Norway. It was the one country I wanted to visit. If Gustavus had
a study abroad program there I wouldn't have hesitated to choose it. But they
don't. So when DIS offered a 5 day trip to the Norway Fjords it was only a
small internal struggle to decide to go or not. And I did go, it
couldn't have been a better choice or trip. Norway is officially my
favorite country, yes, it even beats out Denmark (did you know that Denmark use
to control Norway until 1814).
Now Norway is one of the richest countries in the world. And yet
another welfare state with high taxes, so of course it is expensive...even more
so then Denmark. But this was the most subsidized trip DIS offered
and it was the trip to fill up the fastest, now
that's saying something. Norway is so rich because of their oil
reserves (my host mom says when Denmark was drawing the border line with Norway
the representative for Denmark was drunk and gave all the rich oil areas to
Norway, this Danish drunkenness wouldn't be surprising but
I think its just a tall tale).
Anyways. I don't think I can say it enough, but I LOVED NORWAY! Of
course part of it had to do with Grandpa, he would have loved and adored it.
Norway just felt like home. I wish I could share it with him. Words and
pictures can't capture the beauty of Norway, but here is what we did each day:
Saturday March 31st: Meet at the Copenhagen Airport at 6:30am.
My host mom was so thoughtful and nice to take me to the train station at 5am
since it was raining out and then pick up her youngest son at a different
station after going out. Usually I take one train to the airport. Not this
time, I had to take 3 trains and an underground metro to make it there. There
was Easter construction so I was happy to get out of Denmark and avoid the mess
of public transportation.
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| Flying over Bergen |
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| On our train ride to Voss |
For all those Gustavus people out there, Laura Burgstahler was
also on the trip. So we were constantly spreading the Tri-Sigma love. Our group
of about 25 flew to Bergen (2nd largest city in Norway). From there we took a
coach bus to the Bergen Central Train Station and had some free time to walk
around what I thought was a small town at the time. We then caught a train
to Voss (does this town ring a bell? yeah that's because they make
those water bottles which apparently are just tap water, but tap
water in Europe is awesome). This train went through many short tunnels and
when we weren’t in the dark there were beautiful and still fjords surrounding
us. It was hard to read and watch the sights at the same time. Oh and the train
itself had a cafe and free Internet. So many distractions.
So what is a fjord? Well According to the highly trusted Wikipedia it’s “a long,
narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial
activity.” The one we spent time by was also part slat water so it doesn’t
freeze over. Oh did I mention the weather in Norway was a constant 30 degrees
F. A little colder then CPH (but I guess in snowed in Denmark while we were
away). Besides the cold, it was sunny everyday and it DIDN’T rain. Which is
unusual for Norway and even more so for Bergen where it rains almost everyday.
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| Polarized picture of fjords |
We then got on another coach bus (DIS spoils us) and we drove
through many tunnels and more fjords to Flåm
(pronounced like Flom). Originally we thought this was a town of
50 people but it was as big as 450 people. ha. I honestly loved being
in such a rural and small area. I've learned from living in CPH
and traveling that I am not a city girl and don't ever want to live
in a city. Maybe that's why I love Maui and Gustavus so much.
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| The hostel |
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| Welcome to Flam |
After some free time we hopped on a boat (not with my flippy
floppys - it was too cold for that) for a tour around the
smaller neighboring towns and of course the fjords. It was freezing
after a while but one of our awesome tour leaders Christina (who just quit DIS
to travel to South America for a year, crazy) bought us chocolate. The
boat was also filled with quite a lot of Thai people wearing masks... I still
don't understand it.
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| We are on a boat! |
Finally it was dinner time. It was a buffet. And we ate so much we
couldn't move. This restaurant provided
our breakfast buffet everyday, supplies for our lunch from
our breakfast, and dinner. So many buffets. Finally after a shower it was
bed time in order to rise early for a big day tomorrow.
Sunday, April 1st: I unfortunately forgot it was
the 1st and didn't get to play any jokes, but Norway made up for it in so many
other ways. After breakfast we hopped on a rickety train
(called Flåmsbana) to take it to almost the top so we could hike 20km
down. Our Thai friends were on the train again and we got to play survival of
the fittest for who could claim the window to see the views. We also
got to stop for 5 minutes at a beautiful waterfall which told us it
would be even colder up there so we got back on and bundled up even more.
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| The Waterfall |
When we hopped off the train it was snowing and there were huge
piles of snow surrounding us. I was just so happy to finally see snow this
year! We walked to the trail head only to find it wasn't plowed and
most definitely not hike-able as it was a bunch of switchbacks, and
none of us really had snow boots. We then hopped back on the next train to a
lower station and cut off 7km of our hike. So it was only 8 miles (13km) back
to Flåm. It was called the Railavegen Trek.
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| Yeah there's the snow I've been missing. |
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| Our "hiking" path. |
The "hike" took about 4 hours to do because we stopped
to take so many pictures of waterfalls and fjord cliffs. We also stopped at a
running river to eat lunch, where a bunch of other Norwegian tourists were. It
wasn't really a hike because it was a wide paved path that was used to carry supplies
to build the train tracks we rode up earlier. Still we were so tired after the
day and ready to sit and rest our feet. Sam our other tour leader was nice
enough to buy us hot chocolate when we got back, so yummy.
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| Best beer. EVER. |
After some free time, dinner at the buffet was next. Dinner was
good, but Laura and I decided to split a beer since it was a 15$ beer. But it
was honesty the best beer I have ever had. This brewery was right next door but
it was closed while we were in town :( While enjoying this Amber beer we played
cards until closing time. I was the big winner at dinner but then we moved back
to the hostel where Laura took over as the big winner.
