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Norway

Norway

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Norway is the country that has been terrifying me for a very long time now. Everything that we have heard, from everyone we have met, has told us that Norway is the most expensive country in the world.

When in Iceland we paid 17 euros for a beer (about $28 AUD), their comment was that at least they were cheaper than Norway.

For those that remember our foray into Switzerland, on the first night we bought a (very ordinary) kebab and a soft drink each with a final bill of over $61 . The next night we ended up eating salad (bought from the supermarket) on our bed because we could not afford to eat out at the restaurants. The three most expensive countries worldwide are Norway, Switzerland, Iceland. These countries stand out for their high cost of living, groceries, accommodation, dining out, and purchasing power.

Despite my fears, it wasn’t that bad. In fact both Switzerland and Iceland were worse and their claims of being cheaper than Norway were false. Don’t get me wrong, this place is still seriously expensive, but not as terrifying as I had been led to believe. Although, we met others shortly afterwards that claimed that once you got out of the capital that the prices skyrocketed.

Norway is a Scandinavian nation with a population of 5.5 million and has has an extensive coastline facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The unified kingdom of Norway was established in 872 (merging smaller ‘petty kingdoms’) and has existed continuously ever since. Norway was neutral during WWI, and in the WWII until it was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940 who held control until the end of the war.

Oslo

At the end of the Oslo fjord lies Oslo,it is a green and modern city with a population of around 700,000. Oslo’s history goes back 1000 years. In 1624, all of old Oslo burnt to the ground. King Christian IV decided that the city should not be rebuilt at the same location and instead be built to the north of the Fortress. It became the capital city of Norway after the constitution was drafted in 1814.

During Viking times, there was a large settlement in Oslo, but there are very few traces of Vikings in the area. About a 90 minute drive away at the Vestfold County is where the viking relics and evidence of occupation can be found.

Vikings

The Viking legacy is strong in Norway, the Viking Age began in 793 with an attack on the Lindisfarne monastery in England (which is the first known Viking raid). The slaying of King Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 is thought to be the event that marks the end of their glory days.

The Vikings are mostly known for their relentless pillaging but many of them lived peacefully as traders and farmers with many expeditions main aims being barter deals. Those who stayed home supported their families through farming . But it was mostly raids looting, colonisation, and trade that brought the Vikings to so many destinations.

Longships sailed across the Baltic Sea, down Russian rivers to the Black and Caspian Seas, across to Byzantium (Istanbul) and to Baghdad (Iraq). Vikings were the first Europeans to reach Greenland and North America. In fact, the Viking explorer Leiv Eiriksson arrived on the shores of North America around 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

Vikings are known to have settled many cities (including Dublin and the region of Normandy in France). Dublin was held as a significant viking settlement for more than three centuries. Between 879 and 920, Vikings colonised Iceland, which became the springboard for the colonisation of Greenland. Remains of a viking settlement in Newfoundland have been carbon dated to 1000.

Our adventure

After the drama of getting here (see the Sweden post), our accommodation was a short (800m) walk from the central railway station and a similar distance from the docks that we would end up sailing out of. Being so centrally located, and a little delayed we were on a tight timeline to get out and explore. Thankfully Oslo CBD and tourist attractions are compact and easily navigable.

The first thing we wanted to see was the Museum of the Viking Age. But the website immediately notified us that it was closed and will not reopen until 2027.

With the Museum out we aimed for the Cathedral (Oslo Domkirke) right in the heart of town. Along the way we came across funky little square (Christiania Torv) with some of Oslo’s oldest buildings found around it, including first town hall from 1641 (today a restaurant). The square is known for its fountain, with a sculpture of a hand pointing to the ground. This is allegedly where the Danish-Norwegian king (Christian IV) pointed to this spot and said: “The new town will lie here!”. Continuing past the square we got to the the Cathedral which is the seat of the Bishop of Oslo. It was first consecrated in 1697, but needed to be restored back to its original baroque interior after WWII.

From here we were in full swing and headed along the Karl Johans gate. This is a popular avenue that stretches from the Oslo Central Station to the Royal Palace. Along the way we stopped at the Eidsvoll plass which is the park that sits in front of the Norwegian Parliament building.

As you keep walking through the park and along the Karl Johans gate you come across some truly lovely old buildings. Including the National Theatre, one of Norway’s largest avenues for performing arts.

