Honey with blueberries and all Scandinavia part 1
Tour "Honey with Blueberries and all Scandinavia"
For three whole years I licked my lips, like a cat on lard, on tours to Scandinavia, trying them on for myself this way and that. But I put it off until next year. There were many reasons: the fear of ferries, and the fear of bad weather, and my well-being. But this year I finally made up my mind and went on the tour "Honey with blueberries and all Scandinavia" from "Accord" from July 28 to August 09.
Immediately upon arrival from the tour, family affairs swirled me, and therefore there was no time to review. But maybe it's even for the best.
Over the past time, euphoria has passed and emotions have subsided, so the review should turn out to be as objective as possible.
Although some time has already passed after the tour, but all the beauty of Norway is still in front of my eyes. I have traveled a lot and seen a lot of different places and countries, and when I went on this tour, I didn’t even think that I would be so deeply affected by this wonderful beauty of Norway’s nature.
Someone loves history more, and everything connected with it: castles and fortresses, temples and palaces, museums and galleries. And I love natural beauty more, and this is precisely my element. On this tour, every day I enjoyed our travels through mountain serpentines and tunnels, ferries and cruise ships on fjords, glaciers and waterfalls, lakes and fjords. After our tour, I became a big fan of this earthly beauty called Scandinavia.
And even if this lyrical digression causes someone to smile skeptically, it does not bother me at all, there will be a story about the practical side of the tour.
Now the program of the tour has already changed, in my opinion, for the better. An extra day in Å lesund will give tourists the chance to see the Atlantic Road project of the century with their own eyes. Unfortunately, we did not have such an opportunity, we still traveled according to the old program. And I would also not refuse to drive along the Atlantic road: ))).
I consider it a very correct decision that the departure from Lviv was made at 9 am, and not at 2 pm, as it was with us, and the first day will not be a simple transit through the territory of Poland.
The departure of our group was at 14:00. We left right on schedule. A group of only 17 people, the leader is Dima Aliyev, the Neoplan bus with an excellent crew Taras and Misha. I have already taken this bus on the Ola Spain tour and I know that our drivers are excellent.
When I approached the bus, I saw our leader Dima Aliyev and our drivers dressed as if they were at the reception of the Swedish king. It even became somehow uncomfortable for his worn caprices and a simple tennis shoe. And the whole tour they showed us an example of how you can look like in a bus tour.
I would like to speak separately about the leader of our group.
From the first minute of our trip, Dima showed himself not only as an excellent storyteller, interesting and competent interlocutor, but also showed great care in our group. He did not leave the reception after the settlement for some time, in case of misunderstandings in the rooms. He was always present at the breakfast at the hotel from start to finish, and organized dinners and breakfasts for everyone on the ferries. And what a wonderful audio and video selection he had of Scandinavia! Artistic, documentary and musical films on the subject of the tour accompanied us on all short and long journeys along the route.
When leaving the bus at sanitary stops, he was the first to get off the bus and stood at the exit, giving his hand to all the women. He helped us with things in hotels and on ferries.
As he himself said, "I'll be your 'daddy' for the duration of the tour. " And he kept his promise.
Therefore, for all this care, we expressed our deep gratitude to him at the farewell dinner on the ferry.
Regarding the implementation of the tour program, all sightseeing tours in the cities were performed at a good professional level by local guides. And thanks to the efforts of Dima, we had all the main additional electives.
The first day is all transit, and on the way we stopped for dinner at the Polish tavern "Bida". I have never seen such huge portions before even in Hungary. You can safely take one serving for two. And then I left more than half of the huge portion of Zupa Gulashov on the table. I didn’t master how I didn’t become
We spent the night after Warsaw in Czosnow at the U Witaska 3 * hotel. Nice and cozy hotel with a good area and a hearty breakfast near the highway.
The first sightseeing city on the route was Gdansk. I really liked him. Beautiful restored city.
