travelling route

In every talk I’ve had with someone, I’ve been asked about our whereabouts during the tragic events in Oslo. We weren’t there, it was our last day of the trip, but we weren’t far away either and during the time the explosion took place we were driving towards Oslo. It feels dishonest to look back at the trip with positive feelings but it was a good trip. It’s just scary to think that something so horrible took place so close-by. You just don’t expect it to happen here, it’s the stuff that you generally see from the news… words seem to be quite inadequate in that entire matter but it did remind me of one quote by Thomas Campbell: To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die…

Back to positive tones. I was a good girl and kept a diary type of a Word-file during our trip and I try to get it all here together with some pictures as soon as I have spare time to deal with it. Have some patience, it’s all coming your way starting with day 1

When we were driving last night towards Kappelskär there was one truck driving right in front of us that all in a sudden lit in fire… luckily the driver was able to put off the fire really fast but there was no way to get past of the truck, so we had to wait for a short while. In a way it was good that there was all in a sudden some action on the road because we were getting sleepy and it shook everyone awake… but then again, I think we’ve had enough action for one day.

We’re still talking about yesterday’s explosions. Hopefully there are some fresh newspapers on the ferry. (EDIT: we learned about the shootings on Utøya after seeing BBC news in ferry while doing our cabin check-in, until then we thought there had only been explosions in Oslo)

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Driving a ferry during a day time is majorly boring. I watched two movies with my little brother because we didn’t feel like sleeping. The food has been good though, both breakfast and dinner. The most bothering thing about it have been the dirty and smelly truck drivers. I thought of having a cup of coffee downstairs (you can get coffee for free here with cookies as a snack! There’s nothing to do on this ferry as it’s mainly a truck-ferry but they do pay a lot of attention to food here!) but I quickly had to take my coffee upstairs because the smelly people just made me feel really disgusted. There are showers (and soap) in every single cabin in that ferry and you don’t have to pay extra to use it. Dirty and smelly people are just disgusting. Especially if I know that there is a chance for them to take a shower. And by the way, opposite of our cabin was the sauna that one can use for free…

I think I’m going to spend the next days locked in my room at home because I just don’t want to see people any more or then I should have stayed in Norway and started to live and work as a troll full-time on top of some mountain. I could have also had some sheep and cows and rule my own kingdom there! Just kidding.

In 30 minutes – home, sweet home!

And if you’re interested in seeing all the photos of the trip, go HERE and browse the albums

We just had dinner in Drammen and got to know what has happened a few hours ago in Oslo. We’re right now driving towards Oslo and we try to figure out what this day might be having ahead for us. When we were in Kognsberg I heard one guy talking on the radio about bloody people on the street but since we at first had a plan to eat in Kognsberg then I wasn’t paying too much attention to the radio and concentrated on noticing a restaurant. Also, since the radio interview was in English then I thought there’s some war action going on somewhere in the other part of the world but actually he was talking about the situation in Oslo…

While having dinner in Drammen, we noticed there are some horrible pictures on TV and everyone in the restaurant were quietly staring at the telly. The only thing we understood out of the text written below was Oslo but it felt quite impossible that something like that happened there though everything we saw on the screen did hint that it has happened in Oslo – the bus stops, police and ambulance cars, houses… It all looked like the ones we have seen here during the past days. We quickly went online to check the news and there it was… explosions in Oslo.

**

We’re getting closer to Oslo and we just went through a police road block. I admit it doesn’t feel good to have several police officers around, all of them equipped with automatic weapons. The Norwegian cars and foreign cars were divided into two lines; the Norwegian cars went through the check really fast. There was one German wagon-house in front of us and checking that one took quite a bit of time. I’m glad we got to know about the explosions beforehand, though I’d be even happier if those explosions wouldn’t have took place at all. Checking our car went fast. I had to tell the police officer about our whereabouts and we had to show them what we have in the trunk (it’s fully loaded with bags containing food and clothes and some other stuff that tourists generally carry along). I suppose we have to be prepared that it might take some time to cross the border to Sweden later tonight.

**

The border crossing went easy, just like the rest of the drive from Oslo. However, the border was guarded by many police officers carrying automatic weapons again. It still feels unbelievable that there have been explosions in that ministry in Oslo…

We still have a long drive ahead to Kappelskär. To make life easier, we’re starting to switch the drivers and see how far we can drive. If everyone is tired, we’ll just park somewhere and have a nap for a short time. If we can, we’ll drive all the way to Kappelskär and sleep in the port until it’s time to get on the ferry leaving in the morning.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go to some of the glaciers, so we had to settle with some smaller snowy areas. We also stopped at one parking lot where the local sheep were blackmailing the tourists the mamma-sheep was quite an arrogant woman and every time she noticed some bread somewhere she just ran there and made it quite clear that she wants it. Like a true femme fatale!

