To Northern Norway – August 2017

Thursday, August 10th, 2017 – Narvik to Oslo to Prague

Of course, our final morning in Norway dawned bright, warm and sunny..

We had a fabulous breakfast in the (non-associated) Best Western hotel. They really know how to do breakfast in Norway.

Then we walked down the hill to the bus stop and took a bus to the airport. This wound its way, with agonising slowness, through the drab town of Narvik and its equally drab suburbs. Then, as if crossing an invisib;e line, it wound its way through the lovely countryside around the fjord to the airport.the journey took just over an hour.

On the national flight, to Oslo, the passengers were mainly all Norwegians. It passed smoothly and peacefully. The views were still as beautiful.

Oslo airport was something else entirely.

After a week of tranquility, it was mayhem. The shouting, the screaming, the people bumping into each other because they were both talking on the phone and wearing headphones, was almost too much to take.

We spent all of the money that we had left. We ate sandwiches and we somehow survived almost four hours of waiting. After boarding, the cacophony continued. It turned out that almost all of the other passengers were going to a party in Prague. They were strangely, very drunk, middle-aged women. That party had already started. There are only so many times that you can only be squeezed out of the way by a large inebriated lady (who then accidentally hits you in the teeth with her trailing handbag) before you start to wish you were dead.

After the joy of the trip and 8 hours of traveling, this was not the ending we really wanted.

The landing and the familiar inscription “Václav Havel Airport” were never quite so welcome.

Time to start planning our next adventure !