We’re now back, unpacked, the laundry is done, and life is returning to normal. As normal as the Giles household is ever likely to be, anyway.

We arrived home late on Tuesday night, having been in Norway since Friday 15 June. I love coming home after travelling, and that feeling of needing to remember how I normally do things and where everything is in our house! When we go abroad on holiday we often spend only two or three nights in one place (usually a youth hostel), so Dave can get plenty of train travel into our carefully honed itinerary. I love all the ensuing packing and unpacking (yes, I know this is odd), but it is equally lovely to be home again.

So. A brief summary of our itinerary follows. You may wish to supplement it with more photos which can be found here.

We flew from Stansted, which entailed a 5am alarm (ouch), a 5.44 train, a tube across London, and an EasyBus from Marylebone to the airport (£2 each – bargain!).  First stop was Oslo, but we flew with Ryanair, so the airport was about as near Oslo as Birmingham is to London. We caught a bus to the nearest station, where Dave collected all our pre-booked train tickets for the whole trip. He enjoyed that. Can you tell? The orange folder contained his Holiday Master Plan – full itinerary in extreme detail, with all the train stops, so he could check whether things were running to time, along with print-outs of all our bookings and reservations for hostels and ferries, addresses, contact details. He’s brilliant at planning and organisation where travel is concerned!

While in Oslo we went to the Viking Ships Museum (fab) and the Norwegian Folk Museum, where there was a demonstration of how to make lefse (like a cross between a pancake and a drop scone) and naturally we partook.

Next stop was Åndalsnes, and the journey there was stunning – particularly the last part, from Bjorli onwards: dramatic mountains and valleys and waterfalls. I was running from one side of the train to the other trying to take it all in at once!

From there it was up the Trollstigen (‘trolls’ ladder’) road, past the Stigfossen waterfall and across Geirangerfjord via Hellesyllt to Stryn for a couple of days, then down via Fjærland to Bergen by boat. In Bergen we met up with Dave’s parents, and had a day trip out by boat, steam train and bus. One evening at about 11.00 Dave and I decided to go up the funicular railway – just for fun. It was so light, it could have been seven or eight o’clock. 

We all went on from Bergen to Flåm, where we had an apartment right on the edge of the fjord, with a fantastic view. From there we had an excursion to Gudvangen, stopping off at Undredal (famous for a tiny church and the village’s cheese). We also went kayaking -Dave’s first time – on the fjord, which was great for getting up close to the waterfalls.

From Flåm Dave’s parents returned to Bergen and home, while we continued south to Kragerø. The journey started at 8.30 am and we were scheduled to arrive at 6.30 pm. Our second train having suffered a power failure in the tunnel just before we were due to get on it, we experienced a not inconsiderable delay at Myrdal, a very scenically-located station with no road access! Four trains and two taxis later (taxis and dinner at NSB’s expense – total c. £630) we arrived at the hostel at about 11.50 pm.

The hostel in Kragerø was, frankly, not very good. The guests’ kitchen, though newly-installed, was missing some vital electrial part which meant that the hob didn’t work. Mindful of this, the staff had thoughtfully chosen not to tease us by providing saucepans. Nor was there a kettle, microwave, or any kind of cooking apparatus. Or plates, cutlery or glasses. Just a fridge and a solitary chopping board (no knife). So. Although breakfast was provided, lunch and dinner were more of a challenge. We managed eventually to convince the staff to let us use the catering kitchen. Hmmm. 

Anyway. The return journey was uneventful and mostly as scheduled, and now we are home. I have a new scrapbook album to make, a thriving garden to tend, and already a couple of work projects on for next week. Oh – and my article on journaling with quotations (Scrapbook Magazine issue 24) came out while I was away, making my husband a cover star (sort of). Hurrah! Should you wish to purchase a copy, it’s £3.99, looks like this (see right) and should be in the shops for a few weeks yet.

And on that shameless piece of self-promotion I shall depart for the day. More Norwegian tales to follow over the weekend.