July 29, 2025
A travel day is upon us! Our flight isn’t until 5PM so it was a pleasant surprise that check out from our hotel was at noon. We had plenty of time to enjoy the nice hotel breakfast, Kayleen and I to take turns at the gym, and do a proper airplane packing. Once we checked out at the hotel, right at noon, we headed to the parking garage across the street to load everything into the car before killing a final few hours in Bergen.
The car was on a slow charger but it was fully charged after being plugged in overnight. Total charging bill for the whole time in Norway was only 45 USD which seems like a steal given how much we drove.
We were in search of lunch and unsure what to get but wanted something healthy. After a week of having a good time with our friends a little detox was feeling good so we planned to continue with it. We decided to pass on a few spots before we came to a place called the Daily Pot, I can’t imagine a healthier meal. Kayleen and I got a salad/bowl filled with 15 different veggies and grilled chicken while the boys stuck to hummus and bread. The inside was hot and crowded so we opted to eat outside while sitting on pallets on the sidewalk.
After lunch the boys did opt in to sharing a large warm cinnamon bun from a bakery a block away before we hit the road to the airport.
The ride to the airport was quick, 20 minutes, and everything went smoothly and quickly from the car return, to checking bags, and security. What that ended up meaning was that we were extremely early.
Luckily Bergen airport was nice and we found a place to sit down and let the kids plug in their low battery iPads. I even stumbled across a place to get a haircut while we waited which I really wanted to get done. Getting my fading hair cut is not one of my favorite tasks but it looks extra ridiculous when it is long.
We headed to our gate once it was posted and Lenny was caught off guard by the cutout showing the women’s bathroom. I am not sure why he was but I thought it was a funny picture.
Kayleen got food for the flight which included a hot dog for each boy. We fed it to them in hopes of making them finish it before we got on the plane and keeping them clean. It was a ridiculous scene and I nearly lost a finger to a very hungry Lenny.
We boarded the flight and were the last ones on the plane even though we were probably the first of all the people on our flight to reach the airport. When the roller bags are checked we see no need to rush onto the plane but everyone boarded this plane so fast it caught us by surprise. Or maybe we were just too distracted by the hot dog feeding.
The boys quickly zoned into their iPads and the picture from when we took off to when we were about to land don’t look much different. Ollie gave hand motions that he would like a snack throughout the flight as where Lenny screams he needs a snack because he can’t hear with his headphones on. They both ate piles of popcorn off their trays which I would replenish many times.
We were the last ones off the plane and were not moving any slower than usual. Norwegians really know how to board and disembark with speed. The flight was only three hours to Split, Croatia so not too long but it felt longer since our last 3 flights where just over an hour. Once we arrived Ollie was perched ready to be the bag retriever.
After a successful bag retrieval we were off to meet our driver which our Airbnb hosts helped to arrange for us. We went through no customs yet again and laughed that I had put so much effort into getting the large passports as they have only been stamped once in all of Europe.
Our driver, Sasha, meet us and we hopped in his van for the 40 minutes ride to Split. The boys where tired and poking at each other the whole ride until threatened with the deletion of their iPad apps.
We arrived at the apartment where the owners, Ivana and Ljubica, met us. They were a couple in their late fifties and it was apparent how much pride and care they took in the apartment. Ivana insisted he carry all our bags up the two flights of narrow stairs. They gave us a full tour of how everything worked and were everything is. The apartment isn’t huge but the right size for us and all the space is meticulously used. The boys were thrilled to get to sleep in a cool loft above the family room.
