Author: Emily
The low-point: Paris Airport
We had a 3 hour layover at CDG from about 11AM - 2PM local time which felt like 2 - 5AM to us. The AC in the airport barely worked (and it was in the 90s outside), there was no place to fill water bottles, and there were very few bathrooms. I guess Parisians don’t drink water so they also use the restroom less often? The airport was a bit retro and was lacking in character, but it was packed with diverse travelers. We boarded our second flight after a 30 minute delay and were off to Oslo! We adjusted back to economy seats easily, and took turns falling asleep on each other.
We made it to Norway!
The Oslo airport felt familiar (water-filling stations, climate control and all). It was modern with indoor plants and plenty of dining options. The main difference from a west coast US airport was that 90+% of the people looked like me. For the second time we had to leave security, retrieve our checked bag, proceed through a very lax customs area, then re-check a bag and pass through security again (we bought every flight separately so we did this 3 times, lol) We had just enough time to grab some food at a cafe before boarding our final flight of the 24 hour travel stretch to Bodo. Our flight from Oslo to Bodo was conveniently also delayed by 30 min, though I think we would’ve caught it either way.
Moody Bodo
Bodo is a cute little city on the far north of Norway. The gloomy weather and architecture reminds me of Alaska or Eastern Canada. It was still light out when we landed around 9 PM local time. We caught a city bus for a 5 minute ride to our hotel which was conveniently just a 6 minute walk from the ferry terminal. The hotel was simple and comfortable. The black-out curtains worked wonders and we both got some much needed sleep before doing some errands and catching the ferry in the morning. The next morning we stopped at a home-goods store and outed ourselves as Americans when we needed help finding US-EU charging converters. Thankfully the employees were super friendly and wanted to chat about the World Cup instead of US politics. The cashier recounted a story he’d read about Scottish supporters drinking the entire city of Boston (bars & liquor stores) out of beer!
Last leg of travel (for now)
At noon we boarded a free, 3-hour ferry from Bodo to Moskenes. I got a simple sandwhich from the cafe, but the most popular items seemed to be the wide variety of hot dogs and steaks. We spent our time watching the people and the views. I appreciated how many people were busy knitting their winter garments during the ride. I’m looking forward to buying a classic Norweigan sweater on this trip. The clouds and rain cleared as we approached Lofoton.
