Stavanger (SATURDAY 05:35): Standing at the train station wondering which of the trains are mine for departure to Kristiansand, as the Norwegian Railroad (NSB) offer’s no signs of direction at current time. It’s a rather cold for this region in June and the early morning smells of moist with a hint of fog. Finally a personnel from NSB arrives with a sign of direction saying Oslo, lucky I me I ask whether then it is the other train that will take me to Kristiansand, she answer no and says it’s the same as to Oslo.

Having spent 75NOK extra for better comfort I find my site about 05:50am, the train leaves on schedule at 06:05am. The extra money was well spent as there’s nice leather like seats wooden panel on the walls and I imagine a bit extra leg room, still there could have been a bit more. But best of all it offers an outlet for my pc so that I can write this text.

I bought my ticket on the internet for about 400NOK (a bit pricey) and checked for picking it up “on the train”, nobody has so far arrived with my ticket or asked for one. The early rain-heavy morning takes us through the sleep town Sandnes and we’re next heading for the farmer section of Rogaland, this is a particular flat and acre covered scenery that reminds you a bit of Denmark, the region is known as Jaeren, and if your about to spend time in Rogaland I suggest you have a closer look at the coastline there - (06:19am); still no sign of my ticket, and the voice on the speaker says there will be served coffee after Egersund, that is all well – but I don’t know where this place is, I only know I could sure need some coffee.

What seems like new train-wagons are very smooth and silent though they suffer a bit from the old outdated rail-road tracks, still no coffee or ticket, the inboard info board says a place called Bryne; I assume it’s a place the inboard panel and voice are all in Norwegian though he greeted us in English when we left Stavanger.

(06:39am): All good coffee served by a cosy old train conductor. NSB get both thumbs up, as  I’m finishing my coffee the train stops, a pleasant fellow travellers informs me in stuttering English that we just made a stop to wait for a passing train, and she is right a few more minutes and the another, streamlined, train just like this passes. A few moments later we pass a land rocky landscape with lots of small “lakes” tall swamp straws.

There is nothing much else to see this morning – the rain, and I’m still sleepy, the silent lullaby of the train makes me drift a sleep. I slowly wake up from my drowse – still just grass, trees and small hills. Time to fetch more coffee as my Swatch tells me it is about 20 min until we should be arriving Kristiansand.

The friendly voice now accustomed to me says something with the word Kristiansand in it and I realize that we probably there.

Kristiansand (09:02am): We arrived acceptable at schedule and I gaze around in the now sunny weather there a 3 min quick walk from the train-station I see the ferry-terminal, I had a tip to look for Colorline signs even though I am travelling with DFDS Seaways as they are located in the same building.

I booked the boat ticket easily on the internet as well and the clerk is friendly and I retrieve my boarding-pass without any hassle. Now with the baggage I’m haling moving around is out of option, so my general advice (which I stupidly did not follow) is to back in a backpack for these sorts of trips - Anyway 2 hours of time to beat before the boat leave and only 1 and half until I would be able to board. The waiting hall is functional, but not particular inviting – the chairs certainly doesn’t look comfortable, but to my surprise they are not that bad. As the time creeps by and the resting room fills up the air starts to clutter. A single ticket with no rebate and no cabin will set you back 218NOK, which is a fair price. Finally time to enter.

Princess Of Scandinavia (10:45am ):  is a nice 7 store ship built to entertain families and weekend tax-free shoppers. With a 2 hour trip ahead I would ask you to consider getting a room, cause there can be a long haul in the seats.

The cruise offers entertainment raging from: Movie theatre, caroke disco, bars, café, restaurants, children’s show and of course shops. None of which interests me much, as if you seen one you seen it all.

The ship is all in high standards and dozens of preteen and teens here seem to be enjoying them self while the parents or does what ever, gaze out of the window. It should be noted that this route has a 20 year limit which means nobody under 20 can travel alone without a guardian.

I found a nice selection of cheap cigarettes, cognac, wine, and other alcoholic drinks in the tax-free store as well as big selection of various sweets, it should be noted that chocolate and other candy can be pricey even in the tax-free store compared to some places on land in Sweden.

Gothenburg (05:45pm): Finally arriving after a bit of delay, the weather seems to have followed me. There are several accommodations options available, for youths I would recommend Hotel F1 a bit outside the city or Hotel Opera which is relatively cheap (rooms available from 290SEK a day), it is located within 10 min walking distance from the main railroad and buss-station.  If you like high standard to an affordable price Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel is the best option, and our favourite hotel where we always stay – perfectly located on the main street of the city centre.

THINGS TO SEE IN GOTHENBURG

For an easy way to get around Gothenburg you should consider picking up a “maxirabatt” multi ticket for around 100 SEK issued by Västtrafik, this ticket can be stamped when entering local busses, tram, and metros, and is good for about 10 trips – each time you stamp the stamp is valid for interconnecting routes in one and a half hour from stamping. You just hit the “byta” button. When u start a trip you hit the zone 2 (for adults). More info can be found at vasttrafikken.se

Briefly about Goteborg: Goteborg is an old town that has grown with its satellite town. “staen” is the main centre here you can find everything you need from accommodation to  shopping malls and cinema. Nordstaen is a nice place to shop - You probably also want to check out the museum at the top of the main-street as well as the canal running in the middle of the town. - For more info on Goteborg and Sweden check out this splendid guide on Sweden

 FRIHAMNEN / GOTEBORG (SUNDAY 10:35am): The boat leaves a little behind scheduled departure time, but I’m counting on it to make up the missing time during the crossing. Princess of Scandinavia will make a stop in Kristiansand (Norway) and then head for Newcastle (Great Britain). I’m sitting enjoying a cup of coffee talking to a nice English retired chap, who is going home to England. He has been on a 18 days around the Nordic countries trip and can’t tell me enough about how nice it is here. Again I’m in for a long-haul, but I got a cabin this time and,  I’m many memories richer and Midsomarsdagen (Swedish mid-summer celebration) is just a few days away, though it seems like ages – a smile creeps on my face as I fall asleep as the sea gently rocks the boat. I hope I enticed you to at least look into going to the Nordic countries next summer. Just remember to bring a lot of cash because almost everything in this region is fairly expensive. But then again, magic cost – and the magic is fairly less expensive then it used to be.

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