20260416 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 32/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 32/32 – Home and trip wrap-up

The fun part of coming home - updating the map

We wrapped up our time in the Sky Club at JFK before making the walk from Gate 32 to our gate, Gate 46. We were flying First Class on an Airbus A321, the same type of aircraft we flew from Oslo to JFK. The domestic leg was First Class, not Business Class, so just big seats with plenty of leg room, no lie-flats. We pushed back ten minutes early and were off.

We had pre-selected our meal for the flight - a cheeseburger from Shake Shack.

We were excited about a quintessentially American meal - it was a little disappointing

It was an Orlando-based flight crew, and they were obviously antsy to get home. We were scheduled to land at 11:03 pm. We touched down at 10:18. That's all good, except our driver wasn't scheduled to arrive until 11:45, allowing for luggage retrieval. She was in the middle of a run from the airport to The Villages when I first let her know about the updated arrival target. She said that she would get there as soon as she could.

Our baggage came out quickly once again, and we were ready to go at 10:55. She arrived at 11:23, so the wait wasn't too bad. The ride home went smoothly. We were chatting with her the whole way, so that made the ride pass quickly (and ensured she stayed awake). We pulled in the driveway at 12:40 am.

I turned the inside water back on, turned on the water heater, dumped the remaining ice in the ice maker, and turned it back on, and we unpacked just enough to be able to get ready for bed. We were in bed a little after 1:00 am. That equates to 7:00 am, where we started the day, so we were both ready for sleep. We woke up a little after 8:00 am, so we're making the shift back to Florida time. That gave us a few hours before we hop in the truck and head back to Orlando to pick up our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, who were in Orlando for a conference and will spend the weekend with us. No time for rest! We finished unpacking and will leave shortly.

So, let's talk about the trip. It started poorly with a canceled flight from Orlando to Amsterdam. Thanks to the tireless work of our travel agent and friend, Lisa, she got us rebooked out of Tampa the following day and scored us a hotel in Orlando, where hotel rooms were scarce. We got to Bergen a day late, but still in advance of the trip.

Sailing went well, and the Northern Lights sailing was amazing. We saw plenty of auroras, fulfilling a longtime dream of Arlona's to see them. The second part of the trip through the British Isles had a couple of hiccups as the weather caused us to miss ports in Wales and the Shetland Islands. Viking came to the rescue, adding an extra day in Liverpool (where we took the train to Wales) and in Stavanger, Norway. That was another happy accident because the last time we were in Stavanger, it was a short port day, and we never really saw the city.

We reconnected with a whole bunch of amazing Viking crew we have sailed with before, and met a whole bunch more who we hope to see on future cruises. We met many nice guests, and for the first time in a long time, didn't run into any guests whom we had sailed with before. We met three Villagers and two Michigan Tech alumni, so that was fun too.

We set foot farther north than we had been previously, walking in Alta, Norway, at 69°57'N. We visited three new countries, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, bringing us to a total of 115. None of them is a United Nations member state, so we remain at 93 in our quest to visit 100.

What ports did we like and not like? 

The great: Liverpool, Edinburgh, London, and Oslo.  We could spend (or already spent) more time there. Alta. The town was small but interesting. The Northern Lights put this one over the top.

The good: Bergen, Stavanger, Aberdeen, Kirkwall, Belfast, Conwy, Dublin, Dover, IJmuiden, Narvik, Tromsø. All were worth the visit, with interesting things to see.

The just-okay: Ullapool. The sail-in was stunning. The town was just OK - not much to see or do. Tilbury. A small town, but a necessary part of seeing London from a cruise.

What's next for Kolbs on the Road? We will be taking an American Cruise Lines river cruise from Portland, Oregon, to Clarkston, Washington, traveling from June 2 to June 10, one of our shorter trips. But that will get us to Oregon, our 50th U.S. State. Come back on June 2 for our next adventure!

20260415 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 31/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 31/32 – Heading Home

We were able to sleep in a little this morning since our transfer to the airport wasn't leaving until 10:00 am. We had a nice breakfast, tossed the last items into our carry-on bags, and, with the remaining ten guests, loaded into three vehicles for the ride to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. 

