Overnight Ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen

Oslo's modern, functionalist Rådhus (city hall) isn't much to look at from the outside, mostly boring red brick with a few gilded mosaics and woodcarvings.  But inside is covered nearly floor to ceiling in colorful frescoes showing scenes of workers and daily life in Norway in the early 20th century.

The main hall is where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded every December

Our 48-hour Oslo Pass was a good investment for a quick visit, getting us free admission to the city's best museums as well as free transit anywhere we wanted to go.  One of our final stops was to the National Gallery.  In addition to one of four versions of Edvard Munch's The Scream, the collection also has works by El Greco, Manet, Cézanne, and Renoir.

This version was stolen and recovered in 1994

Looking for a lunch spot, we wandered through the older section of Oslo called the Damstredet.  The wooden homes and cobblestone streets here date from the early to mid 1800's and are some of the oldest buildings in the city.

As we walked back to the hotel to pick up our bags, we heard a brass band coming up Karl Johans Gate.  We had an hour to kill before our ferry to Denmark, so we followed them all the way up to the palace for the daily changing of the guard ceremony.  A nice send-off after a whirlwind tour of Oslo.

We had booked a cabin on the M/S Crown Seaways car ferry to Copenhagen.  I would say it's more like a mini-cruise than a typical ferry -- it's an overnight passage that takes about 17 hours.

Sure, we could have taken the train and arrived faster.  And you can even drive from Oslo to Copenhagen in only six hours -- but why would you do that when you can travel in style?

Our inside cabin had a bathroom/shower and was surprisingly comfortable

Plus, the duty free booze on board is a nice side benefit (alcohol in Norway is heavily taxed and can run upwards of $8 for a basic pint of beer, more for craft brews).  Lots of Norwegians going to Denmark take the ferry as a sort of "party boat" -- there was at least one bachelor party on board and there were several live music venues.  The piano lounge singer led a memorably rousing sing-along to John Denver.  Just imagine fifty people all singing along in heavily accented English: "Country ROOOOOOOAAADS, take me HOOOOOOMMME!".  A priceless experience.  Not to mention the very dance-y discotheque playing all the best 70's hits -- ABBA songs, "YMCA", and my personal favorite "Rasputin".  And the late-night sun came out too -- a nice change after all the rain we've seen this week!