Trip to Kiel (Germany) 1-3 Dec 2005
IBM/Datateam Conference on Ship Oslo-Kiel-Oslo
IBM/Datateam Julekonferanse til Kiel 1.-3. desember 2005
The traditional Christmas Conference by the IBM iSeries user organisation Datateam was this year held on board the new ferry ship Color Fantasy. The two ships on this route carry passengers and cars between continental Europe and Norway. Home port is Oslo, Norway. Continental port is Kiel, Germany. The trip takes about 20 hours each way. While the ferry ship is in harbour in Kiel there is no conference program so we have some four hours time for sightseeing and Christmas shopping ashore.
Map, air photo and drawings are copied from ColorLine with permission.
Kart, flyfoto og tegninger er hentet fra ColorLine med tillatelse.
Click on the image to enlarge
Our cabin in the class "Fantasy Suite" ...
... on deck 10 was roomy and had ...
... a comfortable double bed ...
... and a nice bathroom.
From the conference room.
Dressed up for the Conference Dinner.
Next morning / Neste morgen
Kiel harbour seen from our cabin.
Ready to go ashore.
On the gangway.
The ship seen from the gangway.
Entering German territory (crossing the customs line).
It was cold and windy outside.
The ship and the terminal building.
To enter the city of Kiel we had to cross this canal bridge.
Looking south ...
... and north from the bridge.
Kiel Railway Station (DB = Deutche Bahn / German Railway).
Inside I found this train, very similar to those used in parts of Norway.
Outside the railway station taxies were waiting for passengers. We headed for the shopping center across the street.
Getting closer to the shopping center.
Germany is well known for their Christmas sweets and cakes.
I just had to take a picture of this sign on the shopping center entrance door. The Norwegian translation is rather amusing.
The first shop we met was a fruit market ...
... but that was just the beginning.
An indoor side-street with a selection of south European style restaurants in two floors.
More shops as we walk further.
But then I spotted this. A large model train built up on display.
The whole installation was computer controlled.
Gunvor taking a break while I was studying the details of the installation.
Outside on the other side of the shopping center part of the street was converted to a Christmas market.
The maket contained stands selling all kinds of Christmas eatings, Christmas decorations and other more or less practical items.
When the Christmas market ended the shopping street continued. A little interesting to see two Norwegian store chains having branches here. Their signs can be seen on the buildings right behind the tree, Dressmann to the right and Cubus to the left.
But soon it was time to return to the ship.
From the gangway again.
The cabin had been fixed while we were ashore.
The ship's indoor "shopping street".
Time for lunch on board.
Goodby to Kiel ...
.. and back to the conference. (I turned my camera this time).
Later in the evening we passed under the largest bridge in Denmark, the Storebælt bridge. It was impossible to get a sharper photo with my small camera in the darkness with the wibrations that is allways there from the ship's engine. The horizontal "bands" across the picture are something making reflections in the window glass.
Breakfast Saturday morning while the ship is docking in Oslo.
Looking down from deck 15 in Oslo this Saturday morning at about 9:30 before leaving the ship after a very nice trip.