Cape Town – Istanbul – Oslo – Bergen (4-5 Feb 2016)

Out and about again… It is four in the morning and I cant sleep.

In the last 24 hours we have went from sunny Cape Town, currently in the grips of a heat wave to -5 degrees C in Oslo to 4 degrees in Bergen. 

We felt really out of place with our warm jackets at the airport, but it was a godsend waiting for the busdriver to arrive at the busterminal last night. Driving rain and piles of snow and more rain for the rest of the day. Apparently they have umbrella vending machines on the streets in Bergen – will take a picture if we encounter one .

The flight to Istanbul was uneventful – the sweetest thing was the greetings to passengers – Ladies and Gentlemen and dear children…. We continued the “tradition” of coffee at Starbucks in the Istanbul transit lounge. Saw our other Turkish favourite – Pistacio Magnum at one of the shops just before boarding – something to look forward to on the way home. I’ve never seen them outside Turkey.

There was no space for any shopping – backpacks stuffed to capacity with spare clothing, should our luggage not arrive with us in Bergen. Alas, cases also stuffed to capacity with winter gear we think we may need. Time will tell if we overpacked. Have to admit we were impressed with the jackets that dried completely in the 20 minute busride to the hotel, I was sitting there wondering if they would dry during the night.

Also had to wear snow hiking shoes on the trip because my luggage would not allow me to wear sneakers. Colin looked at my dilemma and said… typical woman – shoes take up most of your luggage. In this case a pair of Sorel Snow boots I ordered from Amazon. You just do not get that stuff in Cape Town – go figure! So, although not the most comfortable air-travel companions my feet were warm and my footing sure on the icy roadway last night.

Apologies to my friends who is used to winter snows – this is new for us and probably one of the reasons we have made this trip. As much as others are drawn to the “african safari”, I am drawn to the “winter wonderland” picture postcard. Although not quite the “white xmas” – still on the bucket list – this is very close. The landscape approaching Oslo was breathtaking – houses with roofs covered in snow. Rivers with ice floating in it. Ground temperature in Oslo according to the pilot -5 degrees, which you only felt when they opened the doors to let passengers board the busses to their planes.

Oslo local flight was self-check in – which we are used to – to obtain boarding passes. This one gives your luggage tags too – you print them out, attach them accordingly and then go to a self-service bag drop station. Scan your luggage – weigh it in and presto – there it goes on the belt. We decided the second step was a little risky and opted for manual luggage drop – with human intervention. Cannot afford at this point to “divert” our luggage, maybe en-route home.

Our initial flight was cancelled and we were booked on a later flight out, which then was further delayed – the aircraft apparently got delayed in Iceland. With only eight rows of seats to choose from (of which 5 was already filled up at check-in) we were worried that it might be a really small aircraft – hello adventure… It was’nt – our ‘class’ ticket was restricted to the first few rows… the rest of the passengers had to ‘pay’ for their snacks, but tea/coffee was free.

It was the best chocolate muffin I’ve  ever had – death by dark chocolate brownie –  the size of a ‘Mugg & Bean’ muffin. Pleasantly surprised – thank you SAS air. Rhodene – you will love that muffin.

With all the delays we had an hour to kill at Bergen airport – the Hurtigruten bus transfer we booked runs on a schedule.  I was a little worried that some driver might be searching for us – given the delays. However – the busdriver works pretty much on the schedule we saw in Capri – If you’re not on the bus by the set time – then there is always tomorrow.

A proof of payment voucher gets you a seat and with a shrug – a minute past 18:45 we departed – last trip for the day. I thought given its an (expensive) pre-paid transfer, he would have some kind of passenger list. There is also the option to purchase tickets on the bus for walk-ins. There were no list and no walk-ins, just another gentleman and us – waiting in the rain. He seemed to be searching for passengers from London, but had no prior knowlegde of the three of us. 

We drove through possibly the longest road tunnel I have ever been in (besides the Dover/Calais tunnel – but that was in the Eurostar yeaaaaars ago) There were two ‘off ramps’ inside the tunnel – turn left where the tunnel forks… really? We kept straight and dropped the gentleman off at the Hurtigruten terminal – he was boarding last nights cruise.

The driver dropped us off close to our hotel and we dodged the rain – eager for a shower and a bed. I saw some landmarks on the square in front of the Hotel that I hope to investigate today – in daylight (but in the rain – it seems). You could see the  Fenicular going up the mountain from our hotel room – I dont think we will be doing that today.

Apparently we have to be out of our room by 12:00 – the hotel is fully booked. We can store our luggage until the bus picks us up at 17:30 to take us to the terminal for the cruise.  Maybe I’ll keep my bathing costume out and try the indoor pool later – I hope it is heated – I love heated pools.

Biggest mission for today – find some way of getting local data. Choices for local pre-paid data is rather limited and the best option is tricky to register initially if you are not a citizen. Apparently quite easy if you are in Oslo, more difficult if you cannot get to their flagship store. Let’s see what the day brings…

We might also visit the Bryggen and Fish Market – walking distance from the Hotel.

Food is really expensive here – A burger and Chips 189 NOK ( x 1.9 to get to South African Rand). A cooldrink 46 NOK.  A latte at the airport was 41 NOK, filter coffee 32 NOK. Will see what shop prices are during exploration today (after a GOOD pre-paid hotel breakfast). Luckily our breakfasts are all included and the 6 days on the cruise includes food and a wine package. The wine package (1 x bottle per night) was a bonus added to the offer after we booked earlier the year – yay!
The Coke Zero in the mini-bar is calling me, but I will be strong – stick to complimentary coffee (there are back-up cuppuchino sachets from home) and the room has some expresso machine with four capsules. Maybe I’ll attempt to work that one out – you live you learn.

It is almost six am here and I’m going to see if I can catch another hour of sleep before tackling the day.