Oslo Experience part 1

It can't be better timed than this one. Mid-summer holiday in a sun-starved scandinavian country. We decided to take a luxury cruise from Helsinborg in Sweden to Oslo in Norway. Thursday was pretty busy as I had to do a lot of stuff in and outside of office. But I, somehow, managed to do it well before the 3 pm deadline and at 3:15 I was in a bus racing towards Helsinborg. The two hour journey was not so good as I am (now) fed up of seeing the never ending woods. Helsinborg was an happy surprise. Being a coastal city it was warm and humid. We started walking towards the jetty. It was a nice view down there. Wind was blowing heavily and luckily no clouds in the sky.

Cruising towards Oslo

After watching a number of boats sailing here and there, the cruise ship, supposed to take us to Oslo, arrived. It was like a gigantic 12 storied luxury hotel somehow floating on a ship ! We were really excited by merely looking at the massive ship. We got in. Our rooms were at the 10th floor! very close to the top deck. After an announcement of departure, the typical horn blew up and I was on my first marine expedition ! It was really exciting, watching the distancing shore, dissappearing slowly. After sometime there was nothing else but visibly infinite sea below and the sky above. This particular situation made me realize how insignificant I am in the big world. After a bit of introspection, I realized myself being attached with the world in more than one forms. If you attach yourself with the almighty, you are the one who is everywhere, and if you detach yourself from the almighty, you are nothing. everything depends on how do you think and what do you think you are. I had been lost in the deep sense of spiritual satisfaction for some time .

please click on the images to see the bigger ones. !
I was dragged down to the earth by my yelling colleague. It was the time to take dinner and he was calling me for that.

"Only" dinner on a cruise journey was not making much sense :) So some bottles of Martini were brought to add some "spirit" to it :) It was a real fun enjoying Martini and good food on the deck at 12th floor with sun shining above your head and cool breeze buzzling.

Soon everyone was climbing to the *seventh heaven* ..... step by step. Alongside was the rising volume of songs, gazals, romantic songs, sad songs and even "koli geete" :) we were really enjoying, somewhat worried were the married women, worrying about their husbands making use of the opportunity to booze :) After this a lot of things happened, dance, disco and stuff like that, more on this was informed to me by my colleagues on the "next morning" :) I had a sound sleep in the lavish room.

I woke up by sound of the siren at 7 am. It was the time when the ship enters the *fiord* (A narrow inlet of the sea, penetrating between high banks or rocks, as on the coasts of Norway and Alaska). It was a treat to eyes.

I am short of words to explain the natural beauty. There were many islands, hilly regions, full of trees with small and pretty farm houses. There was a small jetty in front of the small farm houses and a small road from the jetty to the farm house through the Green woods. All in all heavenly experience.


To be continued in the next post....