We Need A Duty-Free By-Pass At Airports
Oslo Airport had one of the largest duty free areas I’ve seen in a long time. It was very crowded too, with passengers trailing cases and carrying overflowing baskets.
I found it difficult to walk through and it was a completely wasted few minutes, that I could have spent much better.
It’s all totally pointless, as if duty-free was banned on flights and passengers bought their duty free as they arrived in a country, airlines wouldn’t waste fuel flying all that useless junk around the skies.
I wonder how much duty free contributes to global warming?
The EU should make it the law, that every airport has a by-pass for those, who don’t want to buy any duty-free.
And was there anything to eat that was gluten-free in the airport? I didn’t see anything that was!
A Missed Opportunity
Was it? But some years ago, I backed a guy making something called a TEBA brush mat. The company failed, but judging by these examples in Oslo, mats are being sold under another guise.
I’ve been lucky in life, but perhaps this is one place, where I didn’t do as well as I should have.
Endless Bits Of Paper
Queue in Norway and Sweden and you always seem to have to get a ticket with a number on it.
but I suppose, they have plenty enough trees to make the paper for the tickets.
The Museums On The Bygdøy Peninsular
There are several museums on the Bygdøy Peninsular.
I took a ferry to see two of them; the Viking Ship Museum and the Fram Museum.
I would have gone to the other two; the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Norwegian Maritime Museum, but the weather had turned and I was suffering a bit from the cold.
There is a lot to see on the peninsular and I wish I’d been able to devote more time to it. I think it would be easier, if on the peninsular, there was better signposts and maps and perhaps a bus on a route past all the attractions. An inclusive ticket for all the attractions on the peninsular would save time too!
Oslo City Hall
I didn’t like Oslo City Hall. But then it was designed in the 1930s and opened in 1950s, so it’s of the same era as that great British eyesore; Battersea Power Station.
Oslo City Hall
it’s scale is all wrong and except for the clock, it has nothing to recommend it.
The Munch Museum
After the National Gallery, I took the metro to get to the Munch Museum to see the other half of the Munch 150 exhibition. It runs to October the 13th, so you’ve about four weeks.
I was also able to get some excellent Swedish meatballs at the museum.
Munchies At The Munch Museum
Were they Munchies?
Anybody Fancy A Drink?
I saw this outside the National Theatre in Oslo.
Anybody Fancy A Drink?
You don’t see many these days. Especially, in such a prominent location.
Bears
We went four hours further north to spend a night in a hide in the heart of bear country.
The bears, like the wolves, didn’t play along with us and didn’t show up.
But still it was a good experience for me, as I found that after a night in the hide, my rhinitis and most of the pain in my left arm had disappeared. I’ll put that down to the humidity.
These sort of experiences will get better and better, as technology will help in finding and showing bears to those who want to see them.
Mizar And Alcor
In the wonderful skies over Sweden, I was able to identify both Alcor and Mizar in the constellation of Ursa Major.
That is something, I haven’t seen for a few years. Even in Suffolk, it was difficult, as there was so much stray light from the prison at Highpoint.
No Close Encounters Of The Wolf Kind
After supper, Marcus the main guide from Wild Sweden, tried to call the wolves, who were undoubtedly in the area, as they had left their calling card.
He tried first on a rock by the lake, but despite it being a clear still night, he got no response to his calls.
My walking must be getting better, as I was able to negotiate the track back to the minibus with the light of the head torches of others.
Then he tried three more times at other places.
The last time was almost surreal, as there was a flashing orange light on a mast about a kilometre away and we were watching and listening intently under another magnificent sky, whilst Marcus did his best wolf impressions. Any aliens from wherever, who’d encountered us, would have thought it all very strange.
Perhaps, the wolves had moved on?
The Anonymous Widower 