Let's Go For A Drive!

It’s tourist time! Summer is vacation time when the kids are out of school, and workers have to use their vacation-time or lose it! This provides an opportunity to show the kids where their great-grandparents came from! There are tours to many locations, and people who have returned after having taken an annual summer group-package tour happily share their scenic photos, while viewers often agree that the scenes are the same as ”when we were there”. Many tourist city streets are busily crowded with shopping and strollers. The people who have traveled as a family probably stayed with relatives in less crowded areas and enjoyed a very different experience. Things can be different on “the roads less traveled”.

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European and Scandinavian countries offer a variety of travel plans from boats, planes, trains and even cars. Cities are often too crowded for cars, but renting a car to get out into the country opens up new possiblities.Wild animals! The biggest roads normaly have fences against wild animals, but the smaller roads do not. You need to look out for deer and moose - a moose collision, in particular, is very dangerous and often kills instantly! A full grown moose weighs 600 kilograms or more. Moose are clumsy creatures. The moose does not react fast enough, to change it’s direction away from this fast moving vehicle. One tip: If you can’t avoid hitting a moose, aim for the hindquarters. Reindeer and elk have a habit of wandering onto roads, particularly early in the morning and at dusk.

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In the north, you will also have to watch out for reindeer! -----------------

Know the rules! Drivers are at least 18 , licensed, and don’t speed. Speed demons might want to drive somewhere else. Norway's speed limit on highways is only 90 km/h (56 mph). On open country roads you can go 80 km/h, and in towns it's 50 km/h. Besides the varying road conditions. There are reasons for the slower speeds.

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... And forget about drinking and driving! Norway has the strictest laws in Europe. The maximum blood alcohol content is only 0.1 promille (which is only a small glass of a weak drink) and there are hefty punishments for violators. Immediate jail time is possible.

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Despite having to grant the right-of-way to all the wild animals, there are wondrous sights to see. A usually enjoyed scene is the Atlantic Road.The Atlantic Road consists of eight small bridges that cross over an archipelago of eight different islands. Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that the region where the road is situated is prone to autumn hurricanes, and its website says that construction teams had to withstand a dozen hurricanes while building the road.

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Another is Trollstigen. This mountain pass in southwest Norway opened in 1936 after eight years of construction. Trollstigen translates from Norwegian to English as The"Troll Ladder."

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Always drive on the right side of the road. Until 1967, traffic in Sweden drove on the left, as they do in the UK. Then, at 04.50 (AM) in the morning on September 3rd, traffic all across the country was directed over to the right side of the road and stopped still for 10 minutes before setting off again at 05.00, this time driving on the right, where it has remained ever since.

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Ever wonder why anyone would drive on the left side of the road? It has been suggested that seven hundred years ago, everybody used the English system. In the Middle Ages you kept to the left for the simple reason that you never knew who you'd meet on the road in those days; You wanted to make sure that a stranger passed on the right, so you could go for your sword in case he proved unfriendly.

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After deciding to tour the crowded city, check out a bicycle! Many travelers in Scandinavian cities love to use a bicycle for short-range and medium-range transportation. It is free or very cheap and healthy, and no hills . Just check out a bicycle with a small fee, enjoy the day and your fee will probably be refunded when the bicycle is returned.

Have a nice trip.

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Don’t forget your camera!