The photos below are just a collection of really cool old buildings as you yellow building below has been a restaurant since the 18th century and the next has been a hotel for about the same period, some funky old banks and university buildings and the national theatre.

As the walk continues you find yourself at Slottsparken (the Royal Gardens) and then Slottsplassen (‘The Palace Square’) and of course the Palace itself.

Directly in front of the palace you find the statue of Charles John of Norway and Sweden.

It was sculpted and erected in 1875.

Coming back along the other side of the park and you wander past the Oslo City Hall (Radhuset).

The building has two towers (63 and 66 meters tall) with the eastern tower hosting a carillon set of 49 bells.

Behind the city hall is the Oslo Fjord waterfront. This area holds the National Museum and the Nobel Peace centre.

This museum marks the start of the Oslo city harbour promenade.

Here you can walk along the Oslo harbour for almost 10 kilometres, with no interruptions.

Shipyards, container facilities and heavy traffic have given way to pedestrian walkways, parks and benches. And of course an upscale pier full of restaurants and shops (that we couldn’t afford) and at the very end of the walk is the Astrup Fearnley Museum which is the museum for contemporary art.

One of the more interesting things that we discovered on this amble along the waterfront was the spotting of floating saunas. apparently, urban sauna culture has taken Oslo by storm. In the city centre several options have appeared for combining a trip to the sauna with a following dip into the fjord. There were a bunch of saunas anchored to the docks that accommodate up to 7 people. There is an additional option where you can rent a sauna and take it for a cruise into the harbour and out to see the Fjord.

While we were there we saw this one lone little sauna (about the size of a 1970’s caravan) bobbing up and down on the bay while the bigger boats and ferries beeped their horn and all but ran it over.

Having almost looped the city we found ourselves back near the main railway station (on the water) staring at the Oslo Opera House.

And just next door to this is the Munch Museum. This is home to the collection of work by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and includes the three versions of his iconic painting, The Scream.

Akershus Fortress is known to be the most haunted castle in Norway and attracts more than three million visitors every year. It was built around 1290 by King Haakon V as a defensive stronghold for Oslo. It was once used as a prison for Norway’s most infamous criminals and during WWII, Nazis occupied the castle and conducted executions there. Today the fortress area is a popular venue for major events, including concerts, public holiday celebrations and ceremonies.

Trolls

Once upon a time (according to folklore) trolls roamed freely in the Norwegian mountains and forests. But the trolls only went out at night, in the dark because if they were caught in the sunlight the first rays of the sunlight would turn them into stone. Because of this you can still see their faces and bodies carved into the mountain sides, cliffs and stones all around the country. These rock formations and mountains with troll-like-shapes have mesmerised people all over Norway for thousands of years. Now, most of the trolls can be seen at the tourist shops.

Oslo hosts The Viking Planet the world’s first digital Viking museum that uses VR technology, holograms, interactive screens and 270-degree film to explore the life of the Vikings. The venue allows you to learn and experience the everyday life of the Vikings, join a voyage, climb aboard a Viking ship in a storm and take a picture of yourself as a Viking.

About 15 kilometers around the Fjord you can find the Henie Onstad Art centre and sculpture park, Our time did not allow us to get here but it does look amazing.

Poncy statues

For a nation with such a strong and bold viking history, Oslo sure had the poonciest set of statues we have ever seen. We had expected to find butch and manly men and strong shieldmaiden type women immortalised in the statues around town. What we found could not have been more opposite.

The Polar Exploration (Fram) Museum is literally built around the two ships that define Norwegian polar exploration: the Fram and the Gjøa. Housed in two tall buildings designed to accommodate the ships, it comprises numerous exhibitions and offers an opportunity to board and explore the Fram.

Leaving Norway we hopped on the ferry (once again more like a cruise ship) to take us the 600 kilometers from Oslo to Copenhagen in Denmark. The ship leaves Oslo at about 3pm, travels overnight with a quick stop in Frederikshavn (Denmark) and delivers you at docks in Copenhagen at 10am the next morning.

Chile

Valparaiso, Chile

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Our lead-in to coming here was filled with expectation as the research on this city seemed to promise so much. We were coming off a long period on the ship so were looking forward to being on land and eating dodgy street food again. So much so that we factored a whole week into staying here exploring the olden and current wonders that it had to offer. Even if it meant having to schlepp our bags again.

