We boarded our train and nestled in for the night around 11:30 last night. It took some time to get used to the train, but we did all manage to fall asleep.
Imagine, then, the disorientation when we woke up to the announcer telling us the train was being cancelled and that we would be put on a shuttle bus to another train station. This was at 4:00 in the morning – not my best hour!
Bleary-eyed and very confused, we boarded the shuttle shortly before 5:00am and then the next train at 5:40am. Suddenly, that 8:20 flight went from comfortable to impossible, but there was nothing to be done at that hour so we just got on board and kept heading toward Oslo.
The train we boarded had clearly already been used – the bedding was disheveled (and one pillow had a mysterious blood stain on it). Amazing how when you’re tired enough, you’ll sleep anywhere. We woke up to the announcer informing us that we were in Oslo (advance warning would’ve been nice). After a hearty hustle, we got to the airport train. I called the airline to see if we could change to the 9:20 flight since it was 8:20 and we clearly were missing our original flight. They gave me the song and dance about changing flights at least 30 minutes in advance, and the agent said we wouldn’t make the 9:20 anyway. We decided to try.
At the airport, the very sympathetic agent managed to book us on the 9:20 flight in the 4 minutes before the check-in window closed. We ran to check-in, tried to run through security (every one of our bags had to go through twice), and then Anna-Sophia went ahead to let the gate agents know that we were coming. I stayed back with the most stubborn of the bags and ended up running through the Oslo airport with 50 pounds of luggage and 2 giant winter coats. Of course, we were in the very furthest gate – I am pretty sure I walked 2/3 of the way here! Airport personnel were nice – they checked me in based on Luke’s word and held the plane door for an extra minute when they could see me coming. In the end, I’m really glad we made it – this was the part of the trip I was most excited about, and trying to come another day wasn’t going to work given limited flight schedules and booked activities.
After the first flight to Tromsø, we had to go through passport control to get to our gate. I now have a departure stamp from Tromsø, but I have no entry stamp. We are internationally nowhere – not in Europe, not technically in Norway, not in Russia. It’s like being in international waters, but on land.
Now that we are finally here, we are taking the shuttle bus to our hotel (single bus runs to all 6 hotels in town after each scheduled flight arrival). We all need some rest and showers, and then we will walk around town. I figure, since the sun doesn’t set, we don’t need to worry too much about bedtimes.
Vacation Days 