Clarion Hotel Grand Olav Trondheim

... booking, we discovered where we had to head. Luckly just after reaching the hostel, the heavens opened and it chucked it down.<br> We had only booked to stay for one night as we are making our way up to Tromsø. So during the day (right now) we visited the only sights that are here. The Nidaros Cathedral and the old town and ...

... boats, North Sea bound structures, rock formations, diverse architecture and most interesting cloud formations.<br><br>As we have been heading north an initial stop on Day 2 was a Torvik. It is a 'fly on the wall' type of place, seemingly out in nowhere but closely tied into the mainland. The Nordkapp or Coastal Express as it is called stopped for 30 minutes, just enough time to leap onto land, check out the local sights, take some photos and climb back ...

... from over 1,000 years ago, among other things. Bodo was heavily bombed in World War II (2/3 of the town's buildings were destroyed) so it has a very post-war feel to it.<br><br>Thanks to the diverted course, we arrived in Stokmarknes, home to the Hurtigruten museum, at around 8pm instead of 1:00 am. As a consolation prize for the change in itinerary ...

... re office to pay for our tour. After that we explored the centre of the small town on the side of the mountain, noting that there were significant structures to allow through-skiing from the runs into the centre of town. During the time we were outside it wasn't hard to tell that it was cold but being in the sun kept us from freezing. We had both put extra layers on but there's only so far that a pair of Australians can be prepared for such conditions when not hiring ski gear ...

... train tracks cross the water back into town. So we didn't want to walk all the way around so we jumped the fence and ran across 5 or 6 different train tracks. It was very exciting actually and Brooke and I felt like such badasses! ;) We continued with our badass selves to see the Crown Regalia and Brooke wanted to take a picture inside of the jewels, but of course it's against the rules. So she took one without the flash and in the next 10 seconds there was a security gaurd walking up ...

... Natürlich durften auch die Internationalen Studenten nicht fehlen, vertreten durch die esn. Und die Medizin-Studenten natürlich auch. Und als Pünktchen auf dem i hatten wir bis auf 20 min Sonnenschein. Ich hab ja gelesen in Oslo hätte es heute morgen geschneit, bei uns ist seit heute morgen Sonnenschein und ca 10°C - also bestes Wetter für ne super Party - aber seht einfach selbst.

... taxi back to their home. There was only one at the train station that was now closed. The driver wasn't sure what Monday and Elsa were saying for an address. But, they asked the taxi drive to just follow them. It was an extra size mini-van which was just what we needed to get the four of us and luggage to the Doh's. They live in a basement apartment of a home. Elso'a sister Anita was there, too. She emigrated with her parents to Norway from the Ma ...

... plateau over which a new highway crossed with no speed cameras, so 110 man... til we got behind the caravan... Now there is some pretty damn beautiful stuff in this country, huge valleys and some big mountains and rivers. The rivers are aqua blue and cold looking. Along the plateau we saw what we came to see - SNOW! heaps of it covering big mountains. It may be summer but to me 6 degrees is pretty much winter especially with ...

... Wir haben uns die kleine Festung angeschaut und uns von einem sehr netten Herren was über die Geschichte erzählen lassen. Er war so nett alles nochmal in Englisch zu wiederholen. Auf der Insel gab es mal ein Kloster, dann war es eine Festung und dann kamen die Deutschen und haben von dort ihre U-Bootbunker bewacht. Jetzt ist es ein Museum. Schwimmen waren wir auch im Fjord, wenn auch nur kurz, weil es ziemlich windig wurde.

I am home now, at least back in lovely Hamar. I returned safely from the North. No polar bears ate us, we weren't mauled by reindeer, and we managed to have a lot of fun. Haha. So, I wrote a quick blog (mostly for the pin) so I think I am going to continue where I left off. Like I said in my last blog, I was in Trondheim writing a quick note at the public library. We had just arrived in Trondheim after a three hour bus ride from R?ros to a small town called Heimdal. Boy did ...