We spent a lovely night by Frederiksborg Slot in Hillerod (‘slot’ is Danish for castle), and pressed on to Helsingor to catch the 20 minute ferry over to Helsingborg in Sweden.
Our first major destination was Gothenburg. Unfortunately the thing we’ll remember most about Sweden’s second city is the UNBELIEVABLY expensive campsite we stayed at; £42 for one night! And they kicked you out by 11am the next morning – grrr! Of course we should have done an about turn as soon as we were told the price but it was late, raining, and we needed to do the laundry!
If the bicycle reigns supreme in the Netherlands then the estate car is king in Sweden. Every third vehicle we passed was either a Saab or a Volvo. It’s great to see the national car manufacturers so well supported at home. How many of us bought a Rover?!!
The Bohuslän coast north of Gothenburg is famous for the tiny granite islands and little traditional fishing villages that pepper the coast right up to the Norwegian border.
We kicked off by walking around Marstrand, the prettiest of the islands and made even more so by the fantastic weather we had.
There are literally thousands of islands along this stretch of coast. Some are connected to the mainland by bridges, but many are only reached by ferry. In one hour long journey we had to catch three ferries, one of which only travelled around 100 metres!
We spent a few days exploring and fell in love with the area which is full of little brown fishing huts, racks of cod hanging out to dry, and beautiful public swimming areas (the water was still just a bit too chilly for us!)
As we got towards the Norwegian border we had a slight issue with a speed bump.
Warning signs in most places are red, but for some reason in Sweden they use their national colours of blue and yellow. This might explain why David didn’t see the speed bump and took it at about 30 miles an hour! All the books flew off the shelf, the bathroom cupboard emptied onto the floor, and the bag of charcoal that’s normally kept on the bike rack landed in the middle of the road. We only know this last part because we found it 10 minutes later when we drove back up the same way!!
You’re not supposed to bring any fresh food into Norway, so we held our breath at customs hoping not to be stripped of our contraband cucumber and bananas!
Safely through, and after a couple of quick stops at Halden and Fredrikstad, we headed to the little town of Drobak which sits on the shores of Oslofjord (the fjord that stretches up to Oslo funnily enough!)
At Drobak we caught the passenger ferry out to Oscarsborg fortress which lies on a couple of little islands in the middle of Oslofjord. It’s famous in Norway as the fortress that sank the German battleship Blucher as it headed for the capital in April 1940. Delaying the advancing German army gave the royal family and government time to flee abroad, and the commander in charge that day is now a national hero.
Having only been the capital city since 1905, Oslo doesn’t really have the great number of historical buildings found in other major capitals. However, the new Opera house on the waterfront is outstanding– a stunning building that’s supposed to resemble a giant iceberg.
One thing the city does very well is museums. We’re not ones to spend a lot of time in museums, but when a good slice of them are free – why not!
The National Gallery houses one of the 6 versions of the Scream painted by Munch (another national hero), and the Museum of Modern Art has some quite... well, bizarre but interesting installations.
The Viking Ship Museum houses three impressive 9th century boats which were discovered buried in the Oslofjord region. They were used as tombs for rich Vikings which explains why they are so well preserved despite their age. It’s amazing to think just how far the Vikings travelled in these boats; from the Mediterranean to North America.
The Vigeland Sculpture Park is crammed full of 212 works by Gustav Vigeland. He was still working on the park when he died, 20 years after he started. The bronze human figures are amazing, but the monolith in the centre is quite spectacular, a writhing mass of naked human bodies.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo every year, and the Nobel Peace Centre provides a huge amount of information on previous winners. It’s a thought provoking museum that has a number of good interactive elements.
Our final stop before leaving Oslo was the Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Ski Museum in the hills a few kilometres from the city centre. You can take a lift to the top of the ski jump for some fantastic views of the city and the fjord beyond.
We liked it so much we stayed the night!!
We had a great time in Oslo, but we did have a couple of less positive moments. Our bike lights were stolen one night while we were in the pub, and the next day Alex took a direct hit from a passing.... well, it must have been an albatross!
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