Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

The Leprosy Museum was 80 kroners entrance, which was a bit much, and anyway, not really sure it was a sight we could stomach just before our tea.

Right outside it there was a sort of lay-by, with a sign that said "Drop off point".

[Skippy]

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It starts good but it soon drops off.

[tikay]

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It starts good but it soon drops off.

Please, no drop off punnage.

[tikay]

Seem to remember from way back that foreign coinage (or is that "coin"?) often had a hole in the middle.

Never quite figured out why, but guess there was good reason and logic.

[tikay]

Here's what I call a take to bed picture.

Tomorrow, lots more train, bus and boat photos to enthrall you all.

[tikay]

Tomorrows expedition into uncharted lands.

Train - bus - boat - bus - train.

Does life get better than that?

I remember "Free Seating" they used to have that when tables broke at Nottm. Gala way back when.

It was hardly "free seating" if the late Dave Smith or Burglar Kev were being moved, they were 1.01 to reach the button seat first. In that respect Dave Smith really punched his weight. Seen him bowl over many a player in the melee, bet you have too.

[Doobs]

not the most exciting question, but intersted to know how expensive you find it over there with sterling where it is.

every day stuff..lattes, train rides, meals for two etc etc

Staggeringly, eye-wateringly, jaw dropping expensive.

A latte is around a fiver.

We just had a regular dinner at the fish market, not in the least posh or anything, sort of working class place.

I had fish and chips, Gill had prawns and a side salad, plus a sparkling water, a coke and a latte. That came to £48.

Fish soup at the fish market was £20.

To be fair, we are using a sort of easy reference to translate kroners to sterling, just divide by 10, so perhaps that is unfair or inaccurate.

A pack of Prince cigarettes costs 120 kroner, or so I am told.

Gill has been perusing the shops, as is her want, and can't believe how expensive stuff is. Might be as we are in a tourist area I guess.

We spent an hour at Bergen Railway Station - a tourist must see, obv - and the cost of train tickets seems high. Bergen to Oslo comes in at 720 kroners for a single.

Best value train journey in the World though, even after brexit has pushed the price up 20%.  It is £27 on the Heathrow express ffs.

Can't believe it is sunny in Bergen.  Adz won't be happy.

[Karabiner]

Tomorrows expedition into uncharted lands.

Train - bus - boat - bus - train.

Does life get better than that?

I remember "Free Seating" they used to have that when tables broke at Nottm. Gala way back when.

It was hardly "free seating" if the late Dave Smith or Burglar Kev were being moved, they were 1.01 to reach the button seat first. In that respect Dave Smith really punched his weight. Seen him bowl over many a player in the melee, bet you have too.

You know I like to defend my big blind even when the odds are stacked against me.

[Lonohray2]

Some school friends and I had a week in Oslo, think we were 18 at the time, flights were £12 return or something silly and that was the only reason we decided to go - in February school holidays, we stayed in a Hostel for relatively cheap too.

First thing we did was go to a sports bar to catch the end of an Arsenal game, CCR'd for the round - 8 lads had gone to the bar and the girls had gone onto the hostel or the open air ice rink. The stingiest of the group lost the flip much to the delight of everyone and ordered 8 beers with ~£30 ready to pay the bill. Except the bill wasn't £30, he got some coinage change from £100, about half his allocated spending money for the week. We were crying from laughter and he was almost crying for different reasons, shell shocked. Very funny memory, great trip, we did a lot of touristy stuff too - couldn't afford to be terrible tourists and sit in sports bars all week even if we had wanted to


Edit: Hole in the coinage, only reason I can think of is to keep them in one place on a piece of string. Another reason I could see would be to store them on thin metal rods, perhaps a shop keeper or trader could pay out change quickly this way.

[Marky147]

Mate of mine lives in Norway, so I asked if there was anything in Oslo he could think you might like.

My input was 'He likes bimbling about, and looking at animals/landmarks'.

He suggested this http://www.vigeland.museum.no/en/vigeland-park

No idea if it's of interest, but it's 15 minutes from the centre, and you can jump on a bus/tram to get there.

[Tal]

Some school friends and I had a week in Oslo, think we were 18 at the time, flights were £12 return or something silly and that was the only reason we decided to go - in February school holidays, we stayed in a Hostel for relatively cheap too.

First thing we did was go to a sports bar to catch the end of an Arsenal game, CCR'd for the round - 8 lads had gone to the bar and the girls had gone onto the hostel or the open air ice rink. The stingiest of the group lost the flip much to the delight of everyone and ordered 8 beers with ~£30 ready to pay the bill. Except the bill wasn't £30, he got some coinage change from £100, about half his allocated spending money for the week. We were crying from laughter and he was almost crying for different reasons, shell shocked. Very funny memory, great trip, we did a lot of touristy stuff too - couldn't afford to be terrible tourists and sit in sports bars all week even if we had wanted to


Edit: Hole in the coinage, only reason I can think of is to keep them in one place on a piece of string. Another reason I could see would be to store them on thin metal rods, perhaps a shop keeper or trader could pay out change quickly this way.

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34555

"a huge hole in the middle of a coin is a nice, unmistakable means of distinguishing a silver-coloured but base-metal (eg. cupronickel) coin from a silver coin of similar size, either current or obsolete. This is the primary reason for European holed coins. Norway is an excellent example: the 1 krone was a "normal" (unholed) silver coin up until WWI, at which time they switched to a cupronickel coin the same size. To make it obvious to everyone that the 1 krone was no longer silver, it's got a central hole. Base-metal coins of France, Greece, Palestine and elsewhere are all holed for this reason."

[Lonohray2]

Very clever, my Father's main hobby is metal detecting and often finds "fake silvers" as he calls them, should of thought of that

[nirvana]

The fish market was extraordinary. Love to look at "wet fish", looks so good.

Oh man, can you imagine what any of those would taste like with some tinned tomatoes and peas....mmm

[MANTIS01]

Perhaps a hole in the coin is symbolic of what's left in your wallet after a trip to Norway?

[Woodsey]

Seem to remember from way back that foreign coinage (or is that "coin"?) often had a hole in the middle.

Never quite figured out why, but guess there was good reason and logic.

Pretty sure I've got some of those coins but I've never been to Norway, is it the same Kronor as Denmark or Sweden or a different currency?