Danny & Pork Chop Go Scandinavian Day 7: The Incredible Journey

Fuck me. 
The thought rings through my head as I pull open the curtains to greet Oslo, only to see a major snowstorm has taken place overnight and will continue to rage throughout the day...and most of my journey to Bergen. I'm not afraid of getting on the train, leaving the safety of the hotel. If I did on a train, I did on a train, doing something I love...on something I love. (Yes, that's also meant to be a sexual innuendo. I love trains and fast ones get me hard and excited. Don't shame me.) 
I head down to reception and book a taxi for later and head back to the room to have a coffee, work on a blog and relax. I'm sat for about 20 minutes before I get this uneasy feeling tingling in my brainstem. Something is telling me to check the time on my ticket. I pull out the travel binder containing all our travel information, tickets and the rest and notice the time. It's 8.25, not 8.45. FUCK ME I WON'T MAKE IT IN TIME. Panic shoots through me and I start to dash around the room. I have to cancel the taxi and get another one. Keep calm, Daniel. You have that tattooed on your knuckles for fuck's sake! Thankfully, the boy at the desk helps me to cancel the taxi and get a new one for 15 minutes from now. He tells me that it might be running late due to the snowstorm. I try to push that thought out of my head as I run back upstairs to collect my things and do a double check.I make small talk with the driver as we journey to the station. He jokes that I picked a great time of the year to visit Oslo, but I tell him that I’ve had a great time. “I prefer the cold. Easier to walk around in. Being outside in the low temperatures ensures that I won’t overhead as I’m walking around. I walked around half the city or more yesterday. Hit quite a few museums too. I can’t wait to return to Oslo and see the other parts that I didn’t have time to this time.” He gives me a wide grin. “I’m glad you like my city!” “Indeed I do! Everyone here is very friendly. I can't wait to come back for a longer visit!" 

I arrive at the central station with 40 minutes to spare, rather than the 10 I would have had if I hadn’t double checked the ticket time. I step out of the taxi and into a puddle. Goddamn it. I can’t really complain I’m lucky to have gotten a taxi here. The snow is causing problems outside of the city centre and not all of the taxis have 4 wheel drive, so there’s a lot of clamour for one. 
 A trickle of relief sweat runs down my neck as we pulled into the taxi drop off port of the Oslo central station. The snow is unreal. I really picked a great day for travel. Thankfully the trains can pretty much get through anything-just another reason that trains are sexy-I mean, a more reliable form of transit than bus or car. I grab a drink and some fruit for the trip just in case we get stuck on the tracks; I know they have a bistro car, but I’d rather not have to get up or pay the higher train prices. Yes, Danny getting a snack- the inhumanity. I’ve been trying to make a healthier effort. It's about a 70/20 split in the good vs bad, but I’m getting there. Christ, if life isn’t a balancing act, I don’t know what is. 
I watch the time slip away on a giant board announcing train arrivals and departures, scanning it for information on my train. I stand there for a good half hour, just watching the numbers real. It's a bit like Kino I guess. With 10 minutes to spare, I see my platform has been listed and I jump on the magical moving steps with my bag and Pork Chop. I reach the second level and head almost to the end of the station to the corridor where my train departure is listed. I feel a vortex of excitement and a bit of nervousness swirling in me. I've been dreaming about taking this journey ever since I first read about the Bergen line. 
My coach is at the end of the train. Pork Chop is nestled safely in my arm as we wander down the snowy platform. I toss my bag up first then board. It doesn’t take long to find our seats. It’s the last one next to the window on the left-hand side. I’m hoping that we’re not stuck to some arsehole for the duration of the trip.We pull out of the station and there’s no one sat next to us. The tension in my chest relaxes. I slip off my hoodie and lean back into the seat, warm and comfortable with Pork Chop by my side.
We pull out of the station just as the snowfall begins to pick up. The winds begin to whistle, blowing hard against the train, but we rush on, putting miles between our starting point and current point. Everything looks like it's iced with icing sugar and it makes me think of Christmas.

