Day Seventyfour - Aug 3, 2012

Oslo, Norway to Mainz, Germany

High Point: Being twenty minutes away from our flight home by the end of the day, with mixed feelings

Low Point: Two or three hours of Ryanair shuttling

Miles By Automobile: 119

Miles By Foot: 3

Miles By Plane: 684

Miles By Train: 27

Today's Antiquities: The cute little burg of Mainz

Today's Weather: On the verge of rain in Oslo, sunny in Mainz. Mid 70's

Tonight's Lodging: Ibis Hotel

Touristic Events: Exchanging money, watching the Olympics in a hotel room

Travel Tip: Ryanair keeps it cheap by using out of the way airports. This means you'll be paying in time and money for shuttles. It's probably still worth it

Daily Didactic

Our day started a few hours after the previous one left off. We had to be out the door by 3:15 to catch the bus from downtown Oslo to the Rygge Airport. We walked the streets of Oslo a few minutes after bars closed so it was just us, some well oiled revelers, and a few working folks. The walk took a half hour and the bus pulled out at little after 4:00 for an hour trip to "that airport that lets Ryanair keep the costs down". We were packed into the plane and in the air a little after 6:30 for a two hour flight and arrived at another one of those Ryanair airports at 8:30. As a result, we caught another bus to the Frankfurt Main train station and then a train to Mainz Hauptbahnhof. Ryanair, we won't miss them much. Months ago Brian had been having trouble finding somewhere interesting sounding to stay in Frankfurt and read that the town of Mainz was smaller, quainter and just as close to the main airport. Turns out all of the above is true. For our last overnight we are going cut rate at the uninspired but conveniently located Ibis Mainz hotel. We dropped our gear in a pleasant room, ran some pre-travel errands, grabbed a bite to eat and then called it a very early end of the day (to offset a very early start) by soaking up some Olympics and nodding off.