Planes, Trains and Orthotics: A Middle-Age Woman's Guide to Travel

 Before we left for this trip, when I told several people that we were going to Norway, they asked me, “Oh, do you have relatives there?” First, anyone who has seen my olive skin and knew my natural hair color of long ago, knows that I am in no way the AARP version of the “Norwegian Woman.” To think that the only reason to come to this country is to see an aunt or uncle once removed, is a traveling missed opportunity.   In fact, if I had more people following my blog, I would not put in writing just what a hidden jewel this country really is, for fear it would be overwhelmed by American tourists! But to be fair, it would be hard to get the full impact of this country’s beauty by seeing it while sitting in a bus or car. For that, you’ve  got to climb some hills.  That being said, the question becomes, just how high do you have to climb? Our Backroads trip usually provides us with two daily hiking options: a moderate climb with beautiful views or a more difficult one a...

 I can keep a secret…but it hasn’t been easy!  Three weeks ago our daughter’s boyfriend called us via Zoom and said he wanted to marry our daughter. We were both touched that he called us and thrilled to include him as a part of our family. He told us that he planned to ask her on our Norwegian holiday on the third anniversary of the day they met. Let me tell you, three weeks is a long time to keep a secret of this size!   The problem was that except for a brief conversation about ring size, we had not had an opportunity to talk to our future-son-in-law before we left the United States or upon his arrival to Bergen to get a handle on the proposal details. And then, we felt funny asking him. What if he had changed the date on when he was going to pop the question? What if he didn’t have a ring yet? But thank goodness for mothers. His mom emailed me asking for any photos I took that day of the proposal, so we now knew it would happen on the planned date.   As we soon l...

 We have had two incredible days of travel. Our seven hour train ride allowed us to see spectacular Norwegian locations that we would never have seen if we flew from Oslo to Bergen.  We were also entertained on the train by a little boy in front of us whose mother decided that crayons and coloring books were not the way to keep her son occupied.  She opted to buy him every sugary item sold at the train cafe. Our personal favorite moment was when he decided to break up the family size chocolate bar by smashing it against his forehead. The good news was that it worked and for the most part, he was very well-behaved for all seven hours. Who knew? We clearly took the wrong approach for years with our kids.  We arrived in Bergen and met up with our daughter’s boyfriend, had an incredible dinner, and we’re all excited to begin the hiking part of our vacation the next day. We left Bergen early this morning for a quick train ride north to the small town of Voss, where we wer...

 Even when you are away on holiday, what is happening at home always affects you, no matter where you are and how much fun you are having. That is how we felt yesterday when our phones received the message from across the ocean that the rites of American women had just been dealt a blow and for the time being, will take a terrible giant step backwards due to the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.  Our sadness was compounded this morning when we heard about a senseless shooting just a block from our hotel in Oslo at a gay bar in which two people were killed and 19 injured. We had heard screaming and sirens during the night but just thought that it was due to the enormous gay pride celebration that was being planned this weekend in Norway’s capitol.  During our two days in Oslo, we repeatedly witnessed a city that embraced their nation’s differences and it was frankly, a wonderful thing to see. What a world we live in.  Even with all the world’s events, we enjoye...

 Tonight my husband, daughter and I are flying to “The Land of the Midnight Sun,” a.k.a.Norway. To be honest, I have no independent recollection of how we landed on this country but I think it was just good old American marketing because the pictures of the place are beautiful.  We will spend a few days in Oslo and then take a 7-hour train ride across the country to Bergen, which has been described as one of the loveliest train trips in Europe. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, I watched a very condensed 12 minute video of the journey. The video showed happy people boarding the train wearing pants, jackets and light scarves and all of the mountains on the journey were snow-covered. I naturally thought that this particular trip had to have been filmed in October or November. I learned around minute six that I was way off and that it was actually taped in July. Needless to say, my very full suitcase contains neither shorts nor a bathing suit.  Once we arrive in Bergen, we wil...