Oslo to Stavanger Norway
Up fairly early and we did some strategic repacking. We are now going on a several day train
journey through some of the most beautiful areas of Norway and then returning
to Oslo. Dick had the brilliant thought
of asking if we could stow much of our luggage while we are gone, picking it
backup when we are back at this hotel on Sunday night. They said, “yes, of course.” We were able to condense it down into having everything we
need in one day pack and one medium sized duffle bag. Yah!
Traveling light is really excellent.
Especially as you are hopping on and off trains and buses, and walking
from train stations.
The day’s work was getting from Oslo to Stavanger, going
west through the south of Norway along the coast. It was about an eight our trip. We were pleased to again be able to take
advantage of our Eurail first class status to get a really nice car with good
seats. We have noticed that in about 75%
of the cases, the seat we are assigned seems to have us riding backwards. Some type of Murphy’s Law or something.
The scenery was spectacular, with Dick especially enjoying
and snapping photos of the changing landscape.
There we saw many glimpses of fjords, mountain villages, lakes and
streams. We both wondered about what it
would be like to live in these places, both now and in the past. They are really off the beaten path.
But we had some surprises:
Christiansand was a place that a lot of people got off. We had never really heard of it. It turns out to be Norway’s answer to a beach
resort community, and had a cruise ship in the harbor there.
Patti used the day to catch up on blogging, and to finish a
Danish novel (translated into English, thank you!!) that she had received as a
gift from her cousin, Annette, in Copenhagen.
Smilla’s Sense of Snow http://www.amazon.com/Smillas-Sense-Snow-Peter-Hoeg/dp/0385315147/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405151753&sr=8-1&keywords=smilias+sense+of+snow The book (a murder teamster) was set in
Annette’s neighborhood, and Patti had seen some of the places, so that made it
really special. What a nice book, and a
good bit of relaxing.
We had a bit of a surprise when, about a half hour out of
Stavanger, the train stopped and virtually everyone got out. As we were watching, we were able to catch an
old woman on the train, who said that that we now all had to get out and take a
bus. We scrambled and were befriended by
a conductor who was catching the same bus.
Good life’s lesson: if everyone
else is getting off, ask someone quickly!!! We all piled into a cramped bus and drove to
the train station in Stavanger. It turns
out that there was a construction project happening on the tracks which kept it
closed for 3 weeks.
So we got to the train station, got out our little map to
walk to our hotel and headed out walking
We went for quite a while, and there were no street signs, with an
occasional one not showing up on our map.
Finally we stopped a woman who was powerwalking and ask where we
were. She looked carefully and said where
we were was not on that map at all. She
thought for a moment and then said that she would take us to where we needed to
go. What an angel. It turns out that we had gone through an
underground tunnel and then took the wrong turn. She got us on track and within site of our
hotel. A very nice woman who worked at a
beauty salon with a small daughter. Who
knows where we would have ended up without her help. (Later on, Dick was able to look at a more detailed map, and we were actually quite close to where we needed to be, if we had only known....oh well.)
By this time we were tired and starving (maybe about 9 in
the evening, still VERY light, of course.)
As we were going by a middle eastern kabob place, we decided to stop and
get some food. It was delicious and
easy.
The hotel was a Raddison, with English speaking staff and a
breakfast buffet for morning. We made
our plans and went to bed. Next phase,
completed.
“I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in
a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are.” — Diane von Furstenberg
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