Salsolcito real first wash!

Change of plans (if it ever was one!- I can hear Edu's gasp...hahaha), deterred from the cold and rain decided to go towards the last days of sun that there is left in this European "summer"...that is to Italy!.....but instead of going straight we took a detour to visit our Maribo kayak club friends in Denmark, following by time with Rolf and Karina in Hamburg.

”How is it coming home?" That was the welcoming at Maribo, celebratory Wednesday nights (barrel of gold, silver and bronze medals from the nationals championships)...cake and coffee and wine, a glorious sunset, a paddle in the early afternoon, a fantastic dinner at Richards home. And today, finally took the courage to try the very slim kayaks- the racing and tippy kayaks!, thank you Tom and Kurt for a wonderful experience!

the meat perfectly cook, the sauce divine; his signature dish live up to the expectations!

Chatting the evening away I asked him what he would like to say about him...." every night when I look into the mirror and see into my myself- I want to tell " you have been a nice guy today"- and every morning when I woke up I say to the mirror " I will try to be a nice guy today- let's see about it tonight"...I hope very much never to have any quarrels with anyone...sometimes things do happen so get the best out of what happened and forget the past....this is quite important to me". Thank you for making your club our club!

August 22 to 25

Stockholm was very different to what I expected. It is a city that definitely has everything going on for it; and the old city is very charming. The traffic was chaos, lots of  streets under repair; it did not look pretty or exquisite or refined as I would have thought. Looking at the buildings and knowing more about its history, all made sense. A very poor country of the past, built under strong socialist values;  today still an example of government taking such a good care of its people.

They opened their home and their heart. We had several "homely" dinners with a yummy chilean red....sharing stories of migration, of latinos living in anglo saxon cultures, She has a quiet and strong core, he is known everywhere you go....mixing tango, ski, football and motorhome.

"...nosotros estamos en un viaje permanente cuando no estamos en nuestras tierras, esta diáspora no es solamente de latinos...y hay una ausencia y uno extraña esa identidad....cuando uno entonces escucha su idioma - alguien que habla como uno- ; hay como un imán, una atracción especial....y entonces estaba la puerta abierta y lo dijimos de corazón".....y asi lo tomamos, respondi."

We already miss them!

Cooking Sopaipilla

Alesund: a magical town

First we found the highest point to see the fiords', it was so cold but it was a clear day (or as clear as you can get in Norway!) and we were surprised to see glaciers. We then took the "Rolf route" (we took his advise) from  Geiranger via Trollstigen which has been named as the best drive in Europe. Zig zag down (it is actually 20 turns!)with the waterfalls on the side and managing SalSolcito was quiet an experience. The view at the top, as usual, very difficult to describe.

The village of Alesund look like a fairytale place, a beautiful rows of houses in 2-3 tones of colours; the harbour beneath....this city was totally burnt on 1904 and reconstructed by the new school of art, the "Art Nouveau"..... It was the biggest effort this nation had; all architects, construction workers, planners, designers were Norwegians but had been influenced by the new waves from France and England.....the result is amazing.

We continued through the "Atlantic road", which is a drive that join islands together to an extent that it looks like you are driving on water....and at one point the bridge does a turn and all you can see is cars disappearing on air!.....the way  we took to Oslo was thought the ski areas; were we saw such a dramatic change of landscape.....

Now we are only 2 hours from Oslo which will be our last point in Norway...what a trip!

Oslo is really sophisticated , exquisite, when it comes to the old town. The new city is really modern and still under construction. We saw so many new buildings and roads and trams being built. Their opera house coming out of the water in a dreamy like way, all the new buildings seem functional and environmental friendly. Yet, I thought that the city needed more vibrancy, intensity...youthfulness. I wanted some rebellion stuff somewhere!

....good bye Norway...what a great country for travellers (minus the prices....eg pizza= 65 dollars!)

Oslo: Opera House

Reflection: it has been almost 6 months since we left our home and embarked in this crazy, fun, challenging and adventurous way of living....there are moments when we think- and I worry- about the future, jobs, money. Hecti keeps calm, reassuring. What is very clear though is that the life of the traveller (as we called ourselves) is rich, unexpected but lonely. Yes, we have each other and we have such great time together(always!) and yes we are meeting people all the time but those are just passing encounters.....but  it is the moments, those simple and yet magical moments when we were with Ali and Iso in Uk and France; Tito and Clau in Paris, Edu and Jan in Netherlands, Luli in Germany (missing Nani a lot), Richard and the gang of Maribo Kayak club in Denmark, Elke and Nicholas in Sweden and Rolf and Karina in Norway that life became truly complete.

