Alsguth Travel Blog

 Hello - if you are looking for sights and/or tips about Oslo this is not the post for you.  If you go back to 2019 in the blog there is a post about Oslo.  This time our trip to Oslo was about seeing our Norwegian son Andreas. Andreas was an exchange student with us in 2008-09.  We have remained close to him and wanted to spend some time with him, his lovely wife Marit and daughter Hedda.  So, let's get to Norway! We arrived late on Thursday after seeing Hilmer and Roslyn off on their flight to Houston.  Having arrived on the longest day of the year we enjoyed a late dinner and walk around Oslo with Andreas.  Sylvi and Olav (Andreas' parents) let us stay in their apartment in Oslo - such a treat! Friday we walked around Oslo with Sylvi and Olav, grabbed lunch in the harbor and checked out the area.  This beach is a popular stop for swimming in Oslofjord. It was a gorgeous sunny day! Fighting the traffic out of Oslo, we went to Andreas' house in Asker.  We had dinner fresh

 Hello dear readers! I know that there are a few of you that will be visiting Athens soon - this is the blog for you! 1. the Uber app works for taxis - they are cheap and plentiful 2. 12-15,000 steps is an easy day in this amazing city 3. both the Acropolis and the National Archeological Museums are worth the time 4. Buy the combo ticket - you will save money & skip some lines. 5. Always order the Greek Salad, and yes, Gyros can be eaten every day! Now, on to our adventures.... In the Acropolis Museum you learn all about the Acropolis and its buildings.  These (original) ladies are standing in the Museum - They originally stood here as part of the Erechtheion.  They moved the originals to the museum and replaced them with these stone copies. These three dudes were part of the relics from the Acropolis that now live in the museum.  They seemed happy to be there out of the heat! Under the museum they found a "neighborhood" from the 4th Century A.D. So, they elevated the bui

Hello from Athens! One more post covering our last stop on the cruise: Santorini was the much-anticipated last stop on the cruise.  The day did not turn out the way we thought it would - to say the very least. We learned early in the morning that effectively ALL excursions were cancelled because of wind/waves at the port where the excursions start.  The tenders, which go to a different port, were still running.  The situation was made more challenging by the fact that there were FIVE cruise ships full of people with no excursions! Now, I know what you are thinking  - just go into Santorini and walk around Sheri.  Sure, of course! The challenge is that Santorini sits 1,300 feet above sea level.  There are three ways up the rock - 1) a gondola, 2) ride a donkey or 3) walk.  Don't know if you would have guessed, but we walked.  The line to ride the gondola was 2 hours long (remember the 5 cruise ships?) and the donkey line was long and the ride looked terrifying. Here is a small secti