On our roadtrip to Norway we visited two castles. First out “Gamlehaugen” the King’s official residence in Bergen situated close to Troldhaugen where the Norwegian composer Edward Grieg lived and worked. The castle was build in 1899 and opens the ground floor to the public during the summer.
The second castle we visited was “Det Kongelige Slottet” in Oslo. It is situated at the end of Karl Johans Street on a hill overlooking Oslo. Building activities commenced in 1824, and the foundation stone was laid by King Carl Johan on 1 October 1825. The Palace was officially taken into use on 26 July 1849 by King Oscar I. At this time the Swedish king ruled both over Sweden and Norway.
The Royal Palace is the home of the Norwegian King and Queen and also a workplace for the whole royal family. It is open to the public during the summer. Behind the castle is a beautiful park filled with statues and monuments.
Oslo
We woke up this morning looking out of the window in our roof overlooking the mountain with waterfalls. Amazing. What a start of the day.
After breakfast we stopped for gas before we started the journey to the famous viewpoint Stegastein with the Aurlandfjord below. The road was very narrow but we made it to the top and the trip was worth it! Wow!
Driving towards Oslo we passed thru snow covered landscapes, lakes with light blue glacier ice, beautiful valleys, fjords. Since we started the day a bit later than planned (they didn’t start serving breakfast until 8 AM) we skipped one of our stops and drove to the Utöya memorial site directly. Very interesting to see and a beautiful place.
Finally we arrived at Oslo – our last destination before heading home tomorrow. Radisson Blu hotel seldom disappoints – but first they gave us a room that didn’t fit the description of our reservation so we complained and received another room which is really a great room. On the 15th floor with a view over the castle and Karl Johan street. Amazing.