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Today I had a real planes, trains and automobile day.

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What a day, 12 hours later and I finally found my way to the hotel room in Oslo. Where do I start, so last night I arrived in the UK, and my brother was smart enough to convince me to check the aiport I was leaving from for Norway. I had decided to give Ryanair a try for the first time. I had somehow convinced myself that I was flying from Luton, but it actually turns out I was leaving from Stansted. So a few plans had to change for my morning flight. Leaving for Stansted means driving along the M25 for a stretch , which in the morning is something you want to avoid at all costs. To avoid potential traffic and to ensure I had plenty of time to get through security I planned to leave at 6am. I didn't sleep to well, so I actually left around 5.30am, and made much better time getting to Stansted so got there at 6.30, which meant I had 2 hours to wait before I could even check-in.

At this point I went to get my confirmation number from my Treo and the keyboard wasn't working. How do you turn off keyboard lock when the keyboard isn't working? For me it was a case of unplugging the battery and waiting for it to come back to life. A few other plans then changed, you're only allowed one carry on bag now, so I had to check in my bag containing the clothes for tomorrow. So I checked in the bag in, got the bag check stub and boarding pass.

Security was a doddle, the usual stuff, then waiting for the boarding to open up I noticed that the back check stub had a different flight number and destination to my ticket, never a good thing to see. The check-in agent (which for Ryanair is actually 5 minutes later the flight attendant), checked the bag details and happily informed me that the bag was indeed on it's way to Italy. She then told me to file a loss claim when I get to Oslo, oh great. Get on the plane, which I have decided is way over decorated with yellow and blue and took a seat, first come first serverd seating, no seat numbers etc. These seats are really shoved in there, they've even removed the pouch on the back of the seats to reduce cleaning needs and also it allows them to push the seats an inch closer I think. Flight was prettey uneventful. We arrive at what Ryanair calls Oslo airport, which is actually Torp. Now Torp is about 70 miles away from Oslo. How can you claim something is related to something 70 miles away? If you have ever been to Scandinavia, the first thing you know to do is avoid taxis at all costs, especially when that kind of distance is involved, after all they have to pay for the Mercedes some how. So I get the bus to Oslo. 250 Krona return, so about 50 bucks.

Arriving in Oslo I show the driver the printout of the hotel location to get an idea of where I need to head. Turns out the address for hotel is out near the real Oslo airport so I need to get another bus to the Oslo airpot, no problem they leave from the same bus station.

10 minutes later and 150 Krona ligher, I am sitting on the bus for the 45 minute ride to Oslo airport, where I plan to get a taxi to take me to the hotel. On the bus I realize my jacket is still sitting on the other bus, fortuantely there are no documents, wallets or anything else like that in it, and I hope to get it back tomorrow if they find it on the bus. Anyway at the airport I hop in the taxi, as the bus driver said the address is only a couple of miles away. Now here's the thing, in Norway at the airport taxis as soon as your butt hits the seat, the meter is already reading 270 Krona! Holy crap, I haven't even gone anywhere yet. So 2 miles later, and 350 Krona lighter, the driver drops me of at the hotel address and he drives off.

Hmm, this looks a little weird It's a conference center with the same name of the company as the hotel, and a few offices. I decide to head in and find out from the only person I could find, the office cleaner, that there is no hotel here, I even show them the printed page from their website with the address etc. of where I am standing. It turns out the following happens on their website, if you are looking at details in Norwegian and then hit the English button, the page changes subtly, like for example it shows the hotels head quarters address instead of the hotels address!!! Arrggh, guess where the hotel I am staying in is really located, just a few hundred yards away from the bus station in Oslo city. OK, so now here I am and need to get back to the airport, damn I need another taxi, the girl helps (did I mention there are a lot of cute blondes in Norway?) me out and calls a local taxi, which doesn't have the 270 krona flat fee, so I get a cab that costs a bargain of only 150 kronas. At the airport I decide I've had enough of buses and decided to the the train. The airport express was the highlight of my day, it was fast, quiet and took a measly 22 minutes to get back to Oslo.
,br> So 12 hours later, I finally made it to my hotel room, but boy what a day...

Comments

Gravatar Image1 - Priceless! and yet somehow so you...

Gravatar Image2 - ROFL - you poor poor sod

Gravatar Image3 - And after all that, you found me on Sametime and reached out...despite it being around midnight. I really appreciate it. Hope the rest of your trip is better.

Gravatar Image4 - Haha, this was so fun. But Carl, if you had listened to me, you would have taken a taxi from Oslo Sentral Station, and you would be on the hotel withiin 2minuets :) But hey, now, you do it your way :D

Gravatar Image5 - ha ha! had to happen to you! thats funny! :) see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!1

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