Off To Norway July 17-18, 2002 Camp position: N63.699, E11.113 (July 18)

First thing in the morning we bought a ferry ticket from Helsinki to Stockholm, checked out from the hotel, and headed towards Norway. At this point it should be noted how amazingly well all Swedes speak English. At least everyone we talked to spoke really remarkably well, maybe with the exception of people 50+ of age. I guess the current education system must put a strong emphasis on English early on, since most of the time we didn't interact with what one may call the intellectual elite, but rather with people like you and me, random strangers on the street.


Once on the road, we meant to get to around Trondheim at Norway's coast in two days, and we actually did, easy. Makes me think even more that the 28th is way too generous and we could better use the time later in Copenhagen or other places... We'll see. Unfortunately the pictures from July 17th and 18th morning were lost due to a malfunction in the camera - quite a bummer, because the remote areas of western Sweden are pretty. After crossing to Norway, Essan commented about the scenery: "Amazing, having the whole friggin' country like a national park. Simply flabbergasting, astounding."  Spoken as a true English major I had little to add.


We got some light rain at night of the 17th and during the day on the 18th, but we concluded the day sunbathing late in the evening, reading books and writing this log. After all, today the sun will set just an hour before midnight. Which is a good thing, because the sun is what keeps the bugs away. Once you are in the shade you are confronted by armies of mosquitoes and other unpleasant things. But so far, so good - my bite count is currently at three, all treated immediately after the bite, thus preventing unnecessary pain and suffering.

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