Welcome to Oslo

Posted on August 6, 2025 by David Cross

We caught an early morning flight and checked into a hotel in the harbor area which was very convenient.

We stayed at the Thief Hotel and had a great early lunch at the Salmon House restaurant which surprisingly had better salmon than you get in Seattle!

It is only a 10  minute walk to the main square where the is the old fort and the Nobel Peace Center – yes, I am referring to the Nobel Peace Prize.

To explain, you first need to check out the famous city hall building that is uniquely architected and near the harbor square.

Inside you will find numerous historical story telling murals discussing things like the Nazi occupation during WWII.

But what is cool is the actual podium and spot where they hand out the annual Nobel Peace Price is open to everyone and in the same room as all the historical paintings.

Of course everyone likes walking up main street where there is all the shopping, pubs and great line of sight to the Royal Palace at the end.

My understanding is this statue was of the original French born king that ruled for a while and had this palace built…

But what is more interesting is watching all the tourists that do not pay attention and mess with all the rules the solitary Royal Guard tries to enforce with his old M4 rifle that does not have any ammunition in the clip.

Ok – let’s go pack to probably one of the most popular hang out spots with the locals and tourists is the Opera House which is designed to look like an iceberg floating in the ocean.

P.S. I have visited a few other times, so if you would like to see or learn more, check out some of the other postings:

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Exploring Copenhagen

Posted on August 5, 2025 by David Cross

Lets start from the top…

City Hall

It was kind of cool to have to hotel on Hans Christan Anderson avenue, and we visted on the 150th anniversay of his passing. What history to achieve on tihs trip!

On tihs street, this statue is right at the corner of the avenue, city hall and the shopping district (see below)

It is quite a historic building and very popular and free to visit

Notice the top of the building are polar bears to represent Greenland. Yes, I have been to Greenland in this posting 🙂

even more scary were these guys, maybe they are trying to warn guys about getting married???

City Hall is VERY popular in Copenhagen as it is like Las Vegas. Anyone can come in, sign a paper and get married in the town hall. We walked in just as one was starting…

You can even rent flowers for a few minutes for a wedding!

The one thing I could not figure out is hot dogs are very popular to eat in Copenhagen and the stands are everywhere.

Shopping District

Of course there is the shopping district that most people start with the Hard Rock Cafe

From there get ready for the crowds! It is actually not too bad as it is both tourists and locals shopping.

For some reason, Gasoline Grill is the most popular hamburger place and they sell out of beef patties every day…I am not sure I see what is special compared to Burger King down the street…

Sprinkled thoughout the area are numerous historical landmarks and I believe this one used to be public phone booth!

and of course, the most popular store with the longest line is the Lego store! Don’t ask me why…

The Popular Canals

One of the recommended things to do is to explore the canals and sites best viewed from the water starting with the opera house which has a few levels actually below the water!

Next is some of the intersting and intruguing architecture styles you see in Northern Copenhagen.

as well as the naval base museum which has some great cold war artifacts.

and if you like military history, you should check out the very old WWII fort that is an island in the harbor.

You can only reach it by boat and it has some of intersting views of both the famous windmill farm as well as the very long bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden.

The most interesting are inside the fort and see many of the original equipment and how 750 soldiers survived and were based on this tiny island.

It feels like a tiny prison with very thick walls and concrete hardenned faciliites everywhere.

The Famous Mermaid

Now, if you go on a boat in Copenhagen, you must see only friendly local – The Little Mermaid

Now, you should also visit her controversial younger sister which was supposedly genetically modified, and accoridngly less popular.

and of course, nearby, is the scary Madonna. This reminds me of a horror movie for some reason.

Tivoli

Last, but not least is Tivoli which is apparantly the oldest amusement park in the world

It actually has a ton of different cuisine restaurants which makes it a fun place to have lunch or dinner.

It has a lot of shows, concerts, etc. and I think we found it looks best at night when all the lights come on.

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Introduction to Copenhagen

Posted on August 3, 2025 by David Cross

We decided to do a little different vacation exploration this year, so we decided to visit Scandavia.

We had to make a connection through Minneapolis and enjoyed the spacious and friendly Delta lounge on the way.

The cool thing is the pilot gave me the latest pilot cards for the A330 as the very rare Delta 100th anniversary cards when I boarded 🙂

The bad thing is the passport control and baggage claim in Copenhagen were total chaos. If you had a connection in Copenhagen less than 1.5 hours, forget it. There was no way to you could make a connection,

Now, despite the unusually rainy season, it is a very nice city explore and walk around. Parks, paths, and castles everywhere.

The crown jewels were stored here, but they would not let me in for some reason.

That is the new (controversial design) Opera house in the distance. This is also the historical WWII landing where the German Nazis arrived and occupied the city.

Not far away is a memorial in the city which was well known for all the people who helped the Jews escape the Nazis through Denmark which was one of the rare safety spots during the Holocaust.

