We are up nice and early on a bright, sunny but windy day. We need to catch the 8:15 am bus to the station quite a long walk away, OK without our rolling backpacks. No need to worry – the bus has been parked outside our abode all night and its driver was “overnatting” in the same place as ourselves. So, after he has his morning smoke we pile aboard (50 kr please). The Rauma train is the station, some distance away having its snout pressure-washed (that’s comforting – nothing worse than having a dirty windshield!) In due course we set off. The first hour delivers all the great sights – The Trollveggen – The Trolls’ wall – the tallest vertical cliff in Europe. Then a series of waterfalls, bridges and a 180 degree turn through the mountainside (tame by Canadian standards – Consider those in the Rockies). For a neat video of the highlights of the trip visit here www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qk2H5VlyDk Eventually we reach Dombas, where we change to a mainline train for the four hour trip into Oslo. Here we encounter the first negatives of our Norwegian journey – They were working on The Permanent Way, causing us to reach our destination 70 minutes late – no problem for us, but had we been getting off at Oslo International Airport at Gardemoen we might have missed our flight - hence, always build some slack into your travel schedule! We eventually arrive at Oslo S (Sentrum) station, where there is mirabile dictu both a TI (in which to get a city map) and a Vinmonopoliet. We have discovered some Vin de Pays de l’Aude (86 kr) which is the cheapest Merlot in the store, that is really very palatable. So, suitable equipped, we head out to our new accommodation in the Hotel Permalinen, originally intended as a reasonable place for military personnel to stay centrally while in Oslo, but now open to all comers. We are very pleasantly surprised by our room, on the top seventh floor with a balcony, sofa, TV, and wonderful bathroom, altho’ like many showers the sill is very shallow and the water doesn’t drain quickly enough, so we have to be careful not to flood the bathroom! No biggie though. The reception clerk tells that since it is after 5:00 pm we have missed dinner – sure enough, from 3:00 to 5:00pm they serve a table d’hôte dinner for, wait for it, only 75kr (~ $10), so we make note of that and plan to forego lunch tomorrow and have an early dinner (bringing our own wine to boot!). Tonight, however, having just spent 3,300 kr ($470) in advance for our accommodation we hit The Golden Arches for take-out food (here in Norway if you take-out your food you only pay VAT of 12% versus 25% if you eat there – small point, but this is after all supposed to be frugal escapade). Tomorrow will be our first full day exploring Oslo so, till then, adieu.
No comments:
Post a Comment