Day #168 - Lavik to Oslo, Norway

Bergen, Norway - very old section of town

Return trip to Bergen from Lavik

The boat we took for our 2-1/2 hour trip from Lavik to Bergen

The Lavik Fjord Hotel - sitting up on the hill

Sunday, August 29th

I'm coming to you live aboard The Viking cruise ship sitting as a towering force in the Stockholm, Sweden central harbor. We're ready to set sail at any point headed for Helsinki, Finland. This is an overnight cruise and I'll arrive in Finland around 10am local time on Tuesday, August 31st.

I've been writing these blogs from some pretty strange places lately. When I intended to go from Stockholm to Helsinki, I did not realize I would be on a cruise ship. I've been on a bunch of boats - of various sizes thus far on my journey. This is a ship - equipped with the casino, night club, 11 decks, mutiple bars and restaurants, and the ever-present buffet.

I'm currently on the 9th deck in the night club/lounge. I'm enjoying a cool, frosty Beck's beer - while we are pulling out from port right now.

Sunday was a major travel day. When I decided to go to Iceland for the Reykjavik Marathon - it messed up my geographic positioning. I knew that these next couple days would be ballistic. I had to get from the most western portion of the Nordic countries (excluding Iceland) to the most easternly portion. And - I'm not flying.

I took the 2-1/2 hour water shuttle early Sunday from Lavic back to Bergen. I wrote to you on that journey. It was spectacular like my arrival. I could never get old of the scenery in that area. On my arrival into Bergen, I had about 45 minutes to walk across town and catch the 7 hour train across the country to Oslo. I made it just in time.

The train ride was fine - uneventful. Great lakes, trees, mountains. I've started a new book - True Blue by David Baldacci. I can't believe how much I've been reading on this trip. I'm already half way done with this 640-page novel and I just bought it yesterday.

After arriving in Oslo, I had booked a hostal about 1/2 mile from the central train station. I knew when I booked that the area was a bit sketchy. I was only going to be there 1 night (a few hours at that). I wrote to you last night from the bottom bunk. It actually turned out just fine. Not long after I posted, the other 5 people came in the room. They were quiet, respectful - it was all good. I'm the one that probably made the most noise as I had my watch set for 6am to catch my 7:30am transfer to Stockholm.

Sunday was a crazy travel day - Monday would be another.