Of course, we had to check out the fmaous colored houses along the canals

This is the equivalent of Venice tourism in Denmaej I would say…

There are lots of churches and royal palaces for sure.

Sometimes, it makes you feel like you are touring Rome based on the designs and architetcure.

OK – that is enough for Day 1 – stay tuned for more adventures!

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Vashon Island – Found Another Troll

Posted on July 5, 2025 by David Cross

If you want to find all the trolls in Seattle area, you must go hunting and expend some additional effort in some cases. Sometimes they are very far away from civilized areas and you need to take ferries to reach the islands they are hiding on to avoid the zombies populating the major cities.

The ferries take a lot of careful planning and timing. You will feel the pain when you are tardy and you miss the current ferry by less than 5 cars…

Vashon Island has great waterfront parks to explore and even check out the historic lighthouse.

You can even see Mt Rainier in the background of you look beyond the sailboats

Downtown Vashon is a fun set of shops and farmers market. Bookstore too!

And of course the popular Hardware Store restaurant which was great for brunch.

and I am not sure if the downtown ice cream shop was the most popular or all the traditional arcade games. Who can resist playing MS PacMan or Street Fighter 2?

Now, what were we REALLY looking for?

We found the Bird King troll Oscar meeting people in the Point Robinson Park and not being too shy.

Let’s share all the other trolls we found!

This one was hanging out in Lincoln Park in West Seattle

We found this guy in Ballard

and this one was the first one we found hiding in the trees in Issaquah!

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Is the Florida Keys Only for Vacations?

Posted on June 15, 2025 by David Cross

I recently had a business trip and conference to attend…and it was not in the traditional big conference cites, but instead, it was in the Florida Keys. Let’s talk about the good, the bad and the ugly!

First and foremost, you need to fly into Miami and for those of us on the west coast, that is a full day trip. But as soon as you arrive and head to the hotels on Miami beach, you can see why it is a popular town.

There are tons of great rooms that practically right on the beach.

with a lot of great scenery for runs and walks along the canals or the beach boardwalks.

and who knows, you might even run into a dinosaur!

some of the rooms are huge, but I am not sure that is a great benefit when the bed and stairs are 30 feet above the main room…

I found that all the hotels and resorts in the keys all seem to have evening entertainment, that is for sure. Why is that?

Maybe in the Keys, you are long distance from almost everything unless it is another resort.

The greatest benefit – gorgeous sunsets

and bright moons over the sky for dinner

but when you share a resort with a lot of unknown people, you need to be diligent and have secuirty around every corner. Otherwise everyone will sneak into your crowded rooms or confidental meetings,

but that was not a big problem for us as most of the guests like hanging out with the dolphins more than trying to sneak into our meetings…

These isolated conferences are much better at being able to focus and have dedicated time than being in a big city with hotels and lots of distractions.

How does it compare to a massive conference like RSA in San Francisco (blog)?

or the Multiversity in California (blog)? I think I would still prefer the more isolated camps that you have more space and not crowded with all the vactioners in the resort.

Oh yes, on a different trip, I did explore the Florida Keys (blog), so there is a lot of fun if you can leave the resort and conference, but I was not able to this time,

I did go running (of course!) With some of the other running enthusiasts at the conference!

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Who has the best breakfast spot in Waikiki?

Posted on April 12, 2025 by David Cross

Believe it or not, there are not as many traditional breakfast locations or restaurants in the mornings in Waikiki. So let’s review a few !

The Sheraton Waikiki has a nice outside seating

And a bar for getting morning drinks and has the best Virgin/mockktail Pina colada.

The Monkeypod restaurant has tables right next to the ocean and a fantastic local custom breakfast menu…but their fake Pina colada is horrible.

The historic Westin Ala Moana has a great atmosphere in its exterior and garden and the buffet is decent, but is definitely overpriced.

The absolute best buffet is in the 100 Sails restaurant that is in the Prince Waikiki hotel. It overlooks the harbor and is very popular dinner buffet as well. The only downside is the waiter service is quite slow and limited.

Summary: eveywhere is a good breakfast spot, just enjoy vacation with the fireworks every Friday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village!

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The Best Views of Hawaii

Posted on April 11, 2025 by David Cross

This will be a fun one…there are so many great views of the ocean in Waikiki

or from your hotel room

Or having coffee and breakfast next to the ocean thanks to Monkeypod Kitchen

and great sunsets as well to enjoy with dinner

Or you can explore famous movie sets and relive the action in the massive valleys and ranches

The North Shore has much bigger waves, but there is not as much to see or do or eat unless you are going to surf or BBQ on the beach.

so, how do you get better views? Taking a hike!

Where is the best hidden hike? It is in a very fancy neighborhood called Lanikai.

