Day 6
The day after our wild camping and the day we were called ‘old people’
We had a great night’s sleep in our wild-camping place. You will remember we had to park in a car park as the campsite was closed when we arrived. We were undisturbed by anyone overnight (a bit of a concern as some people who had stayed there previously reported oils in the cars doing donuts in the car park and disturbing motor-homers)
But we were up early and had coffee, cleared the van, and set off. No point hanging around. We had a new country to enter. But first, we stopped for a typical Swedish breakfast, at a motorway service station. To be fair, it wasn’t bad. We had a breakfast muffin type thing, and then a pastry that was covered in cinnamon. It was just devine.
Then we hit the road again and decided to stop off at a wee coastal village called Saltkallen. Very beautiful, just have a look at the photos which don’t do it justice.
On and on we went. Oh, we stopped for diesel at a service station. Avrina had been doing some research on Swedish culture and she found that they are very keen on sweeties and pick n mix. In the service station, we found a pick n mix, so we had to try some. Some familiar sweeties tasted very different in Sweden.
Then, it was back on the road and we headed for Fridrickstad, in Norway. We drove over a bridge and right in the middle went from being in Sweden, to being in Norway. Hardly felt the bump as we went over the border.
We drove to our parking space for tonight, and got checked in. All self-service and paid for on internet. And once again, we are beside a marina down by the river. The parking site is quite good, but the problem with it is that during the winter the toilets and showers are not open. But we can get electricity, so we can have lights on as we smell. We got plugged in and decided to go for a walk into town and do a wee bit of exploring.
What an interesting place. Lots of maritime and fishing history, and there was an interesting town centre too. A lot of pizza shops and barbers! We popped into one shop to buy some fridge magnets (I know, I’m class, right?) In the shop were some ladies who were sewing and doing embroidery. They were making the Bunad – the national costume. And the patterns that get embroidered on the dresses indicate what area the wearer is from. The gentlemen’s waistcoats are also embroidered with the same pattern. It was jolly interesting.
We didn’t fancy any lunch but thought it would be a good idea to try something typically Norwegian, so we eventually found a traditional bakery. The lovely old wisened hag who was serving said that that bakery had been baking bread and cakes for over 120 years and they, and only they, made a traditional cake. It was a bit like a vanilla slice with a middle layer of apple. (See the photos). She said “It’s very popular amongst old people. You’ll love it”
I’m beginning to dislike the Norwegians.
Back to the motorhome where we made tea and hot chocolate and sat outside eating our old people’s cake. Very pleasant. Then back to the van for a Nanny Nap before we had a nice bowl of warming soup for dinner.
And that’s been our day. Tomorrow, we’re going north to Lillehammer.