Traveling with the Pros

So here's a funny story....

For nearly the entire trip we followed Matt and Tom on our travels through London, Norway, and Copenhagen as if we were the children, and they were the parents. It was a very good deal for this couple. Finally, on our last night together it was decided that we were capable to make our way to Heathrow on our own. And it began just fine with us taking the Jubilee Line to Green Park, changing to the Piccadilly Line for the final bit of the trip. Now generally, or it has been our experience, traveling on the underground is fantastic, and we've done it on our own more than once. However, when we boarded the second train there were not one, not two, but three scruffy looking young men sleeping on several seats, a definite no-no. Plus, they smelled. Because it takes 45 minutes or so to get to Heathrow we both felt uncomfortable and when the train approached a station Bruce said, let's move or something to that effect. Having been married for so long we hardly need to say a word and know what the other is thinking. NOT! Bruce hopped off the train with his bag, and as it was dawning on me to do the same, the doors closed and the train took off!! Now what do I do? It took me about three stops, after not being able to text him because we were underground, to finally decide to get off at a stop and maybe he would be on the next train. Meanwhile, he was getting off at each stop hoping I would be there!! It was at the Earls Court station that I finally made my move, standing on the platform hoping he would be on the next train and by golly, there he was!! All's well that ends well, but I told Bruce it was like a scene in a movie with a happy ending!!

I awoke early this morning, really too early, but I will sleep well tonight because our travel day yesterday was very, very, long. Anyway, I've had time to scan through my photographs and picked a few to share. First and foremost, the whole thing was put together by Matt with input from Tom. Not only that, but he made all of the reservations, making it so easy on these old folks. Plus, they gave us a beautiful overnight ferry trip for our anniversary which you'll learn more about in the coming days.

These two!!!

We had a few challenges along the way, some overcome more easily than others. Our planned trip to Dover was impossible because of rainy weather so instead, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, spending hours admiring a tiny bit of their beautiful collection. Lunch was outdoors.

Tom, our resident historian was working that day, however, he joined us the next when we flew to Bergen, Norway from Gatwick Airport. We woke the next morning to very sunny weather as shown in this photo of what I'm calling the town square, although that is not the official name.

One of the reasons we went to Norway is because I mentioned to Matt how much I missed the mountains so he picked this spot for me to experience them once again. Plus, they like Scandinavia having visited the area several times. Together they travel what I call a lot, and Matt travels for work. I probably have this wrong, (my poor memory is legendary) but I seem to recall him saying he's visited thirty countries. I do know for a fact that one year he visited six continents so he knows what he is doing in the travel department. Anyway, he'd booked a tour called Norway in a Nutshell which included a fjord boat tour followed by a railway experience across Norway. Sounds fantastic, right? It was, however, sadly the morning of the trip it was raining as we walked with our luggage to the boat. The weather did not improve as time went on. The sky was leaden, making the mountains hulks in the clouds, mist and rain. Guess what? It was fantastic!!!! A blue sky experience is what you would see in their promotional material, but the atmosphere created by the low hanging clouds was more than I could have hoped for.

All four of us began the trip outside, but the men tired of the weather after the first few hours. You know me...don't want to miss anything so I stayed outdoors most of the time, ending our journey looking the worse for wear. Matt braved the wind and rain for this photo.

We landed in Flam and while the rain had mostly quit, the clouds were still hanging low.

These will not be the only photos of this remarkable landscape that you see, but for today we are doing a quick overview. I'm skipping all of Oslo in this post, making our next stop Copenhagen, a beautiful city where we took a canal trip.

It was while there that Bruce began experiencing tremendous pain, so much so we had to get back to the hotel. Not what one hopes for in a foreign city, but because he's had one before, I was pretty sure it was a kidney stone. Let's just say he was extremely miserable for the remainder of our time there. Matt and I visited a Butterfly house that was fantastic,

until my camera battery died! Oh friends, did I have my share of camera troubles. Well, actually mostly one thing...the camera will not turn off which I know sounds crazy, but sadly it is true. I had to keep pulling the battery out. At first Matt thought I'd done something wrong with my settings until he investigated, learning that I am not the first person to have this problem with an Olympus OMD. And to think I almost brought along a second camera! Nonetheless, I worked around it and we continued seeing remarkable things, including Rosenborg, a castle whose interior drew gasps from these Americans. The outdoor grounds were darn good as well.

Back in London after three days in Copenhagen, we spent the night at Matt and Tom's amazing home. I'd been dying to see it in person and it was every bit as special as I thought it would be. Plus, they have a garden!

Although the train tickets were already purchased, Matt decided that traveling to Melton Mowbray to visit Tom's folks was going to be way too much for Bruce. Instead he found a doctor, called a taxi and we went to the 33rd floor of a building in Canary Wharf for a consultation. He agreed with our diagnosis and prescribed some stronger pain medication for Bruce which helped tremendously. Because we'd planned for an overnight stay at the Flude's home, we had no hotel booked so we spent a second night with Matt and Tom. With the help of the pain meds, we all walked to a restaurant along the Thames for dinner. Bonus points for a wonderful sunset!

While Bruce was resting the next day, I took a long walk along Regent's Canal and was oh so thrilled to see a Robin in a little wooded area. Not like any Robin I've seen before--way cuter!

And did you know there are City farms scattered in London neighborhoods?

Marvelous trip guided by locals who are pros. What more could a person ask for?

As I type this, Bruce is feeling good, so we are hoping that means he passed it already! Let's hope so.

your friend,

Gail