Scandinavia

Wednesday 14 September 2005 (Finland)

A leisurely walk around Helsinki looking at the Lakes and taking in the 1952 Olympic Stadium plus a whole lot of mundane personal things we were unable to catch up on until now.

St Marks Cathedral1952 Olympic Stadium

Tuesday 13 September 2005 (Finland)

Found our way by tram Number 4 then Number 3B to the IN booked Fenno Apartments to find a little room with bathroom and kitchenette. Sandy ill all day, some bug so a quiet time doing a bit of shopping and watching BBC World on TV.


Monday 12 September 2005 (Sweden)

Spent the day in Stockholm seeing the sights. Gustavus Adolphus Square and the various islands that Stockholm is built on. Then an overnight ferry to Helsinki. Huge ferry with an inside cabin for four with us as the only occupants. A fascinating trip along a river dotted with islands for the last hours of daylight before moving out into the ocean.

Old Stockholm

Pong Sushi Restaurant

Sandy at Sandy's

Sunday 11 September 2005 (Norway)

Took the 1028 back to Oslo. Once again magnificent scenery going the other way - fjords, U shaped valleys, lakes and mountains. We waited 3 hours at Oslo Central for our train to Stockholm. The sleeping cabin was magnificant - own toilet and shower - only the BlueTrain and the Indian Pacific were better.


Saturday 10 September 2005 (Norway)

Took the 1035 to Bergen. The scenery along the way was breathtaking as is the price of everything, literally double anything in Australia. We arrived in Bergen, booked into a very expensive, very smart hotel, The Grand Hotel, and wandered around the city, which is in a beautiful setting surrounded by mountains. Most of the houses were made of wood, Norwegian wood. Temperatures dropping. This is the furtherest North we go.


Friday 9 September 2005 (Sweden/Norway)

Caught the 0823 to Goteborg, going across the longest railway bridge we have seen, crossing to Malmo, Sweden, from Denmark. Then we changed at Goteborg for Oslo arriving 1645. Oslo was as expensive as Copenhagen but we were expecting it this time. Wandered around a bit and saw the fairly impressive Royal Palace.

Thursday 8 September 2005 (Denmark)

Caught an early train to Copenhagen. Patsy was amazed when the whole train rolled onto tracks on the ferry and was taken across the sea to Denmark. We arrived at 1400 hrs and had the greatest difficulty finding accommodation. Denmark is eye-wateringly expensive! 150 Aussie dollars fro a sub-standard double room without a bathroom. We went past an English pub and saw that they had TV with the Ashes Test, so went in and paid ten dollars each for a beer and watched the last two hours. We finished the day with a walk to the Little Mermaid passing the palace where Princess Mary lives.

Princess Mary's Palace