Playing in the snow was obviously the highlight of the day. We did visit Hopperstad stavkyrkje and saw some really awesome mountains but nothing beats the snow! Small things make life happy, or what

Now it’s time to check out some organic Norwegian beer. I’m sure Linda is very proud of me right now

PS: I have never ever heard this song that many times as I have heard it during the entire stay in Norway. They play it about twice a day on the radio. Biggest summer hit in Norway it seems there’s another song actually that they play but it’s definitely Norwegian and I have already learned to sing the chorus for it but I seem to be unable to figure out what song it actually is.

The forecast predicted rain for today as well, and we did get a bit of it, but luckily it wasn’t raining today as much as it was yesterday. We took off from Bergen at 8am and spent the next 5 hours on the express boat to Flåm. The cruise on the fjord was definitely worth attending. We were also lucky to get the seats in front of the boat, so we had the best view. PS: thanks to this nice guy who’s queue number I got in the morning  to the ticket check-in

In Flåm we had a bit of time to explore around and then it was time to go on the most beautiful train ride in Norway. The train goes from Flåm to Myrdal and for every 18 meters travelled there’s a 1meter of climb (Flåm is 2m above the sea level, while Myrdal is 866m above the sea level). The views from the train are really spectacular. And stopping at Kjosfossen waterfall is a great experience. The waterfall has a free fall of 93 meters and after going a little closer you’re already getting some water drops on you. Due to those water drops, my father broke my camera’s polarization filter that I borrowed him on the condition that he’s not allowed to break it… he wanted to wipe off the drops but while doing that he also released the stopping circle and the filter fell into pieces. The stopping circle went missing, so I hope I’m able to find a new one from somewhere or then I just need to buy a new filter. Damn. But yes, Flåm railway is an absolute must go! I heard from somewhere that the only place you can get a similar railway experience is in Switzerland.

In Myrdal we switched to a train taking us back to Bergen. Somewhy our tickets were to the family carriage, so we spent a few hours with small kids running around which was actually quite fun. This might have something to do with my attempts to talk one small girl into giving her polar bear to me but I think her Estonian skills were not that great because she ignored me completely. Bummer.

We just paid for our stay in the farm and since the family here has been really nice then we gave them a small present consisting of Estonian candies and a small souvenir bottle of Vana Tallinn liquor. After that the landlord told me he has visited Russia, precisely Tbilisi (capital of Georgia) and Kazakhstan, about 20 years ago… I did point out that Estonia is not in Russia, and Tbilisi and Kazakhstan are thousands of kilometres away but apparently for him the entire Eastern Europe is one big country… should have lectured him a little longer about the fact that Estonia and Russia are quite different countries but I think he realized really fast that he said the wrong thing. Ohoh, now the landlord came back to us and gave us some fresh eggs from their own chicken! How cute! But it still doesn’t make up for his lack of geographical & cultural knowledge.

For the lunch we decided to continue with the culinary adventures and went to Torget to see what they offer. We got some fish&chips (oh, what an adventurous pick!) just to have a bigger meal and also ordered a plate of king crab. I think the king crab tasted like ocean once you’ll taste it, I’m sure you’ll know what I’m talking about. It tastes good but it just has the taste of ocean.

The afternoon started for us with heavy rain. So we quickly checked out the Maritime museum (for our misfortune, it closes at 3pm every day, we arrived there 2.45) and then went to Bergen Kunsthall to see the works of Munch, Picasso, Miro and Klee. Miro stuff is wickedly awesome. And the chocolate cake with chilli at the Art Museum cafeteria tasted really good!! Super yummy! I shall try to prepare it myself one day the cafeteria girl was really cute and revealed me later how to prepare it and I didn’t even have to ask for it!

The rain just didn’t want to stop, so for a while we did consider going back to the farm. But there were still some things to see, so no going back. We took the funicular ride and had an excellent view on Bergen. And one more walk in Bryggen to end the day

Now, to sleep early because we have to wake up around 5.30. Fjord cruise coming up!

Haugesund

We spent a lovely evening in Bergen. Walked around in Bryggen, visited some souvenir shops and bought some presents for the ones that have deserved it , booked our fjord cruise, visited Torget (the fish market) and last but not least I spent some time making friends with three sheep living in the farm we’re staying at. Man, they have a lot of sheep in that country. I’ve seen more cows and sheep than dogs and cats or even people

As it was raining then there was no point in doing something outdoors today. We spent two hours in Bølgen & Moi restaurant and majority of the time there we were eating! I went with a shrimp salad and it was just mega super huge but also super delicious. I just didn’t like the taste of curry-mayo. And the dessert! Omn-omn, ice-cream with strawberries!

