I just returned home to MN from Norway yesterday and boy was it a lang dag (long day), starting with the very first part of the reise (journey).  My flight was scheduled to leave Bergen at 10:40 am en route to Amsterdam.  Flesland, the flyplass in Bergen is only a 25 min. drive from the city center, so I thought I would have plenty of time if I bestilte drosje (ordered a taxi) about 8am and either take it all the way to the flyplass or take it just a mile to the flybuss bussholdeplass (airport bus stop) and hop on that.  I thought this would be the easiest and least stressful part of my reise.  Absolutt not the case!

So I called a drosje at quarter to 8 and it was supposed to be on the way shortly.  20 minutes and no drosje later, I called again and the woman said, ¨Beklager, men det er store problemer i byen akkurat nå.  Det kan hende det tar en time før du kan hentes.¨ ¨Sorry, there are big problems in the city right now.  It´s possible that it will take an hour before you are picked up.¨  Greaaaatt….so I called another drosje service.  Same deal, it was supposed to be there shortly and wasn´t.  So I called them back and the woman said ¨Beklager, men det er ingen som vil ta en hund.¨Sorry, but nobody wants to take a dog.¨ I don´t know about you, but I think it´s ridiculous that the drivers can just decide whether they want to take a dog in their car or not.  Shouldn´t it either be allowed or not be allowed?

So I literally had no choice but to wake up my friend who was to stay another day and demand a huge favor.  It was about a mile from the leilighet (apartment) we were staying in to the flybuss bussholdeplass.  We had to walk and carry all of my stuff (including a svær-huge dog kennel) in the pouring rain.  It was definitely a site to see.  So, 1.5 hours after I had called the first drosje, we were at the flyplass with just over an hour to spare before my flight took off.  Just enough time to check my hund in and proceed to the gate.

This was the first time in a while flying with KLM.  Although the 8+ hr. leg from Amsterdam to Minneapolis was really long, I appreciated the free beverages and food offered:)  I guess I didn’t know any airlines did that anymore!

To my great surprise, I got through the Minneapolis airport in record time-literally faster than any time I’ve flown domestically, despite the fact that I had my dog and had been gone for 3 months!  The sun and 75 degree weather was definitely a nice welcome home to MN!!