We take our time getting up and dressed this morning. Breakfast is served until 11am and we arrive there at 10. It's good but honestly, none of these breakfast buffets can compare with the ones we had in Germany two years ago. Three different kinds of eggs, many cereals, breads and oatmeal, fish, yogurt, lunch meats, and much more were the norm there. Here, it's much more basic. That's OK. After last night's $50 meal, this free breakfast is great....

I awake at the B&B around 8am. Our trip to Bergen from here is 2:15 minutes but we already know how that usually goes. We have a boat trip planned for 2:30pm up the fjords for 3 hours and, you know, Mom likes boats. She will like this leisurely cruise. Here's the description of our boat trip to Mostraumen direct from the Internet: "Experience the fjords, mountains and waterfalls – all year round! The cruise starts from Zachariasbryggen, right next to t...

After our free breakfast, we leave our cottage and decide to stop by the Krossobanen for a ride up the mountain. It's not part of my original plan but now we have no plan so we take the tram up to the top and back. Completed in 1928, Krossobanen was the first cable car in Northern Europe and rises about 1600' above the valley. Lots of backpackers are on the way up with us looking to hike further into the mountains. It's raining pretty hard and the vi...

We're up and ready to go at by 9am. We grab our free breakfast which is, well, free and very good. My plan for today was to take the Oslo sightseeing boat around Oslo harbor and fjords in the morning but, nervous about traveling today, we skip it and head out directly to the parking garage. Everyone tells me I have a problem since I don't have a parking ticket. A customer at the machine says the same. There is no attendant. Noticing a call button, I push....

Up at 6:30 this morning, last minute preparations are made to leave the Zuiderdam today and begin our next phase of our journey, traveling on our own for the 10 days that separate our two cruises. In the past the train has always served as our means of transportation but this time it just wasn't practical. The train doesn't go to the places we want to see so, against my better judgment, I arranged for a car for 8 days followed by just two days on the trai...