The epilogue
The train ride from Bergen towards Oslo is said to be one of the nicest in Europe. Bergen is at sea level and the train makes an ascent to about 1,200 meters then rolls through a large plateau, followed by Alpine forests and countryside. It took over six hours, but did not feel long at all, my camera kept clicking alongside with those of many other tourists. The highest point has a nice surprise for bikers: you can take the train there, rent a bike, then roll back into the valley, returning it there. It was rather chilly that day, so at the highest point you could see a sea of bikes lined up for rental.
My destination was not Oslo, but south of it, a place called Skien. Here Rupert and his family, Karin, Sarah and Oskar were waiting for me, alongside Betty and Tobi. The kids did not know I was coming, Rupert had made up some story of why they had to go to the railway station, so you can imagine the surprise of the kids. Sarah was asking her dayd, 'who is that crazy guy waving at us', she apparently did not recognize me at first...
We locked my bike safely in front of the station and drove off by car towards the Telemark Canal. While the Goeta Canal was a notch nicer (and a lot larger), this was a very pretty area, full of lakes which are connected by this man-made canal. Near the city of Lunden we found a campground, where they had an expensive, but small trailer to rent OR a large and cheap house. I think we got the deal of the century in Norway, for 1,000 Krones we got this sweet 2-storey house, with 3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen in a very pretty spot. We were quite happy and decided to stay two nights.
On Monday, my last full day, we first rode to the Heddal Stave church, a wooden church outside Nottoden, here is a nice link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heddal_stave_church. In the afternoon, we rented canoes on the Telemark canal and spent a few hours cruising the tranquil waters. First, we split the kids between the two boats, then we let them row together - they did a pretty good job; the only thing they were unhappy about was when we overtook them. First Tobi and Sarah did a solo round, then even the 7-year old Oskar did a good job gliding the boat by himself.
Tuesday broke, the last day of my incredible vacation. I had two challenges for that day: to get my bike packed in a box suitable for the plane and to get to the airport. So Rupert drove me in the morning to the railway station, where I was glad to see my bike waiting for me, intact. In a little time, I found a bike shop and after some convincing, they agreed to box it up. It cost a small fortune, first they said it would be Eur 80 and in 3 hours, but then the guy did it for Eur 50 in just 2 hours (compare it to Bulgaria, where they boxed TWO bikes for Eur 15, oh well, we are in Norway). So with the bike boxed up, I tried dragging it to the railway station, but had 3 other bags to carry. When the bike owner saw me struggling, he jumped into his van and did the short ride with me.
I caught the afternoon train in time, which was scheduled to arrive at the Oslo airport about an hour before the flight. I had some horror scenarios of the train being delayed and me missing the flight, but we made an on-the-spot arrival and I dashed for the Air Berlin counter. They took the bike without a word - and without me having to pay a penny - which is a really nice perk, I had budgeted some Eur 100 for the extra luggage.
In a very empty flight to Berlin, I was seated like a king, staring outside the window. We flew over Trelleborg and I knew the next patch of land had to be nothing but Ruegen - and yes, from above, I recognized the ferry terminal I had departed from 10 days ago and the large beach Anne and I had been swimming on. It was pretty funny, seeing it all from above.
I had but 20 minutes to catch the flight to Vienna, with even having to change terminals. Another dash and there I was, on a small plane, a bit fuller than the previous flight, but I still had 2 rows to all by myself. In an hour, we made an on-time arrival in Vienna and to my pleasant surprise, my bike was waiting for me at the luggage carrousel. I was not able to convince my Dad to stay at home, he picked me up at the airport and by 11 pm or so, Anne and I had our reunion.
So ended my wonderful vacation, some 2,000 kilometers on the bike, seeing 4 countries, taking two ferries, couple of train rides, jetting around, wild-camping (but having survived it...), seeing many large cities and tiny villages, hitch-hiking, being invited for lunch from the street, encountering elk, riding for 25 kilometers and covering 7.5 of distance (OK, that does not qualify it under 'wonderful'), being in Scandinavia during one of the warmest summers ever - need I go on? Well, talking about going on - I do want to return to the Scandinavia and there is a tangible goal: making it to the Nordkap, (incorrectly) rumored to be most northerly point in Europe, but even if it is just a rumor, it does sound like a nice destination...but then, as I've seen so many times, one cannot go really wrong, the world is full of beautiful places, one just has to find them - and that is exactly what I am planning to do.