They block tours and guides from entering, but if you walk about a mile into the neighborhood, you can hike up no problem

It is not a simple hike and it can be a little dangerous if it rains, but the hard work will pay off.

The goal is to reach some remaining WWII pillboxes that are on the eastern side of the island. Getting excited yet?

And when at the top, what do you see?

Some of the best ocean views second only to Diamond Head https://davidcrosstravels.com/2021/12/24/hiking-diamond-head/

…and checking out the Bevelery Hills of Hawaii!

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Jurassic Park

Posted on April 9, 2025 by David Cross

It has been many years since the park has been shut down and all the dinosaurs disappeared, but we decided to explore what the park looked like many years ago in its hidden location.

We found the original gate which was quite worn and wide open

and command center that is quite hot in the summer given no electricy or air conditioning any more.

and since there was no electricity, you did not have to worry about touching the high voltage cages which are still peppered throughout the valley,

Speaking of the valley, it is quite majestic and see why many creatures love to soar through here.

But you better be ready to run if any dinoaurs appear unexpectedly!

I am not sure where you can run and escape to though!

Some people dive into the bunkers in the area that some of the people in the Lost TV show found for safety!

but you never know when there may be something else hiding in a bunker!

In that case, maybe it would be a better choice to hiding camping out in some of the WWII bunkers nearby that are still open for people to use when the next attack occurs 🙂

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Sydney Australia

Posted on March 22, 2025 by David Cross

It has been a long time since I last visited, but I could not resist writing an update since I had a chance to visit Sydney on a business trip post COVID and provide a fresh review.

Since I arrived on St Patrick’s day and had a little free time, I went and checked out the Rocks Market again where everyone was out on the Sunday afternoon and enjoying the scenery and Irish atmosphere for the holiday.

The good thing is you do not need a smartphone in Sydney, the phones are everywhere for you to call for reservations at your favorite restaurants! 😆

The nice thing in the summer months you can easily walk everywhere and they even have tunnels and paths so you do not have to cross highways.

They also have nice tram service in some spots that is only $1 per ride and you just tap your mobile phone when you get on and off the tram.

I did go tour the famous Opera House, but if course I had to take a picture since it is one of the most famous landmarks that always catches the eye 😉

I guess Sydney is becoming quite the shopping destination these days. It feels like there are kilometers of stores of every brand and it could days to see them all!

There are some great hotels that line the Darling Harbour area. I tried out the W hotel myself which has great views.

The evenings are even better!

The showers were a little different…the whole bathroom is a shower, so that takes a little getting used to…

And you have to be careful of the giant sharks that control the rooms…

If you would like to get another view of the water, check out the Bondi Beach area. It is about a 20 minute ride from downtown.

I had a chance to check out the Icebergs restaurant with a friend and they have some great fish dishes and views 🙂

And yes, of course I went running! The harbour is very popular with runners every morning. 🙂

and go look – this makes all seven continents of which I have run on! https://davidcrosstravels.com/running-around-the-world/

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United Airlines Review

Posted on March 15, 2025 by David Cross

I know it has been long overdue, but I finally got a chance to check out a recent international flight opportunity on United and see how it compares to all the competitors!

Most people take the international flights for United out of SFO and you need to take the long 15 minutes walk to the G gates…but it actually felt good after a few hours on a domestic flight.

Of course you can check out the duty free shops…but do you really save any serious money outside of sales tax?

Or head into the airline lounge. I went into check out the Polaris lounge.

It is pretty popular as you can see, but it does not feel loud or crowded.

And the bathrooms are not crowded, they are all huge personal spaces which was nice.

How about food? You have two choices. The standards entree bar which is quite nice, or…

The dining room which has menu and table service. Very similar to the Virgin Atlantic lounge in Heathrow airport.

The portions are small, but they do have large flavor.

It is amazing on how fast they can serve perfect temperature, delicious dishes and meet your needs in less than 30 minutes.

Now as the lounge fills up with everyone waiting for the midnight international flights, the challenge is getting one of these choice lounge compartments…it is like the fight for pool lounges and umbrellas at summer resorts!

The gate seems very chaotic but with the electronic scanning it boards quickly and you get to check out your seat. I was trying to figure out why there were so many extra pillows and blankets. They gave even more than this and I had to put them up with the luggage!

How was the food? Well…the flight attendant ran back and forth 4 times and kept asking what was my appetizer choice…I knew things were not going well from there.  Overall, it was OK, but certainly not world class.

The media choices and performance of the entertainment system was great, but the headphones were a cheap disappointment for sure.  You had to crank up the volume to hear anything over the engines.

The small consolation prize is they do give you some pajamas if you ask.

They were comfy, I may actually keep them at take them home!

And then after 15 hours of flying, we had to wait for 30 minutes to find room for us at the gate like the Qantas A380

If you would like to see of my other airline reviews, check out my consolidated page: https://davidcrosstravels.com/airline-reviews/

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