Leg 8 transportation has been completed and we are now staying just outside Kirkenes at Sollia Guesthouse, just about a half mile from the border between Russia and Norway. Kirkenes is at the northern end of a main north/south highway in Europe: E6. You can drive from here to Rome, no problem. We plan to do some hiking here before heading off on Leg 9 on Sunday.
Leg 8 distance: 1540 miles.
Total miles to date: 9790.
The last night onboard the ship, Aquavit is traditionally served. Along with the drink, everyone sings a good luck song, oddly sung in Swedish, check out the clip.
Seas were very rough last night, but we slept through most of it. Upon arrival in Kirkenes, we took a quick bus to the airport to pick up our rental car, no problems, right?
Well, that's when the real fun began! We rented from Budget some time ago, and once we found the car rental desks, it was clear Budget was no where to be found. A quick phone call to Budget revealed that their rental car agency at the airport had gone out of business a few months back. Fortunately, the guy at the EuropCar agency told us that we weren't the first travelers with this problem and clued us in that the Avis guys were supposed to honor the reservation. The Avis guys at first claimed that the reservation couldn't be found, but that they could rent us a car at four times the original price. Step 2: call and email the Budget customer service center with some nasty threats about making them pay the difference. Voila! The reservation has been found, and Avis has our car. Off we sped before any more fancy footwork was needed. All in a days work...
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