 

A small face appears at the crack between the seat. Large brown eyes hidden behind Harry Potter glasses stares back at me. I offer him a wide, toothy smile before sticking my tongue out and showing him all the metal through it. His already large eyes widen further and his mouth forms into the smallest ‘o’ shape I’ve ever seen. Kids are great. I offer him a small wave and he looks at Pork Chop and then back to me. He turns back around and then throws his neck pillow at me. It's not malicious, he's playful. I'm tempted to take the little pillow, it's covered in dinosaurs. I hand it back to him and his mother apologises profusely. I tell her that I don't mind, kids will be kids. I offer him a smile and tick my tongue out, showing him all the piercings in it. He gasps and points. His mother tells him to hush and he settles in with a little picture book. 

I glance around me and a man reading on an e-reader catches my attention. He’s reading hentai comics. I suck in air and make eye contact with Pork Chop. I glance over at the device again. It’s got some kind of alien woman with tentacles about to masturbate or choke someone to death with those things. I can’t look any further. Even I don’t want to know where the story is headed and I’m a major pervert.

The next few hours pass without incident, me lost in my thoughts, working away on my two novels, ideas racing through me, Ghost in my ears. I skip through several genres as my mood switches as I write. I occasionally look out the window at the thickening snow around us, the black of the water calling out to me. I feel so hot all of a sudden. Trapped in my thoughts. I want to jump into the icy waters to cool off. I don't. I remain in my seat as we go along the tracks, filming bits of the travel. I want to take in every moment. I don't want to forget any of it; I know that's irrational notion to hold onto. My mind drifts back to that exhibition of dead people's things at the Oslo museum. Their voices whisper to me through the snow. I turn up the volume on my headphones and try and lose myself in my work.

The voice of a dead man rings through my ears as we climb in escalation. It feels as if the breath has been stolen from my chest as Chester's voice mingles with the rays of the sun, eclipsing my consciousness. We're heading toward Finse. The mountains and valleys I've taken in leave me lusting after travel and exploration like never before. It feels like we're reaching the limit of the skies. The sun has never looked or felt so close before. The clouds are thick and looming as the sun struggles to break through. It's like nothing I've ever seen before.  The few homes that are dotted along the tracks are almost completely hidden in the snow. If anyone stepped outside, they'd sink through and be completely covered with snow. The idea is both humorous and haunting. I've never felt claustrophobic before, but the feelings are creeping over me. The sights are incredible, but for some reason, I'm feeling my mortality.  I film parts, unable to be content with just photos. 

Normally, I'm itching to get up and stretch my legs, get to the next leg of the journey by now, but I don't want this to end. I feel like God must, sitting up here, taking in nature's wonders. I can't focus on the blog anymore. I just want to get lost in the snow and my musical sonnets. This really is the most incredible journey I've been on so far and there's still a few more hours to go. Why anyone would choose to fly rather than take the train is beyond me. They must be crazy or masochists, denying themselves of beauty. We pass ski resorts, people waving as they see the train. Everyone's bundled up. I check the temperature on the digital display inside the carriage. -8C. Jesus. And I don't even own a jacket. For some reason, looking out at the resort and the mountains reminds me of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Whoville. I don't know how or why my mind makes these sort of connections. Maybe it's a blessing. Maybe it's a curse.



We arrive at the Flåm railway connection and it's the part of the journey I've been most excited about. I've heard that this is the place were dreams originate and fairy tales are spun from. It's one of the steepest rail passages in the world and is rimmed with waterfalls, lakes and even more magical mountains that I've witnessed thus far. I already know that I want to take this journey in all the seasons, experience all its flavours. Time seems to speed up as we press along toward Bergen. I'm kicking myself in the ass for not visiting Norway before now. Why didn't I ever think about Norway? I know I've had the thought a few times earlier through the week upon arriving here, but really, it's just amazing. I start to list all the places along the line that I want to stop at and visit. Thankfully, the train has wifi so I can start planning out my dream. I guess I've always been a dreamer, preferring to live in the fantastical, content with wishing to some degree, but now I'm even more driven to get out there. I don't want my depression and anxiety to consume me. I don't want to be that guy anymore. I want to breathe like I do now, free and clear. Excited and energised by life. Wanting to see more. Craving to travel to new places. My list of places to see and how to achieve the goals. This trip is something that I desperately needed. I'm thankful that I didn't let my fear and nervousness at the airport consume me and I was able to get to Sweden, then all the way here. I almost let the fear win like I have so many times in my life.  Is this the brimming of a soul I feel deep within me?