A very deep valley, surrounding by high mountains, waterfalls on my right, emerald green stream running close, a few cows here and there...stopping for a BBQ....this is Norway!

Hecti and I agree that this country is the most beautiful- in raw nature- that we have ever seen. We have spent the last 10 days driving along the fiords, winding roads, the sea always on the side, the majestic mountains, the red- yellow or white house's against the greenery, through tunnels after tunnels (even the longest one in Europe- 25 km!), passing high bridges, crossing ferries, hiking....and we are in awe of what we are seeing. It has been a question of "oohh" and "ahhh" most of the time

Kristiansand

First it was the Drobak, the "Christmas village" with the all while wooden houses, we slept then in Horten in an end road with only the fishermans as companions, then it was glorious bike ride /hike in Kristiansand. Small restaurants- almost hidden, around the sea ; a panoramic view; a great  beach. Then it was a cute fisherman village by the sea, where we found a Swedish guy working in the marina's office drinking mate!!! And after the Preikestolen hike, a 2.5 hours nonstop walking through rocks and bushes going up 600 meters above sea level, an spontaneous swim in our way in a crystal pond against the rocks, so taking by the incredible view; immense rocks hanging in the air, the fiords below...breathtaking and so scary, we laid on the rock and on the edge, the pull to the void is so big, it felt like we were going to fall at any moment.

(Still today, every time I close my eyes and "go back" to that place, my stomach churn with fear!). And then..... we met our new friends, our super companions for the next 4 days. Together we decided places and routes; sleeping areas, parkings, adventures...it was so good .

Suddenly,  it was Hecti birthday! We spent the day in Bergen where 362 days of the year rains. And rain it did! But the beautiful harbour, the glorious fish market (oh! their wild salmon) and the wooden coloured houses took away the disappointing weather. We bought a little cake and candles for the night ahead....

BUT the challenge was just around the corner, in the form of a tiny and narrow road on the side of the mountain in the country , a "big heart" (as said by my friend) of mine being courteous with another corner...pushing just a bit more SalSolcito to the side so others can drive pass and a bit more and a ditch! ...and we basically blocked the road....SalSolcito got stack; and it needed an international group of good willers to help....a Norwegian young couple on their bikes doing their usual training who just threw themselves to the trench and with pieces of wood behind and beneath the wheels  pushing and then acted as interpreters on the phone;  another Norwegian man from Oslo who gave us his phone to call international road assistance and stayed with us for a while; our German friends with their motorhome and a big rope trying without any luck to tow us all while emotionally supporting us with hugs and  "it is ok", "it will be fine", "this is just part of the adventure"....Hecti up to his knees in mud, worrying face ...and then out of nowhere a French couple (living in New Caledonia and on holidays) with a 4x4 jump out of their car telling us "we can help, our car can do it"....and so after 3 hours we broke free..and as they came as soon as we turned around the French couple left....

It was cold and wet, and that night we made a bonfire, eat steak , potatoes and vegies. Plenty of wine, cake and candles and Hecti at 55 drank for the first time a full glass of wine...and even some port! We went to sleep exhausted, still talking about our luck....Cheers to the birthday boy!

Beautiful Bergen

The train from Flam goes through valleys, waterfalls, mountains, an  spectacular scenery on both sides...1,000 m above sea level in just 1 hour.....(can you believe that we met our "French rescuers" again! ) and then after a fantastic and emotional farewell from our friends - they were standing on the road, waving arms- doing a Mexican wave.... we continue to the north, this country still surprising us at every corner.

ps: our insurance said that they couldn't help us, we were not insurance for tows...and us thinking "this cannot happens in the most expensive country...OMG"

Geiranger

It was the worst wind; at night, sleeping on the edge of a stream; our motorhome moving side to side by the wind...I really thought we were going to be blow away...In the morning, still shaking, we started our drive to Alesund- the national route way. It is interesting that in this country we do 6-7 hours drive and we don't move that much! We can never go more than 55 k/h, the roads being so narrow and winding...it is exhausted but so worthy.

He is so gentle, tender, generous...she is so feisty, fun and loving. "She is my angel" he said while kissing her, she look at his eyes with so much love. Second chances to love that life gives to great people. Together they were delicious-kuschelig! We shared stories, laughs, food, wine, adventures, challenges and routes. One motorhome in front of the other. I did say to them that worries are cut in halves when you are with friends and she said that love double up when you are with friends. So true. It was such a joy to be with them, they certainly enriched our trip so much....as always, it is so difficult to say good bye....we left with promises of emails and true desire of future encounters, here, there, somewhere...we already missed them!