Lets set this up a bit, Valparaiso sits on the Pacific coast of Chile and was considered one of the most important port towns in the world, up until the building of the Panama Canal. In its heyday, the city provided respite to thousands of sailors heading from Europe to California.

Prior to the Panama Canal, ships from Europe would travel south down the coast and cut through the Strait of Magellan (to avoid rounding Cape Horn) in order to get to the Pacific Ocean.

During the gold rush it was a major trade route and became known as “the jewel of South America”. It is the home of Latin America’s oldest stock exchange, the continent’s first volunteer fire department, Chile’s first public library, and the oldest Spanish language newspaper in continuous publication in the world (El Mercurio de Valparaíso). In 2003, the historic quarter of Valparaíso was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Because of all of this trade in the 18th 19th and the 20th centuries some amazing colonial and post colonial-style buildings were built, along with palaces and estates of wealthy businessmen.

Well, Valparaiso was a bit of a disappointment. Since the building of the Panama Canal, the place has pretty much gone to pot. The stunning old buildings are now just crumbling down, are boarded up or are in just a disgraceful state of disrepair and neglect. What promised so much yielded a city in neglect.

Rioting and protests (over inequity) took place between 2019-2022 after economic assessments identified that 1% of the population in Chile controls 26.5% of the country’s wealth, while half of the population have only 2.1%. The trigger to the conflict and protests was the raising of metro fares. But this 3 years of unrest have left virtually every surface of the city scarred or vandalised.

But the recent rioting belies the decades of neglect that preceded it. To say that Valparaiso is poor is an understatement. Makeshift street markets are everywhere with people trying to sell the most inane low-value items just to make a buck. Used clothes and shoes, toiletries, and even used phone chargers lay on blankets on the streets while someone tries to turn over some cash from them. It is like a permanent car boot sale on every street (without the car boot).

Plazuela Anibal Pinto is the practical if not official heart of town. It features the statue of Neptune that was built in 1892. From the plaza as you look up the hill you will see a bright yellow house perched on the top of a cliff.

This house is on the corner of a barrio (neighbourhood) known as Concepción. The Concepcion neighbourhood is the home of all art in Valparaiso. Everywhere you look is street art of varying kinds. Some are mere graffiti that gets reinvented almost daily while others are exceptional murals by well-known artists. This area is the key to revitalising and reinvigorating the town.

We took a funicular up the steep hill to the Concepcion Barrio to check out some of the amazing street art. We wandered the streets and took our happy snaps and dodged the tour groups as they similarly checked out the artworks.

As great as this neighbourhood (Barrio) was, and as much potential as it held for revitalising the city there was still work to be done. From high on the hill, surrounded by artworks, there was only about 2-3 places to sit and have coffees, cakes and lunch. There was not a bar in sight and restaurants were almost invisible. An entrepreneurial spirit could set this place alight.

And then of course the whole thing was ruined by a recent trend of mugging tourists. The short-sightedness of people astounds me more and more often every day.

Funiculars

Between 1883 and 1916, around 30 funiculars (bizarrely, sources seem unsure of the exact number) were constructed to connect the businesses of the Lower Town with the residential districts on the hills above. Many of these still survive and are officially listed as National Monuments, although not all of them are currently in service.

These Funiculars save some serious leg work for the princely sum of about 50c. As we were at the bottom of the plaza, we took the Ascensor Concepcion, one of the first funiculars built in Valparaíso.

Palacio Baburizza is the former residence of Croatian businessman Pascual Baburizza located in Valparaíso, Chile. It was built in 1916 by Italian architects, and eventually turned into a museum in 1971, and declared a historic monument in 1976.

The Plaza Sotomayor is the original customs square and is lined by the old buildings of the city that fill the full blocks of the surrounding streets. But mostly it is dominated by the palatial blue-coloured Edificio Armada de Chile (headquarters of the navy). The focus of the square is a monument that honours the Chilean sailors who fell during two battles that took place in 1879.

At the northeastern side of the square are two similar towers, which create a sort of gate entrance to the port from the city. 

