It feels like the winter break is getting shorter and shorter. We actually didn’t have anything planned so after the kids went to their dad’s house, Teddy and I tried to figure out quickly what we should do with our time off. With literally nothing in mind, I went on google.com/flights and clicked on “Explore”, filtered the search results with “business” class, less than $1500, and the SkyTeam alliance, we were limited to ONE destination – Oslo, Norway. (We had to fly with SkyTeam because both of us were just $1000 away from the next Medallion level with Delta SkyMiles.) Time for an adventure.
December 20 – 21, 2023
Today, we woke up to get ready to leave, but instead, I was woken up by an alert from Delta app that one of our flights got canceled. We were supposed to fly from Atlanta to Chicago, then from Chicago to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Oslo. The Amsterdam to Oslo flight was canceled. The website automatically placed us on an Amsterdam flight that was leaving much later, which means I would have to miss our dinner reservation at Rest. Considering we were going to arrive Amsterdam at 7:10am, you would think it would be easy to find another flight that can get us to Oslo by dinner time, but no. We found a flight with Scandinavian Airlines that was leaving Thursday morning but it was mysteriously getting delayed. A little research on Amsterdam’s airport website told us that they were anticipating bad weather. Time to avoid Amsterdam entirely. After being on the phone with Delta for 2 hours, we were finally able to re-route our trip entirely and now we are going to stop at London Heathrow and Paris instead, arriving in Oslo theoretically right before our dinner reservation. This was not a great way to start a vacation.
First leg of our plane is with Virgin Atlantic, from Atlanta to London Heathrow. Since our original seats were Delta One, our new seats with Virgin are called Upper Class. Although the Virgin Atlantic check-in desk didn’t have anyone working until 2 hours before check-in due to the company’s Christmas party, we also were forced to wait until after they served the economy class people first, even though we were there first. (They were short staffed and only one person was working. Still doesn’t give them any excuse to help economy passenger first, but I’m just happy we were finally getting somewhere.)
I like the color tone on these seats and there were many hidden buttons and storage spaces. The seat folds out flat as a bed. The toiletry kit was pretty nice and the flight attendant went around to hand out pajamas sets. The pajamas are soft and yours to keep. We were given a book of menus and drinks were served pre-flight. There is an impressive tea menu as well as drink and wine menu.
For appetizer, I chose the Sliced Smoked Duck and I was shocked at how big it was. It was a little dry but delicious.
For entree, I chose the lobster, calamari and clam paella. Delicious. I think this was better than the Delta One food we would have been having right now.
After dinner, we folded our seats out and went to sleep.
Woke up to breakfast.
Shortly after breakfast, it was time to deplane. I think I slept pretty good. We had been told on the plane that Virgin has a really nice lounge at London Heathrow, called Revivals Lounge. Revivals Lounge is located at the Arrivals Hall in Terminal 3. We (and all Virgin Atlantic flights I believe) arrive in Terminal 3, but we had to make it to Terminal 4 to catch our next flight. Although we had a reasonable amount of time, I wasn’t sure if there would have been repercussions if we went all the way to Arrivals Hall (would we have to go through security and customs again?), something I wasn’t willing to risk, so we had to let Revivals Lounge go. Which turned out to be a VERY good decision because apparently going from Terminal 3 to Terminal 4 is VERY difficult and time consuming.
An hour later, we finally made it from Terminal 3 to Terminal 4. What took so long you say? Besides walking for what seemed like forever, we also had to take multiple buses, each bus ride lasted like forever. To be honest, I started wondering if this was some kind of punk’d and I was on a bus tour to Stonehenge. We still had some time to kill, thanks to our 3 hour layover. So we spent some time in the Plaza Lounge.
Our second flight (from London to Paris) is operated by Air France. Their business class means you will have no one sitting next to you, which is pretty nice. You will also get some food.
We were served this smoked salmon sandwich as we were flying over South Downs National Park. The salmon was really tasty, and the croissant bread was amazing. The utensils were also very high quality.
After landing, we went through passport control, then hit the Air France lounge. The Air France Lounge in Terminal 2F is beautiful and the food and drink options are great, even offering free massages, but the passport control took a long time so we didn’t have much time here. We are not hungry at all though – we’ve been fed very well this whole trip.
Time for our final leg of travel, Paris to Oslo. Another Air France flight. I’m telling myself at this point that I’m never doing a 3 leg flight again. 2 is my maximum I think.
