Friday, May 11, 2012

Cruise Vacation - Day 1 (Thursday, 10 May 2012)


DAY 1 – Wednesday, 9 May 2012 to Thursday, 10 May 2012, San Diego to London to Oslo, Norway

We boarded British Airways Flight 272, a Boeing 777, in San Diego at 9 p.m. on Wednesday night  The scheduled departure was 8:20 p.m., and we departed at 9:30 p.m. The legroom was cramped but we had aisle seats to minimize the getting in and out problem. There was a dinner meal – it was forgettable. Linda had half of her Subway sandwich. I watched the movie The Descendants on the flight and some TV shows, and dozed a bit. We arrived at Heathrow Airport in London about 1.5 hours late, but our connecting flight to Oslo was also delayed a bit. Linda had a wheelchair, and we were escorted from the arrival gate through a vast underground maze by a wheelchair pusher to the Oslo gate. British Airways has 66 gates at Heathrow. I exchanged dollars for Norwegian kroners at the airport (highway robbery!).

The British Airways flight to Oslo departed at 6:15 p.m. (supposed to be 5:15 p.m.) and they served only flavored chips and a drink. Linda had the second half of her Subway sandwich. We got to Oslo Airport at 9:30 p.m. After the wheelchair ride through the airport from the departure gate through immigration, then claiming out two suitcases, to the airport entry, we bought tickets for the 25 minute train ride from the airport to the central Oslo station for 170 kroner each (a kroner is about 18 cents American). We barely got off the train with our two bags and Linda’s walker, plus our carry-ons, and walked to the street to hail a taxi. That cost 350 kroner (about $55) for a 15 minute ride. The Scandic Sjolyst Hotel is on the west end of Oslo near Bygdoy, and seemed to specialize in business travelers during the week and tourists on the weekend. We got into our room with no problem, pushed the twin beds together, and tried to sleep.  It was a long day and night!

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