Well, as to me as my favorite country, Norway wins hands down. This area is absolutely stunning!! I don't have words to describe it. We modified our schedule and made two 14 hour driving days staying near Molde, Norway near the coast overnight. Now, understand we didn't drive very far. We did 6 ferries and I estimate about 20 tunnels. One of the tunnels was 24Km (about 14 miles) and 3 of them were 7km each. I estimate tolls at about $150. We even were in corkscrew tunnels and drove right up rock faces with a series of hairpin turns. Now understand, we didn't go very many miles and it was only 1 tank of gas. We are at a hotel condo 1br in Geilo, Norway until Thursday when we drive to Stockholm and fly home the next day. Average speed is less than 40 mph and the speed limit in Norway is less than 50 mph.
When we left our condo near Trondheim, Norway, we were at a ski resort that was remote and at snow line and near the northern limit of trees. It never got dark, but it was not very bright. It was about 35 F when we left and it was windy and raining. Sweden and Norway are very different. Norway Kroner (NOK) in my left pocket and Swedish Kroner (SEK) in my right pocket. The two countries are very different. This week we will tour more fjords and mountains. There is nothing in the US which even comes close to what we experienced in the last 2 days.
In Sweden, we had Reindeer steak and moose burgers. Wow, very Yummy! We are enjoying the local food. We find small buffets for lunch which are about $9 each. We don't recognize much of the food, but it is all good. Except for the cucumbers of course.
The hotel has an internet computer I can use so I like that. YES!!!
13 comments:
Tom and Robin,
You don't have much time left on your trip. It sounds like you are having lots of fun. I am looking forward to seeing the pictures from the trip. I promise not to fall asleep like I have in the past.
Well, I dunno Dave. We took 500 pictures in 2 days and went through a whole lot of batteries. Just as we thought we had seen the ultimate, we would go around a corner and see something better. We have 3 additional fjords day trips planned. I only brought about 7 gig of media cards. I hope it is enough. We had to steal the one out of the garmin. Neither of our cell phones is working correctly and each for a different reason.
Today we explored yet another fjord. At one point we were facing a rock wall and would you believe we entered a series of tunnels, one of which was a corkscrew and we came out going the same direction we went in. The capper was a Norweagen buffet in the mountains featuring many dishes we did not recognize. Fun, Fun.
Good Evening! Another beautiful day at the fjords. We had a 3hr ferry ride today. The weather is about 70 each day for the last 3 days. We visited an old stave church today and went through a lot of tunnels again. We will eat fish tonight with a special sauce.
Haven't you gotten enough of the Scandinavian treat - pickled/salted herring?
Actually, I've managed to skip the herring but I've had other things which were less than what I would call 'Good Eats'. We had some sort of unknown fish last night. Unfortunately, we cannot read the labels very well, so we donæt always know what we are getting. I have a King Oscar tin which has what I call 'mystery fish'. What I hate is this keyboard and getting the @ and ' symbol etc. correct each time.
How do you think I feel when I travel all over? I go to show someone where something is on a keyboard, and they're all different...French keyboards are the worst - they use the same letters/symbols but they're all moved around.
Don't get me started on Japan...
Take your own laptop Ryan! Or perhaps it is not that easy. Windows is in Swedish also so I have to rely on memory for what it says.
We were off on the Flam railroad today and saw a beautiful mountain valley. Now we find a bike race in town for the next two days. We make an average of about 25 mph on these roads. Top speed is about 50mph. Today we were in a tunnel when the lights went out. SPOOKY! The Skoda has a 5th gear which is useless in Norway. Imagine driving cross country in 3rd gear.
We have taken nearly 2000 pictures so far. We head to Stockholm on Thursday, probably a 12 hour drive, and then fly home on Friday.
Today was cold and windy and we stayed close by to prepare for the drive to Stockholm on Thursday. We visited an animal farm and Robin got her picture taken with a baby moose. On the way home we got stuck in a mountain bike race. We even caught a few snow flakes this afternoon. We visited another stave church this afternoon.
Off to the airport in Stockholm today. We hope only a 10 hour drive. The weather is cool but so far sunny.
Tom,
I might have to take back my promise on looking at those pictures. 2000 pictures are quite a lot to see in one sitting. I am heading to Winchester, Virginia this afternoon for the "Gathering of the Eagles" event.
Our 10 hour drive ended up a 12 hour drive. We are at an airport near the Stockholm airport and fly home Friday morning. We should arrive in Dayton at 5pm from Newark, God willing. What an incredible trip!
Home at last!! We arrived none the worse for wear and on time. OK, well, a bit late because Kay got caught in traffic on the way to pick us up. The town car drives a bit different than that Skoda. We put nearly 4000 miles on the Skoda in 3 weeks.
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