Getting close

Pulling in

A fun sculpture at the entrance to the terminal

The airport wasn't very busy, which was nice

For not being busy, there were a lot of flights

Arlona got a kick out of this yarn stand in the airport, for those who just have to knit

We made our way to the international gates for passport control

We were flying SAS to New York, JFK, connecting with Delta to Orlando. We spent time in the SAS lounge before departing with two very nice ladies from the cruise who were from the Albany, NY area. Our flight said it was boarding well in advance of the posted boarding time, so we high-tailed it to the gate only to find that they were just kidding. They started boarding right on the posted schedule.

We were in the first row of SAS's modest Business Class seating. No pods, absolutely zero place to put or store anything, and flat, uncomfy seat bottoms - still better than economy, but a far cry from other airlines

We pushed back from the gate right on schedule and departed almost immediately.  We hit a couple of small areas of turbulence, but beyond that, it was a smooth seven-hour flight. 

Near Greenland

Approaching New York City

After a smooth touchdown and taxi, we were first off the plane. We headed for Customs and zipped through Global Entry, still one of the best government programs ever. We were through Customs in less than five minutes. Our bags were quick off the plane too - that never happens! 

We walked over to the Delta bag drop. As we walked up, a man with a hand scanner walked up and said, "I'll bet you're happy to see me!" He scanned our bags and walked them over to the drop point, easy-peasy.

Next up was the short walk to the Skytrain. We only had to ride one stop, from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4. It was a short walk to the new Delta One Sky Club, and we were excited about seeing this new club. We were on a Business Class ticket, which is normally Delta One. When we got there, we were told that while SAS is a Delta partner, an SAS Business Class ticket wasn't good enough to get into the Delta One Club. That sucked because they also have their own TSA checkpoint, which would have made everything super-easy. Oh well.

We went through the regular TSA Pre-Check line. It was slow. They seemed to still be suffering from staffing issues, as the body scanner process was slow, there weren't any trays to put bags in, and so on. Still, it was lightyears faster than the ugly and long regular TSA line, so we were good.

We went to the Delta Sky Club in Terminal 4 and relaxed with a drink for our three hours of layover time before boarding. In fact, that's where we are as I write this.

They had a Nathan's Famous stand in the club

With that, I will wrap up today's blog. Tomorrow, I'll put together a trip wrap-up final entry. We will be flying tonight at 7:50, arriving in Orlando a little after 11:00. The car service is picking us up at 11:45, so we should be pulling up to Kolb Kastle around 1:30 am.

Tune in tomorrow for the wrap-up.

20260414 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 30/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 30/32 – Oslo Touring

After yesterday's early start and seven hours on the train (and perhaps partly due to the two large beers with dinner), we were whipped last night and in bed by 9:00. The squishy European bed swallowed us up, and we slept until our 6:30 alarm. Not knowing how slow breakfast would be, we wanted to be sure we had plenty of time this morning.

It turned out that the breakfast buffet was quick and good, so we had a little over an hour to relax in the room before beginning our tour day in Oslo. We met everyone in the lobby before boarding the buses. 

The lobby was...let's call it quirky

Speaking of that, we had two buses, each with around 25 guests. It appears the 120 number floated earlier was inflated, as there are about 50 of us on this post-cruise extension. We boarded the buses and headed toward Vigeland Park.

Akershus Fortress from 1299

Fish Market

Munch Museum, dedicated to the life and work of the artist, Edvard Munch

Bjørvika neighborhood, dubbed the Barcode Project

Akrobaten Pedestrian Bridge

We caught a glimpse of the Royal Palace - more later

Victoria Terrasse

We arrived at Vigeland Park. Vigeland Park (Vigelandsparken) is the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist, featuring over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, arranged along an 850-meter axis. The main parts include the Main Gate, the Bridge with the Children’s Playground, the Fountain, the Monolith Plateau, and the Wheel of Life.

The Main Gate: The entrance from Kirkeveien, featuring granite pillars and wrought-iron gates designed in 1928, with smaller pedestrian gates decorated with dragon motifs.

Vigeland designed and built nearly everything in the park, including the gates

Vigeland even designed his own statue - it was completed after his death

The Bridge: A 100-meter-long, 15-meter-wide bridge leading to the fountain, containing 58 bronze sculptures, including the famous Angry Boy (Sinnataggen) and Woman and Man embracing.

These two concrete sculptures were at the start of the bridge.

You want to take photos of all the sculptures, but there are so many that you just have to pick and choose.

