Today I travelled by bus from Surnadal to Åndelsnes, a six hours drive with some short stops. In Åndalsnes I was invited to stay for a day in a hotel. Oh, that’s not bad for a change!
Around 11.30 Ruben and I hurried ourselves to the local Surnadal bus station, after having a relaxing breakfast.
Their home business in webhosting and distributing SeaMonkeys in Scandinavia had already started at 8 o’clock this morning.
Ruben paid for my bus ticket, as there were no trains in this vicinity and nevertheless my Scanrail Pass had expired yesterday.
In the royal class bus (don’t expect that in Holland, unless you are travelling international) my eyes closed again. Every time I looked up I saw myself surrounded by clouds and mountains, or by sterile little villages with painted wooden houses.
The bus ride ended in Molde, where another bus would take me to Åndalsnes within one hour. Ruben had given me enough money for the next bus ticket, so I took a café au lait and a donut as an extra while walking around in peaceful Molde. On the internet also mentioned as the city of roses and of jazz, but I didn’t see any rose or heard any jazz.
From Molde it took less than an hour to arrive in my place of destination: Åndalsnes, the alpine town in the Romsdal Fjord.
Of course the tourist office at the bus station had closed at 3.30pm (every travellers nightmare if you travel without a guide book, haha), so I asked a bus driver for directions to my place to stay for a day here: Grand Hotel Åndalsnes, which seemed to be only 5 minutes walking up the town centre hill.
I know you’ll be going: “Way to go, Ramon! A free night in a hotel!”.
But of course it is a commercial thing: Grand Hotel Åndalsnes loves the free publicity (I guess) when mentioned, described and linked on my website. But without a real host to go along with (but with a single bedroom with a snowy television, a bathroom and a mini bar) I do start to look at the little things. Like a hotel that offers a stay-for-a-day, the Grand Hotel Åndalsnes.
I don’t want to start rating hotels by now, but I find Grand Hotel Åndalsnes quite unique in the small range of hotels I have stayed with so far.
I noticed the tub in the bath room and decided to take a long warm bath, which has been a long time ago for me.
After a fishy dinner coming up in the dining room around 7pm, I spent my times enjoying episodes of Friends and Mad About You on Norwegian television.
For now – I will publish this report right away, on the internet in the Grand Hotel Åndalsnes lobby that I was allowed to use for free – and I am going to se what the rest of this town has to offer to a traveller. I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Good night Åndalsnes!
Ramon.
