Day 20: Karlstad - Made it to Sweden!

Today was a travelling day, our first stop was at the Lillehammer Ski Jump which was used for the 1994 Olympics. Unfortunately we were held up at the shop so we could only take the chair lift up and back and not spend much time up the top. The views were great all the same and the highlight was seeing three ski jumpers training, these guys are amazing and we got a video of one of the jumps they did. I could have stayed and watched them for ages.

The countryside has changed completely again, no longer are we in the mountains and the terrain is undulating with large forests and farm areas again. The weather today has also been perfect which has added to the great experience. We stopped for lunch at the Norwegian and Swedish border, our last taste of Norway.

Today Andre our guide told us his life story, his time in the Soviet army and in particular what he had to do to seek political asylum from the old USSR. His tenacity, work ethic and courage was inspiring. He has worked hard since getting out of the USSR and made a great life for himself and his family. I could only think during his story of how many Andres are sitting in Manus Island right now or the other inhumane refugee prisons we have created. Just people wanting a new chance in life yet we decide to treat them deplorably, it's a disgrace.

We are now in Sweden for the last leg of our Scandinavian tour. Tonight we are in Karlstad. It's another beautiful city that is easy to walk around. We walked for well over an hour this evening checking out the city. We are loving these cities that are so pedestrian and bicycle friendly. I wish our cities back home were similar, I believe it would create so any opportunities and improvements to our lifestyle and perspective on the world.

Apparently all Scandinavians are celebrating the mid summer holiday this weekend which means many people have left the cities for the countryside so we pretty much had the place to ourselves tonight. Tea was enjoyed at a local Italian restaurant and I can say is Swedish Calzone's rival those that I have enjoyed back home.

It's an early night tonight catching up on the sleep we didn't get last night.Read more