Month: November 2022

T-Bane Steak

As fun as the sleeper train was, the lack of shower facilities and a proper breakfast meant that I was not really set up for the day. I felt hungry, a bit grungy and – to be honest – I could have used an extra hour of sleep. I had one more day in Oslo, but I was not relishing exploring the city in this state.

I trudged to my hotel, the same one I had stayed in a few days earlier, to ask if they would store my luggage until my room was ready in the afternoon.

“We actually have a room available now, sir. Would you like to check in early?”

WOULD I?! Dare I ask if breakfast is still being served?

“You would have to pay extra for it, but yes it is available.”

BEST. NEWS. EVER.

It was a bog-standard hotel breakfast buffet, but it might have been the best meal I ever had.

I then retreated to my room for a lovely nap, followed by a luxurious hot shower. I was in heaven.

Photo of comfortable looking hotel room with large double bed cleanly made up.

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The Long and Winding Railroad

I sat in the waiting room at Bodø station alongside a few other souls who had turned up way too early for their train. A charming little display of historical railway memorabilia harked back to an earlier era. The present-day station is a modern affair, with two tracks for passenger trains either side of an island platform, and a small freight yard.

I was leaving Bodø behind to return to Oslo, a journey which would see me on the rails for 18 hours or thereabouts. The first leg of the journey would last just under 10 hours and take me to Trondheim for an onward connection to Oslo.

Exterior of Bodø station, a large two-storey building with clock tower

My journey would take in the full length of the Nordlandsbanen, the 450-mile route that winds its way through northern Norway to Trondheim. I was pleased to be on a train this time, unlike my rail replacement bus experience a few days earlier.

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Electric Bodøloo

September 19th, and over in the UK, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was being laid to rest. A queue had snaked across London to view her lying-in-state, and there was no escaping the news, as TV channels cleared their schedules for the funeral coverage.

In far-off Norway, I couldn’t let unfortunate events back home spoil my holiday, so pressed ahead with my plans.

I did have the TV on in the background while getting ready that morning. The only English-language channel in my hotel room was Sky News, which was in full funeral mode, so I didn’t linger there long. Norwegian television had found its own angle, with late 90s boyband A1 being asked about the Queen on TV2’s breakfast show. It wasn’t a tenuous connection at all: Ben Adams met the Queen once when he was a choirboy at Windsor Castle, so there.

Three members of the boyband A1, dressed in black, being interviewed on Norwegian television

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Bodø pest

The next morning, I pulled back the curtains of my hotel room, and was greeted with a beautiful sight.

No, not my reflection, but the view from my window was pretty special.

View over the harbour of Bodø with islands visible across the water.

I tore myself away from that panorama, and left the hotel to explore. I didn’t do much research before my trip, and I expected Bodø to be a quiet little village, tucked away and isolated. Not a bit of it – Bodø was a bustling town.

…well, maybe not on Sunday morning.

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