It’s a small world
2-5th March 2024
You know you’re really going places when you look out of the window and see this…
…but where are we going?
Spoiler Alert!
Trond! (Need I say more?)
Okay, so maybe not everyone one knows the legend that is my good friend Trond. Trond, who skied with me the 1,700km second half of the Norge på langs in 2022. Trond lives in…
Isnt it good, Norwegian wood?
Yep, you guessed it, Norway.
Oslo to be precise. Mrs P and I visited Trond and his lovely wife Karin, who fed us the most delicious lunch and generally spoiled us while Trond and I reminisced about our long journey north.
After a day in Oslo, visiting Trond and buying Mrs P some skis and other exciting gear at Oslo’s best… no, not Oslo’s best, Norway’s best, outdoor equipment shop, Piteraq, we had time for a bit of sightseeing.
We wandered around the Fortress. Entry was set at my favourite price i.e. Free!
It was so wet on our first day that even the statues wore scuba gear
All museums (well, all the ones we wanted to visit) close on a Monday, so we decided instead on a boat trip, just in case the torrential rain started again. At least we wouldn’t drown.
There’s nothing quite like a bracing sea breeze
Captain (Mrs) P, shortly after being piped aboard and just before taking the helm.
Left hand down a bit!
They do say that the sun shines on the righteous. They must live over there somewhere.
Sun, sea and sand this ain’t. There is sea though, oh and snow.
After two lovely if damp days in Oslo we boarded a bus for a four hour trip to our final destination, Beitostølen, where we will be spending 10 days nordic skiing.
Now, I was just about to say, “Bus journeys are rarely exciting…” but realised that was untrue since Ive been on many eventful bus journeys in my time, quite a few of which have involved near death experiences, so let’s start again… Bus journeys, in this part of the world, are rarely eventful, but this one was to be an exception.
Let me show you a very dull photo…
A very dull photo. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I include this image just so I can remember where the strange occurrence took place. This is a photo of the bus stop in a place called Fagerness. It’s pretty small, Fagerness, and we only stopped for a 10 minute break. But you’ll never guess who I met in tiny, rather insignificant, not quite the middle of nowhere, but definitely en route as I stepped off the bus. Only Geoff!
Now you don’t know Geoff, or at least most of you don’t, but that’s not really the point. The point is, what are the odds of meeting someone you know in the middle of nowhere!?
Oh, THAT Geoff!
And he was also going to Beitostølen. Positively spooky. He and a friend were off for a bit of hut-to-hut skiing. Putting Mrs P and I to shame as we will be roughing it in a very nice apartment.
This meeting people I know in the middle of nowhere is becoming a bit of a habit. I refer you to a post I wrote in September 2018, (yes, this post has been going that long) in which I totally unexpectedly met another friend. On that occasion I was walking down a street in Saas Grund, Switzerland when we almost literally bumped into each other. It really is a small world.
Do tune in again for updates on our snowy shenanigans in Beitostølen and possibly some information about a podcast I may be appearing on later this month.
Beitostølen. My what a lot of holiday cottages.
