The long road home

By Fi

Much like our trip over to the UK back in November, we have booked various ferries, trains and cars to get us back to Away in Norheimsund in Norway. Its getting too warm in the UK now.

We left the Squire one cloudy day in a hire car and drove to Bristol to our friends place. Bernie was deposited in one of the local doggy hotels, as we don’t enjoy him frightening our friends beautiful ginger cats. Plus, we wanted to go to Paris!

One enjoyable evening with friends was followed the next day with a tiny packed bag, and the cheapest flight we could find to Paris from Bristol.

What happens in Paris stays in Paris. We’ve been there a number of times now and just enjoy the city.

Unfortunately, due to the industrial action in France protesting the raising of the retirement age, our flight home was cancelled. Quick re-planning resulted in us jumping on the Eurostar to London, calling the doggy hotel and begging them to keep Bernie for a few more days because not only were there strikes in France, there were also strikes in the UK and we had no way of picking him up.

The London hotel we stay in is extremely doggy friendly and they were so excited we were coming back with Bernie that when we turned up without him there were some disappointed faces. We were assured that we were still allowed to stay without him. As it were, we had a glorious few days in London sans dog, and caught up with some wonderful friends, had lovely dinners out and saw a couple of shows on the West End. Delightful!

We didn’t take many photos in London. This is of the hotel main stairway. It is 5 Victorian townhouses joined together built in 1856 and has been used as a base for touring bands since 1975. It is often used for photoshoots and other events as it has such and eclectic style. Its even used in feature films and as a magazine shoot location. We didn’t spot anyone famous this trip.

The day had come to retrieve Bernie and the rest of our luggage. We had been making do with just our clothes for an overnighter in Paris, washing things in sinks by this point. Train to Bristol and our wonderful Sommerset friends ferried us to get our luggage, and then get Bernie, and then get back to the train station in record time! We made it back to the hotel, and settled Bernie in, much to the delight of the staff who gave him loads of pats and scratches.

Getting off the train in Paddington from Bristol with the dog and an obscene amount of luggage. Adrian is carrying about the same as me if not a little more.

The following day was our last day in the UK. We took Bernie to the vets to get his tapeworm tablet for Norway. This means he has 5 days to arrive in Norway from the time he is given the tablet. After a good dog walk and some chores, we packed up and were picked up in a car to be ferried out to our ferry at Harwich. The strikes were still on, so no trains for us.

Overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland, and alas, we were advised that our Holland to Norway ferry was cancelled! Refund pending, we had to re-plan how to get us and the dog back to Norway before the 5 day limit on Bernie’s worming tablet ran out. We research and research, and find that we can spend 15 hours on dog friendly trains from the Hook of Holland to Copenhagen, where we can catch another overnight dog friendly ferry to Oslo, and then a dog friendly train to Bergen and a dog friendly bus back to the boat. It was A LOT of travel and moving with a dog and 4 heavy bags, but we managed it, and found a great dog friendly hotel in Copenhagen for the night ready for our ferry to Oslo the next day.

Arriving after 9:30 pm at the hotel we search for food and find the most amazing Middle Eastern food with garlic so strong we could taste it for several days. This is Copenhagen after all.

We had a morning to look around Copenhagen near our hotel and had a look at the Meat Packing district. It was Sunday so most things were closed, but we’d definitely come back here.

Soaking up some pats on the overnight ferry to Oslo

Oslofjord was a little icy when we came in to dock.

We had decided to spend a couple of days in Oslo as it is unlikely that we would sail there. Away is already north of Oslo. We enjoy some great food, and some long walks to the palace to watch the changing of the guard and also to The Vigeland Park where the artist Gustav Vigeland has his works on display. It was all so dramatic in the snow.

We watched the guards do their thing. They have extremely big guns.

The Karl Johan monument – a marshal of France during the Napoleonic wars who ended up being King of Norway and Sweden.

The first set of sculptures we see as we enter The Vigeland Park is a series featuring a woman and a lizard creature. I am unsure of the significance.

I imagine this is how Bernie feels about wearing his jacket.

These amazing bronze statues are placed all through the park.

This was the only foodie picture I took! This was at a great Italian restaurant, and we also tried the local street food market called Barcode, and a Japanese restaurant.

It was then time to take the train from Oslo towards Bergen. This stretch of railway is extremely picturesque, and an offshoot of this railway is the Flam Railway which is rated one of the most picturesque in the world. It did not disappoint!

I wanted to have a little sleep but the views were so stunning!

After a few hours, we arrived in a town called Voss, hoped on the bus and we were finally home! After 3 months away, we had a few jobs to do to get the boat warmed up and into a home again.