There was a fair on the main street, and we got into the thick of things. I strongly advise you to change money here in the exchange office, not far from the bus stop, for Swedish and Norwegian kroner. As subsequent events showed, it was in this exchanger that the most favorable rate was. I exchanged 50 euros for Swedish kroner and 50 euros for Norwegian kroner here. And I bought zloty at the border.
After the tour and free time, we move to Gdynia to board the ferry. From here we go to the Swedish Karlskrona. Stena Line ferry. My friend and I had a double settlement, so we had no problem with a place in the cabin. But for those who had a 4-bed accommodation, there is not enough space in such cabins. Compared to the Grimaldi Line ferry I took from Barcelona to Sardinia in the spring, the cabins here are very small.
The ferry offers luxurious buffet dinners with wine, beer and a great buffet with a huge selection of meat dishes and seafood. The cost of dinner is about 22 euros.
You can take breakfast on the ferry. It is also like a buffet with a good selection of meat and cheese cuts and salmon. The cost of breakfast is about 10 euros. I took both breakfasts and dinners on the ferries. All this cost me 64 euros on two ferries. There is no need to pay for breakfast and dinner in advance.
We arrived in Karlskrona at about eight o'clock in the morning. We got on our bus and went to Stockholm. We drove for a long time, seven hours. Along the way, Dima told us the story of Nobel and his foundation. So we were theoretically prepared for an elective at the Town Hall.
Stockholm greeted us with an annoying drizzle. But who pays attention to it ? After the bus survey, in our free time, we go for a walk around the Royal Palace along Gamla Stan. We walk until dark.
Then we go to the settlement at the Ibis Style Kista 3 * hotel in the suburbs of Stockholm. The hotel is also cozy and the breakfast is excellent.
In Stockholm, on the day of arrival, the Royal Palace was closed for tourists, and instead we visited the Stockholm City Hall on the second day. In addition to the excursion to the town hall, on the second day we managed to go to the Royal Palace on our own and see the changing of the guard at the palace, before leaving for Sigtuna. After the changing of the guard, departure to Norway, and on the way we stop at Sigtuna.
Personally, Sigtuna did not impress me, and after the tour I wrote in the questionnaire my proposal to cancel this excursion, in favor of free time in Stockholm. In Stockholm, I had not yet had time to look at the famous "drowned" frigate Vasa. I left it for the second visit to Stockholm
After checking in for a short excursion to Sigtuna, we move to Norway to the BW Oslo Airoport 3 * hotel, near Oslo Airport.
The location of the hotel made it possible to reduce the travel time to Å lesund by about one hour.
We had two overnight stays in Oslo, therefore, having left the hotel after an excellent breakfast, we arrive in Oslo by 10 o'clock in the morning, and we spent the whole day in the capital of Norway.
In the beginning there was a long and very interesting sightseeing tour with a visit to the fortress and the City Hall. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded at the Oslo City Hall.
We entered the City Hall on this day freely, and we had the opportunity to compare it with the City Hall of Stockholm. I liked both. Each of them is worthy of attention.
Then we went to an additional elective to see the Holmenkollen ski jump, and then took a walk in the "Park of the people of Gustav Vigeland". And after lunch we moved to the "Museum Island" and there we divided according to interests.
Dima bought a discounted group ticket for everyone, and we went to the local ethnographic museum: this is the Norwegian Skansen. We spent about four hours there, and then again moved by bus to the Town Hall, and we still had free time until 20:00. The time in Oslo was wonderful, interesting and productive. And the weather was good for us that day. We never had such a warm and sunny day.
In the morning, after a hearty breakfast, check out from the hotel at 8 o'clock and there was a long drive of 560 km to Å lesund, with landscape stops at the beautiful cascading waterfall Slettafossen, and at the mountain with the name "Troll Wall". The scenery outside the window caused universal admiration, we changed from one bus window to another in order to capture more as a keepsake. The road was long, but not boring at all.
We arrived in Å lesund in the evening, but it was still dark.
We spent a long photo session from the observation deck above the city, and went down to the bus stop. We had two hours of free time, and the whole group led by Dima went for a walk around the city, admiring its quaint houses with bright facades. On the way, we saw a working market, and bought groceries for dinner there.