The statues were nice, or they would have been if they were not all covered in spray paint and pigeon shit. The parks were nice, even if mostly used as urinals and beds for the homeless. It is not that this place was terrible because it wasn’t. It was just the disappointment of how far it had fallen from where it once was and where it could be.

Despite the poverty and threats of muggings, at no point did we feel unsafe. The town was nice, if a little dishevelled and mostly friendly. The prices were pretty comparable with what you would pay for things in Australia, but the quality of what you would get was lesser.

I guess the thing for us was that our accommodation was substandard. We were paying a high price for a place that had no interest in having guests. It was a hostel, but in reality it was more of a rest home for lazy millennials. They had carved themselves a beautiful niche for themselves where they listened to music with noise cancelling headphones and ate free food and did nothing. They had multiple wifi options but only theirs worked. The ones for the paying guests would not even connect.

The list of what was wrong was too long to get into but suffice to say the place was terrible. So after a couple of days when we were woken at 3am by a massive thump that was enough. As it turns out, we had just experienced our first earthquake. The town was set against an ocean and on the side of a mountain. Neither places you really want to be in the case of a major earthquake.

A mere 5km from where we were was the epicentre of a 5.0 magnitude earthquake. So we got up at 3am, packed our bags and dressed for a rapid departure (in the fear of aftershocks etc).

The rest of the evening/morning was drama-free but with all else going on in Valparaiso, we took this as a good enough sign that it was time to move on. So we found our way downtown and hopped on a bus and went to the capital of Santiago.

Valparaiso could have been an amazing experience, and can again be one. I am certain if our accommodation was not so shitty we might have been less inclined to dash away. A quick investment in some urban renewal and a curbing of petty street crime and this place could once again be fantastic.

A few public toilet blocks, some paint given to those seeking jobs and this place could be very different. They are already trying. There has been an addition of market stalls along Avenida Argentina where the open-air food market takes place every Wednesday or Saturday. If this was open to the other marketeers in between times the place would be tidied up and given an aura of legitimacy rather than the current version.

It would be interesting to come back in 3-5 years to see if progress is made. It is now on the cruise ship ports of call so there is regular trade starting. A clever plan, well executed could see this place getting back towards its former glory.

Caribbean

Bonaire

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I made it. Bonaire is the 100th place on the official territory list that I have been to. I still have quite a way to go on the official country list, but in terms of nations, I have made the 100. I am about 2 ahead of Jill but she should tick up her 100 in the next week or two.

Kralendijk

Kralendijk is the capital of Bonaire, a Dutch island in the Caribbean Sea. The place is typical of most Dutch territories with colourful architecture dominating most of the buildings.

The main shopping area is Kaya Grandi and the Bonaire Museum has archaeological finds, shells and old photos.

Importantly off the coast is the Bonaire National Marine Park which is a protected area for coral reef and tropical fish.

This Marine park stretches west to Klein Bonaire Island, where the sandy beaches provide a nesting ground for sea turtles. Klein Bonaire was our first port of call as we hopped off the ship and onto a water taxi for a 4-hour snorkel and laze on the beach. Talking to the lounge dude on the boat he told me about the current.

So when you get dropped off on the beach you get set up on the shite fine sandy beach. Once established you walk to the left for about 10 minutes until you get to a yellow pole that says enter here. At this point there is a break in the coral and you can wade out to the other side of the reef. From here you keep the reef to your left and the current will let you float and just drift all the way back to the beach where you started.

The other thing that you notice is that the beach is full of lizards. Officially they are the Bonaire Whiptail but they are these electrically coloured lizards that dart around relentlessly. They were added to when we went across into town and saw a 2 foot long iguana just cruising the streets of town.

The water is crystal clear and warm, the reef is a bit trodden on but is still in pretty good condition. There is plenty of fish life to see and still lots of live coral. While it is no Great Barrier Reef, it is still a lovely spot to loll about on the beach and experience some nature. Sadly we didn’t see any of the turtles.

Once we got back from the swimming we had some lunch on the ship and changed before hitting Bonaire proper. We had landed in the capital Kralendijk. The main town centre was pretty small but was well appointed.

Added to town was a really nice and usable waterfront area with actual footpaths (often a rarity) and the usual mix of bars and restaurants.

Ad we even got to check out some pretty cool street art. There wasn’t tons, but for such a small place it all added up to create a really nice feel to the place.