This was so yummy. Glad I didn’t eat at the lounge. Of course there was amazing bakery treats that came with this too. The French know how to make food. Our flight was delayed – not sure if it was because of the slow passport control or what. We barely made it to our dinner reservation at Rest, but all is well.
If you want to read up on the restaurant Rest, please check our my blog.
We booked a standard queen room for our stay for the night, at Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, because it’s so convenient with public transportation. Our room was simple but quite comfortable.
It was snowing outside. I thought I would sleep well since we had a full day of travel but the jet lag and the stress of the early morning flight next day kept me up.
December 22, 2023
This morning, we have a boarding time of 7:30am to fly to Bergen. Our hotel gave us some breakfast to go and we hopped on the train to the airport. 6am at the Oslo airport, everything was already quite busy and bustling. Our flight is with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) today so we stopped by the SAS Lounge. The lounge was actually quite nice. We had some breakfast and coffee (turned out, we really didn’t need the breakfast from the hotel), and I was tickled by the wine on tap.
Boarding the flight today is straight from the runway. I’d be nervous if I were Joe Biden.
After landing in Bergen, while waiting for our luggage, we noticed a beautiful sight in the sky.
Turns out, we were looking at a very rare phenomenon called Polar Stratospheric Cloud. How lucky were we.
Next, we got on the Flybussen, one of the public transportation options to go to our hotel in Bryggen. It was rainy and snowy and we passed through lots of tunnels. Our hotel is the Clarion Collection Hotel Havnekontoret. We chose this hotel because I realized that many restaurants are closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This hotel offers dinner every night, so we know we won’t go hungry. We booked the Deluxe Room with 1 King Bed. Unfortunately that’s not the room they gave us, instead, they gave us a queen bed room that is smaller as well.
We walked around the town of Bryggen, a beautiful UNESCO heritage port town that was part of the Hanseatic League from the 14th to the mid-16th century.
Dinner tonight is at Bare, which had a Michelin star in 2020, but since then, lost its star and is trying very hard to get it back. Bare is Nordic cuisine meets Japanese, and even though I enjoyed every dish very much, it was too much fat by the end of the night that I started getting a little nauseous. Nonetheless, I was very impressed.
We did not have any dinner at our hotel even though it’s included in their nightly rate. I just wish they would give us a King bed instead of this tiny bed we were assigned to.
December 23, 2023
We had breakfast at the hotel, and it was quite good. Today, we are scheduled for a fjord cruise. The cruise port is only a 15 minute walk from our hotel, which is awesome.
There are many fjord cruises available in Bergen. I booked the Mostraumen Fjord Cruise through viator. It is a four-hour cruise. I think the view would be better in the summer. You do get a very different view in the winter, with lots of snow and ice on the water, but you can’t see the waterfalls because it’s all frozen over. The boat doesn’t provide any food. There is coffee and tea available for purchase (might have been beer too) but the price is eye-watering.
At the beginning of the tour, you can see sun rise.
A fjord is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Norway has many many fjords.
After getting off the boat, we were at the fish market and visitor center.
The Bergen Tourist Information Center is really helpful. It’s upstairs of the fish market.
Back to the hotel, I explained to them again that we booked a King Deluxe room, not whatever room they gave us last night. Out of 3 employees, one believed me, the rest, including the manager, did not. Nonetheless, we did get moved to the exact room we booked and paid for.
The hotel “agreed” to give me the price difference back to my card, but to this day, I haven’t see the money yet. Tonight’s dinner was at the hotel. They had some salad and soup and chili over rice. Not bad really.
December 24, 2023
Today, we went to check out the world’s largest gingerbread town – Pepperkakebyen. Pepperkakebyen is an annual tradition in Bergen, and it’s a gingerbread town that’s modeled after the real city of Bergen. It’s built by school children, companies, and individuals. Anyone who contributed in the building of the gingerbread town can visit the final product for free. The ticket revenue, which was NOK 150 for us (per person) goes to a good cause every year.
After visiting the gingerbread town, we went to Fjellskaal for lunch. We ordered their “Christmas menu”, which is very pricy but came with a big variety of seafood. All of the seafood was handpicked and live.
Seafood Tower, which they call, Shellfish Symphony, came with Live Norwegian Lobster and Crayfish, King Scallops, Oysters, Mussels, Live King Crab, Shrimps, and Stone Crab Claws. Everything could be prepared exactly how we like it. This was so good, but I wish there was more of the high dollar seafood and less of the shrimps.
Also not to be understated is the location of this restaurant. The view is quite nice and the boats are right outside. Freshness guaranteed.