For the end of the day we decided to visit the Norwegian Petroleum Museum. It’s quite educating place to visit and I clearly learned quite a good bit about how the oil and gas are discovered and produced. I also tried on this super huge (size XL) and super heavy skafander. Must be the best looking thing I’ve ever wore.

 Tomorrow we’ll reach Bergen!

We decided to have an easy day, so we drove to Månafossen. With 92 meters, it’s the highest waterfall in this county and ninth tallest free fall in Norway. A short hike up to see the waterfall was a piece of cake and in several places there were chains and stairs to make going up easier. I did have some troubles because of the ankle but nothing too serious.

The waterfall is amazing. You could hear it way before you actually saw it! We continued the hike up to the hill and ate some blueberries there! Delicious! However, we didn’t continue the hike further to visit one small village.

On our way back down we helped one family to get their 3-year-old up the rocks… it was too high for him to climb, so the parents lifted him and we raised him on the rock. Again, I don’t get why they take so small kids to such places. The little boy was tired and crying as well, so why to make him go through it. Let him grow 10 years, and come back then. It will be much cooler experience for him then.

We also found one knitting factory outlet today. I bought A LOT of wool from there for super cheap price. So now I just have to search out the knitting and crocheting needles and I can start making some cool new things for myself I bought the wool now for three items: electric blue for scarf, black for a small short sleeve jacket and brown&beige for bikinis.

The rest of the day we drove around and saw the country side. By accident we also drove into the tunnel that goes underneath (at the very bottom of the tunnel you’re around 223m under sea-level. Random fact: when building this tunnel was completed in 1992, it was the deepest under sea road tunnel) the fjord. So once we got to the other shore, we just turned around and came back however, we’ll go back there in just a few days when we get on our way to Bergen.

and off we go!

We had just one stupid stoppage on our way up because there was one couple who had decided to take their dog to Preikestolen as well but in my opinion, the dog didn’t really want to go there. So we were standing on the edge of the cliff and waiting for the dog to get the courage to hop on one rock to move further. Ahh, maybe I’m just stupid but why on earth do you drag your dog there? It can be allowed but this hike for that dog looked like a torture.

the easiest part of the hike when going up, the hardest when coming back down

about half of the way behind, another half to go

The view on Lysefjord is incredible and to sit on Preikestolen your feet hanging over the edge, you can feel the wind on your legs and there’s 604m down to Lysefjord… awesome! I was quite sure that I won’t dare to go to the edge so easily but I guess it just looks scarier than it actually is.

Lysefjord & Preikestolen

the first rest after reaching Preikestolen

As an excellent talent in injuries I also managed to twist my ankle on our way back. And I did that on quite flat ground, so that should show how talented I am in doing that We had most of the way to go still, so I had to be more careful than before. We had also forgotten every kind of medication home, so I just had to walk. It wasn’t too bad.

compulsory tourist photo

Dogs though turned out to be a bigger problem. There was one Chinese family coming down with us and their dog was the biggest troublemaker ever. The guy was letting the dog to run on a long leash, so the dog was sometimes just running through your feet and you had to look out not to stumble at the leash. So we had to be looking out for the dog as well but it became really disturbing, so I asked him to look after his dog because the dog is disturbing us. After that the dog was still on a long leash but soon the dog wrapped the leash around the tree and then the dog was running on a short leash. I just don’t get why this guy didn’t understand himself that in such a place you can’t let your dog run wild.

But there’s another thing that I don’t fully understand. There were quite a few young families on Preikestolen with very small kids (the youngest I saw was probably around 2). On our hike back we saw one woman who had slipped quite badly on the rocks and she had hurt her head and left arm. Luckily there was one couple already helping her but when I saw her, I just wished that none of those father’s that had their kids on their backs wouldn’t slip. The hike isn’t dangerous and you don’t really need any special equipment but I just think that if you have small kids then visiting Preikestolen should wait some years. Just as a hint, there’s an amusement park close to Sandnes.

We also went to explore Stavanger in the evening. It’s super cute! Again those wooden houses, mainly white! I’m glad we’ve been lucky with the weather; it has been sunny all the time. Actually, while being on Preikestolen it was so sunny that I managed to burn my nose and I look something similar to Rudolph the red nose reindeer And walking on the flat ground feels weird.

the colourful street of Stavanger

As for tomorrow, we’ll see how we’re feeling, so depending on that we’ll see what we’re going to do. I checked the weather forecast and it’s predicted to start to rain. So probably we won’t hike to Kjerag tomorrow. It’s also a four hour ride back and forth from the place were staying at. Others are also afraid that their feet will hurt badly tomorrow and I seem to be the only one who’s convinced (with my twisted ankle) that we should take the hike tomorrow.