In Kemi, Finland, we prepare for our long bus
and train ride by getting provisions from a gas station, since the
grocery store is closed. They have Mr Bean soda. I hope Su forgives us
for not trying it, but she only asked us to eat one unidentifiable thing
each day, and Julie already had some distressing gelatinous yogurt today.
|
|
The ride through northern Sweden is
beautiful. It somehow feels very different from Finland, but it is hard
to say why.
|
|
These are the hyper kids that made our train
ride miserable. It was by far the worst train experience of the trip,
including Vietnam and India. It was like riding in the middle of a high
school lunch room for 3 hours. We're overjoyed to see them go.
|
|
We have no idea what we'll
find in Narvik since our guidebooks don't mention it, but we have to go
through it to get to Oslo. It turns out to be a perfectly pleasant place
with a ski run practically in town and a view of a fjord from our hotel
room. The town looks a little industrial because the economy is based on
iron ore.
|
|
We don't see any Nordic Tracks, Nordstroms,
or Norwegian Ridgeback Dragons. Maybe we'll find them further south on
the way to Oslo.
|
|
We find out that there is a ski slope just
five blocks from our B&B, so we just have to try it out. The tourist
info booth says that there are plenty of places for beginners there. The
ski patrol dude says there are no beginners in Norway, and there is
only one run that is easy. (Actually he says Norwegian children are born
with skis on their feet. Ow.) But the snow is great and we take our
falls with good humor. After three hours, we're hooked.
|
|
The crowd of people at our B&B turn out
to be the cast and crew for the Norwegian version of Survivor: 71 North.
We were fighting with them for slices of cheese at the breakfast bar
this morning and now they're filming a TV show on the very slope that
we're trying to learn how to snowboard. (That clump of orange jackets is
the cast being filmed. Probably gossiping about the member they just
voted off the fjord.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|