Travelling to Trondheim

Leaving for Trondheim on a Bank Holiday I was faced with the minor irritation that our usually reliable Piccadilly line to Heathrow was closed due to engineering work. I was grateful therefore that Chris offered to drive me to Ealing Broadway to catch the Elizabeth line instead. After that initial hiccup the journey to the airport went smoothly and I was there in plenty of time to have a coffee and catch up on messages and overnight blog comments before boarding.

I could have chosen to fly directly from Gatwick to Trondheim, but we'd had so many train strikes lately that I didn’t want to risk potential problems getting there. However flying from Heathrow meant a change in Oslo. I'd secured a window seat but unfortunately said window was too grubby for decent photos, although I attempted a few. Apart from that the flight was good and we landed on time in Oslo.

That’s where things started to go downhill a bit. Thanks to Brexit those of us with UK passports had to join the ‘other passports‘ queue, which was both long and very slow. I don’t know how many staff they had on, but it wasn’t enough. The reason I don’t know the number of staff is that after 45 minutes, when I was barely halfway along the line, they decided that people with transfers could use the EU desks. Even though it was still about ninety minutes before I was due to board the Trondheim flight I was able to do that and escape the queue.

I still had to go through customs and walk to the domestic departure gates at the other end of the terminal. I passed several appealing eating places but decided I should wait till I’d gone through security before looking for lunch. Unfortunately the only option there was a takeaway sandwich which I ate while sitting at the gate.

Waiting to leave Oslo

That next flight boarded on time and pushed back early. It was mainly cloud below us for most of the flight, though I caught one glimpse of snowy mountains. Coming into land (five minutes early) there were good views of the farmland dotted with neat farmhouses, under a now blue sky.

Approaching Trondheim

After a short wait my bag appeared on the carouse (I was to learn that one friend arriving on a previous flight wasn’t so fortunate) and I was soon outside and boarding the airport bus. Although there were some nice views on the drive into the city, these were mostly on the other side of the bus, and for much of the journey we were in tunnels. My hotel was announced at a stop sooner than I’d expected so I got a little confused looking for it, but the bonus was a nice view from a bridge as I walked to it.

I checked in, quickly settled into my room which was simple, nice but a bit dark, and washed and changed ready to meet the others for dinner. I joined Rich, Shelagh and Yvonne in the rather nice hotel lobby/bar area and Isa arrived soon after. Teresa had already messaged to say she wouldn’t be able to join us for dinner as unfortunately her luggage had gone astray, and she needed to shop for some clothes and other essentials.

The other five of us walked a few blocks down the road to the restaurant where I’d made a reservation, one of relatively few open on this Whit Monday. It proved a good choice, with proper meat in the burgers, pitchers of beer to help alleviate a little the high costs of drinking here, friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere.

We sat on for a while after the meal then left to walk back to the hotel. It was chillier now but still light and clear at around 10.00. I suggested walking along to the bridge I’d crossed earlier to get another photo and the others agreed.

Once there some of us decided to go back to the hotel to get our proper cameras and have a bit more of a walk. Yvonne opted out and Rich decided to go alone to climb to the fortress, but Isa, Shelagh and I decided to walk together some way along the river to a pedestrian bridge they’d visited earlier, but in the rain. Now, at 10.30 at night, the light was lovely. We strolled along the west bank first. Old warehouses flank both sides of the river, many of them today converted to what I suspect are trendy and expensive apartments.

This far north late May is the season for tulips and there were plenty in the flower beds along the river bank.

I was also interested in the manhole covers, which depict the city’s coat of arms. This represents two kings significant to Trondheim, namely Olav Tryggvason who founded the city and Olav the Holy who was declared a saint after his death.

We were heading towards the Old Town Bridge, Gamle Bybro. This was built in 1681 after a fire that year devastated Trondheim. It replaced an earlier wooden bridge destroyed in that fire which acted as a toll bridge for entry to the city. We spent some time near here taking photos of the reflections in the river.

On the far side of the river we turned to walk back along some interesting little lanes which felt more village- than town-like. While it seemed chilly to us, used to more southerly summers, locals were out enjoying the light evening on balconies and the terraces of bars and restaurants. I loved the architecture here, which reminded me a lot of that in Iceland (unsurprising given the strong connection between the two countries).

I got back to my room around 11, had a short chat with Chris and downloaded my photos. I also heard from Teresa that her luggage had turned up and she'd been out to the airport to collect it. Good news to end the day!