The location:Trondheim is officially the second oldest city in Norway (but we like to think of it as the oldest!), it celebrated its 1000 year in 1997. At present about 170.000 people live within its limits – in addition there are some 25000 students at the University and various colleges. Its main attraction is the Nidaros Cathedral. For an excellent description of the city and its possibilities take a look at:
http://www.trondheim.com/engelskAs for the weather during the championship May is on the average the driest month during the year. However, be prepared for any possibilities from temperatures above +20C and sunshine to snow and sleith. For those naive enough to trust the meterorological wizards, you might check for example the Storm- netspot which provides 8 days predictions:
http://www.storm.no/vaer/trondheimHowever you should be warned that the old-timer predicting this years summer weather from appearance of fish shell turned out to be more accurate than the professionals.
Travel :Trondheim Airport Vaernes has numerous daily connections to the International Gardermoen Airport north of Oslo and some direct connections to European airports. The airport is located about 25 kilometers from the city and several buslines and even the railroad will bring you to the hotels in the center.
If time permits we would suggest using the train connections from the Gardermoen Airport to Trondheim which brings you through scenic countrysides and over the Dovre mountain range.
http://www.nsb.no/home/Even more scenic would be the Hurtigruten voyage from Bergen to Trondheim which would show you some of the famous Norwegian Fjords.
http://hurtigruten.no/Norge/The accommodation:The Prinsen hotel
http://www.prinsenhotell.no/Default.asp ... &menuid=10in the city center is the official hotell for the Championship where we have negociated a good price for the stay. A double room will cost you about nkr.1050- a day including a solid breakfast, while a single room is nkr. 865-. Presently the nkr. Is valued at about 0.17$ or 0.13 Euro.
As the competitions and the welcome party will take place in the hotell, it is the most convenient location.
There are numerous hotels located in the center of the city, which can be found through the commonly used hotell search engines on the Net like the:
http://no.hotels.com/de944293/hoteller-trondheim-norge/Note that once you get a bit off-center you might find cheaper alternatives, like the Local YMCA – Trondheim Vandrerhjem – which is located a brisk 2 km walk from the Prinsen hotell if you do not choose to take bus # 63. A price list for the Vandrerhjem can be found on the Net:
http://www.trondheimvandrerhjem.no/Default.aspxEating and drinking:Being a university city filled with hungry students, Trondheim has a wide variety of restaurants, the latest count found over 200 cafes and restaurants. The Egon restaurants – one of them is located in the Prinsen Hotel – are reasonable priced with good quality and varied food. To get an idea about the price level your can download EGON´s menus in 6 languages here:
http://www.egon.no/index.asp?MenuID=2984A Burger King and a MacDonald can be found a couple of minutes walk from the hotell in addition to a wide variety of restaurants.
Note that on the National Day – May 17 – the city is filled with people and most of them are looking for a place to eat and drink. This day you might also find that the prices have been raised in the cafes and restaurants.
Alcohol is very expensive in Norway both when acquired in a pub or a restaurant and in the official liqueur stores – Vinmonopolet. A small beer can easily set you back some 60 to 80 kroners. On the other hand you might find exclusive French wines to be cheaper at the Vinmonopolet than in France!
So be prepared and warned.
What to see and getting around in the city:The center of Trondheim is very compact and you can reach most of the interesting sites by walking. If you want to be little more mobile in your exercise, the city has 125 bicycles for free disposal. In addition, numerous buslines starts close to the Prinsen Hotel and will bring to most places outside the city center. Note that you can buy tickets which gives you unlimited travel in 24 and 72 hours:
http://www.trondheim.com/content/227682/Transport- When it comes to places to see and visit we again must refer you to the Net:
http://www.trondheim.com/engelskIn addition to the Nidaros Cathedral we would like to draw your attention to the Historical Museum:
http://www.ntnu.no/vitenskapsmuseet/english which is located very close to Prinsen Hotel.
Another interesting place is the rather unique Musical Museum at Ringve.
http://www.ringve.com/English/The city is surrounded by unspoiled nature close to its perimeters. In fact wild animals like moose and deers can be problem as they crosses the roads and invade the gardens. Taking a bus up to Skistua, you can walk along paths for hours without meeting a living soul. If you are a bird enthusiast, May is the Month for visiting Norway as the migratory birds are returning in great numbers.
As for shopping you have to your disposal numerous speciality shops in the center in addition to downtown shopping centers like Solsiden, Torgkvartalet, Byhaven. If you looking for souvenirs that are genuine Norwegian (and more expensive) the Husfliden shop is the place.
http://io.no/info/norsk-flid-husfliden-trondheim-664756The fish market – Ravnkloa – is located 5 minutes walk from Prinsen. In addition to see our local fishes you might sample some the fish products in a small restaurant. The fish market is run by one of the members of our club.
May 17.May 17 is the Norwegian National Day and is really The Day of year. It is the day when everybody put on their finest outfit – especially the ladies will be wearing their national costumes. The day is a continous celebration with Childrens Parade, High School Parades, concerts, salute etc. The biggest Parade is the Citizen Parade which starts a 1 o´clock in the afternoon. Our club has always been a big hit in that parade, but people are still talking about the parade in 97 when the competitors from the World Championship joined the parade. And that success we want to repeat next year´s May 17. It is hard to estimate how many spectators watch the parade but 50000 is a conservative estimate – in addition several newspapers and TV-stations will follow the parade.
Via David
