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animal companion, she comes to know what all on Odin’s escalator understand, that the journey to the heart of another is endless. That the journey itself is all. ‘Coffee?’ The stewardess looks inquiringly at her moist eyed passenger. ‘Thanks – with milk,’ I glance back quickly to the end of Europe taking place below. Molten gold is being laid down in long, sun strips and it seems important to keep at least one watery eye on the whole process. ‘It’s an amazing sight,’ I venture, restraining the urge to share anything like my full emotional truth. ‘Yes, the morning flight is the best time to fly north. The view on the other side is also good. You can move if you like.’ I try to convey a smile of helpless gratitude to Gerda’s longlost spiritual cousin and jump across a chasm of tectonic proportions to face East – towards Russia and the Urals, endless harsh terrain with meaningless borders, the remnants of salt mines and… it takes a few seconds to get a sense of proportion. We are nowhere near the Russian border. I remember a conversation with some young Russian women from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, who’d been given a year at Tromsø University as a reward for studying Norwegian language and culture. They found it hard to cope with the isolation of their new ‘western-style’ student accommodation. Living in single rooms and silent dormitories without the noise of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and cousins, they felt lonely and disconnected. But this was the price of progress in the new Russia. The most talented had to venture far beyond the comforting apron strings of home. Still, Tromsø clearly hadn’t turned out to be the reward break they expected. I wondered where they would really like to go for a big event, like a special birthday. Three of the four were instantly agreed – St Petersburg. The fourth, after some encouragement to consider the whole of Europe, chose Rome, but after a few raised eyebrows and sideways looks from her colleagues added that her entire family would have to come too. ‘Might you not head to Oslo or Stockholm or Helsinki?’ Sensing my surprise at their lack of curiosity about Scandi-
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