No.41 Buy Now The sun sets behind an rogue piece of driftwood

After completing the first adventure of our travels (don’t worry, more to come on The West Coast Trail soon), we took off for our Norway road trip.  I had heard amazing things about Norway.  People tend to focus on the scenery which I was particularly looking forward too.  And, of course, everyone laments the cost of everything, which I was not looking forward too.

We had a quick stop in London then it was onto to Oslo.  We flew from Stansted Airport which is horrendous.  Add Ryan Air to the mix and a pleasant experience is not the result.  Everyone is grumpy and I mean everyone.  The check in staff look like they could throttle anyone at any moment.  The security staff are walking round with red faces and steam coming out their ears.  One security lady remarked to another “You can’t choose who you f&^%ing work with” after another stormed off in an apparent fit.

We made it through and just put our heads down and dreamed of Norway.  It arrived soon enough and we were treated to a glorious day.  By glorious I mean grey, bleak and full of drizzle.  Which turned to full on rain before we left the airport.  I actually had to check to see if we hadn’t been turned back to London.  The UK would have been proud of such weather.

It was a fairly easy transfer from Oslo airport to downtown where our hotel on St. Olavs plass was. We had a plan to try to keep things on the cheap so tonight’s dinner was crackers, avocado and tomato purchased at a nearby grocery shop.

We awoke the next day to absolute shenanigans.  Apparently we had chosen Norway’s Constitution Day to see Oslo and it was rowdy.  According to one Norwegian, it’s the day of the year when Norwegian’s don’t behave like Norwegians.  Empty bottles of champagne lined the streets by 10am.  Folks of all ages, all dressed immaculately roamed the streets singing, dancing and carrying on.  Many folks wore traditional dress which was impressive.  I am not positive but I am quite sure that every single pastry in Norway gets a flag on this day.

It was an interesting day to be in town for sure.  We missed out on a lot of museums and other sights due to the holiday however it was incredible to see the Norwegians in such a festive mood.

It was definitely a day party though, by 8pm the streets were dead.  After the day, it was almost an eerie feeling wandering the quiet, empty streets.

The next day we picked up our hire car and began the epic six hour drive to Trondheim.  We chose the scenic route, 523km through Lille hammer and the mountains.  It’s a Norway road trip, why not?  We were graced with an utterly uninspiring day.  There really isn’t much to report.  It was a torrential downpour and a thick, thick mist.  If there were views to be seen, I could not tell you.  We saw the odd waterfall and raging rivers.

Fortunately by the time we reached Trondheim the clouds began to part and the evening was incredible (as you can see by the first photo in the post).  An interesting and varied start to our Norway road trip, exciting nonetheless.  I will leave you with the setting sun near our campground.

No. 42 Norway Road TripNo.42 Buy Now The sun sets near Trondheim, Norway

Until next time,

Jimmy