- Antwerp, Belgium
- Brussels by day, Antwerp at night
- Beautiful Bruges!
- Amazing Amsterdam
- Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen
- Rest of our journey to Oslo
We left Copenhagen, travelling by train to Simrishamn Sweden to visit a wine making friend of Reg’s – Walter. An interesting journey with two train changes – one of which we managed to make just in time. We wondered why everyone else had gotten off and we were the only ones sitting in our carriage!!! Nothing was said to us by the ticket selling lady or the conductor when she checked our ticket on board. No information about changes of train on the ticket and none of the other passages tapped us on the shoulder and pointed to the other train. We were found by the conductor as she made a sweep of the train checking for stray tourists. Never dull!
Southern Sweden was lovely – rolling green hills. We just caught some of the autumn colours as the trees were loosing their leaves. We were there to visit a friend so the lovely scenery and the pretty town of Simrishamn were a bonus. Walter has been in Simrishamn for about 6 months setting up a bottling line in a winery on the edge of town – wine brought in from vineyards in Italy, Spain and South Africa. Huge sparkling new storage tanks, filtering systems, storage sheds etc. The bottling line was very smart with up to date equipment, conveyor belts whizzing about, bottles washed and filled automatically, labels and packaging all done by machine. Reminded me of Purple Hands – well I recognized all the processes – but not sure there was a lot in common with the rate of production or physical effort required. All of you who have share the experience of our small bottling line will understand what I am saying!
There are other Aussies working at the winery so we did lots of socializing – again. More good food and wine. Visited the local Simrishamn market and drove to Malmo to check out their much bigger market and the shops. Headed off after a few relaxing days, again by train, back to Copenhagen. The next part of out journey was an overnight ferry to Oslo.
We loved it!!!!! Our cabin was in the middle of the ship, no windows, tiny but very cute. We missed the sign to our cabin section – not sure how – and wandered the hallways for a while until we finally found our little home about 10 meters from our stating point. It was like a rabbit warren. We stowed our luggage – just enough room left for us – and went to check out Copenhagen from the deck. Lovely views around the harbour.
There were lots of restaurants, a bar, and a cafe on board so we settled into the cafe for hot drink while we waited to sail. Night fell as we headed out of the Copenhagen Harbour, very pretty looking at the lights of Copenhagen and some of the towns along the coast of Sweden. We enjoyed a meal at the steakhouse – ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon but ended up with a Napa Valley Zinfandel – a mistake by the waiting staff but still very nice. We played cards at the table while we finished our wine – lots of people doing the same around us – very laid back feel.
Quiet, smooth journey over night, big breakfast in the morning as we sailed up the fiord towards Oslo. Beautiful views as we looked back along the fiord, along the banks as we passed by, and ahead towards Oslo. We were met by Stephanie and caught the bus to Baerums Verk, a little village in the hills about 45 minutes west of Oslo – site of our new house sit.
Bye for now
Much love
Di and Reg