Milenomics² [NoAF] Podcast Episode 73 & 74: A Norway Trip Report

A Norway Trip Report...on today’s Milenomics² Podcast 01:00 Scope: 2 weeks in Norway. Oslo, Tromso, Lofoten then back to Oslo for a few days.  Wanted to get away from people.  Love the coast, and Norway has a LOT of coastline Spent most of our time in the arctic Circle (but not considered the arctic) Map: 10:12 Outbound: Air France. LAX-CDG Plus a 4hr layover. Flight was smooth and the daytime departure was nice Got to experience the new LAX Air France lounge. Open 3 weeks ago. New is always better. 4hrs in CDG was perfect with kids. Got through immigration, train to the 2F terminal, settled into a lounge, everyone showered and then about 45 minutes later we were off to the gate Kids meal was pre-ordered and was great. CDG-OSL very basic, service by Amelia (by Air France) 20:10 Getting to Oslo from the airport Fly to vs Vy.  Trains run every 10-20 minutes. Travel time is less than 30 minutes.  Flytoget calls itself the 'fastest' airport train. This might be true, but only by a minute or two. Vy is a few minutes slower. Faster than driving even. Flytoget has Kids free vs VY so the prices start to converge when you take this into consideration approx $12 - 24 per person one way. Taxi was about $125. We had 4 of these one ways to do so we needed to get good at them. Vy app is not as good as the Ruter app for buying tickets with US credit cards. Stick to the Ruter app. Ruter and VY app cannot buy flytoget tickets, so Ruter + Flytoget app are the ideal combo. Tickets can also easily be bought at the ticket machines. 25:20 Clarion hotel the hub (a strawberry hotel) Location is great, just off Oslo central station 810(!) rooms. Norway's Largest hotel. Did not feel this big. Booked family size room for 16000 points With a Strata Premier this is 8000 TYP transferred to Choice. Included a pull out sofa which was already set up for us. Includes full buffet breakfast with omelette and crepe station. Nice, newish hotel.  Certainly a great way to spend TYP and appreciate they book family rooms. Came back and worked to get connecting rooms. Seemed willing to even give some partial extra credit for the family room vs. 2 regular rooms. 30:58 Oslo: World city, really a great feel to the city, full of energy, parks and fantastic amounts of museums. 20+ Hours of daylight. People outdoors and a city that is alive. Paris and Prague feels. But English is a first or second language in most signs and interaction. Summer in Norway is Wildflower season. The landscaping in the cities is beautiful. Be Aware of your surroundings at night. There were some sketchy areas we stumbled into. Nothing too rough but still, be aware. Food was easy to find and diverse Interesting food halls: Oslo Street Food or Barcode Street Food Most world cuisine was easy