Author: lifeofaretireeblog

We woke up this morning to the most glorious view. Our room is on the 8th floor of the Thon hotel with a panoramic view of the sea and fjord, it is just so beautiful. 

We had a leisurely morning wandering around the town and finding our bearings, we will be here 4 days. 

It is a busy fishing town that attracts a lot of tourists, it is the capital of the Lofoten islands. 

The snow is very deep and it is icy underfoot. 

At 8pm we went on a “Northern Lights Tour” It was just the two of us and our guide who was so knowledgeable. He picked us up from our hotel and we drove for an hour to a remote part of the islands where it was so dark with no light pollution. 

He was pleased because the Northern Lights were appearing in the sky, John and I couldn’t see them. He set up his camera on a tripod and took some time lapse photographs then we could see the fluorescent green across the sky. He took some of the both of us underneath the lights which he will email to us. 

After about half an hour they dispersed so he took us to another location where the lights were visible to the naked eye again. 

We got back to our hotel around midnight. The temperature was -5 degrees. 

We left Bodo at 3pm on the ferry Trollfjord heading for Svolvaer on the Lofoten islands. 

It was going to be a 6 hour journey, luckily the forecast was for calm seas. 

The ferry stopped at Stamsund to pick up and drop off passengers and cargo. ​

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Shortly after leaving port it began to get dark and we went out on deck. Suddenly the sky was filled with Northern Lights. They appeared as smokey grey, cloudy streaks moving around the sky. The vivid green you see in photographs is only seen through the lens of a time lapse camera, very rarely with the naked eye. We could see tinges of green and violet, we were very lucky. Unfortunately our cameras were not set up to capture the lights on photographs. 

It was a wonderful experience, everyone on board was in awe of such a spectacular phenomenon. Shortly after we docked in Svolvaer and found our hotel near the quay. 

It is going to be a very exciting day today because we are going to cross the Arctic Circle and into Norway’s frozen north. The train is known as the Arctic Nordland Line, it stopped at a lot of stations along the way, 44 to be exact, many were extremely remote but in between stops it was high speed so we covered a lot of miles quickly. The distances between towns was huge, it is a vast country. Some of the places we went through:

Ranheim​

​Frosta

Skogn​

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​   Levanger

InderoySteinkjer​

​Snasa

Trones​

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Mosjoen

Elsfjord

Storforshei (Arctic Circle)​

The supervisor on the train announced when we were going across the arctic circle. It was extremely bleak and we were obviously above the tree line as the landscape was bare, just miles and miles of snow covered flat lands. ​

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Rognan

Bodo

The scenery was breathtaking, if any one wants to take just one train journey I would recommend this one. You see Norway in all its splendour from the comfort of a railway carriage. 

Gradually the train began to descend and there were scattered farmsteads, we even saw a field with sheep in, they were all huddled around a trough filled with hay. The only cows were the ones with the long fur coats and wide horns. We didn’t see any wildlife although the snowy ground was covered in animal tracks. 

We left Trondheim station at 7:38 this morning and arrived in Bodo at 17:38 in the evening, a 10 hour train ride. It went by very quickly because there was so much to see. 

It is the longest rail line in Norway with 44 stations, 293 bridges and 154 tunnels. It is the only rail line to cross the arctic circle. 

Arriving in Bodo the the weather once again closed in and as we got off the train there was a heavy snow storm and it was very windy and very dark. 

The street immediately outside the station went uphill to the town and it was covered in snow and ice. We made our way very tentatively towards our hotel which was in the centre of town, after manoeuvring around a very snowy town we found our hotel and were very pleased to see a fireplace in the lobby ​​with a welcoming fire. 

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Another chance for a lie in today and a relaxing breakfast. We asked the hotel receptionist what we should see on a day trip in Trondheim, then went out to follow his directions. 

There are a lot of people around, it seems to be a bustling town and it is snowing which makes it very atmospheric. 

The old part of Trondheim is very quaint all the houses are made of wood. 

There are several harbours and inlets off the fjord, in fact there is water everywhere. 

It was very busy but pleasant to wander. I wanted to buy some postcards which was straight forward but buying stamps was a bit more tricky. A very helpful young lady came to my rescue then all we needed to do was find a postbox. Dusk fell quickly and early so we went back to the hotel for something to eat, we found a postbox on the way. 

We were up early to go down to breakfast for 6:30am we are getting used to cheese and ham and cold boiled eggs for breakfast. The journey would be 6 and a half hours today so we made a packed lunch. 

We arrived at the station in plenty of time and once again the train was busy. This time with skiers and their equipment, luckily I had booked the Norwegian version of 1st class called Komfort class which gave us and everyone else a little bit more room. 

The scenery was stunningly beautiful, we passed through mountain tunnels emerging alongside huge fjords,

The train tracks followed the contours of the valleys into each town along the way. 

There were no platforms at these stations the train stopped in the street and the steps of the train were lowered to ground level. 

Each time I looked out of the window I wanted to take a photograph there were too many beautiful views. ​

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The time went by so quickly and we arrived in Trondheim. The temperature had dropped and it was snowing again but the hotel was so warm and welcoming. After checking in and putting our bags in our room we sat in the lobby and had a cup of tea before going out for a look around. 
 

A day of leisure today, no traveling so we can have a lie in. When we ventured out we decided to check out the route to the station from the hotel because our train was leaving at 8:02 in the morning. After finding it which was very straight forward and stopping for a cup of coffee we made our way to the Royal Palace. 

The Palace was surrounded by a park which was full of people enjoying a Sunday stroll. 

We wandered around the city ending up by the waterfront. 

