After only two hours sleep worrying that my alarm wouldn’t go off, we were at Manchester Airport in the early hours of Saturday morning. It was the first time we had been abroad for three years! We were going on a Norwegian cruise with a two night stay in Oslo. Luckily I hadn’t overslept and the taxi had arrived on time!
I had booked a lounge because my husband hates hanging around in airports! He morphs into a complete stranger and one I would never willingly choose to meet! However, the queue at the check in desk was so long that, if the plane hadn’t been delayed by an hour, we would have wasted the exorbitant cost of the lounge! That would have upset him even more!
Finally we arrived at Schipol airport in Amsterdam. There followed three wasted hours wandering around the airport. No lounge had been booked so, after visiting the duty free shops, we bought a bottle of water each and read our books. Half an hour before our plane was due to depart we found the gate number and set off. However, we were unaware that we had to once more go through security before boarding the plane! We were met with row upon row of people in a zig-zagged queue, eight columns deep! There was no way we would get to the plane on time!
I began to panic as I looked around, frantically trying to find someone to help. At the top of the queue I saw a man in uniform showing a family to another desk, away from the crowd. I rushed over and explained the situation. My husband was waiting some distance away, slightly bemused, probably wondering what I was doing! The gentleman looked at my boarding pass and shook his head. He told me to follow the family to the priority desk otherwise I would miss my flight. Shouting to my husband to join me, I set off. Finally, passports stamped, we made a beeline for the boarding gate, which happened to be at the other end of the airport!
Finally, after twelve hours since we had left home, only two of them in the air, we arrived in Oslo. There was no hold up at security because there wasn’t one! I can only presume that passport control for Norway was in Amsterdam before we boarded the plane! But we did have to wait another hour and a half outside a bus station to get to our hotel.
When we booked this holiday we were told that the transfer to the hotel would be by private taxi! I didn’t realise we’d have to drag our luggage a fair distance from the airport and queue for a bus! The original ship we were sailing on had been taken into dry dock. This meant that we’d have to board a sister ship and leave a day earlier. The direct flight from Manchester to Oslo wasn’t available on that day, hence the detour and long delay! Not ideal as we had waisted a whole day travelling!
After only one full day in Oslo we walked virtually non stop to see as much of this lovely city as we could. Early the next morning we boarded the train for a seven and a half hour journey to Bergen where the ship had berthed. The first three hours were quite tedious as all we saw were trees and buildings. Some lakes and ravines brought a little interest but nothing to write home about! However, the second half of the journey was spectacular!
We were passing through a winter wonderland!The scenery was picture postcard perfect! Little cabins, used mainly as holiday homes, brought colour and diversion, silhouetted against the brilliant white of their surroundings. A woman, a couple of seats behind us, introduced herself and gave us a history of the area. She was a proud Norwegian and willing to share her knowledge with interested tourists!
Collecting our luggage we made our way to the exit and saw a man holding up a placard with our name on! Delighted that we didn’t have to find a bus to the harbour we soon arrived at our ship. There were no queues so made our way up the gang plank to reception.
Our cabin, although smaller than I’d hoped, had a large window and a clear view out to sea. It was also a good distance from the middle of the ship where the engine noise was quite loud. We quickly unpacked then went onto the deck to watch the ship set sail. It was very cold as we left the harbour but I have packed layers and have a fleece, puffer and water proof jacket, thick socks and warm boots. I’m sure I’ll not freeze despite the forecast and warnings of snow and ice.
So, my earlier panic and apprehension lifted. I stood outside our cabin and breathed in deeply. The engines roared and the horn blared! We were finally on our way! 👠
Jenny Burrell 