Photography course

And now I left him. I headed back to the plateau where I spent the night at the end of one of the fjords. In the morning I was wondering what to do next. Go straight home again now? Who would want to! Beautiful nature, lots of interesting places. And so I'm changing the plan! I will not drive fromNordkappthe direct way back, but I'll look a little further around Norway. After all, it's a cityAlta, to which I subsequently went in the morning. There is a museum with rock carvings of prehistoric inhabitants, which are inscribed on the World Heritage ListUNESCO. Part of it is under the roof and the other part continues outside where I walk along the path right past the carvings. Some of them are colored red for better visibility, others are left in their original form. Very nice, I was glad to visit it. However, towards the end of the tour, I heard thunder nearby, it quickly became cloudy and the beautiful weather that had accompanied me all the way until now must have ended. I quickly finished the tour and got into the car and drove even faster beyond the city where the Kåfjord fjord is located, in which the famous cruiser hid during the Second World WarTirpitzand where it was also sunk by the Allies in 1944. I stopped in the parking lot behind the motorcycle and looked to see that the motorcycle's license plate starts with the letter E, which the fiat also has. I got out and followed the guy who was changing out of his wetsuit. Martin lives about 15 km from Pardubice and on Saturday 3 July he set off alone through Sweden to the northernmost tip of Europe, the Norwegian Nordkapp... what did it remind me of? So it really is truethe world is small and there is no shortage of coincidences. Martin and I agreed that we would go part of the way together. After a while, we entered the rain, which did not leave us for the whole next day. We spent the night in the rain on the banks of the Barduelva river and in the morning continued to the city of Narvik, which is famous for its port, from where iron ore is shipped to the world. It was still raining. Martin went to Lofoten, I headed to the cityBodø. Shortly after we went our separate ways, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine again. Could it be a coincidence?

I arrived in the city of Bodo in the evening. It didn't even occur to me, I was still far north, so it was always light. I walked through the city center in the morning. But I was here for something else - the aviation museum, which is one of the largest in Europe. I spent the whole morning in it and could easily be here much longer. It's beautiful, big and interactive, and it was a great visit. On that exact day, three years ago, my grandfather, who introduced me to aviation, died, so I remembered him in a suitable place. And in that nostalgic mood with beautiful sunny weather, I left Bodø  along the old roadFv17, which beautifully undulates along the fjords in western Norway. It is often necessary to cross the fjords by ferry. I didn't mind the slow, undulating roads around the fjords as much as I did at the beginning when I was rushing to the Nordkapp. I drove slowly through the landscape of central Norway around the glacierSvartisen, which is one of the largest in the world, and enjoyed not only the beautiful weather, but also the empty ferries in the time of covid and was not really in a hurry, there were so many photogenic places. Almost an idyll. My last destination wasRunde Island. A photographer's paradise, home to a giant population of puffins and terns. When I arrived at it in the evening, it was completely covered in clouds, only a rock above the sea could be seen from it. I was hoping it would be better in the morning, otherwise opuffins I can only dream. In the morning I woke up again to a beautiful day!

I am all dayhe relaxedin the camp, waiting for flocks of puffins to return to their nests from the sea in the evening. It worked, I spent about 7 hours with them, filled up a few memory cards and was the last one back to camp just before midnight. I got into the car and drove to Malmö, Sweden, where I arrived at six o'clock in the evening. I had about four hours left until the ferry left, so I hurried to see the city. And then just get on the ferry. At the end of the trip, I treated myself to comfort in the form of a large cabin on the bow, directly under the captain's bridge. In the morning we sailed toLübeckand I only had the last few kilometers to goGermany. A little before the Czech border outside Dresden, the fiat suddenly went wild when overtaking a lorry. I quickly stopped and found that the right rear wheel was empty. I called the towing service, we changed the bike and I drove to Ústí nad Labem with a reserve. Tire repair shops were already closed, so one last change of plan.After all, plans are meant to change. 

The whole journey took exactly 14 days. I drove more than 8,500 kilometers with it through 6 European countries with an average consumption of 6.7 l/100 km. To date, I have not paid a fine for pepper spray in Sweden (I have not received any notification from the Czech authorities, nor a response to my letter to the Swedish ombudsman) or for highways and ferries in Norway. It is possible that thanks to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, everything was in a mode where such fees are waived.The trip was a great experience. Not only in what I saw, but also in the fact that I set out without any expectations, I had nothing specifically arranged and planned. So I could stop when I wanted and where I wanted, and simply sleep where I reached. I didn't stress about missing the ferry or having to be somewhere on time or anything like that. Need to clear your head?Definitely go on this or a similar trip!