Although I already reported on our exploration of Oslo here, here, and here, I am now taking a step back in time to talk about how we got to Oslo from Copenhagen.
We took the overnight ferry that connects the two capitals. Although I use the word “ferry”, it is a veritable cruise ship, with several decks of cabins, entertainment, restaurants, shops and all amenities one can think of. While it is probably a notch below luxury cruise lines seen in Caribbean ports, it still offers a comfortable and mostly enjoyable experience for the approximately 15-hour voyage. Just don’t expect much from the restaurant service.
And, of course, there are plenty of photo opportunities from the upper deck, so here is a selection.
We’ll start with farewell looks towards Copenhagen. You might recognize the towers of Church of Our Savior, Chritiansborg Castle, and the dome of Frederik’s Church.
Picturesque villages dot the coast of Zealand along Øresund (which in English is called simply “The Sound”).
The narrowest point of the Sound is where Kronborg Castle sits, if you recall from this post. The ship glides past the castle offering several brilliant perspectives.
We slept for a few hours in a cabin that felt a lot like a compartment of a long-distance train from the memories of our youth. And then got up early enough to catch the later part of the sunrise over the North Sea.
Timestamp tells me that the next picture was taken just 63 seconds after the previous one. The view on the two sides of the ship was drastically different.
The islands in the Oslo fjord kept the proceedings picturesque, and the coastline occasionally exhibited “standard” fjord features of jutting steep sides.
This place, called Oscarsborg Castle, is still about an hour away from Oslo, on an island in the middle of the fjord. It took its present form in mid-19th century, but the earliest fortifications here date back a couple of centuries more.
Coastal villages in Norway are no less picturesque than the ones we left behind in Denmark.
One of the larger populated islands in Oslo harbor.
A perspective of the Akershus Castle prior to mooring in Oslo.
And a look at Aker Brygge, a popular shopping and entertainment area on Oslo waterfront that we largely bypassed in our limited time in town.
These and other pictures from the sea voyage have been added to both Copenhagen and Oslo Flickr albums.