Homeward bound!

Last day of our Norwegian trip unfortunately! After breakfast we checked out and headed for Sandefjord Airport Torp to catch our Ryanair flight to Dublin. Along the way we stopped at a very pleasant town called Kongsberg (nothing to do with King Kong!) which boasts an attractive fast flowing river. As we descended from the mountains the trees became bigger and greener – we had the feeling that we were moving from mid-autumn to late summer. It also became a lot warmer rising from 5° to 18 ° by mid afternoon. We had seen signs for a place called “Holmestrand” after arriving a week ago so we diverted there today to see what sort of place it was. It turned out to be a beautiful park area with barbecues and a children’s play park on the shores of Oslofjorden where the water was absolutely crystal clear. A great place for a picnic and swim! Incidentally "holm" means "island "and "strand" means "beach". Presumably Willie's Norse ancestors were island dwellers.
After checking in at the airport we went for a meal at a restaurant there and were amazed at the very poor English spoken by the two assistants – which made ordering somewhat difficult! Our flight left on time at 7pm and at 8pm Dublin time we were back on Irish soil.

Weather:
Variable – Cold and showery to begin with but by lunchtime it had become a beautiful warm sunny afternoon.