It was a reasonably early start for our brief sojourn into Sweden. The weather is gorgeous, a perfect day for sun and travel and a great day for the wedding & am sure Chris will take loads of photos. We packed enough for an overnighter with instructions for duty free loot from Chris. Sweden has better purchasing power than Norway and many Norwegians skip over the border for cheap shopping. For us it is 4 Norwegian Kroner to our $. In Sweden it is 5 Swedish Kroner to our $. Norway has the same relationship with Sweden as we have with our Aussies. We decided to take the car Ferry to Sweden, which was from Sandefjord 2 hours south of Oslo. Sandefjord was in the midst of a handball tournament. Known as a whaling town it is one of the major transit points for Sweden. Our Ferry was a large ship complete with Casino, restaurants and the coveted duty free where people buy up large typically saving more than half on retail. It is a 3-hour trip across the Oslo Fjord to Sweden. Very amused with the “private” islands. A rock with some grass and a house. I guess everybody’s patch of paradise is in the eye of the beholder.
We disembarked at Stromstad in Sweden, cajoled the GPS, as it had to reboot for a different country and headed north. Decided to stop at Fredrikstad, the 6th largest city in Norway, which is also a coastal city. Very old and plan to see the fortified portion of it tomorrow. Stayed at Victoria’s a very old hotel undergoing refurbishment opposite the park and 2 minutes walk from the river. Now owned by a family they had taken it over from the previous owners a year ago who were terrible so have a lot of reputation to claw back. We were upgraded to a Balcony Room which was lovely and the cost was very reasonable and included breakfast. For an extra cost Chris’ Rav 4 is in an undercover garage. Another recommendation from our lovely owners was a delightful restaurant called Mer with lovely food and great service. Both Victoria’s and Mer have restored our faith in Norwegian service which sadly to date has been indifferent. This is less than satisfactory as eating out is double what we pay in a top restaurant in New Zealand and triple in Bergen.
Another big surprise was running into Brother in law Per, Benthe and a large group of their friends. They were off to a show so will pop into have coffee with them tomorrow at their camping ground.
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