BY SHRADDHA V.PANDIT,
(OS,ENGG.DEPT.WESTERN RAILWAY,
AVID TRAVELLER & BUDDING WRITER FROM VADODARA)
MUMBAI | 6 JULY 2025
In my college days, I had read a novel, “Thelma” by Marie Corelli, written in the late 19th century. This romance unfolds in Norway, where the main character “Thelma”, a beautiful Norvegian girl meets Sir Philip Bruce-Errington, a baronet and seasoned yachtsman, exploring the mesmerizing midnight sun in the enchanting landscape of the Altenfjord at midnight. These romantic mystical elements in the plot had possessed me for long time. Since then I wished to visit Norway. Hence when I saw Scandinavia tour itinerary including Norway with Denmark & Sweden, the faded memories welled up to explore this wonderful land of fjords and mountains. And I began to prepare for journey.
First of all,visa formalities needed to be taken care of .For visiting Scandinavian countries one has to acquire Visa of any country where you will be staying maximum days of the tour. In my case it was Norway ,which is part of Schengen countries.So Visa appointment was arranged by tour operator, date is decided as per convenience of person travelling. If you are travelling internationally, your luggage needs to be sturdy with strong wheels as there is shortage of helping hands and you have to carry luggage on your own almost everywhere. Another point to be noted is not to wear too much metal jewellery or dress with lots of Metal accessories which can cause unnecessary delay during security check. Wearing comfortable footwear, if possible with socks also makes huge difference during long air travels.
Our tour started on May 26 2025. At 6:40 AM, Turkish airline flight was scheduled to depart for Copenhagen via Istanbul. Two of my friends, Meena and Preeti, were also accompanying me, so it was going to be real joyful journey. Countless routine security formalities were completed which kept us awake through out the night. Currently, due to the India-Pakistan belligerent situation, I was a bit restless before departure because Turkey’s aid to the enemy in the war had tainted my perception of that country. However, the booking was made much earlier, and while commercial relations have been restricted, passenger traffic continued smoothly.
Air travel novelty has worn off as I have visited nearly 25 countries. Once settled into flight, separated from friends I ate breakfast served and had shut eye for some time. The flight which departed at 6:40 AM Indian time, reached Istanbul at approximately 11 AM local time. As soon as I stepped out, the cool blast of air felt incredibly refreshing. We had to spend 4-4.5 hours at this airport before departing for the next leg of our journey. While strolling around, one sees duty-free shops loaded with world’s renowned brands, beckoning to start spending fresh Euro notes. While casually standing in front of a nuts stall, fresh dry fruits were offered to taste!! Soon time to fly further…This plane was smaller in size, and the travel time was also shorter.
On the evening of May 26, we arrived in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, a constitutional monarchy. Immigration procedures were completed we proceeded to hotel by bus with luggage. The Copenhagen city tour was scheduled to begin early morning next day.As guide explained ,this city embraces over 300 canals within its expanse. The total population of the entire country is 60-62 lakhs, which is less than Indian Metro city -Mumbai. It includes about seven thousand Indians. Our tour guide proudly mentioned being only Hindi-speaking guide not just in Denmark, but in all of Scandinavia
First spot of city tour was world famous Danish land mark of cracker biscuit shape buildings with conical tops, situated along the canal- Nyhavn. This fishing harbour is known for its brightly coloured houses sticking shoulder to shoulder.The secret behind this is, when locals used to return home late night after gulping gallons of hard drink, it was difficult to recognize their homes. This clever idea of numbering and colouring the houses differently solved the issue completely.The famous author Hans Christian Andersen also owned three houses here, which are preserved to this day.
Denmark has a monarchy, but it’s largely ceremonial. The Royal palace situated at city centre, part of which is Royal residence and other half is holding offices from where the Prime Minister handles country administration. The current King’s love story is just like Hollywood romance. HM King Frederik X fell in love with a bartender during his visit in Australia. What happened next? He married his lucky beloved and brought her to Denmark made Her majesty the Queen. This loving couple has 4 children: the eldest is a 20-year-old prince, then an 18-year-old princess, followed by a set of twins (a boy and a girl), making for a happy family!!
From there, we headed to see the Little Mermaid, who made her sad ending love story famous worldwide. This poor girl left her birthplace in ocean and came ashore in search of her prince whom she had saved from drowning.The strange condition was that she would have to lose her sweet voice in exchange of legs to walk on land. Poor girl agreed, but the one for whom she made this sacrifice had already married another woman whom he believed has saved his life. She did sacrifice her life instead of taking revenge and became immortal.
