Norway

December 26-30 2007

So it is a realization that the when I hit the road traveling that I tend to neglect my blog. This is probably the worst time to do so as it is when the most exciting things are happening. So when I last signed on I was just getting ready to head to Galway for Christmas. It was a great time with all my friends. The cooking went great other than the turkey taking about three hours longer than anticipated. It is just one of those things you just half to deal with. As planned by a group of us we went to the diving peer and jumped into the Atlantic Ocean. The water couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4 degrees Celsius. It was freezing but another activity I can say I have done. Christmas night I hung out and said good bye to all my friends in the Galway area. I got about two hours sleep and then headed to the airport. Here Matt and I had our last pints of Guinness and shot of Irish whisky while in its home land. It had been an unforgettable 4 months and the time has flown by. 4 days in
Olso should be a good start to the travels again.

When we landed and exited the plain it was warmer than I thought it would be. It was about 1 degree C. We got our luggage and asked if it was possible to walk to city centre Oslo from the airport. The information desk laughed and said you must be flying Ryan Air. We indeed were and found out that the airport we were at was 2 hours south of Oslo by train. We had been duped as many before us by a cheap online flight. We caught the bus to the train station and bought our train tickets. This was the first of many Norwegian experiences that would hurt the bank account. The train ticket was about 300 Kroners. There are about 8 kroners to a euro. I’ll let you do the math as I hate thinking about it. Luckily some of the expense of Norway was to be offset by not having to pay for accommodation as we would be couch surfing in Jessheim. We made our way to our host flat and made several friends along the way. Our huge packs are always a dead giveaway. One group bought us beers and the other grabbed our phone and talked to our host to get the final directions to his house. The people are quite friendly. That night we went out to the local bars, danced it up and had a great night. I also bought a 300 gram hamburger and fries on the way home that I couldn’t finish on my own. I passed out early and slept in. By the time the apartment came to life most of the day’s daylight had passed. The sun rises around 9:30 and has pretty much set at 4. It is odd having so much darkness and it was fun, but not something I could get used to. We took it easy and got that night and got up early to catch the train to Oslo.

Our plan was to take the Oslo-Bergen route as it is touted as one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. Sadly on arrival to the depot we found out that the train was sold out. We would have to catch the next train at 2 and most of the 8 hour ride would be in the dark. We contemplated what our options were and before too long I had figured out a great day trip that would allow us to take in all the wonders of the country. We would embark on a Norway in a Nutshell tour the next morning. We started on an hour long bus ride through a curvy road, views not possible due to the snow and fog, took a 2 hour plus ferry ride through one of the narrowest fjords in the world, and take the Flamsbana train which rises just under 900 meters in 22 kilometers and has 22 tunnels as it zig zags up the mountain. With the amount of time we had it was our best option and the views we saw changed our opinion of Norway. The snow covered mountains you could see from the ferry ride were spectacular and the train ride had one beautiful landscape after another including a brief stop at a waterfall. I got a lot of great photos until I dropped my camera, ending it’s tenure on this trip. That night we ended up back in Oslo. To save money, we slept in the train station, only getting asked to move along once. It the end it was a lot more expensive trip than planned, but worth it due to the countries breath taking country side! Next stop…Scotland.