Scandinavia Trip: Day 7 – Lofoten Islands to Oslo

July 02, 2023

Today’s travels were not, to put it mildly, a very inspiring financial success. We packed our luggage in the morning, consolidating our things into two suitcases and two bags. Due to our difficulties coordinating, Johnny and Zhongwei booked the six o’clock flight while I purchased tickets for the eight o’clock one. When buying their tickets, however, the two did not realise that their purchase only included one carry-on. Therefore, we decided to pack one backpack into a suitcase and have me carry it along with my own backpack.

Leaving the house early in the morning, we stopped at the nearby Viking Museum. Its most remarkable feature was a giant reconstructed longhouse, which stands a short walk from the unearthed foundations of its model. Inside it we found numerous demonstrations of daily Viking life, such as a real meal bubbling atop a fireplace and a group of women working with wool. The museum itself, however, was not very impressive. It offered audio-guides in lieu of written signs, which I refused on principle, and the lacklustre exhibits portrayed Viking life in the Lofoten Islands as depressingly drab – a reality I do not doubt in the slightest.

Following our visit, we began our drive back to Harstad/Narvik Airport. We made a few stops on Austvågøya, including by the Vågan Church and the Sildpolltjønna Ship Wreck, which is conveniently beached just below the E10. On our way through one of the towns, however, we had the misfortune to encounter a traffic cop while speeding. I was pulled over and charged a hefty fine of 7,800 Norwegian Crowns (at the current exchange rate, the euro sum of 666.66 seems very intimidating). Traffic laws in Northern Europe are clearly not a trifling matter.

Another obstacle surfaced at the airport. Soon after Johnny and Zhongwei left, I found out that my flight had been delayed from 20:05 to 21:25. This meant that I would arrive in Oslo after eleven and I would not be able to split a cab with my friends. Later on, my flight was pushed back even further to ten o’clock.

My arrival at Oslo Airport was a bit of a disaster. I could not find the platforms from which the major buses to central Oslo were supposed to leave, so I waited until half past midnight to board a slower bus that would take me almost directly to our accommodation. Frantically running around Oslo Airport was no fun, especially as all escalators always went either up or down in groups, necessitating annoying searches for other escalators across the terminal. And, to top it all off, all my cards were declined when I tried to purchase a bus ticket from the ticket machine. Fortunately, it was possible to buy one on the bus directly.