18 Jun 2013

My Trip To Norway

Hi Folks, as some will be aware, I am off to Denmark then Norway for a holiday this Friday 21 June 2013 until 4 July 20913, it will hopefully be a trip of a lifetime, because I have promised myself that I would get see the Norwegian Fjords, for many years.

It all started with meeting my friend Mykle in London last year and him showing me photos of where he now lives in Norway, also my reading his story of how he moved there and the trip he does each year to come back over to England. This was the inspiration I needed to start planning the trip. I decided that a blog was the easiest way for me to give updates of the adventure rather than endless e mails.

Because I was waiting for an operation until that was carried out and I had the all clear nothing definite could be planned, then next task was to obtain travel insurance, which I eventually resolved, so the idea could start to develop into reality. I had also discussed a holiday with my friend Brian who has featured in previous Blogs and our other friend Alan, we talked about different destinations and in the end settled on Copenhagen, we were going for a week, so we then started working out how to get there and where to stay,

I contacted Which Travel for advice on things to do and see, then contacted my friendly travel agents Sue to ask for her help. It seems that Scandinavia, other than by ship is not listed in most holiday brochures. Unfortunately, Alan decided in the end that he was not going with us so we ended up booking for 4 nights, the first being the summer solstice(longest day) we booked the flight and accommodation and I bought a new lens for my camera to capture all the things I am hoping to see on the trip.

We are also hoping for a trip to Malmo in Sweden to see the bridge between the two countries. Brian will return home after 4 nights and my real adventure will really start I said I was considering visiting Norway and may call to see Mykle and his wife Jean, Mykle kindly offered that I could stay with them when visiting the area that they live in as a result we spent a lot of time through e mail and phone calls trying to work out an itinerary for me, up to this time I did not really know where he was in Norway apart from the fact it was away from the towns and cities, plus that it gets very cold in the winter, eventually we sorted out a trip that would enable me to see some of the best parts and beautiful scenery there, my friend Brian said I may see elk and wolves and possibly beavers, seems he had not done his research that well as Mykle stated this was unlikely, they lived further north.

The trip from Copenhagen, will take me by plane to Bergen where I will be met by Mykle, then boat to Sogndal, from there by car to his home in Myklebust for a few days, then we travel back to Bergen by coach, and I will stay for 3 nights, I then travel from Bergen to Oslo by train which Mykle tells me is quite spectacular, then later that day fly back to London, where as it will be in the evening I will stay before returning home the following day.

Due to uncertainty about the weather I will take a mixture of clothes, I have bought a tablet computer so I can continue to record the trip for the blog, the tablet has been a learning curve for me, but my son spent some time showing me what the various functions are for. I had forgotten how many pieces of paper are needed when travelling independently, as well as medication, transformers for charging devices, and guides, unfortunately over the weekend my back has gone into spasm, so yesterday I saw an osteopath, the pain has not yet abated, if it does not improve before Thursday I will have to go and see GP for strong painkillers, as I am not going to cancel the holiday

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