I am in Norway
Not just anywhere in Norway, I am in Kroken. In the middle of nowhere.
Let me tell you about how I got here...
Tuesday March 28th I woke up at 6am popped in the shower ate my leftovers from the day before and called a cab to get to the train station. My cab driver was super nice and only charged me five pounds for the ride (i think the total was 6 something). He told me he had a daughter at uni once and knows how tight cash is. He also said my money was more important for my holiday. Thanks Glasgow taxi driver for restoring my faith in humanity. I bought my train ticket to Aberdeen which is about 2.5 hours away. While I was waiting for my platform to be announced Dr. Davit Broun (esther, remember him?) came up to me and said hello, how are things, where are you going? It was semi awkward because I think I only went to half of the classes he taught this semester...But I went to ALL the seminars and review sessions like a good student. Then I got on the train 2.5 hours later I was in Aberdeen where it was raining, of course.
Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm sure some of you may be thinking, dumbass, why would you train 2.5 hours to the airport? Well, Aberdeen is the only place you can get a direct flight into Bergen, Norway which is the closest place to where I am staying. And by close i mean 4.5 hours by bus and 1.5 hours by car.
Skip the boring bits about waiting forever in the airport...I got on my plane and noticed it was full of men. I think there were about 4 women total on that flight. What made it even more amusing was that during that one hour flight about 16 men got up to use the one toilet. As they were doing the whole song and dance of awkwardly wandering about the cabbin they would talk to eachother in their heavy northern Scottish accents. I was close to laughing out loud the whole time.
I arrived in Bergen where it was raining! But here, the rain doesn't make things look and smell bad like in Glasgow, it kind of gives things a bit of mystery.
I grabbed the bus into town and on the ride I was blown away by the surroundings. It's just beautful here.
In Bergen I stayed at a fun little B&B type place (thanks to my father who does not like the idea of me traveling alone) where the staff was so friendly. The attractive desk guy made me a sandwich when I arrived so I didn't have to spend scary amounts of money on food. I went to my room and found a TV with great American shows like Arrested Development and the Simpsons in English with Norwegian subtitles. I could have just stayed in all night, but I decided to take myself out for a walk in the drizzle.
For two hours (8pm-10pm) I walked around the city of Bergen. No Neds, No trash, It was the total opposite of Glasgow and I couldn't have been happier.
Skip some other stuff...The next morning I went on another two hour walk after the best breakfast ever in the hotel.
Moving on to the bus ride where I only slept for 5 minutes because everything was just so amazing to look at. The small houses, the topography, the people that got on and off the bus. At one point in the ride we started driving thru a tunnel in a mountain. 25 minutes later we still weren't out of the tunnel when I realized that the thing was 25 kilometers long. I think the longest one in Norway...unless the one that runs under a glacier is longer. I'll have to check that out.
When I thought the bus ride was almost over the bus drove onto a boat to ferry across the fjord. I almost laughed out loud and exclaimed, "where am i?" On the ferry I bought a pancake with brown cheese inside. The brown cheese is very traditional and kind of sweet. I love it, the kids here aren't too keen on it.
Finally I made it into Sogndal where I was greeted by Laura and Tom. We got in the tiny car and drove to a picnic spot to chow down some sandwiches before we finished the hour and a half drive to their house around the end of the longest fjord in Norway.
So, now I'm here. In rual Norway looking out over a fjord at mountains and wasting my time telling you all how great it is.
Ok, I'm off to play. Adios.
Let me tell you about how I got here...
Tuesday March 28th I woke up at 6am popped in the shower ate my leftovers from the day before and called a cab to get to the train station. My cab driver was super nice and only charged me five pounds for the ride (i think the total was 6 something). He told me he had a daughter at uni once and knows how tight cash is. He also said my money was more important for my holiday. Thanks Glasgow taxi driver for restoring my faith in humanity. I bought my train ticket to Aberdeen which is about 2.5 hours away. While I was waiting for my platform to be announced Dr. Davit Broun (esther, remember him?) came up to me and said hello, how are things, where are you going? It was semi awkward because I think I only went to half of the classes he taught this semester...But I went to ALL the seminars and review sessions like a good student. Then I got on the train 2.5 hours later I was in Aberdeen where it was raining, of course.
Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm sure some of you may be thinking, dumbass, why would you train 2.5 hours to the airport? Well, Aberdeen is the only place you can get a direct flight into Bergen, Norway which is the closest place to where I am staying. And by close i mean 4.5 hours by bus and 1.5 hours by car.
Skip the boring bits about waiting forever in the airport...I got on my plane and noticed it was full of men. I think there were about 4 women total on that flight. What made it even more amusing was that during that one hour flight about 16 men got up to use the one toilet. As they were doing the whole song and dance of awkwardly wandering about the cabbin they would talk to eachother in their heavy northern Scottish accents. I was close to laughing out loud the whole time.
I arrived in Bergen where it was raining! But here, the rain doesn't make things look and smell bad like in Glasgow, it kind of gives things a bit of mystery.
I grabbed the bus into town and on the ride I was blown away by the surroundings. It's just beautful here.
In Bergen I stayed at a fun little B&B type place (thanks to my father who does not like the idea of me traveling alone) where the staff was so friendly. The attractive desk guy made me a sandwich when I arrived so I didn't have to spend scary amounts of money on food. I went to my room and found a TV with great American shows like Arrested Development and the Simpsons in English with Norwegian subtitles. I could have just stayed in all night, but I decided to take myself out for a walk in the drizzle.
For two hours (8pm-10pm) I walked around the city of Bergen. No Neds, No trash, It was the total opposite of Glasgow and I couldn't have been happier.
Skip some other stuff...The next morning I went on another two hour walk after the best breakfast ever in the hotel.
Moving on to the bus ride where I only slept for 5 minutes because everything was just so amazing to look at. The small houses, the topography, the people that got on and off the bus. At one point in the ride we started driving thru a tunnel in a mountain. 25 minutes later we still weren't out of the tunnel when I realized that the thing was 25 kilometers long. I think the longest one in Norway...unless the one that runs under a glacier is longer. I'll have to check that out.
When I thought the bus ride was almost over the bus drove onto a boat to ferry across the fjord. I almost laughed out loud and exclaimed, "where am i?" On the ferry I bought a pancake with brown cheese inside. The brown cheese is very traditional and kind of sweet. I love it, the kids here aren't too keen on it.
Finally I made it into Sogndal where I was greeted by Laura and Tom. We got in the tiny car and drove to a picnic spot to chow down some sandwiches before we finished the hour and a half drive to their house around the end of the longest fjord in Norway.
So, now I'm here. In rual Norway looking out over a fjord at mountains and wasting my time telling you all how great it is.
Ok, I'm off to play. Adios.