It had been a beautiful sunny day and we eventually looked for somewhere to eat. 

We didn’t have the whale steak. 

The alarm was set for 6am, then breakfast at 7am and time to head for the ferry. Although the entrance to the ferry terminal was a few minutes from the hotel, once through the door there was a fifteen minute walk along covered passageways to the booking in desk. Collecting the boarding passes was uneventful today then we boarded the ship. I discovered that it was school holidays in Oslo last week so the ferry is full of families returning from their school break holidays. 

The captain said the crossing should be smooth although rain is forecast this afternoon. The sailing will take us about nine and a half hours across the Skagerrak and into the Oslo fjord. It was really sunny as we set sail but there wasn’t much to look at except a vast expanse of sea. I had time to check out my folder to see where we needed to go when we reached Oslo as it would be dark. John had a wander around the ship. 

I had booked us in for breakfast and supper on board as it was such a long journey. In the evening prawns were on the menu and John was delighted because I don’t like them, therefore we don’t have them much at home. 

The rain that was forecast turned out to be snow and when we disembarked about 7:30m it was quite deep. 

Fortunately we didn’t have far to go to reach our hotel which was warm bright and welcoming. 

I received an email last night to say there is a problem with our train this morning so we went to the station early to check it out. Unfortunately due to the storm our train was cancelled, trees had blown down across the power lines, so we needed to check the replacement train and try to get back on our timetable. The customer service was very helpful explaining that we would need to change trains several times. It was exciting though because the first train was a double decker. 

Rotterdam to Utrecht

Utrecht to Amersfort

Amersfort to Enchede

Enchede to Munster 

Munster to Hamburg 

In total it would be about 6 hours 45 minutes. 

In Enschede it was the end of the line, there were buffer stops the train could go no further and we were a bit puzzled. Then we realised we needed to check out of the platform to leave Dutch railways and go through to another platform where the German trains would depart from. Getting to Munster was ok but the onward train to Hamburg was ram jam full the luggage racks were full of suitcases it must have been a holiday or something. 

In Hamburg we stayed in a Novum hotel near the station. It was a bit like a hotel in an Agatha Christie novel with lots of art nouveau glass everywhere. The lift was very small with an ordinary door which was very quaint. 

After leaving our bags in our room we went out to look for something to eat. We found a bar that served food so we ordered beer and something we couldn’t pronounce,     it was pork with fried onions, potatoes and salad. 

It was still raining. 

We are due to depart at 10:35am this morning therefore we could have a lie in and in theory no hurry. 

We found our carriage and our reserved seats so all was well as we set off from Hamburg. The journey would take us about 7 and a half hours. 

We were two and a half hours into our journey when the announcer said that we had to get off and change trains in a place called Padborg. When the train doors opened there were police officers and we couldn’t get off the train until they had scrutinised our documents. Then it was a hurry across two platforms to get onto a new train and find seats. Fortunately we did and went on our way to Fredericia where we needed to change trains again. 

Fredericia was a very quiet station and we had a twenty minute wait for our connecting train. When it arrived it was very very long and would split at various stations along the way, we needed to find wagons 81 or 82 which we did and boarded ok but it was extremely crowded and a free for all with seats. We managed to find seats after the first stop which took about ten minutes so it wasn’t too bad, this part of the journey would take us around 4 hours going right through Denmark. It was here we saw the first signs that we were traveling north as there was snow in the fields. We also saw a red kite which was a treat. 

Gradually the train split and we were left with just two carriages to go onto Frederikshavn, there were not too many people either so we could spread our things out and relax. 

Our hotel, Hotel Frederikshavn, was just a few minutes walk from the station. The receptionist was very welcoming and our room was bright and airy. We left our bags and went out to have a look around. It was very quiet but seemed to be a very nice town with quite a large shopping centre. The temperature had dropped dramatically so we didn’t stay out too long.  Time to check the details of the ferry trip tomorrow. 

On Stenna ferry on our way to Holland. The captain said the forecast for the crossing is moderate to fresh.

It was an eventful morning to get here by 8:15am which is when the gate closed. Up at 5:45am shower and pack. Breakfast at 6:30am a short walk to the ferry terminal and straight onto the ferry. We were the last people to book in, even though we were early. Suddenly John realised he didn’t have his jacket. I telephoned the Premier Inn and they found it in reception along with our back door key, which incidentally had a very large fluffy key ring attached. They are going to keep it for us until we come back in three weeks time when we will be staying with them again. The stewards seem to think storm Doris will be heading for Europe with us. Time for John to buy a new coat. 

Finding the train station in the Hoek of Holland was easy, it was just outside the door of the ferry terminal. The instructions on our printed rail ticket stated that we had to scan the barcode into the reader at the station before boarding the train. Unfortunately we could not find a scanner on the platform (there was only one platform) and it was pouring down with rain. Our printed tickets were in danger of getting soaked and disintegrating so we decided to get on the first train that arrived. It sat at the station for a while before departing and a person wearing railway uniform walked into our carriage so I decided to ask him what to do about our ticket. He wasn’t interested and waved his hands and said ‘Poo Poo Poo’ whatever that meant, so we didn’t worry anymore. 

On arriving in Rotterdam the station was very big but we found our way out and to our hotel which was the Holiday Inn Express. Booking in was easy, our room was on the third floor. We got into the lift but none of the buttons would work, it wasn’t until another guest arrived and explained that we needed to swipe our key card on the reader which allowed us to activate the lift buttons. The room was lovely we dumped our bags had showers then went out to find something to eat. It was absolutely pouring with rain, I think storm Doris had reached Rotterdam.