Get those clouds out of your head...Or your heads out of those clouds. Something.

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If you go to the small town of Flam in Norway, you will probably hear a strange rumour about Australian women. Apparently, they seem to lack the basic understanding needed to operate showers. And bath plugs. And doors. And windows. So this is an official apology to all Aussie women who are affected by this rumour: we are really, incredibly sorry that it started with us. But, in our defence, it was far more embarassing to us than you.

*sigh*

To take things back to the begining... We spent 5 hours on the train from Oslo to Myrdal (we took some pictures of where we could have potentially almost frozen to death on account of our messed-up accommodation), then caught the Flamsbana to Flam. The train ride was spectacular - we especially loved Kjosfossen Falls. Our photos simply don't do justice to the sheer magnitude of the mountains surrounding us. Flam is on the Fjord in a deep valley, and the nature is overwhelmingly beautiful. We have spent a good amount of time here just "oohh"ing and "aahh"ing over it.

We checked into our hotel, where the friendly man behind the desk gave us a great room (with a view and a little balcony!) because hardly anybody is staying here tonight. Our bathroom is HUGE (both of us did a little victory dance when we saw it!) AND HAS AN ACTUAL BATH! We went to dinner, and although they had no vegetarian options on the menu, the chef invented a dish for Michele comprising of soy patties on lemon risotto with roast capsicum and mushrooms. We were both quite impressed with the food and thought we'd head back to our room for a relaxing bath each... This is where the trouble began.

After each of us had a go at figuring out how to turn the shower on and the bath off, we decided we'd have to skip that whole "rinse off" stage and just have a bath. Then neither of us could get the plug out of it's little holder. So we made a phone call. More to the point, Michele made a phone call. The second phone call, actually, because she had already called once about the vegetarianism... It went something like this:

FRONT DESK: *something in Norwegian*
MICHELE: *pause* Hi,Hi! It's the Australian girls in room 310... We... We are having some issues?
FRONT DESK: Issues?
MICHELE: Yes... We can't figure out how to work our shower. Or the bath. Well, the bath plug.
FRONT DESK: Oh... Oh dear. What do you mean?
MICHELE: Well... when we pull the uppy thing for the shower, it falls back down. So it's just a bath. But we can't get the bath plug out of the bath pluggy holder thing.
FRONT DESK: Oh... Would you like me to come up and have a look?
MICHELE: That would be great. Thanks!

We thought that was pretty darn embarassing. But not embarassing enough, obviously. When the poor man arrived at our door, he knocked. Alyce had, unbeknownst to Michele, locked the door. So Michele couldn't get the door open, but just kept trying. The receptionist was telling her instructions, but was lost in the confusion of Alyce's giggling. Eventually, the three as a team managed to get the door open.

The receptionist walked into our bathroom. He pulled the uppy thing to make the shower work. Ta-da: it worked. He pulled the plug out of it's holder. Tada, we had a bath plug. He laughed as we assured him we wouldn't bother him for the workings of any other basic facilities. And off he went to the tune of our fits of laughter.

But Michele always has to take things a step further. As Alyce reclined into a luxurious bath, Mich decided to go for a nice walk in the fresh air to cool the humiliation in her cheeks. She walked boldly through the lobby, straight up to what she was SURE were the glass doors we had entered through. They didn't open. She waved her hands madly for the automatic sensor... Still no response. Then she realised she was standing in front of a window...

Which is why we're sorry for creating a negative stereotype for Australian Women. We're pretty sure, though, that we've completely made this guy's night. (We have since had to go downstairs and do some washing, which in itself was slightly chaotic!) We love this hotel and this adorable little town with the brilliant scenery. We still haven't figured out if we're catching a bus or boat to Hermansverk tomorrow night... Tomorrow should be an interesting day, at any rate.

Love to one and all...

Mich & Alyce
XoXo

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