What a transition. Things do move quickly in Norway! We left Bergen, in drizzle. Apparently it is somewhat like Seattle in the US. It rains there at least 275 days per year. It kept up its average during our stay, although to be fair, it was only a light drizzle. Still, a beautiful place in a remarkable country.
Train trip back to Oslo took us back over and through the mountains. Heavy snow still at places like Finse which is at 1222 metres above sea level. As we descended toward Oslo, the snow was thinning and we even saw green grass and buds on the trees. All this in the space of 3 days! When we got to Oslo, it was approx. 20 deg C - nearly summer temperatures, which seemed to bring everyone out side.
Final catch-up dinner with Viola, Gauge and Odin. He is growing very well and appears to be in very good health. Viola's biggest concern is when he will be taller than her. He seems to have inherited Gaute's stature, so will be 'looking down' on mum in not too many years.
Early start today, handed the keys to the flat back to Gaute, and headed off to the airport. The train is brilliant and cost effective. The trams and buses around Oslo, also run on time and regularly. Is it really too much to expect that we could have something similar in Melbourne?
On arrival in Frankfurt, picked up a hire car (Opel Corsa -manual). Managed to find reverse gear ok (Paul & Matt understand this significance). After a few wrong turns found our way onto the correct freeway. Keeping as much as possible in the right lane to allow the Audis, Mercs and BMWs scream past on the left, we headed to Bad Bentheim.
Traffic! Particularly as we approach the Ruhr region around Dortmund. The freeway repeatedly came to a standstill usually for no accountable reason, then picked up again! Our 3.5 hr anticipated trip took 4.5-5.0 hrs! Still we got here with only a couple of scary 'wrong side' moments 😌
This is where Rose's dad, Kurt, was stationed at the start of WWII. It was here he met his first wife Christine who sadly died at the end of the war while Kurt was still in internment camp. He had made contact with some people he knew from those days, and still live in the area. After he died, Rose has kept in contact, and we plan to meet up with them tomorrow.
Staying at a lovely country inn just west of BB - Landgasthaus Neimann. See what tomorrow brings...
I'll try to get some photos also published here in the near future.