I believe my room was in the middle house on the hill (in Bergen).
Previously: Euro Pilgrimage 1985-2025, Ch. 12: Omaha Beach to the Manneken-Pis and Little Mermaid.
In retrospect, the itinerary I sketched out for the waning days of the inaugural Euro pilgrimage in 1985 was the precise sort of frenetic exercise everyone consistently warned me against.
• Monday 22 July: Depart Copenhagen (evening); overnight train to Oslo
• Tuesday 23 July: Arrive in Oslo, morning; a whole day in the city
• Wednesday 24 July: Early morning train (6.5 hours) from Oslo to Bergen; evening in Bergen
• Thursday 25 July: Bergen to Oslo (afternoon/evening train), then an overnight train to Stockholm
• Friday 26 July: Arrive in Stockholm, morning; check into a hostel that doesn’t open until 16.00; wander the streets in a state of delirium
Idiotic. Ah, youth. The budget was tightening, time was dwindling, distances were lengthening, and pricey Scandinavia was a whirlwind ― with all of it by design.
I might have chosen instead to find one relatively affordable place and stayed there for a week, as in Sligo, but who could know? I might not ever pass that way again. Youthful reserves of adrenaline were a boon, to an extent. Still, it was exhausting.
My...
Read more
