On to Oslo

 Sunday, August 23, 2026

We left our campground in Askim Sweden and headed to Oslo with a few stops in between.

It was a beautiful drive along the coastline...

It's very flat --we saw plenty of farmland and windfarms along the way....

Our first stop was at a UNESCO World Heritage site at Tanumshede where rock carvings and petroglyphs from the Bronze Age were discovered--1800 to 500 BC--now that's REALLY old!!

There were several rock faces with carvings which have been highlighted for visibility.   

These carvings were discovered in the 1600's, researched and documented over the years and have provided a glimpse into the lives, beliefs and creativity of people who lived here thousands of years ago.  Our guide provided plenty of interpretations of the carvings to describe life in those days.  There was also an interpretive village that showed how people lived during that time.  It really gives an appreciation for the value of preserving history.

We crossed into Norway and our next stop was the town of Frederikstad, the largest and best preserved fortress town in Northern Europe. 

It was built in 1567 as a walled community and people still live and work here. 

There are about 350 people who live within the walls, and the streets bustle with cafes, and shops.

We saw a few characters in the streets--not sure what the sign says.

The city straddles the river, just outside the fortress walls, and it provides a beautiful backdrop to the area.

After a great lunch we headed on to Oslo, going through multiple tunnels (some were really long!) until finally reaching our campground Topcamp Bogstad.   

We've been on this trip for a just one week and have already been in four countries with three different currencies!  (Thank goodness for the calculator help with money conversion.) We've been lucky with the rain--only one day with rain so far--most of the rain has come at night.  Our guide in Gothenburg told us it rains 1 out of 3 days up here, so we are truly fortunate.

 We're at the point where everyone is ready for laundry!  Who knew you could have this much fun taking care of dirty clothes?