Day on the Train

Back to Vinterbro, Norway -- Day 4

There has been a lot of traveling the last couple days -- four hours on the long ferry yesterday and seven hours on the train today. It's amazing how tired you can get just doing nothing. We may be missing home a little as we spent some time on the phone in Leikanger, first catching up with my older brother Don who just completed over a 1000 miles of the Appalachian Trail and also chatting with Meg’s sister, Anne, and brother-in-law, Rick.

Although the day began with misty skies during my morning run along the hillside roads, the beautiful weather from yesterday continued once the mist burned off. We had the morning to walk around Bergen a bit before our 11:59 train for Oslo.

Norway has definitely been one of the more expensive places we’ve visited so far. Apparently the oil boom of the last few decades has contributed to high wages, high property values and thus a high cost of living in general. The fact that we're paying for trains, buses, and boats on a daily basis, unlike the 8 weeks on the bike, is also impacting our budget. At the grocery store yesterday, we saw a three-pack of beer for 10 dollars...youch!  More to our liking, we settled for a 6 dollar cider instead.

We’ve been surprised to see a ton of Teslas in Norway. I can only guess there is some government subsidy that has spurred this on since it really seems Norway rivals the Bay Area for Teslas per capita. Oddly, though, I’ve seen very few hybrids (I.e., Priuses).

Once on the train, we spent the seven hour ride reading, writing, uploading photos and gazing out the windows. Dex and Kylie also played for hours with their ever-growing collection of Kinder toys, laughing and giggling almost the entire time. I guess it's a good thing they can amuse themselves that long, though I have to admit, I don't quite get the attraction.

The ride was incredibly scenic as we made our way into the mountains and up over the treeless highlands before descending again into forest and farmland. Norway has an undeniable abundance of beautiful, unspoiled, Alpine scenery. With a population of only five million and a land area almost as large as California, it is very sparsely populated. Add to that the mountains and exceptional rainfall, and you have a green wilderness filled with lakes, white water rivers, and, of course, the iconic Nordic fjords.

By the time we grabbed some food at the Oslo train station, caught the bus out to Vinterbro, and hiked up the hill to Cam and Jan's place, it was almost 9:00. Nevertheless, our incredible hosts were ready with a bottle of wine, a platter of snacks, and eager questions of our trip. Meg and I have definitely been treated like royalty during our many visits this summer, so I'm hoping we have the chance to repay the hospitality when we are finally back home next year.

Once again we had access to the neighbors cabin, so we quickly settled back in. Dex and Kylie, however, encouraged by the glorious weather, were intent on sleeping outside in the hammocks. Cam and Jan assured us the bear and wolf populations had long since been eradicated, so with their pillows, sleeping bags and Kindles they headed off to bed. Sweet dreams.