Reading over the choices of desserts, I got duped into ordering the Vanilla Ice Cream with Gold Caviar. I say duped, because it sounded, uh, not appetizing, but the description said, “You might think ice cream with caviar is insane. So did we, but trust us on this one. If you dare try, you will be met with a revelation of sweet, salty, and liquorice-like zest, leaving you on a note of nuts. Our signature dessert.” For 399 NOK, I had to convince myself that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. It tasted about as you’d imagine. Weird combination.
After lunch, we hiked to the base of the Floibanen and took the Floibanen Funicular. I was surprised that it was actually quite crowded. The scenery at the top was amazing but it was a little too cold and too wintry to hike the trails.
After we came back from the funicular ride, we walked around the beautiful shops of Bryggen. There are many holiday shops here and each shop has many rooms and floors to explore.
Today is Christmas Eve. Not many restaurants are open, and it was the main reason I chose Clarion hotel to stay, because they provide dinner every night. The dinner tonight is actually quite large.
Too bad the hotel screwed up on the room we booked and lied about giving us a refund, or this would have easily been one of the best hotel experiences we’ve had overseas.
The hotel has an observation tower, which is quite nice, and it’s free to enter for hotel guests. We went up the tower and checked out the view. This would be a great treat if we hadn’t already rode to the top of the mountain earlier today.
December 25, 2023
Today is Christmas Day. We are returning to Oslo today by train. Our hotel is just a little far for walking with suitcases to the train station so the plan was to take a bus, because taxis are pretty expensive here. We got up early and arrived at the bus station quite early too, because we couldn’t risk missing the train. The bus system in Norway is very good. On Christmas Day, buses run at a reduced schedule but still more frequent than they do in Atlanta. However, we made a major mistake – we didn’t realize that in Norway, you have to actually wave at the bus from far away if you want to get on it. Since we didn’t do that, the bus zoomed right by us.
We didn’t have enough time to wait for the next bus, so we had to decide if we should walk or taxi. The walk really isn’t that far, but we had our luggage and the streets were icy. We ended up deciding to walk, as our own little punishment for missing the bus. I’m glad we walked because we got to enjoy the beautiful Bryggen just for a bit longer.
We made it to the train station!
The train ride was SO beautiful. Every mile was like a Christmas postcard.
We crossed many bridges, tunnels, and lots of bodies of water.
We passed by many small towns and some bigger towns. The train never stopped for long. If you want to get off, definitely don’t wander around.
The train seats were very comfortable and the cafeteria had food and drinks for sale. Unfortunately, due to the holidays, many food items were not available. They told me they did not receive all their shipments.
The train stopped by quite a few ski resorts, like Hotel Finse 1222.
We arrived Oslo around 5pm and got situated back in the Radisson Blu hotel. Bergen Railway was an amazing experience and I’m so glad we did it.
The Radisson Blu hotel had a special Christmas menu for dinner tonight, for 875 NOK per person.
Course 1: Salmon Tartar
With marinated scallops, roe, ponzu sauce and dill oil.
Course 2: Grilled Deer Tenderloin
With chanterelle, red cabbage, carrot puree, and pomme duchesse
Course 3: Chocolate Creme Brulee
With marinated raspberries.
Everything was really really good but the service was kind of slow. I enjoyed everything and the setting was very romantic.
December 26, 2023
Today is the last full day we have in Norway. This has been an amazing trip and everything I see makes me want to come back. Not to mention, I have to visit northern Norway sometime to see the Northern Lights and I have to come back in the summer to see the waterfalls and fjords.
We had a lazy morning at our hotel, then walked around Oslo and made our way to the restaurant called Egon. Egon had a Christmas menu for lunch which was cool. The atmosphere was really nice and the service was great.
I got the Egon’s Creamy Fish Soup, which had trout, cod, shrimps and scallions. It was yummy.
Teddy got the English Breakfast.
Egon is in the Oslo city center area, with lots of shops in the holiday market. Nearby is the National Theater and the Parliament. There’s also a free ice skating rink here called Spikersuppa. Surrounding the skating rink are several fair type rides. We bought tickets for the ferris wheel but you could buy a combo ticket that lets you ride everything. All the rides are part of Jul i Vinterland park.
The Christmas market here is much like the ones in Germany, but it’s not nearly as crowded.
Next we walked to the Viking Planet museum, an interactive, immersive space to learn about the vikings. There was a 3D movie and lots of digital media like virtual reality, interactive TV screens, etc. If you are interested in the history of Vikings, this is a great museum to spend a few hours in.
