo was one of our favorite ports though!
We only went to 3 places today since it was a shorter day in port. We headed to the viking ship museum first, then the Norweigan open air folk museum, and lastly to Akershus Castle and fortress. Above is Hayley with one of the viking ships that they found in near perfectly preserved condition due to how it was buried. The deceased viking king or queen is bured with alot of treasures, horses and a slave for the next life. Like the Egyptians, except under a big boat.

One of the wagons buried in the biggest viking ship. The detailed carvings on it are incredible considering the limited tools they had at that time.

The top of the boat that they pieced back together

The hull was almost perfectly intact when they found it. Pretty awesome when you think that they did not have saws back then...all by axes and knives.

An interiot of an authentic Norweigan farmhouse.

During the 13th century, they had open hearth houses, and above, was a costumed worker starting a fire in one of them. With all of the workers dressed how they would have dressed at the time, it made us feel like we stepped back in time.

Some houses in the open air folk museum. They had set them up like little villages corresponding to the dates they were built. The area was so beautiful, it was one of my favorite places we went on the cruise.

A Norweigan Stave Church. I thought the church and the houses and buildings in all of the villages (they went on and on) were just replicas, but they were all real. Only the church's outside was redone in the 1800's, but the inside was all authentic from the 1200's.

Some more beautiful farmhouses

A bakery that they had real demonstrations in. They were making a norweigan style cake, but we could not stick around long enough to try it. Our time here was just too short.

One of the marinas. Notice all of the masts... They love their boats!

Akershus Castle

Sea day and around the ship:

Some shots around the ship:

My russian Faberge eggs. I fell in love with these! I visited them in the shop almost every day. I was debating on buying the rosebud egg (red smaller one, top shelf in the center) or the russian nesting doll. I ended up making the smart, but hard decision to save the money and not buy either....just too expensive.

I wanted the red one in the center above. The other, bigger ones, costed thousands of dollars!

You can see some of the treasures that come inside the eggs right by them on display. I went to the lecture on the Faberge eggs, and the Faberge story and the tsars using them as gifts is very interesting.

I was going to buy this russian Matrioshka nesting doll. It was the most detailed and beautiful one to me. It told the story of training the Russian troika horses.

Ship's theater. I liked it MUCH better than Disney's!! Let's hope the new bigger ships have ones like this one.

(above) A closer look at where our room was. The hall goes off right to the right of the sign International Cafe. Our door was only about 4 doors down...very convenient to everything, especially the doughnuts at the cafe every morning!

Usually the seating area is pretty packed, but not at 4 am!

The Horizon court. They call it a 24 hour buffet, but it really isn't. It is closed at night for a few hours.

A view looking down from the lobby/atrium

A farther shot of where our room was. The hall led off from where it says International Cafe in the back. We loved being next to it, and right on the main decks where everything was.

Our room on the Plaza Deck, #330

Teeny tiny bathroom, and no tubs in most of the rooms.

I really liked their interior rooms, it was perfect for the two of us!

Hayley crashing as soon as we get to the room....we had a long day....

Gdansk, Poland

June 12: Gdansk, Poland
Hayley at the Upland or Golden Gate. It marks the start of the royal route, and was part of the city's fortifications from the 16-19th centuries. There is a more complete picture of it below.

Gdansk was totally destroyed during WWII, and the city debated about rebuilding it, or leaving it destroyed as a testament of the ravages of war. They decided sometime in the 1950's or 60's to restore it, and I am glad they did. It was absolutely beautiful!

The Wyzynna Gate

The Executioner's House and Prison Tower (above)

The palace and the Green Gate at the other end of Old Town....but why they call it the Green gate, I have no idea....

A look along Old Town, it was very beautiful.

The clock tower

Hayley and an old cannon.

A look of the buildings while crossing a bridge on the other side of the palace.

A street performer in the green. There were a few others out as well.

The golden gateway to Old Town

I have some pictures of Neptune's Fountain, and the Artur Court, but it must be on a different camera, so I will upload it a little later.

The train station that we used to take a train from Gdynia where our boat was stationed at, to Gdansk where Old Town was, was about 25 minutes or so. I did not think it would be that far, but it was quite a ways.

We weren't going to go to Gdansk because the ship's shuttle to the city was already sold out, and we did not want to get lost trying to find our way there and back. Thankfully, we met some others that were going to take the train from our ship, so we just tagged along with them...it's a good thing, I know I would have had a hard time and maybe would have gotten lost. Not many people spoke English there.

The train was a great way to go, and only cost us about $4 dollars roundtrip!

A KFC in an old building by the train station. There was also a McDonald's there too.