For the night we moved to the town of Stranda, to the wonderful Stranda 3 * hotel with its own SPA center. After a long move, the sauna and swimming pool in the hotel were not superfluous for us at all. Quickly leaving things in the room, I run to the pool. After water procedures, fatigue, as it never happened! ! ! And I'm ready to travel again. This tour requires a lot of physical effort from tourists, and such relaxation with the pools was very helpful.
The next day was filled with the most interesting and beautiful excursions.
In the morning after checking out from the Stranda hotel, a short drive along the beautiful Orlov road to Geiranger, where we just managed to get on a cruise ship along the Geirangerfjord. The weather during the fjord cruise was sunny and we had an indescribable pleasure from this sailing. Such well-known waterfalls with sonorous names "Seven Sisters" and "Groom" were not only seen, but also captured on their cameras.
And then after the boat, again moving along the Orlov road and stopping at the viewing platform above Geiranger for a photo pause from the height of an eagle's flight. Breath intercepted from this beauty! But that's not all for today. We're driving to the Brixdile Glacier.
We drive up to the Brixdile Glacier on a high plateau and see a lot of stone houses for the Trolls around the road. Such is Trollcity in the mountains. Dima decides to make a short stop here so that we can take part in this construction.
We disperse around the site, collect stones and build houses. Here you can already feel the highlands, a strong wind blows and it's cold. There is snow on the peaks and a glacier is blue in the distance.
The glacier beckons with its mysterious blue. We finish construction and go further through long tunnels. I must say that the tunnels here are very narrow and dark. And they were pretty hard to drive. After a certain distance, pockets were made in the tunnels for passing cars. We safely pass all the tunnels and here it is, a platform near the glacier.
But we moved to the other side of the mountain range and the weather here is completely different than it was in Geiranger. The sky is overcast and it's raining. But Dima is filled with optimism and leads the group to a souvenir shop for raincoats. There everyone dresses up in raincoats of various colors, and we go out onto the road to the glacier. Of the group, only three people remained in the shops, all the rest, despite the rain, went to the glacier.
But when we walked back, there was no more rain, but the bridge over the waterfall was completely shrouded in a water cloud, and without our raincoats we were more soaked there than from the rain. This should be taken into account by future tourists. Then on the bus we all changed into dry clothes.
Well, the tour is over, and we are moving on again, now to Bergen. Again, serpentines and tunnels, and local ferries, and after driving 280 km from Brixdile, we arrive at the hotel in Bergen late in the evening. Hotel Haukeland 3 * in the city itself. Therefore, in the morning we do not wait for our bus, and after a sumptuous breakfast with red fish and seafood, we walk, led by Dima, and go to the city center for the whole day. At the reception, we were all given maps of the city with a hotel mark. Therefore, if someone wants, he can return early to the hotel on his own. But there were none
No one took additional excursions in Bergen, and after a short sightseeing tour, Dima buys us tickets for the funicular, and we climb Mount Floybein. It was a pleasant surprise gift from the Accord company for us.
As long as the weather is favorable to us, there is no rain and we take pictures of the city from the mountain. And the views from there are amazing! ! ! . It is not in vain that the inhabitants of Bergen are proud of their city.
After the photo session, we go down again to the city by funicular, and go to the famous Bryggen embankment. And there are already a huge number of tourists! ! ! A cruise liner moored to the embankment, and all the cruisers from it went ashore. But we still have enough time, and we begin to bypass the quarters of the old city. And then it starts to rain. We hide from him in souvenir shops, but the rain ends quickly, and we walk again. We walk around the old town, along the fish market, along the Bryggen embankment.
During the day it began to rain like this four times, and just as quickly stopped. Bergen justified its title of the rainiest city in Norway before us. The heaviest rain began when we returned to the hotel. There was nowhere to hide, and we were soaked to the skin, although we had umbrellas. This is how our day in Bergen ended. Bergen showed us all its beauties, but also the northern Nordic character.
The next morning we will leave our cozy hotel in Bergen with its chic breakfast and drive to Flam.
Our journey continues
