Nyt minä olen takaisin Tampereella :) ja aurinko paistaa...joka tarkoittaa että minä olen onnellinen!
I'm about to go out for a round of golf at Messukylä but thought I'd post a wee update before doing so. So, after a rainy, busy, brilliant 3 weeks in Scotland spent working, meeting friends and family, trying to relax, shopping, training and having coffee (fika), I set off on the epic road trip back to Finland with Emma and Liz for company!
We left early in the morning from Glasgow and drove down to Newcastle where we took the ferry (27hrs) to Bergen in Norway! Admittedly it does seem a bit Irish to go south only to go north again but so it was ;) The ferry was great, we had a Commodore class cabin with a sea view and it meant we also had access to the Commodore lounge, with big lazy sofas, free tea, coffee, fruit and biscuits! They even had internet but it was so brutally slow I couldn't stand using it!
On arrival in Bergen, we drove off to find our hostel; that was my first endeavour driving on the "right" side, but it was pretty ok. Later-christened "Wanda", my sat nav was invaluable on the trip! She became our friend...and even started having feelings (like being grumpy in the morning) which I thought was pretty cool for an inanimate object!
We spent 2 nights and 1 full day in Bergen, sampling the delights of the local fish market and going up the funicular railway to a gorgeous viewpoint; North Sea on one side and the majesty of the Fjords on the other: stunning! We also visited "Bryggen" which is an old mittelalterisch harbour area, now a UNESCO world heritage site, very nice!
From Bergen we headed north along a hairy, narrow road filled with tunnels and scary oncoming traffic, towards Sognefjord, where we stumbled across an idyllic camp site where we stayed in a wee cabin right on the Fjord side. Emma felt compelled to go for a dip in the fjord which If I'm being totally honest didnt actually think she would go through with but she did! Respect. I mean, we're talking about water surrounded by mountains on which there is permanent snow...couldnt have been too pleasant!!
We then headed south east towards Oslo. We stayed for 1 night in our tent there in Ekeberg camping which was less than delightful I have to say...we arrived pretty late to find a spot next to a road with minimal trees. Thankfully, 2 very kind Swedish gentlemen helped with some hints for our wonky Tesco 3man tent, which incidentally wasn't long enough for me to stretch out in. We had the feeling in Norway too, that everyone is rather starey...all eyes on us tout-le-temps...but perhaps it's the funny steering wheel on the car. hmm. Still. Eventually we just stared back.
In Oslo we met Vidar and Magne (2 friends from Munster!) which was awesome! They both travelled some distance to meet me and my friends, I felt very honoured indeed. It was really cool catching up with them in their home country and having them to take us around Oslo and show us the best parts; the opera house (love it!), the fortress and Vigelands park with all the cool naked statues! I really loved Oslo and found it a very liveable place, it had some really nice residential quarters in the city, just lovely! Of course, you'd need a Norwegian wage in order to afford living there...and a very good job ;)
The next day we quickly visited the Viking ship museum before crossing the border into Sweden! We did so via Kongsvinger and headed for Torsby which is a small town but where I wanted to go because I had read about the Finnish settlements in the area and in the larger "län" of Värmland. So we popped into the tourist info where we chatted with a lovely wee lady (me also in Swedish with her!) who advised us about a hostel etc. We stayed there after a nice meal on the terrace of a restaurant by a lake and the next day went to the Finnkulturmuseum before driving about 10k into the middle of the forest to find the traditional Finnish settlements. It was really interesting. We ate some pancakes and tentatively avoided the "traditional" Finnish delicacy of "Motti " and something else which escapes me right now!
We then started the longest stretch of driving (but quick given the better roads) from Torsby to Stockholm, via Karlstad in order to pop into IKEA for some Swedish meatballs, of course. Emma was driving most of the way so I go relax a bit, it is tiring driving and concentrating so much. We got to Stockholm at about 9pm and found our hostel, which was very nice too. I think the standard of hostels in the Nordic countries is much higher than in other regions, and still not too expensive! Pretty knackered, we had an early night in anticipation of our busy day visiting Stockholm the next day. For me it wasn't hugely exciting considering it was the 3rd time I'd been there in almost as many months! Nonetheless the weather was good and we had a lovely day. In the evening we met Ann-Mari, my Finnish friend who is living and working there for the summer. It was fun and then we crashed! I had to get up at 5am to go for the ferry to Turku the next morning and Liz and Emma flew back to Glasgow that afternoon.
All in all, it was a fantastic trip with great banter! I really don't think I've laughed so much in ages!! Thanks chicas!
