Visit to Vinstra and Kvam (Thursday, Day 8)

A descendant of Even Engebretsen Bratlien/Brandon, Håkon Sveen, wanted me to come up to Vinstra and have him show me around their part of the country.

Randi and I had stopped in Moelv the night before to purchase the train ticket from Hamar (the major town just south of Brumunddal where Randi works) to Vinstra. I went to pay for it using my Debit Card, but it was denied -- then I realized that I hadn't let my bank know that I was out of the country. Randi paid for the ticket, and said that we should wait to buy the return ticket until I am up there, to see how our plans fall in place. She checked the schedule and there was a 09:26am train leaving for Vinstra, and the last returning train left at 18:56, which I could take directly to Hamar, or transfer in Lillehammer then on to Brumunddal, which would be easier for Randi to pick me up.

We had to get up at 05:00am to get showered and ready to leave the house by 08:00am, so that Randi could be to work on time. She dropped me off at the train station in Hamar, and I had an hour wait until my train arrived. So, I went across the street to a 7-11 store and tried my debit card. It worked fine, so I withdrew 200 Kroner (about $32.00 USD) from the ATM, and bought myself a pølse with crispy fried onions and a Coke, and some toothpicks and some Mentos breath mints for afterward.

And of course, the first thing I do is spill some of the ketchup laden onions down the front of my shirt! :)

Well, I finish up my yummy breakfast, and head back over to the train station and check the departures screen to see which spor (track) my tog (train) will come in on -- Track 1. It was a nice cool morning, so I waited outside on the platform for my train to arrive. It was one of the nice long distance trains, so it was very comfy. MRandi had told me that they couldn't assign me a seat when she purchased the ticket, so I should be able to sit in any empty seat on the train. I found a seat, and a woman came up to me and spoke something in Norwegian, but then decided to sit in the empty seat across the aisle from me instead. (Flashbacks of my first day in Korea, sitting on a bus alone as I'm off to Chinju (Jinju) -- with no idea how long it would take, if the bus stopped elsewhere, or who I would be meeting at the bus stop.

(to be continued later ...)