The Great Layoff Escape Day 3: Smoked Salmon

At 6:30 a.m. I lost all hope of sleeping in, so I put on running shorts under my blanket and grabbed a fleece. Outside, my knees ached as I passed commuters scraping Ice from car windows.

I ran to a beach lined with dark green fishing huts the size of outhouses. Not far from the huts, waves, sent to shore by a ferry (saving commuters a two hour drive around the fjord), glowed pink in the rising sun. After a climb up a pine-covered hill, and a call on a flock of crimped sheep I visited the day before, I repeated the ritual of hot shower and nap before lunch.

Em dined on potato soup, and I chose the quiche and smoked salmon accompanied by grainy toast.

Later, inside the restaurant, both of us on the internet:

"What are your plans after Norway?"

I hadn't decided yet.

"Well, I could stay in Norway and visit Rizor, the town my triple Great Grandfather is from, or I could take a week-long bicycle ride down the Danube River from Passau to Vienna,  Or,  I could always go to England to visit Chatsworth, a manor house I've been researching. . .but I hate driving in foreign counties, I left my bike helmet and poncho at home, and England just seems too easy."

Ever practical and sartorial, Em took charge.  "What clothes did you bring?"

"What I've got on, plus a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans."

"Well. . ."

She was right. I didn't have the kit for a week-long bike ride, or the coat for a trip into the Norwegian mountains.

"Go to Austria in the Summer when the weather is nice."

I changed my departure flight from Oslo to London Gatwick with a quick call to the Delta Diamond Desk, picked up a one way Ryan Air ticket from Oslo to London Stansted, and booked the Cavendish Hotel (within walking distance of Chatsworth House) for two nights on kayak.com.

It felt good to have a plan for at least the next week of my life.