Copenhagen to Oslo, the capital of Norway we were supposed to travel between Baltic & the North sea on huge passenger cruise.Being an aqua person I was very excited with the prospect of this journey. On reaching the terminal first look of the cruise immediately reminded me of “Titanic”.Of course,that was entirely unique. This was comparatively ordinary passenger ship, traveling this route daily. Entry formalities similar to plane journey, passports are checked , one gets boarding pass just like flight.There were a total of 12 decks; the bottom 3 housed cargo vehicles, our bus, other luggage, etc. Up to deck 7 were passenger cabins. Buffet and snack bars on 8th with duty free shops in between.Somehow as we left the terminal,we missed the chance to wave goodbye from the upper deck to the people on shore below, imagining just like movie “ Titanic” of course no big crowd was waiting to wave in return.
Wow!!on upper most open deck, what a marvellous view it was! The gentle sea waves surrounded us, sun was shining brightly on the horizon even though it was late evening. Gusty wind was blowing our hair, entangling completely, but we were frolicking like calves with wind in their ears 😃. This Mid night sun season offers you long days for exploring new places!! You all allowed to roam around open deck except captain’s cabin and few crew only areas.Due to slight drizzle we were lucky to view lovely rainbow on horizon!!!
Dinner time on cruise was at 8 PM, so we reluctantly had to go down. Seeing the buffet, my taste buds were tingling . Cruise carrying passengers from various countries offers Continental menu consisting of veg, non- veg, vegan and so many desserts, ice creams.It was too confusing to decide what to eat! U can not do justice with only one stomach. After fulfilling hunger again open deck was inviting ..We went back up on the deck, braving chilly winds, shivering. The temperature must have been around 13-14 degrees Celsius, which is more than enough for us to bundle up in clothes . After sunset around 11 pm reluctantly we came down, had look around in the duty-free shops, enjoyed a lot of window shopping, and returned to our cabin. After a hot shower, I lay down on the small bed. Oslo was scheduled to arrive at 9 AM, and we had get ready before that.
In the morning, after a hearty breakfast, we were ready to disembark. A message had already popped up on our phones when we crossed the border of Denmark into Norway at night. Now, we were actually going to set foot on that land. For this tour, only a Norway visa was sufficient for all 5 countries. As soon as we got down, the bus captain Raymond was ready to welcome us. He was very cheerful and energetic, quickly loaded all the bags into the bus, and we set off to explore Oslo.
Our guide Nora was also on the bus. First stop was Opera House The Oslo Opera House is situated on the Oslofjord, which is a waterfront area near the city center. The opera house is designed to resemble a glacier rising from the water, with its angled, white exterior facing the fjord. The roof of the Opera House is slightly slanted, with very gentle stairs, allowing you to go all the way to the top. From there, you can observe the fjord and traffic below, the buildings on the opposite bank, and the activities. Truly beautiful bird’s eye view.
There is this museum of the Icebreaker ship.Being the most famous wooden polar vessel in the world, “Fram” is a symbol of Norway’s significant participation in polar exploration. Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup and Roald Amundsen undertook the exploration of new areas in both the Arctic and Antarctic on this amazing ship. This vessel is a proud possession of the Norwegian people. Every minute detail was considered during its construction. You are allowed to go inside and explore all three levels, including the galley, the fuel storage area, the recreation room, etc.Alll meticulously arranged. One can also watch a video depicting how the journeys to both poles were undertaken and the many difficulties faced. At one level, a screen covering an entire wall creates a live 3D experience, as if the ship is currently riding the waves, cutting through the water, and defying stormy winds as it moves forward.
Holmenkollen, the Ski Museum was established in 1923 and has been located at Holmenkollen since 1951. The museum has the world’s largest collection of skis and winter gear. A lift ascending at a 45-degree angle takes you to the very top of the slope, built for the Winter Olympics ,where there’s a viewing deck offering a panoramic view of the entire region � �🏻 . Here, most of the neat, low-lying houses with sloping roofs look like identical toys � �🏘 .Those who are interested in collection of skiing gears have best options here.
Oslo has many Indian restaurants and Indian food is easily available so travellers need not worry. After a hearty meal, we decided to stretch our legs and see if there was anything to purchase nearby. At one spot, three girls were distributing some free samples. We didn’t know what it was,none the less, each took one. By then, our tour manager, was frantically counting heads, he was astonished to find 4 missing,soon we joined the group and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Visit to the world-famous Vigeland Park in Oslo is must. It is the largest of all sculpture parks, where all the statues have been created by the single artist. Gustav Vigeland. He casted all 212 bronze, granite and cast-iron sculptures displayed in the park. It took almost 15 years for nearly 150 artists to complete this work. It depicts various human relationships: mother and child, father and son, friends, sisters, etc. A statue of a loudly screaming, angry child was drawing a crowd, as there’s a belief that touching it brings fortune. In the middle of the garden is a fountain supported on the shoulders of six statues. Further ahead is a tall Obelisk. On all four sides, human figures of various shapes are ascending, moving towards an elevated path. It takes at least 1.5-2 hours to see the entire park.
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