gnome12

I loved the Anthropology Museum when I was there eons ago when I was a kid.

I just got off the Dawn, Oslo to Copenhagen from June 15-29 going up to North Cape. I would not call any of our weather cold, except perhaps going up to Mt Dalsnibba in a cold rain. I was in a Vista suite, but many of the people I talked with made use of their balconies. There were times I wouldn’t have minded one myself, but I considered even the Vista suite a stretch.

The important thing is to select it off the drop-down list, otherwise you just get text.

Dining reservations open up 120 days before sailing, at midnight GMT.

Carol King wasn’t alone on her earlier material. She wrote the music with Gerry Goffin writing lyrics, until she went out on her own.

This is from the Twelve South website, about hearing aids and Airfly. Mine are Oticon so I guess I’m out of luck. https://support.twelvesouth.com/en-US/airfly-with-hearing-aids-288258

Ah! Now I see.

I think it is just a website, but I’m not certain. There was a QR code involved. I don’t believe you can do anything to get it before you board.

I never got it to work at all.

I stand corrected. All the discussions about the $180 upcharge I read here referred to La Dame, but you are correct; that charge is for S.A.L.T. Chef’s Table. On the Dawn it was called S.A.L.T. Kitchen and did not have an upcharge.

No it isn’t 3. What @Observer called the Chef’s Table is La Dame. The other upcharge restaurant is Kaiseki.

I was in Oslo for 4 days, then a 2 week cruise all in Norway except I disembarked in Copenhagen yesterday. I am on the second of 4 days here. I have not changed any money, nor have I had any need for cash anywhere.

My hearing aids also pair well with my phone. As I said, I haven’t tried them with the Airfly (which I purchased before getting the hearing aids. I didn’t try it on my current trip because I am flying business class and they have decent over-the-ear headphones. However, the cord was an issue.

That rail would be very difficult for me to reach on most of the wide/bodies I typically fly.

The Airfly uses bluetooth, not wi-fi. My hearing aids are bluetooth. But they use low-energy bluetooth (BLE) which I understand is not compatible with the Airfly although I haven’t tested it myself.

And on my recent cruise on the Dawn. Spaccanapoli is open from early lunch through to late, but their choices are only pizza. You can order there from the grill dinner menu, but again only from 7.

Nobody on our ship would have made the first departure of the train independently. They were having enough trouble getting the people for the first excursion departures ( which included the Flåm train) onto tenders. I don’t think they were letting any independent travellers of until after our excursion left.

I’m in Canada so can’t advise, but there should be some fee-free cards available where you are.

If you don’t have one and have time to apply, a credit card with no foreign transaction fees is a really good idea for international travel.

Not from personal experience, but I think that you will find Discover and American Express generally not accepted in Europe. Visa and Mastercard are accepted in most places.

I love hats. at home I have a large collection of colourful straw hats and felt hats. But they aren’t good for travelling.

Yesterday, we were in Bergen. I did the 3 1/2 hour Best of Bergen tour. It was described as moderate, but I found it to be a lot of walking. Both Grieg’s Home/museum and the stave church (a rebuild because the original was destroyed by fire in 1992) are at a distance from the bus parking. We had 35 on the bus, but they can’t take that in Grieg’s home. And there were a few other people waiting too. They allowed 20 in at a time for the tour; it was useless, not only couldn’t you see anything I generally couldn’t hear the guide. I don’t think that it is a great option for a group that size. On the other hand, even though it wasn’t original I found the stave church really interesting. I had read about them, and we saw one in passing from the bus, but this was the first one I had been up close to as well as inside. We had the option at the end of the tour to be dropped at the Bryggen Wharf rather than heading back to the ship, so I did that. I bought myself a Norwegian sweater, but not a Dale of Norway. This was an Oleana. Pricey, but different, so a final splurge on a splurge of a trip. Today is a sea day, and tomorrow we dock in Copenhagen. The end of a good cruise.

Two days ago was Flåm. I chose the Næroyfjord cruise which was originally included. However, the boat is now a beautiful zero-emissions beauty, with ramps doing up both sides so there is lots of room at railings for picture taking. The weather on the sail-in wasn’t great, but by the time we anchored it was lovely. Tendering was a bit of a mess. By the time we boarded our tender, it was almost time for the cruise to depart. Since this is a public cruise, they weren’t too happy to have to wait for us, and we were rushed from the tender to the cruise which immediately took off. The cruise was incredibly smooth, with beautiful views and I thought it was worth the cost. After that, we went to the Viking Village at the Gudvagen pier. Our guide really barreled along, and a number of slow walkers would have been left behind if not for some people who waited behind. The guide in the village wasn’t bad, but it was a lot of standing around listening to her with nowhere to sit or even lean within hearing distance. The rest of the time we were able to walk around, but it was all trying to sell you viking style clothing and ornamentation. Not for me. I had booked the Flåm railway on my own for the afternoon. In fact, I had booked 2 separate return trips through Norway’s Best; one at 1:30 or so and the other at 2:55. Even before the cruise was rescheduled from about 8:30 or so to 9:30, I was worried about making the earlier trip, but also about getting back on board after the second. But when I saw that the ship had added an excursion that obviously used the 2:55 train I checked with the cruise excursion desk and they assured me that I would be able to get a tender back. So I cancelled the earlier trip (cancellations up to 24 hours in advance) and saw the confirmation of my refund the same day. The return trips cost me about CAD$95, about 60% of the US$119 that the ship charges for being walked over to the train and a dedicated carriage. After we got back to Flåm, I wasn’t prepared to tender back to the ship for lunch. I started with a drink and a cinnamon bun, but as I wandered around I found that at the back of the building was a food truck court, with a huge number of choices available. I enjoyed the trip, but it was really warm in the car. Only a few of the windows open, and it can be hard to get to them. In my public car we had some empty seats; some friends on the same train on the ship’s excursion said that they were fully packed in.

If you wear your Tilley properly (and most I have seen don’t) there is a lace at the back of your head that helps keep it on in light breezes. In heavier winds I adjust to pull down the chin-strap, and in even heavier winds i put the strap behind my ears. And of course, it also works as a rain hat.

I don’t think I have ever bought a baseball cap, but I have used Tilley hats brought from home for probably 20 years. (I am Canadian, but probably not typical.)