At one point last night I thought Mandi had lost her mind, then I realized she was serious! After going to Helsinki on a short but very nice cruse we had made plans to hit our next Scandinavian country of Norway. Gratefully my knee is better but I am feeling my age because sad to say I have caught some kind of stomach bug and have visited every toilet from Helsinki to Norway. Initially we both thought I was a wienie because of the cold and I was shivering for about 3 hours before Mandi suggested to take a hot shower and that helped with some Sangria (good for anything). The next day Mandi the champ that she is went to Helsinki on her own but said it got to cold to stay out and came back early. We then took a bus to the train station rather than walk because I am still not 100% and jumped on a train to Oslo, Norway. When we arrive in Oslo at eight Mandi says your train is the next day at 8:11 and we can stay in the station. A long pause goes thru my head while I figure out what she just said then she says she had stayed the night in an airport before (with a very sweet smile on her face) sigh. Then I look on the website for Oslo station and it closes at 1:00 am and reopens at 4:00 am. Priceline saved the day and we got a quite expensive hotel but very nice hotel located at the station. Mandi slept like a baby, very cute for the girl willing to sleep on a bench for the night. Sorry but I AM to old to play like sleeping on a bench is OK. =0) We then got up early and had an amazing breakfast included in our fee and took the final train to Bergen. Beautiful so far but it began to sleet when we arrived so the next few days will be fun.
Now to take a few steps back for our stay in Stockholm. We both had a magnificent time just wondering around our little island, I learned from Mandi Stockholm is on 14 islands, and took beautiful pictures of trees and the surrounding buildings. The next day I think Mandi forgot I am old or forgot she was not a machine (thanks Mo, I cannot tell her because of my short legs I cannot keep up because apparently you do=o)). We left the hostel for an hour walk at nine to get to our free walking tour at ten and we arrived on time and walked for another hour and one half and learned about Stockholm's modern mecca. Fine, we had lunch and walked to Old Town and waited for the next tour for Old Town at seven because we did not want to walk back to the hostel and walk back again (why we did not take the train, I will never know). So we walked, walked, had a couple coffees, walked the tour at seven for another hour and one half and then walked back to the hostel. Are we crazy? The answer is Yes. We did not have to leave the hostel till noon the next day Praise God but then guess what? We had to walk to where the cruse was casting off from. Guess where it was? Past were Old Town is and onto another island. I had already started feeling sick the night before but my knee was better so there was really no reason to say anything. So in conclusion, my memory of Stockholm will be tired, ache, poppy but really beautiful city.
Now I will hand the computer over to machine like friend.... Mandi
LOL - Ana really thinks that I am part cyborg... but that's what my family does - we walk and walk and walk and eventually at the end of the day we realize that we are BEAT!!! And I do forget that Ana is older than me because she doesn't look it! So anyway, after this Mom and Ana can comiserate that I walked both of their legs off. I don't know if it's lack of experience or a foolish belief that nothing can really go wrong or just the fact that I'm 10 feet tall and bulletproof but I certainally have a different view than Ana. She's the careful one... I was even able too sleep thru Serbia, so apparently nothing rattles me. I am grateful for the room in Oslo - the art was weird (you'll see when the pix are up) but they had the best blankets and pillows that we've enjoyed on this trip so far, and breakfast was a definite winner! (For those who are wondering, the airport was Chicago O'Hare when I was in college.)
Helsinki was on the chilly side (-1 C), and my body was definitly feeling the effects of the walking through Stockholm, so I didn't spend as long there as I otherwise would have. I did find some beautiful churches and took lots of pictures until my camera died... then I found a couple parks but the best part was when I was making my way back to the boat via the touristy shopping places. There was a man with a violin and he played "Ave Maria" on the street. It was crazy beautiful and it felt like such a blessing. It also was a bit of a prod from the big guy as I have been very lax in my prayers lately (other than my now customary "Please God let the train be late / be on time / not need reservations / accept the rail pass..."). The Oslo thing was a judgement call because I was making the plans alone (due to evil stomach bug) and they didn't have a night train from Oslo to Bergen - now I know not to make those kind of jugement calls without consulting my travel companion. (sheepish grin) The good news is alls well that ends well and we had a beautiful trip here. Seriously, Norway has some of the best scenery so far... and that goes for the Norwegian guys too... perhaps I have a thing for Vikings. : )
So now we are back on track and planning on figuring out the next parts of our journey and checking Scandinavia off the list. I think that I would like to come back here in the summer to really enjoy all the hiking and other outdoorsy things to do... Ana has told me that under no circumstances are we going white water rafting... spoilsport. ; p It's not even like I suggested that!
Sangria cures everything lol
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