jamestravels

Early departure from Oslo Central- the 5.55 slow train, due to line work preventing a faster model. Comfortable enough, but 6 hours went fairly slowly for us jet setters! Found a good hotel in Södermalm, home for the next 4 nights. Too tired 😑 to do much, just some sightseeing after a quick lunch. We shall explore the old town tomorrow after a hearty breakfast.

Hjelle to Oslo was the longest drive of the trip- 350 kms following the same river all the way from Groti in the highest part of the fjordland. Water is a huge problem in Norway 🇳🇴, not how to store it but rather how to keep it at bay! It is a constant presence wherever you go in the west. Now for a short spell in Oslo before heading to Stockholm.

Herand to Bergen via ferries and tunnels- a quintessentially Norwegian trip! The GPS had a tough time getting the humans to their lodgings. I think we might have gone under the city a couple of times directly under or over our destination (refer to Madrid 2014 for a much more stressful experience).  Bergen is a lovely city, full of charming streets and a great vibe, but RUINED by the awful Bryggen area. It’s like a movie set for a period scandi film, and packed with Americans. 😮 OMG! Enough said, but the rest of the town was wonderful- good food, great coffee and a cable car 🚠 to a hill overlooking the town to die for.

Got out of Oslo (eventually!) after finding the right tunnel entrance. By the way, if you’re going to the west coast of Norway, you have to follow signs to Stockholm, which is totally the opposite direction! Then to see our first, maybe only, stave church. These are old wooden church/cathedrals built hundreds of years ago, and lovingly maintained by the people. Unique to Norway, apparently. Stayed the night in a little red cabin we found on Airbnb- it sits on the edge of the deepest lake in Norway- Lake Tinn, 400 metres straight down!

Jetted into Oslo last night just as the sun set - 11.30pm! The European heatwave continues, 32 in town and it seems everyone was at the “beach” (actually a wooden boardwalk into very deep, murky green water). So, most unexpectedly, we spent the day by the water, swimming and eating ice creams! If this climate change, the scandis are all for it. We also had a look at the Alfred Nobel Museum, And the Resistance Museum, dedicated to the heroes of the Resistance against Nazi occupation in WW2. I found out the story of Quisling, the much-hated Norwegian traitor and collaborator with Hitler

We had a standing invitation from Aude and Xavier, our hosts from our visit to their gite in Provence in 2010, to return one day. Little did they know that we would return in 2019 and stay for 2 weeks! The gite was just as we remembered it from 9 years previously. We flew to Singapore, had a 24 hour break there ( with a great pool), then flew 13 hours to Paris, staying at the Bercy Village, highly recommended! Simon's plan was to follow the Tour de France with a small group of Australian Mamils, led by Stuart O'Grady. We were happy to let him do that while we lazed around the pool in 39degree heat! Highlights were seeing the Pont du Gard and exploring more of Pernes les Fontaines. The kids loved the morning walk to pick up the croissants and pain au chocolats! Simon after a particularly hot hill climb - the Col du Galibier, higher than anything in Australia!

October 12, 13, 14 Very fast train from Madrid Atocha station, picked the worst possible time to try to get there as a massive military display was taking place, closing all main streets in the district! At one memorable moment we were underneath the station in tunnel, with the GPS happily announcing that we were at our destination! Grrr.. Barcelona was extremely quiet the second time around. We found a cosy little bnb near the station, and spent a few hours exploring this side of town and nervously spending our remaining euros. There is some stunning architecture here, especially a modern building looking very much like a bullring. Flight home was not memorable: a 9 hour stopover in Dubai, where it was still 34º at midnight, catching a few hours sleep on the 'comfy chairs', only to be jolted awake at 5.30 by the muslim call to prayer..... Short stop in Singapore, only to be told to start queuing up almost straight away, and everything had to be re-checked and scanned,...