Scandinavia

The term Scandinavia always includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as well as Finland and Iceland. During my trip to Iceland, we spent two nights in Oslo and two nights in Stockholm before and after going to Iceland. In both cities  we only had one full day of sight seeing with a tour guide. 

Oslo is a small city yet has some interesting building with unique archicture. We had a leisure walk to explore the city on the first day after lunch and prayer as well as the next at the end of our guided tour. 

As for the guided tour we visited Norsk Folkemuseum, a Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. Its an open air museum with more than 150 historic buildings and artifacts mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries but some goes all the way back to the 13th century, gathered from around the country, rebuilt and organised accordingly.  

We then went to Holmenkollen where Holmenkollbakken, a large ski jumping hill is located. It has hosted the Holmenkollen Ski festival since 1892, the FIS Ski Jumping World Championship since 1980 and has also hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics. Truth be told, we were not really impressed  with the ski slope as none of us could ski but what thrilled us was the snow! And on top of that it was snowing lightly when we were up there. It was a beautiful sight for us who come from a country with no snow at all. We spent too much time taking photos and having fun that we took longer than scheduled much to the annoyance of our guide. Hee....

We then had enough time to explore the city again and shopped before calling it a night. A good night rest was the order of the day as the next was the much awaited trip to Iceland. 

After an adventurous trip to Iceland, we spent our last two nights in Stockholm the capital city of Sweden. The tour guide insisted though that its the capital city of Scandinavia! Stockholm is a bigger city compared to Oslo and with a larger population too. The guided tour took us first to the City Hall. It may not look much from the outside but the interior is rather impressive.

We then proceeded to visit Vasa Museum. Now this is something that I am impressed with. The museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th century ship that has ever been salvaged! The 64-gun warship Vasa sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. Just imagine, the technology and skill during the early 19th century were not as advanced as today which made salvaging work even more inspiring! 

After lunch and prayer we opted to go on a cruise. Its chilly and some parts of the water was even frozen but we still enjoyed the view and the experience. 

Finally, it's time to fly back home. We woke up to a city covered in fresh snow and it was still snowing by the time we were departing. To me it was like a beautiful  sent off to a wonderful holiday. 

Oh yes. I have also made new friends during the trip. That the beauty of a group tour and even more so when travelling solo. When travelling with friends or family more often than not we tend to cluster in our own small circle. I am guilty of that too.

But then again you may find me wandering on my own half of the time to find a good shot. Afterall, photography is still my hobby even with a compact camera. There were many instances that I miss my DSLR but then again my ageing body and aching bones just could not manage the weight of the camera any more. I am saving all my energy for more trips to come! 

Where will I be going next you may ask? Just wait and see in the next post!

Travel date: 28 Feb - 2 Mar 2017 (Oslo) and 5-7 Mar 2017 ( Stockholm)