Day 11: Brøttum to Lillehamer

I don’t think Tom, the owner of Olasvehaugen, believed me when I said I wanted to pay last night as I’d have left before he was up and about this morning!  I was seen off the property by a poultry honour guard at around 5.30am.

I set off in a light drizzle.   It was so inconsequential that I didn’t bother with my long sleeved jacket let alone my hated rain jacket.  For once this was the correct decision as the rain soon stopped.  It remained overcast for much of the morning but that is fine by me as, being a north european white woman I have a tendency to burn and/or overheat!  And falling asleep in a hammock yesterday afternoon was not the cleverest thing I have ever done!

Today was a net downhill day, but with enough up hill to keep me on my toes, the paths were mostly good, with the exception of a short stretch with over grown, head height wet grass (and sneaky hidden nettles).  If there were views to be seen on that section I missed them! The path is still alongside Lake Mjøsa, so lake views were the order of the day.

The final stretch into Lillehamer was alongside a main road.  Not the most wonderful of walking paths, but the drivers were polite, slowing down and giving me plenty of space.  I was on the look out for a coffee shop so I could take off my pack and sit for a while.  I was unsure if I’d be able to get into my AirBnB early and wanted to kill time.  I found a church instead.  

Lillehammer Church

I’ve noticed that churches in Norway seem to be on the outskirts of towns or villages, but at least this meant I was nearly there!  I stopped for a while and chatted to two cyclists from Dortmund before heaving my bag back on and walking into the town!

On the two occasions I’ve been to Amsterdam I’ve missed out on poffertjes because I’ve had to travel at a different time to the rest of the group.  When I saw them on offer in Lillehammer I had to try them.  These were a savoury version: bacon, mushroom, peppers, onion, rosemary and they were delicious!  I may have to head back for a sweet version…

I walked past my accommodation on the marked path, and then cut back.  I wanted to make sure I have the shortest possible route back on to the path when I leave.  My host was happy for me to check in early, I’d messaged to ask if I could drop my bag so that I didn’t have to carry it all day and was told the place was ready so I could go ahead and check in.  It is a cute little studio apartment which even had a washing machine!  It will be so nice to have properly washed clothes rather than the results of trying to hand wash in less than ideal conditions!

I wasted a fair bit of time trying to work out if I could get to a parkrun tomorrow morning.  The nearest one is cancelled this weekend, but I thought Loftsgardsbrua might be achievable by train.  It is not.  Well, if I was happy to get a train that arrived at 2.50am and wait for the 9.30am start it could work. 

So tomorrow will be a proper rest day.  I’ll have a mooch around Lillehammer, I’ve already discovered that everywhere is uphill and that there are many yarn shops!   I have struggled with not having anything to keep my hands busy while reading so gave one to temptation and bought a small amount of yarn from the sale table outside one of the shops.  I think I’ll stay in tonight, I picked up supplies from the supermarket and a lazy evening is just what I want.