Norgesferie
Hidden in wonder and snow, or sudden with summer,
This land stares at the sun in a huge silence
Endlessly repeating something we cannot hear.
Inarticulate, arctic,
Not written on by history, empty as paper,
It leans away from the world with songs in its lakes
Older than love, and lost in the miles.
— Francis Reginald Scott, Laurentian Shield
Travel looks a little different at the moment. Many can still travel, depending on where you are starting from (though yes, there are some countries where borders are closed). But it’s a bit more complicated and everything needs more careful planning.
After four months in Norway, eight weeks of which were in self isolation, we were determined to make travel plans. Like everywhere that we’ve lived for a while, you end up with a ‘places to see before we leave’ list. Ours was simply Bergen, Oslo and The Arctic Circle.
We watched the government’s guidance. As the country opened up, more and more seemed like it would be possible.
We watched one company in particular, who announced with quiet confidence, their intention to resume journeys from mid-June. We were super excited at the prospect of booking. We were not going to give up on our hopes to see more of this beautiful country. Correspondence began. A flurry of e mails was exchanged with their Customer Sales Centre.
We checked their cancellation policy, which was communicated clearly. They would welcome bookings and they guaranteed to advise no later than 21 days before departure, if the trip was cancelled.
So we booked.
And we hoped.
We waited.
June 1st came and nothing was said. I went online and entered our booking reference number. The system came back with a message that read “Sorry! It seems like your booking is not available.” We assumed that the voyage had been cancelled.
But then the next day there was an e mail. There had been a glitch with the site. But “MS Trollfjord will be sailing as scheduled”. Our voyage was confirmed.
We were delighted.
The next challenge was booking domestic flights. After talking to the airline and taking a leap of faith that their flights would go ahead as scheduled, we booked one way flights to Bergen.
The following weekend we booked accommodation in Tromsø, to spend a few more days in Northern Norway. We booked flights and accommodation in Oslo. This was travel planning in a time of Coronavirus. And it all seemed a bit strange.
PKP finished his last couple of weeks at work. I began to clean out our cabin, which had been our temporary home for several months, and I packed our things.
We said our farewells in Hisøy. And we flew to Bergen. Today we go aboard the MS Trollfjord. It is named after the famous Troll Fjord, which we will see. Hurtigruten has been sailing from port to port, along Norway’s beautiful coastlines for more than 125 years.
We can’t quite believe this is happening!
The ship is ready to sail.
And we’re heading for The Arctic Circle.
Have you sailed with Hurtigruten? Have you been to the Arctic Circle?
© Maggie M / Mother City Time
God tur !! Bon voyage.
Make sure you listent to Kari Rueslaaten or Mari Boine when exploring. Do hikes. Try food. Take the time to breathe.
Tusen Takk Antoine. We are four months into this adventure and still experiencing new things. Yesterday we did our first RIB safari to see fish eagles and puffins. You were so right, when you told us that Norway is a super special place. More in the next blog post. MWAH!