So what would be the worst thing to lose on a trip like this? Right, the camera. Guess who did that? Well, ok I didn't exactly lose it - I knew I had left it on the bus soon after we were in the taxi to the airport and it went off wherever. Augh!! And since it was Saturday, the bus station office was closed, and the information line was only in Swedish, so I didn't even know what options to push to try to get to speak to someone!!! We were frantic!! Luckily we had met a couple who took the bus with us from Åre and they were held up at the bus station for a bit. It was a guy who had, oddly enough, played for Fresno State (Go Bulldogs! says Larry P), his Swedish wife and their adorable 4 month old. She was so sweet, she got on the phone, stayed on hold while we took 2 different cars to the airport, and by the time we met back up she had the good news that the camera had been found! She talked to the off duty driver and arranged to have our taxi run back and get it, and about 10 minutes before boarding I had the camera back in my hands! phew. I asked if it was a good passenger and the driver said he was happy to have a good story to tell the family at dinner that night! Thank you thank you thank you!
Brigid Travels
Updates from The Road
rafting [2009]
We picked a good rainy day for rafting, the rain was much warmer than the mountain water!! We were wearinmg wetsuits and helmets, and were fully immersed a number of times, some on purpose, some not. We had a blast riding the rapids, doing a cannonball off a cliff into the water, and at one point just floating on our backs. Whee!! Tomorrow we take a bus to a taxi to a plane to another plane to a train to a subway ending up in our hotel in London. Phew. Sweden is amazing, we had just an incredible time!
Moosen! [2009]
We took a nice bike ride (about 6 mi) out to the moose farm, on the other side of Duved. We learned a bunch about moose in Sweden (they are like deer on the east coast, with a hunting season, sometimes regarded as pests, dangerous on roads) before heading down to the enclosure. It was a warm day so they were cooling off in the shade, and we were able to go in with them since they needed some coaxing and were very docile, instead of us being behind a fence :) Arthur was the most friendly and we were able to feed him small potatoes, which apparently are like candy for them! Very cool! Oh, and they make a great veggie pie!
Right next to the farm was a monument to the Karoliners, a group of Swedish soldiers that mostly died in the mountains when their attempt to take over Norway went bust and they got lost on the way home in the winter, in summer clothes. Unfortunately bugs that looked like lovebugs infested the area so I had a little screaming-like-a-girl fit running away from it, after admiring the beautiful view of meandering river and lazy farms.
Another very good day :)
Hiking to the top of Mt Årestkutan [2009]
This was a difficult hike, but along the way we got to pick wild blueberries so it's all good :) The trail started out through the woods, by babbling brooks and small cascading waterfalls, then proceeded through the fields where we picked said blueberries. But then the hard part started, with rocky outcroppings that we had to scramble over, and the trail marked by poles painted red - pick your own way to get from one to the next. It reminded me of the middle part of hiking Mt St Helen's in that way, but steeper.
There were some pockets of snow as we got closer to the top, so Steve made a snowman, Gunnar, while he waited for me to huff and puff to him. It really is spectacular, though, and worth it. From the top you can see all the lakes and surrounding hills. It now seems obvious that folks from Scandinavia would settle in Wisconsin and the 'land of a thousand lakes' :) There was a cafe at the top which is the only place you can get a pin proving that you made it to the top... but it closes at 4:00 and we got there at 4:30 :( (post script: we talked to the very helpful tourist office about it and they arranged to have 2 brought down for us - so sweet!).
We had debated taking the gondola down (we had hiked up the back way) but the decision was made for us as the last car had already left. So we scrambled down, checking out the downhill bike trails (crazy!) and some parasailers that were floating in the breeze on the way. The knees definitely ached, though!! It was nice to get toward the bottom where there was a bit of mud to cushion the steps! Tough, but definitely worth it :)
on the Railway to Hell (and Trondheim) [2009]
It was a cold rainy day in Hell... really!
We took the train from Åre to Trondheim, stopping in Hell, Norway on the way.
It's just a little place, but good for some pictures!
Trondheim was pretty amazing. First we stopped at a book store since there weren't any English-Swedish translation books in our little hamlet of Åre, but discovered the Scandinavian rivalry extends to book stores. They only had Norwegian, no Swedish or Danish or Finnish, except one little Lonely Planet book in the corner with all of them! So we picked that up.
Next stop was the Archbishop's Palace Museum, Crown Jewels and Nidaros Cathedral. Stunning cathedral - best I've seen, including Italy. We even got there just in time to hop on the last tower climb of the day, up lots of very skinny stone steps, to the top where there were gorgeous views of Norway's 3rd largest city, and we could look down at very cool gargoyles :) Fabulous. The one wall has 3 rows of statues plus a handful more on the towers, including St Gertrude and even a St Bridget (the Swedish one, not the Irish one). Stunning.
We got lost on the way back to the train station, which was a bit stressful, but it all worked out. Great day!
Ziplining!!! [2009]
We had a fabulous time on the 'extreme' zipline course -- even went upside down for 2 of the runs!!
It was a beautiful course over wooded ravines and streams :) Lots of screaming by me, in a good way! Definitely the best course (of the 3 I've done). Looking forward to more thrills doing whitewater rafting on Fri.
In Sweden! [2009]
No internet convenient in London, have to update later, but we made it to Åre and are booking ziplining and rafting for later this week! Highlight of London was seeing a version of the play Peter Pan in a tent in Kensington Park, absolutely fabulous!!! more later...