Our tour managers, Dean and Annette Mizumura!
Fellow tour manager Cliff Nakamura with Dean and Annette!
We arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark and are staying at the Radisson Hotel.
On our first full day in Copenhagen, we took a tour of the city. The weather was very cool, slightly windy but sunny.
Tour members on the city Highlights Tour next to the canals.
City Highlights Tour, Copenhagen, Denmark
The famous Little Mermaid statue on our City Highlights Tour.
We were also able to see the Royal Yacht in the harbor behind the mermaid.
Tour members at the Gefion Fountain of the Bulls
For the first Optional Excursion on the afternoon of the first full day, we visited several Danish castles.
The 1st castle, Fredericksborg Castle, was the main castle for three more than 1000 years line of Danish royalty.
The second castle was the Kronborg Castle, strategically located on the narrow strait across from Norway. This enabled Denmark to exact a toll from all ships carrying cargo to the Scandinavian, Baltic Countries and Germany. Denmark became rich because of this situation.
Kronborg Castle Soldier's Barracks
We saw many interesting sites around Copenhagen and went to the famous Tivoli Gardens for a dinner on your own.
The meals are expensive with the Tantan Ramen bowl costs about $23. Most meals are between $15 and $30.
We visited the Hans Christian Anderson House and Museum which was very well done.
We know much of his stories like the Emperor With No Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Mermaid.
We boarded the Bergen Ferry from Denmark to Norway. The motorcoach drives up to the terminal, we got off the bus and retrieved our overnight bag from the motorcoach.
An overnight ferry ride from Denmark to Norway.
We had a dinner buffet on board the ship which was included with wine and beer.
Lots of seafood and we ate well.
The ship has a buffet dining room for breakfast and dinner, plus a Starbucks, and a cafeteria style Food Court, a Lounge and Dance Nightclub area, a full brand Reception.
Oasis Garden Cafe on the Bergen Ferry
Nightclub on the Bergen Ferry
We arrived at the Stalheim Hotel and had a buffet dinner.
The fish soup was excellent. Beer and wine were extra and very expensive in Norway.
We disembarked from the Fjord Lines ferry from Odense, Denmark to Bergen, Norway.
Bergen is a tourist town with shops and a seafood eating mall and outdoor seafood eating (think Jagaichi Market in Busan, South Korea).
The weather is cold and rainy but let up enough to walk through the area. Umbrellas are good to have.
The public toilets were free in Denmark. The toilets in Norway are paid with credit cards or if you dine in the restaurant, they will give you the push button combination code. The cost is 10 Krone or $1. This is the credit card lock to swipe or insert your card.
We are staying at the Stalheim Hotel, which is in the mountains in Bergen.
Stalheim Hotel dining area
There is a large valley behind the hotel. Houses and pastures with sheep are on the left side. The hotel has WIFI but no television in the room. The bathtub is deep like in Japan and good for soaking. The room keys are the old mechanical type and not the credit card like plastic keys. You can leave it at the desk when leaving the hotel during the day.
Denmark has a really flat terrain with the highest elevation about 500 feet. In contrast, Norway has many mountain ranges with only about 2.5% flat land. Hillier than Japan.
Viking Village experience
We went on the Flam Railway for a scenic ride through the mountains.
It took about 1 hour up and then 1 hour down the mountains. We switched sides at the top so people could end up seeing both sides.
We stopped at a small town for lunch and then checked into the Anker Hotel in Oslo.
Anker Hotel in Oslo, Norway
Vigeland Sculpture Park features the works of Gustav Vigeland, plus temporary art exhibitions.
We visited the Fram Museum in Oslo which depicts the Norwegian effort to reach the South Pole.
The principal adventurer was Roald Amundsen.
We went on the Scenic Nærøyfjord Cruise on a 400 passenger ferry. There were 3 decks with restrooms bar/restaurant. Comfortable living room style seating throughout with large viewing windows.
The Norwegian Folk Museum was an optional tour of villages built from logs harvested in the surrounding forests.
This included meeting buildings, houses and a Stave Church built from large poles.
Traveling from Oslo to Stockholm, Sweden. Paid restrooms entrance in Sweden where you can tap or insert your card for a charge of 10 Krone or about $1. You push through the plexiglass gate. Similar to other locations in Europe that you used 1 Euro coins. These do not take coins.
The lunch picture is for a sandwich and coffee drinks at the Expresso House which is like the Scandinavian version of Starbucks. Many locations. The 1 sandwich and 2 pumpkin spice latte were about $20. The restrooms in the restaurant is free.
On the motorcoach ride from Oslo to Stockholm, we stopped at the Gripsholm Castle which was built in the 13th and 14th century.
We did stop for lunch in Karlstad, Sweden. We were able to find an Asian buffet lunch, a sushi place, a Mexican and a poke bowl/sushi restaurant. The buffet lunch was about $13 which a good deal.
We went to visit the Skansen Park which is a Swedish park filled with animals, a petting zoo and replicas of towns and settlements.
Dropped off by the motorcoach, we are headed to Helinski, Finland via ferry.
Overnight cruise to Helsinki, Finland aboard the Tallink Silja Line ferry.
Lots of shopping, tax-free shopping!
The second church is the "Granite" Church, Temppeliaukio, which was carved out of a granit hill in the 1960's.
The ceiling is a series of wound copper wires.
The facility is acoustically perfect and is the site of concerts and about 200 events besides the religious services.
As part of our day tour in Helsinki, we toured the Public Library, which is like a Borders Bookstore on steroids.
Not only does it have books and games on shelves but a multitude of seating areas like a living room plus Starbucks.
It also has study areas, meeting rooms, office spaces, rooms for cultural classes, plus a restaurant and coffee shop. And it's all free.
We are in Tallinn, Estonia after. catching a 2 hour ferry ride from Helsinki. Tallinn is the capitol of Estonia.
We did a tour of the town including a walking tour. The weather is terrific, cool and sunny.
We also.had a traditional Estonian dinner by candlelight.
During our bus ride from Talinn, Estonia to Riga, Latvia we stopped at a sandy beach to have lunch.
We picked up lunch items and had a picnic at the beach.
We arrived in Riga Latvia and did a walking afternoon tour of the city. There are significant Russian influences in the architecture but the city is modernizing.
