South of the town centre is Hamburg's historic wharf area from its old trading days. This goes back to the Hanseatic days when it was an important trading town.Similar to the wharfs in Trondheim Norway, the buildings tightly pressed against the waterfront. However instead of wood buildings in Norway, these were Victorian brick.I don't know if they were damaged in WWII and if these are restorations but the architecture is very impressive as the reflections shimmer...

Today was a beautiful warm sunny day to explore Hamburg. The first impression was how overrun it was with people. It felt like being inside an ant colony. It was also more multicultural with many different nationalities.I got a fish sandwich from Nordsee Restaurant at Hamburg station for only 2.80 Eu ($4.20). Wow food was cheap after Norway were I daren't not eat anything!First I went towards the Town Hall and passed some old churches along the way. There was int...

This morning was the last of my early morning flights as I left Norway after my week long adventure. I was leaving the hotel at 7am but first had to talk to the office to make sure I wasn't going to get charged twice on two cards when my self check in didn't work yesterday. They said they needed to wait to see if the transaction showed up overnight.The person was only the night duty guy so didn't know and I had to get to the airport so I said I'd email them later...

Central Oslo is very easy to navigate. There is a long grand boulevard leading from the Palace to the rail station about a km away at the other end. Many of the main sights are on this street.Leaving the Palace first is the University and National Theatre.This is followed next by the Parliament buildingAlong this street are many grand hotels, cafes, and upscale restaurants. There are also grand sweeping views back of the Palace.At the far end towards the train st...

On my last visit to Oslo I didn't goto the Castle as it had already closed for the day. I'd seen the inside on a Korean travel show and I wanted to try again today to visit.On arrival I didn't know if I wanted to pay the 70K entrance ($14) given Norway's high prices. I'd been to a castle in Bergen but then I thought this is Oslo, it has to be nicer, when will I be here again, so I went in. Good choice as it was really worth it.Rather than have big empty rooms lik...