Observations, notes, thoughts and other unimportant things from Penny
1. My husband is an amazing travel planner. He is getting us to and from countries, around cities, to sightseeing places, on and off buses, trains and trams – all without knowing the language for the most part.
2. There are many ways to flush a toilet – wave your hand in front of a button, pull up on a knob, push down on a knob, push down on a button, etc. What I rarely see is a lever like we are used to in the US.
3. Other countries are much more visitor friendly than the US. Most of the tourist spots we go to have everything translated into 8-12 different languages. And most of the helpful tourist information places all have people who can speak English and almost any other language it seems. I am impressed and humbled.
4. Everywhere we go people are friendly, helpful and kind. I am sure there must be grumpy people around but fortunately they seem to be elsewhere for the most part. We have overhead a few people being rude or complainers but it is rare.
5. After riding on a night train, my equilibrium seems to be messed up. I am still swaying after being off the train all day. Hopefully a good night’s sleep in a non moving bed will get me back to solid ground. (3 days later, I am still swaying)
6. Bus drivers are amazing people. They seem to be able to drive these huge buses down very tiny lanes with many cars and people milling around and we have yet to see an accident.
7. I have found I can do without food much longer than I can go without water. I have become a constant carrier of a water bottle. Even without ice! (Who knew?)
8. Being able to keep up with emails and people at home are important to me. Although I am thoroughly enjoying my travels, being able to hear from family and friends back in the states keeps me grounded. Thanks for all who have been writing.
9. My husband is a prolific writer. He is thoroughly enjoying writing his daily blog reports. So far no need for me to chime in as what more could possibly be said. I am very appreciative of the time he takes to write it all down. He is letting me read them now before he sends in case I want to edit.
10. I am thoroughly shocked at myself for throwing away our train tickets to Oslo. That is what happens when I keep too many brochures in my purse – but still!!! Needless to say Ray is holding onto the train tickets we pick up tomorrow. Fortunately it worked out okay this time around but we don’t want to push it in the future.
11. I have decided that hotel people assume that people can wash their hands, wash their bodies and shampoo their hair all with the same general soft soap they provide with all these things listed on it. I am glad I brought my own shampoo. They obviously feel like people do not need conditioner because they do not provide that. Again, I am glad I brought my own because my hair is fly away enough right now after a day of sightseeing even when I use conditioner.
12. I brought a travel hair dryer with me which has turned out to be not needed. That is one thing that all the hotels have provided. What I should have brought was my travel iron that I left back in Kansas City. I talked myself out of it thinking all of the hotels would have them anyway and I know that Harlaxton has one for us to use. Well, only the first two hotels had irons. The others had ironing rooms down the hall. That makes it okay but not convenient.
13. We are always learning things. No matter how much Ray and I prepare, we can not figure it all out. We do a lot of laughing at ourselves. We each have our items that stress us and usually the other one is more laid back about it so it equals it out.
14. I have discovered that my husband will walk 15 blocks rather than ride a bus or tram if he is not exactly sure of where to get on or off.
15. Ray and I have found that we tend to walk faster than most other tourists. Surprise, surprise (or our daughters would say that is nothing new). We have learned to communicate with either other though when one of us would like to change the pace that we are currently walking to “treadmill speed” when we really need to step up the pace so we need to get to someplace quickly. Or we say we want “mosey speed” when we really want to walk slow like the other tourists. Those terms mean something to us and we can adjust our speed accordingly.
16. I am a poor sleeper no matter the noise (or lack thereof), weather (hot or cold), tiredness (you would think when I am exhausted that I would just pass out when I hit the bed), etc. After the hotel in Oslo though I will definitely remember to ask for a room away from the street if possible. That hotel had us on a corner room facing two busy streets. Since there is no air conditioning (many buildings up here do not have it), that means the windows are open and the city does not rest until late in the evening.
17. Pigeons seem to be a universal bird. No matter where we are, there are always pigeons.
18. Food notes:
a. I have enjoyed raspberry/blueberry yogurt for breakfast with their fruit salad (blueberries, raspberries and other berries) added to it. Sometimes I even add a little of their granola cereal to that also. Yum, yum.
b. I have enjoyed scrambled eggs every morning. Seems to be one of the universal styles of eggs that they provide on hotel breakfasts.
c. Wonderful whole grain fresh baked breads and good tasting jams are a nice breakfast treat.
d. The coffee seems to be stronger and a little bitter in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
e. I have found I can order food that sound the same as in the US and even order them in restaurants that we have in the US and there will always be something unique and different in the way the food is cooked. I am thrilled that I do not have to “search” for something unique to the area to find those differences. No matter what I eat or where I eat it, it will give me something new to add to my experiences.
19. Tomorrow we fly back to England and head for Harlaxton. I will be happy to not be living out of a suitcase again. It has been great traveling with my husband and getting to see a part of the world that we have not been to before. Ray and I look forward to a wonderful time at Harlaxton and getting to know the students and other faculty.
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