20 years ago today - Day 145

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Friday, July 26th - 2nd day in Oslo

I am up early, planning my day before Leif goes to work. When I called Mom from Germany with the news that I plan to go as far north as Norway, she told me a distant cousin of mine, Susan, has married a Norwegian and now likes in the town of Flora off the west coast of Norway. She has told Susan I might visit her when I am here, but looking at the maps a ferry schedules it would be very difficult to do so. Flora is on an island, a few hours by boat from Bergen. The train to Bergen is easy enough, but expensive - 2/3s the cost of the ferry from Copenhagen - but the boat to Flora is only twice a week and almost as expensive. I had hoped I'd see an affordable ferry from Bergen back to Oslo but that is also too expensive with an inconvenient timetable. I last saw Susan 20 years ago, and only briefly. We know nothing about each other and although the trip would be nice, it would have to be at the expense of seeing some other place.

I call her with still half a hope of being able to do it, but she doesn't seem enthusiastic. She also has no idea how to get me and my bike to Flora. I decide I cannot make it on this trip, but I tell her if all works out I might be back in three or four years to cycle the full length of Norway in summer, from above the Arctic Circle to the south cape. I have been thinking about it since I bought my detailed map of Norway. It would be a challenging ride with many long, difficult climbs and the constant threat of being caught in a snow squalls on the windswept north end and the many mountain passes on the way south. Even cycling an average of 5.5 days per week, it would take six full weeks to do it barring any injuries, storms or mechanical problems. It would take a fair amount of planning and preparation.

Leif is off to work with the promise to return between 3 and 4. He wants to drive me to a cabin south of Larvik tomorrow, where he will spend the weekend with a large group of friends and their immediate families. I will spend the night there and then ride further down the coast to Kristiansand where I can catch a ferry across the strait to the north coast of Denmark.

I visit the Canadian embassy in town to read newspapers and catch up on Canadian news. I ask if there are visa requirements for either Czechoslovakia or Hungary. They don't think there are, but they cannot tell me for sure. I walk around the downtown and take a few pictures afterwards. The city is divided into two by its shipyards. While its mostly wooden buildings have some character, it is not a scenic or memorable city for its architecture. It's a grey day again too, not the best light for taking pictures.

Leif comes home at 3:30, as he expected he would. We make love and I curl up on his bed to take a nap, on his insistence, while he prepares dinner. He has invited the man he is currently seeing, Frank, over to eat with us so that I can meet him. He arrives so after I get up. Frank is a jovial fellow, easy on the eyes and very laid-back. He's 34, a year younger than Leif, and very friendly. Leif asks him to entertain me while he prepares the meal of fish and vegetables.

Frank likes me, I can tell, as he makes a point of touching my arm a couple times and even once holding my hand. Still, I almost choke on my food when he starts playing footsy with me under the table while we are eating. I pull my foot back. The last thing I want to do is offend Leif. After dinner, when we are relaxing on the sofa with our wine, Frank sits down beside me, then kisses and cuddles me quite openly, sliding his hand up the inside of my thigh to caress my crotch. I glance anxiously over at Leif but he just smiles at us and nods. It seems they have discussed making love with me when Frank was invited. Leif joins us on the sofa and they neck in front of me to show that all is OK. Then they pull me in for a three-way kiss before pushing the coffee table out of the way and dragging me onto the living room floor for a wild threesome.


PHOTO 1: Leif Villars-Dahl