They have so much emotion

A look ahead, down the bridge

The motion in some was amazing

Angry Boy, one of the most famous works

Arlona, capturing images

The Giggling Boy

Nailed it

The Fountain (Fontenen): Surrounded by 60 bronze reliefs and a black and white granite mosaic, the fountain features figures climbing into trees, symbolizing the cycle of life.

The cycle of life starts with childhood

It moves into relationships and young love

Adulthood and responsibilities

Boredom and disillusionment

Holding on to life

Arriving at the end and death

The Monolith Plateau: An elevated platform containing 36 granite groups surrounding the main attraction: the 17-meter-tall Monolith, carved from a single block of stone, representing 121 human figures rising toward the sky.

The sculptures cover all ages

The Wheel of Life (Livshjulet): A sculpture at the end of the park showing people intertwined in a circle, symbolizing eternity.

A sundial with the zodiac in relief around the base

The Wheel of Life

With our visit to Vigeland Park at the end, we boarded the bus to head to our next stop, the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Fram Museum.

Passing the royal summer home

The Kon-Tiki museum shows Thor Heyerdahl's work from his first journey to Fatu Hiva, to the voyages with Kon-Tiki, Ra, Ra II, and Tigris, as well as the expeditions to Galàpagos, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), and Tùcume in Peru. The original Kon-Tiki and Ra II rafts are on display here.

A replica of the figures from Easter Island

The actual Kon-Tiki that sailed 101 days across the Pacific Ocean, from Peru to Polynesia, to prove that ancient South Americans could have settled the Pacific islands

Six people lived in this small vessel for 101 days

Underneath Kon-Tiki with a whale shark for reference

Ra II, the ship Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days to prove that ancient Mediterranean/African cultures could have reached the Americas using papyrus boats

Actual Easter Island artifacts

The 1950 documentary about Kon-Tiki won an Academy Award

We walked across the parking lot to the Fram Museum. The Fram Museum tells the story of Norwegian polar exploration. It was built around the Fram, a ship that was used in expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912.

You can go onto and into the ship, exploring below deck to get a sense of what life was like onboard

An underground walkway leads to another building featuring more exhibits.

A replica of the N24/N25 aircraft that attempted the first flight to the North Pole, but crashed

 After 2.5 weeks of forming a runway on the ice, N25 flew again with all six explorers, bringing them home

Gjøa was the first vessel to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage between 1903 and 1906, led by Roald Amundsen

This is the original ship

Polar Arlona

The five members of the team who reached the South Pole in 1911: Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Sverre Hassel, Oscar Wisting, and Helmer Hanssen

War Sailors Monument

It honors the Norwegian merchant sailors who served during World War II

Bygdøynes Light

Sjøblomst, which translates to "Sea Flower"

This was the final stop on our tour today. We returned to the hotel and then went for a walk on our own in Oslo.

University Aula (Domus Media), the oldest building of the University of Oslo - the auditoriums on Viking Octantis and Polaris are designed after this building

Ludvig Holberg statue, next to the National Theater

National Theatre (Nationaltheatret)

Approaching the Royal Palace

The Royal Palace was built between 1825 and 1849

Equestrian Statue of King Charles XIV John

Looking back at downtown Oslo

Historical Museum (Kulturhistorisk Museum), 1904

National Gallery building, 1882

Headquarters for the Oslo Medical Society, 1826

An interesting building sculpture

Oslo Cathedral, 1697, with several renovations

The royal box pew bearing the monogram of King Haakon VII

Christian IV Monument - statue depicts the king pointing to the ground, referring to the moment he decided to rebuild the city after a major fire in 1624, famously declaring "Here the city is to be"

 The iconic Freia chocolate advertisement sign and clock, 1925

Our late lunch / early dinner venue - Olivia

Doing my duty, having a local Oslo beer

It was 3:30 when we finished eating. We figured we wouldn't want dinner, so we stopped at a store and grabbed some Freia chocolates, some chips, and caffeine-free Coke Zero. With snacks in hand, we returned to the room.

We had to do a little repacking for tomorrow. With our bags set for the flights tomorrow, we showered, nibbled a bit, and relaxed. Tomorrow will be a long day. We don't leave the hotel until 10:00 am for our 1:30-ish flight to JFK. We have a four-hour layover before our flight to Orlando, arriving tomorrow night just after 11:00 pm. That will get us home close to 1:00 am Thursday morning. We love long travel days. (sarcasm)