In Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Fantoft Stave Church and Hakon's Hall

We traveled from Oslo S to Bergen  in NSB (Norges Statesbaner) train and by 4:15 AM there was light and I could see the mountains and ice on the mountains while we were passing by Myrdal and Voss and finally arrived in Bergen, Norway.

We went to check into our Hotel but it was not yet open and so we went to Information Center and bought the Bergan Card for Wednesday and checked into our Hotel. Soon we visited the Bergen Domkirke (Bergen Cathedral) in Kong Oscars Gate (very near our Hotel) and its impressive organ. 

Then we went to the harbor and and walked through the downtown before catching the tram to Fanfoft station to see the Fantoft Stave Church. The walk from the station was about 15 minutes. We noticed a station called Florida on the way to Fantoft.

After spending some time at the church we came back to downtown and met some Tamil people from Thanjavur living in Bergen, Norway. After purchasing some gifts at the local market we went to see Hakon's Hall and Rosenkrantz Tower near the Bryggen area near the harbor.

We went back the Hotel took some rest and walked to the Bergen station to collect our Norway in a Nutshell tickets from the NSB station. We also checked out the luggage storage area so that we could deposit our luggage after checking out of Hotel and collecting them before departing to Oslo S tomorrow night.

Viking Ship Museum, Oslo Palace, and Nobel Peace Museum

Viking Ship Museum, Oslo Palace, and Nobel Peace Museum
Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014
Oslo, Norway

For the second day we decided to buy Oslo Pass. We obtained it from our hotel last night. The Oslo Pass allowed us to ride all the public transport units (bus, tram, and subway) as well as free admission to multitudes of attractions like Viking Ship Museum, Akershus Fortress, Nobel Peace Museum, etc.

We took the City Bus 30 to Bygdøy as we could catch it right in front our Hotel. We went first to see the Viking Ship Museum but missed our stop. A friendly driver (a Sri Lankan Tamil) helped us find the correct stop. At the museum we saw about 1000 year old Viking Ship.

After that we got off near Oslo Palace (National Theatre) on the return journey and went around Oslo University, Oslo Palace (Det Konglige Slott; The King's Palace), the Queen Maud's statue. We also walked along the famous Karl Johans Gate and saw the Norway Parliament.

From their we walked all the way to Oslo City Hall (Radhus) and the harbor. Then we visited the Nobel Peace Museum just next door to the City Hall. We made peace sign in Tamil (amaithi) and added to the wall of Nobel Peace Prize Museum.

After having lunch near-by, we walked all the way through the harbor to the Akerhus Fortress. Once again at many of these places, the admission was free since we had the Oslo Pass. The Fortress gave view of the harbor and the city. We could see many rooms and they in which the king would have lived.

The day was cloudy but didn't rain. Finally we decided to skip the Eduard Munch Museum since it was far away and we didn't have enough time.

We packed our travel bags and left reminder at the Hotel and took the public transit to Jernbanetorget to catch our overnight NSB train to Bergen.

We sat in our coach and spent the night traveling to Bergen, Norway.

In Oslo

In Oslo, Norway

Monday, Aug 4, 2014

Vigeland Park and Holmenkollen

After arriving in Oslo, Norway this morning and enduring some rain we checked into the Hostel (we thought it was Hotel).

We then went around the town after eating lunch at the local Subway (near Oslo Central Station). One of the places we visited in the morning was a store that sells local music.

Then we went around Oslo Domkirke (Cathedral) and nearby area of Karl Johans Gate. It started to rain again and one of our friend's friend came and picked us up and drove to Holmenkollen Ski Jump area and Holmenkollen Kapell (Chapel).

After that we drove to Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Park) where we saw the park and the sculptures done by Gustav Vigeland. There was still little bit rain but we were able to walk around with ease.

Finally we went our friends house for Indian dinner and met his parents and family. He graciously dropped us off at our Hotel.

Travel to Oslo

Travel to Oslo

Sunday, Aug 3, 2014

JAX to OSL

On Sunday, Aug 3 morning we left Jacksonville International Airport and flew to Newark Liberty International Airport to Terminal A. We had a lay over of several hours at EWR and therefore we had some snacks and ate early dinner at the airport.

We found a Travelex currency exchange office right at the airport. After speaking with the agents we were able to get exchange some American Dollars to both Norwegian Kroner (NOK or NKr) and Swedish Kronors (SEK or SKr). The advantage with them was if he had excess krone or kronor we could exchange back to USD without fees.

Then at 8 PM boarded the United flight to Oslo, Norway. The flight was about 7 hours long and we ate some dinner and early morning snack before we landed in Oslo, Norway in Oslo Gardermoen International Airport. It was bit cloudy and we went through immigration and customs and picked up our luggage.

We then bought tickets form the Flytoget train office to get to Oslo S (Oslo Central Station). We boarded the train and arrived at Oslo S after about 30 minutes. Just about that time it started to rain.

Travel to ABQ

Annual Meeting of the ACA 2014

Albuquerque Convention Center, ABQ

Sat-Wed, May 24-28, 2014

I travelled to ABQ to attend the American Crystallographic Association's 2014 Annual Meeting. I left town on Friday and went Albuquerque via Atlanta, GA. 

I spent several days at Albuquerque attending the Conference and associated workshop on Saturday. 

However, there sometime on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday when I was able to go around the town to see local places like Old Town Square, Albuquerque Travel Center, and Petroglyph National Monument and International Balloon Museum (only outside).

Then by Wednesday night I arrived back home.

Trip to Atlanta, GA

Trip to Atalnta, GA

Fri/Sat, Mar 14/15, 2014

We drove to Atlanta, Ga on Friday, Mar 14, 2014. We left around 10 AM and drove to Atlanta Hindu Temple and arrived around 2:30 PM. Then we went a Atlanta airport area hotel and checked in. Then we went to the concert hall in downtown and had dinner. We attended the concert and left for the hotel.

We woke up and drove back to Tallahassee in the afternoon. During the trip VtS drove a significant portion of the rural route US319.

Trip to Dali Museum and Chihuly Collection

Salvador Dali Museum, Chihuly Collection, and Hotshop

Saint Petersburg, FL

Thursday, December 26, 2013

We woke up and got some continental breakfast at La Quinta Inn and drove to Salvador Dali Museum in downtown Saint Petersburg, FL. The traffic was light and there were not many people at the parking lot when we arrived at 10 AM. We bought the tickets and went through the museum in few hours. We perused the gift shop and bought some posters.

Then we drove to Chihuly Collection at 400 Beach Drive. We bought the combination tickets for the Chihuly collection and the Hotshop. The parking was difficult to find. We had to park on the road with parking meters running $0.25/15 minutes. We went through the collection as part of a guided tour that took about 1 1/2 hour. We then drove to nearby fast food restaurant (most of the food near Chihuly Collection featured lots of seafood).

From the fast food place we drove directly to the Glass Shop and Hot Shop in Central Avenue for our 3 PM appointment (we had the option of visiting Hot Shop at 1, 2, 3, and 4 PM; we choose the 3 PM; no need to pre-book time). Mr Doug showed us how to make a glass art piece. We were able to chat with him bit more after the end of the show.

We then traveled to International Plaza and Bay Street shopping mall for some purchase. We then grabbed some food on the way and stopped by some other stores before heading to our hotel for the night.