Start at purple dot, follow the Red engines.
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-- Countries visited --
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, back to Sweden and then to the Aland Islands which are part of Finland. This destination is the first in my travels where the Travelers' Century Club list of global countries was the cause of the visit. Since Aland is locally governed, it is a separate destination in the country list, and I needed another country to get to the initial qualification level of 75 countries.-- Urban Areas --
Stockholm Overview Stockholm proudly displays Sweden flag colors, even on street rerouting signs
------ I suppose every large city has to have a clock tower
Parliament building
This one is for Charles who made a movie entitled Bread and Salt. It is a restaurant on Stockholm Harbor opposite the docks and amusement park.
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Wikipedia: The Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), it is one of Sweden's Royal Palaces. It was originally built in the late 16th century. It served as a regular summer residence of the Swedish royal court for most of the 18th century. Apart from being the private residence of the Swedish royal family, the palace is a popular tourist attraction.
Sweden - Kiruna: The LKAB iron mine is toured by taking a large bus from the town center directly into the mine and down large two-way tunnels into the mine museum. The mine is expanding under the town, and half the town will have to be relocated to avoid dislocation.
------ This area model shows the mine and the town. In order for the mine to coninue to operate, a large section of Kiruna (behind the red line on the map) will be removed. Occupants were offered their choice of property value +25% or a similar house in the new section of town. The old church will be disassembled and moved. The city hall will be replaced with a much larger circular building.
We took a Friday evening fast catamaran from Bodo to some island towns.
Trondheim shipping canal at the end of the river.
Harbor waterfront in Bergen. The picture is taken from our Admiral Hotel room. We had a great view of all the activity in the harbor. Note the plastic covering on two of the buildings to maintain appearance.
The Bergen fish market offers all kinds of seafood including this authentic paella. Workers there came from all over Europe. Tourists seem to get proficient service in their own language. In Norway now, children start English training in Kindergarten, so just about everyone speaks good English.
Sushi made to order. I ordered a special non-spicy sushi selection from the Fish Me market in Bergen. The sushi chef from Lithuania did an expert job making four take-out boxes of sushi, and then I noticed that there was an older Japanese couple who were watching the process. I took one of the sushi boxes, and then the couple happily went up to the counter to get two of the boxes.
Bicycle rental in the very bike friendly town of Mariehamn (trails and tunnels everywhere). I found myself on a steep grassy slope trying to make a turn; fell off the bicycle; down the hill; rolled over three times before stopping on the grsssy slope; only a pride injury.
Mariehamn has the only large sandy beaches that we saw and the water was reasonably shallow and warm. Many mainlanders from both Sweden and Finland come there to vacation.
-- Statues and Paintings --
Stockholm Alley Artwork from the Gamla Stan old city, the narrowest street in Sweden.
Sculpture on the ground next to the parliament building. I think there is a message in both the sculpture and its location.
Sculpture under the ground in a Metro Station. There also should be a meaning here, but I am not sure what it is.
Kiruna - Monument to railroad track.
------ Artwork on a building in Bodo. Interesting? Significance?
Before there was Disneyland, there was Vigeland, a sculpture garden in Oslo
The Little Mermaid statue is the symbol of Copenhagen.
-- Museums, Castles, Opera Houses --
------ Bodo has a large air museum. The reception area is on top of the road. One side is military aircraft; the other side is civil aircraft. The airport was built by Nazi Germany when the town was occupied during World War II. The airport takes too much of the flat space in town, so the plan is to move it one kilometer towards the inlet and rebuild. This then gives the town room for expansion.
Trondheim was established where the Nidelva River empties into the Trondheim Fjord.
1300 AD - Nidaros Cathedral, built as Catholic, then Church of Norway (Lutheran). People are welcome to come and worship together.
Historic buildings are accumulated in a park in Oslo
Oslo Opera House. It seemed to start with the Sydney Opera House on the harbor; now both Oslo and Copenhagen have an Opera House on the harbor.
Rosenborg Castle is the former residence of the Denmark royal family. It is now a period museum and contains the royal jewels.
------ No Drones sign in front of military barracks.
Copenhagen Opera House on the main canal.
Tivoli is the famous amusement park next to the railroad station. This is Fatamorgana, built in 2016. It goes up; the whole structure rotates; each of the four sections spins; it should come back down.
The most obvious ride in Tivoli is the 80 meter tall Star Flyer. It is supposed to have a great view from the top, if you are brave enough. I was not.
Tivoli has many other rides and exhibits. This is the Asian themed area.
We saw the story of Cinderella in balllet and pantomine.
-- Mountains and Waterfalls --
Fjord leading from Narvik into mountains. The train goes down the side of the fjord. The Iron Ore line was built for the transport of iron ore from north Sweden to the North Sea in Narvik and the Baltic Sea at Lulea. It was originally completed in 1902 and electrified since 1923 to carry larger loads. Since the ore trains are so heavy when loaded, the electricity regenerated on the way down from the iron mine to Narvik provides enough power to operate the entire route.