After Viking Planet, we decided to walk towards the ferry terminal because there are some famous sculptures there, but all of the snow made the trek difficult and the sculptures difficult to appreciate.
We made it to the ferry terminal. Most restaurants were closed due to it being the day after Christmas. The Thief hotel was open so we went inside for a drink.
My beer at The Thief is called The Thief. Teddy’s beer was called Oslo.
The Thief was a beautiful hotel. I hope to stay here someday.
After The Thief, we walked through the Royal Palace.
We walked by this house with the windows being an advent calendar.
We made our way to Lorry restaurant, a whimsical Norwegian restaurant with lots of stuffed animals and antiques.
Lorry has a Christmas menu with items like Lutefisk (dried cod) and Rack of Lamb Ribs. I know I wanted to try lutefisk before leaving Norway, so I convinced Ted to get that. I like lamb, so I went with the lamb ribs. Turns out, lutefisk is about as disgusting as I imagined it might be. The lamb ribs were too dry to really be delicious too. At least we gave it a shot.
The restaurant has so many things on display that the menu comes with a map for each floor with each item identified.
Even though I didn’t enjoy the Lutefisk or the Lamb Ribs, this was an interesting restaurant to visit due to the history and authenticity of Norwegian cuisine. This restaurant has been here for over 100 years and the same people have operated it for over 60 years. This place is also very popular with the locals. Sitting next to us was a table of 4 that spoke in English and one of the females looked so familiar to me, like an actress that I can’t pinpoint, like a more sophisticated Angourie Rice.
December 27, 2023
This morning we had to get up very early to catch the earliest train to get to the airport to catch our flight home. Our flights today are with Air France, from Oslo to Paris, then Paris to Atlanta. Boarding starts at 5:50am. We got to the airport right after 5am. The airport was still very festive and there was Christmas trees everywhere.
We went to the Premium Osl Lounge for some breakfast. Our officially last meal in Norway. We accessed this lounge free of charge due to our business class tickets but it would have been free anyway with our American Express Platinum card.
At this hour, there isn’t much available, but I was happy with its offerings.
Time to catch our plane. This is a BIG Christmas tree.
We got on the plane and we were served breakfast, consisting of Gouda Cheese and Mimolette Cheese Club Sandwiches, Pancakes with Caramelized Pineapple, Orange and Pink Grapefruit, and my favorite Croissants again.
This was a pretty short flight. By the time we finished our breakfast, it was time to get off the plane. Then we walked into a sea of people.
We had to walk awhile just to find the end of the line. There’s no separate line for Business or any class here. This line was just to get on the escalator to get to the other parts of the airport. I was happy when we finally made it to our gate. Our flight was delayed, probably to accommodate all the people that had to go through that line.
The first meal was lunch. Air France meals are coursed, with appetizer, entree, cheese course, and dessert.
Appetizer: Creamy Butternut Squash, Diced Carrot and Celeriac, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. Foie Gras Terrine, Christmas Spiced Pear Chutney, Artichoke and Pistachios.
I LOVE the foie gras terrine. Delicious.
Entree: Beef Cheek Confit w/Dill Seeds and Celery
Delicious again. This feels like royalty.
Cheese Course
I didn’t have the cheese course because I’m sensitive to cheese, but Teddy’s cheeses looked amazing.
Dessert: Coffee Opera Cake
Our business class flight also includes “snack anytime” service, but since we were fed meals periodically, I never utilized the snack service.
After lunch, I took some R&R and watched some movies. Air France business class has the biggest TV screens I’ve ever seen, making movie watching so nice. Then, the next meal was served.
I ordered the Roast Chicken Filet with Tarragon Jus. Pretty good, but the potatoes looked sus. Ted got the Penne Pasta with Lemon and Pistachios.
I should mention, the wine and champagne options were great on Air France. The champagne on offering was the Pommery Brut Royal. I think I probably had a whole bottle on my own. This was honestly a great flying experience. The only negative thing is that the WiFi was not working at all and apparently has been a known issue for some time.
Conclusion
This was my first time to Norway and I’m glad we went. We got a great price on the airfare and seeing Norway during the holidays was a treat. It was cold and snowy – as expected, but it was also beautiful and magical. I usually don’t like to visit the same place twice, but for Norway, I honestly can’t wait to come back in the warmer months so I can see the fjord with waterfalls and greenery. I also want to do a Northern Lights cruise sometime, which may not be in Norway but in the Scandinavian somewhere.