TRAIN # 35 – 23:00 Oslo to Voss (Continued)
I managed to get about five hours sleep in the end. The alarm clock in my trousers actually woke me up on time. Nevertheless, as we approached the northern extremity of our travels, I still felt very tired. It was pitch black outside which didn’t help.
We arrived at Voss at 05:55 and went straight to the ticket office to reserve the train back. There was nothing much to the little station but it had a well-lit and well heated waiting room. We went and joined the two other people in there.
There was a symmetry, we thought, with our experience at Sapri a few days earlier, where we had reached the southernmost point in the trip and waited for a very early train to take us back in the direction we had just come.
Now we would be heading back south through Oslo all the way down to Luxembourg. From there we were considering an extra day in Italy to see Florence, before heading east to Vienna and Budapest and finally to Switzerland. In a week or so we planned to reach Marseille, catch the TGV to Paris and head home.
TRAIN # 36 – 08:20 Voss to Oslo
The train, named ‘Henrik’ in the timetable and hauled by an El 16 electric locomotive, appeared on time at 08:20. The carriages were essentially similar to the ones we had travelled out from Oslo on. The one we sat in seemed a little more modern, the seats were maroon instead of green. They were certainly comfortable when reclined.
We set off for a feast of a scenic journey. The train skirted the edge of lakes, past vistas of mountains and ravines and through quite a few avalanche shelters. I made myself a messy brunch of bread and pâté and accidentally manage to spill water all over the floor. The trolley kept coming past and although tempted, I decided that another coffee at 60p a cup would be a bit too much of an extravagance. We arrived back in Oslo on time at 14:05.
OSLO
Luggage stored once more, we went out into the centre of the city for what would be a very quick look around. We considered a few places to eat, but the prices were the most expensive we had seen. We ended up getting bread from a baker’s and a jar of chocolate sauce from a supermarket and just making do with that.
We walked along Tollbugata, the prominent, historic street stretching down from the old customs house, past the University, Palace and Parliament building. We continued down to the city hall and to the Akershus Fortress Ramparts along the waterfront. The Resistance Museum was closed, so we went along back streets to Central Park where we were bothered by several tramps asking for our bread.
We walked up to the Royal Palace National Museum, trying to avoid several youths on drugs gathered outside. That museum was also closed. Then, I dropped my camera and managed to expose one picture and a whole new roll of film. We were back at the station at around 18:00, not too impressed with our trip around the Norwegian capital.
We had just enough currency for two Snickers bars and we took them on a suburban train to Arnes to kill time. We had an argument with the guard on the way out. He insisted on us writing the details of our Arnes trip into the Interrail ticket. We argued it would take up valuable space, but he insisted.
We got to Arnes, had a quick look at a street with some shops and a petrol station and then we caught the next train back. The guard on the return trip was pretty humorous and joked about our little evening escapade. He let us write in Basel as our next destination in the ticket book. He asked us if we liked Norway, and we told him we did. I didn’t mention that I thought Oslo was even worse than Madrid.
TRAIN # 37 – 22:35 Oslo to Copenhagen
We were back at Oslo Station again before 22:00 and after retrieving our luggage from the lockers went down to the platform to wait for the overnight express to Copenhagen. We were scheduled to be on the train for almost 11 hours, so I was hopeful for some sleep.
When we boarded we saw that it was another Norwegian ‘day’ carriage. We also noticed a pair of American guys sat behind us. They were already chatting loudly as we pulled out of Oslo on time.
Wednesday, 19th September 1984
Forty Years Later….
- The El 16 locomotives have been relegated to freight duties but are still in service in Norway in 2026.
- I have only been back to Norway once. I spent a fabulous day in Oslo with enough spending money to appreciate the city properly. The two museums that had been closed on my previous visit were open and I enjoyed both. Another visit to Norway is long overdue.