------ The bus passes some steep mountains from Narvik to Bodo. We tried to make reservations, but found out when we got there that the bus driver takes the fare when you board. No reservations needed. If there are too many people, an extra bus is put into service.
------ South of Bodo along the train line
We took the interesting Norway in a Nutshell tour from Bergen. This involved a train ride from Bergen to Voss where there were many buses waiting. The bus ride to Gudvangen was spectacular with hundreds of waterfalls and a very steep drop down to the back end of the Sognefjord. The Sognefjord is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. The road had a very steep 18.5 degree downgrade. The driver got a loud round of applause from the passengers at the bottom. There was then a ferry ride to the village of Flåm. I was astounded to see the size of cruise ships that could get to Flåm. There we all boarded the Flåm railway with its steep one hour rise to the train stop in Myrdal. It is rated as one of the most scenic and beautiful train rides in the world, but I prefer the 10 hour Bodo to Trondheim ride, but that does not make any top 10 railroad ride lists.
This waterfall is a stop on the Flåm Railway. The lady in red leaves her log cabin for every train to attempt to entice you into the mountain.
Snowy mountain side on the Bergen railroad line to Oslo on July 1.
-------- Sight seen above the cloud level on return flight from Arlanda north of Iceland. This is an obvious volcano, but where is it? The flight track is too far from cloud-covered Iceland, where there are many volcanos; not just one (the highest is 2110 meters). There are no tall volcanos in the Faroe Islands which are too far south of the flight track. After some research, I find that this 2277 meter tall volcano is on the isolated Norwegian island of Jan Mayen, and it is called Beerenberg.
Map of location
-------- Glaciers in Greenland
-- Trains--
Wikipedia: Stockholm Central Station: The station was built between 1867 and 1871 with Adolf W. Edelsvärd as the architect. Until 1925 the tracks led into the station but during a renovation 1925-1927 the tracks were moved to the west and the former track hall was converted into a 119 meter long, 28 meter wide and 13 meter high waiting hall. During the renovation the station was extended to the south through the construction of the southern pavilion. This part of the station currently houses a conference facility. Next to the conference facility is the Royal waiting hall where the Royal Family waits when travelling by train. In 1951 the facade towards Vasagatan was changed and given a more simplified look. In 1958 an underground passage to T-Centralen was opened. Louis: The commuter trains now stopping there are scheduled to be moved to a new terminal interface with the Stockholm Metro Lines. A similar (but much larger) structure is the old Reading Terminal in downtown Philadelphia which is now part of the Convention Center. The commuter train traffic there was also moved underground to better interface with the Pennsylvania Railroad and Metro lines
------ Bicycles parked in front of the Uppsala station. Much bicycle traffic was found in many large cities, especially university towns like Copenhagen, Lund, and Uppsala.
------ At the Uppsala station, there is a one meter antique train line off into the woods. How can I resist an orange train?
The spectacular diesel train ride from Bodo to Trondheim. This special excursion train was the subject of a six part documentary on Norwegian public television. The scenery along the route is varied and interesting.
Traveling by train, you get to see a lot of old railroad stations. I liked this one.
------ In front of the Oslo Main Railroad Station. The Rainbow Coalition had a rally there.
Copenhagen station interior. The tracks are perpendicular to the station. Some newer tracks go under the station, and are a part of the Metro system.
Rush hour traffic in Copenhagen near the railroad station.
-- Ships--
Wikipedia Reference The ruler of Sweden demanded a ship with two gun decks, oak wood decorations, a particular width, and a particular length. The ship architect complied with the ruler demands. The ship was launched and sank 25 minutes later. Another shipbuilding error: In the 1980's, a ferry was launched in Lake Powell named the John Atlantic Burr, What? A ship in the desert? Yes. Utah Department of Transportation operates a ferry service across 3.1 miles of open water between Bullfrog Marina and Hall's Crossing on Lake Powell. When the catamaran ferry was launched in front of the celebrating Utah State officials, it slid into the water, rolled over and sank. The manufacturer had neglected the ballast on one side of the catamaran to balance the engine on the other side. After repairs, he ship was relaunched quietly without fanfare.
Mariehamn nautical museum dedicated to large sailing ships.
Here we are in a bus coming around a curve south of Narvik. What is that ferry waiting for? Us. I had no idea that the bus was going on the ferry to cross the fjord. On the other side, another ferry docks from the Lofoten Islands. Another bus leaves that ferry; both buses then park at a gas station nearby and integrate passengers. Our new bus continues to Bodo.
View from the Bergen funicular of the port.
------ Copenhagen canal modeled after Amsterdam canals.
Outfit for Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) ride. According to the director, no passenger has yet been thrown into the water.
RIB riding the ferry boat wake outside the harbor.
Largest Maelstrom (whirlpool) in Norway when the tide changes in the fjord.