We've had good weather for the last few hours, but the snowfall is once again settling down upon us. It wasn't like when we left Oslo, thankfully. It's so peaceful. I wish I could feel that kind of peace. I start to wonder if it's even possible for human beings. I wish Chubb was here. I want to bring him on the next trip I take through here, I want to share this beauty with him. I want to see how it inspires him to create and breathe freely. I want him to be able to relax as I have and take in all that Norway has to offer. I feel this deep and intense longing for him to be sat here next to me, my head on his shoulder as we look out together, the calm waving through the pair of us. I'm supposed to be pissed off with him, but I just can't be now, not when I know he's struggling as I am, maybe not to the same degree and I'm here tasting freedom. I send him a few of the photos with a simple caption underneath. "Thinking of you; these mountainscapes may be beautiful, but they don't even come close to comparing to you." I set my phone down and stare deep into the snow.



I start to worry that I will never have another opportunity to see these sights again. I'm snapping photos faster than I ever have before; desperate to own it all. I'm like a man possessed, twisting and turning in my seat, shooting from all angles, filming this and that. My thoughts drift to Chubbs again, wondering where he's going and what he would say about all this. He's a humble student of beauty like myself, so I know he'd have a lot to say. I need to try and incorporate these feelings into Glass Hysteria or another work of some sort. I'm left with feelings of wonder as I watch the snow flurries fall, almost in slow motion. Peeks of sun tease me as we inch closer to our destination. I'm excited to see Bergen. I've heard about the historic wonders of the city and I'm a history addict. 

The mountains dissolve and waterscapes take their place. It's gorgeous. I'm looking out into the waters when tales of sea serpents climb into my mind. I'm not sure how deep the water is, but I have this creeping feeling that it's hiding something...that something is a sea monster. Well, lake monster would be more appropriate to say. Then suddenly I'm terrified that a sea monster is going to rise out of the water, smash through the glass of the train's windows, pull me back down into the depths of the water. I, a 26-year-old grown adult, am afraid that a possibly fictional creature, will catch up to a fast moving train and eat me. Maybe this is a sign of things to come. I'm afraid to look back out into the water. I'm just about convinced that I'll look out and there will be a serpent there grinning at me and will lick its lips and wag the end of its tail at me. I want to scream. 

There's a station announcement and it knocks me out of my worry. I look out the window. There's nothing there. My imagination is fucking with me once again. And I'm sober. We're almost there and a part of me wants to cry. I want to stay in this spot forever. It's so gorgeous. It's so unlike anything else  I've seen before. I take photos the rest of the short journey to Bergen. When we pull into the Bergen station, the snow and clouds have passed once again and the sun shines, illuminating everything in its wake. The snow and ice are almost golden and the world, for a brief moment seems like a happy place. I jump off the train with Pork Chop feeling okay. No, more than just okay. Lucky and content.



The last part of the trip was the most rewarding. As I sit back now and think about it all, run it all through my head its hard to believe that I really travelled through it, saw all of this. Sometimes it feels like it's all just been a dream. Thankfully, it's not been. Aside from that sea serpent panic, I enjoyed the trip. 



I'm selling some of the photography from this trip and the rest of the trips I've taken. You can purchase photos for professional/personal usage via my website, prints/postcards via Zazzle and Merch items/ prints via RedBubble. Thank you, everyone, for the support!! 

LINKS
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https://www.zazzle.com/dannysnaps
https://www.zazzle.com/danielsnaps