Home Sweet Home

We're delighted to be home after a horrendous return trip.

Bergen in Norway threw more torrential  rain at us on the last day which delayed our flight by 40 minutes. The hour we had in Frankfurt to transfer to Singapore dwindled to minutes but we decided to make a run for it anyway. It was ghastly!!!

We had to get from A14 to Z62 - couldn't have been further apart - I don't do running and midway, trapped on a concrete staircase with 20 screaming teenage boys I wanted to opt out - but we continued running along marble corridors, pounding over conveyor belts, puffing like a grampus (me) only to get to Z62 three minutes after the doors closed.

Frankfurt airport closes at 11pm and as we arrived at the Lufthansa service out-station it closed - so back along the conveyor belts and train to A where a nice man issued us with hotel vouchers and arranged for our luggage to accompany us tomorrow. Then we couldn't get out - back to B then A again - no-one around except people sleeping in corners and the odd staff member disappearing around the corner on a bicycle. I really wanted to mug one for his bicycle. Finally we found the outside and the hotel shuttle bus - us and a hundred other cross, tired travellers, all going to this poxy little motel with no airconditioning.  Dinner was available but no tea or coffee because it was "too late".  (Travelling with Merryle spoils you for lesser hotels. )

A day in Frankfurt airport wasn't too bad and we caught the flight 24 hours later but - you've guessed it - no luggage in  Singapore. Lufthansa was very helpful and gave us cash for immediate needs and I am hopeful both cases will turn up so that I can do the laundry.
  
Our travel agent rescheduled us on Jetstar Business so it was lovely to be able to stretch our legs out and relax to Melbourne, collect the car and head home.

Fjords and Roses day 24

The rain came this morning and Bergen showed its true colours - rain 259 days per year and annual rainfall of 100 inches. We were soaked getting to the ferry then steamed gently as we rode along the fjord into watery sunshine.

It's a 2 hour trip to Rosendal, on an island, where the best rose garden in Norway is to be found at the Manor and where we had a delicious lunch in the greenhouse / photo 1.

The roses are magnificent healthy specimens making the most of their long days and short growing season. / Photo 2.  Our tour of the 1650s manor house revealed an old wooden house with some splendid furniture, an original Edvard Munch picture  and a portrait gallery of dour-looking individuals. It now belongs to the University of Oslo and is open to tourists during the summer - but our guide said sadly "the summer is almost over."

So is our holiday: last day today and early tomorrow morning most people on their flights home. We don't leave till 6.30 pm so will have to fill in the day - hope it doesn't rain. 

Public Toilets

I need to make a few awards for public toilets we have visited. 

Most efficient: 2 toilets on the Autobahn in Northern Germany. They were in huge roadside complexes selling petrol, food and tickets for the toilet - 70p!!! = AU$1 - puts a whole new meaning on spending a penny. All 38 of us surged downstairs, paid our money and queued. Having used the facilities came the problem of how to flush. I pushed every button I could see and watched in amazement  as the seat writhed and twisted and washed itself. It was so fascinating I pushed the button for a repeat performance, finally realising you simply wave your hand in front of a steel plate to flush. Then it's up the stairs and into the shop to get 70p off any purchase.  Clever - and very clean.

Most embarrassing : a stand-alone group at the tip of southern Sweden / photo 1. I entered the disabled toilet and totally forgot about waving. I pressed every button in sight and one of them was an alarm. A piercing siren erupted which continued for 10 minutes  - and no-one came so we drove away leaving it wailing.

Most expensive: NK department store in Stockholm (David Jones equivalent).
20 kroner =AU$1.67 and nothing special.

Prettiest: Raame Garden in Norway - owned by a millionaire philanthropist so perhaps that's why. Herren to the right, Damen to the left, quite ordinary but in the middle where you wash your hands is the prettiest layout I've ever seen / photo 2. 

Grieg Concert day 23

Edvard Grieg is Bergen's favourite son and his summer house at Troldhaugen is now a museum. A local guide, Inge, takes us there to a lunch time concert of Grieg played by Joachim Kwetzinski, a piano student, and it was wonderful! A concert hall has been built on the site with a huge window overlooking the lake / photo 1.
He played a delightful programme finishing with my favourite Wedding Day at Troldhaugen.

Inge took us down the hill through green and mysterious Troll Valley / photo 2 to where Edvard and his wife Nina are buried in a simple hole in a granite wall overlooking the lake and receiving the last rays of the sun.

Then we had a ride up a mountain on the funicular to a spread-out view of Bergen below, reminding me of Daisy's and my ride on the cog railway in Wellington. 

Bergen markets day 23

Our hotel is right on the wharf in Bryggen, the Old Town of Bergen. The street leading to the market is lined with very expensive souvenir shops e.g. AU$500 for a hand-knitted jumper / photo 1 shows Bryggen from the other side of the harbour near the flower market / photo 2,3. Love those peonies!

Afternoon tea at Stalheim day 22

Afternoon tea with the million kroner view
(AU$183,639.69) 

Ferry to Gudvangen day 22

This is a popular trip and it's hard to get a seat in the shade. Some of the passengers might be from the cruise ship which anchored outside our bedroom window this morning. /Photo 1. Every single one has a camera, some have iPads /photo 2 as a cloud comes over, it looks like rain and maybe at last we can wear a jacket.

It's a huge deep fjord called Sognefjord 200 kms long and Flam is nestled right in its armpit. We travel for 3 hours, stopping at little villages / photo 3 to take on more passengers.  Where will they sit? All the wimps have gone into the saloon but it's lovely and cool on deck. Norway and all of Europe have been sweltering and they just don't understand air conditioning.
No jackets needed: just as our bus moves off it starts to rain but no wipers needed.