Finally we went outside to star gaze and hopefully see the
northern lights but it was too cloudy outside :(
Monday, April 2nd: The group that went hiking now went
kayaking while the other half of the group did the hike form the day before.
Our kayak guides were great. One was American but travelled the
world and even lived in Duluth, MN for awhile (Laura loved that). And the other
guide was a Norwegian student; she was so nice and was
telling us about Norwegian schooling. They have to learn English
around age 8 and then in high school they pick a 3rd language like German,
Spanish, or French. A great thing about being in Norway is that
the language is similar to Danish and I could read some of
the sentences, although they pronounce everything differently and
have different vowels.
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| Fun filled times in our wetsuits. |
After getting geared up in our wetsuits and
some instruction, we were put in 2 person kayaks with steering mechanisms,
say what?!?! Laura was in the back and steering for the first part while I was
up in the front setting our pace. We
kayaked through the amazing and stunning fjords and took
time to take pictures and hear stories from our guides. For example, if you
took the cliffs of the fjords and flipped them upside down they would be as deep
as the water in the fjord. Whoa.
Our gloves and hands were soaking wet when we finally landed on a
beach to hike up to a waterfall and enjoy our lunch. We took a very
steep path called "Old Kings Path" up to the waterfall. They day
before everything was flowing and when we went up things were frozen
over and icicles everywhere. Crazy how it can change so much in a
day. We also heard many troll stories, because Norway invented those troll
dolls with the crazy bright hair.
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| It wasn't frozen over the day before. |
On our way back to the beach we stopped at a Viking burial ground
for more story time. We also stopped by a levy that will carry supplies up to
houses way up in the cliffs. My whole time in Norway I was wondering what these
people do to pass their time and how do they get anything or
get anywhere especially during the winter. Everything is
so separated and small, it still makes me wonder.
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| The pile of rocks to the right are the graves. So sophisticated. |
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| Still soooo good! |
Next Laura took the front and I got to steer us back. We then
cleaned the kayaks and heading back to the restaurant to warm up and
rest. Christina then got each of us candy or a warm drink. Laura and I got
lefse, finally! It was in a pre-made, wrapped up, and plastic pack. Not fresh
but still yummy. It was then my goal to find legit lefse. It was a no
go. Apparently lefse is hard to find and not that common
at bakeries, this is the only thing that disappointed me. And none of us
had lutefisk. Thank god. But no one else on our trip knew what lefse was.
Everyone else on the trip was from the East Coast basically so of course they
didn't know. They are missing out. A lot.
A group of us then went on another hike to a close waterfall. We
passed these very furry highlander cows and hiked up a steep hill covered in
cow poop to a plateau in front of the waterfall and a great view
of Flåm and the fjords. I was tired and content with this view when the
rest of the group decided to hike to the top of the waterfall. Well after 45
minutes we made it and it was so gorgeous.
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| And we hiked to the top of this. |
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| The view of Flam. |
We finally made it back late for dinner after taking a different
path down and walking past what must have been avalanche
ruins. Apparently this area has been seeing a lot of avalanches. Well
after this full day we went straight to bed for another filled day the next
day.
Tuesday, April 3rd: After breakfast we hopped on bikes for
what we thought would be a short leisurely bike ride. Nope. We soon
hit a huge and steep gravel road leading to the town of Otternes where we were
going to a goat farm. After we all walked our bikes up, a sweet and what you
would picture a typical Norwegian lady is, greeted and welcomed us to the farm.
This farm was up on the cliffs and overlooked the fjords. It was actually 4
farms put together.
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| The houses in the farms. |
We got to see the goats, a small and typical house that held 15
people! So crazy. We then got to help make goat cheese
by stirring the big pan. Unfortunately my group didn't do
it fast enough and it kind of burned.... Anyways they had a big lunch provided
for us. I had some amazing salmon and all the bones were still in it. But still
so good. We then had a rolled up pancake/crepe with jam for desert.
So Scandinavian. This lady then gave each of us a huge ball of goat cheese
to bring home when asked how long it lasts and how to keep it she said, “It
lasts for many months” and you don’t need to refrigerate it…
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| Norwegian Lunch! |
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| Staying warm after making goat cheese! |
This town was so small, rural, and close knitted together. I loved
it. I felt at home and this lady was so sweet with talking about her sons and
how the government is trying to make a bus road where the farms are.
She also mentioned multiple times that you have to say hi/bye when
coming through the town or it's just rude. But as we were on a
tight schedule we had to leave this goat farm quickly after lunch.
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| The view from the farm. |
We then rode down the treacherous and gravel path
without any injuries, surprisingly. We then had 20 minutes for free
time to visit the tourist shops of Flåm before catching the same rickety train
to the very top station called Myrdal. It was a complete whiteout up
there. Everything was covered in feet of snow.
After waiting 15 minutes we caught a different train
back to Bergen, it is one of the most beautiful train rides in
Europe. It's about 2 hours long and goes through snow-covered areas to the
still fjords and finally arriving in Bergen. It was so gorgeous, but it
was so hard to stay awake as I fall asleep everywhere. But I only feel asleep
for 20 minutes!
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| The view from the train ride. |
In Bergen we checked in to our hotel and then by pure chance Laura
had a friend from high school who moved to Norway after graduation and happened
to be living in Bergen with his girlfriend. So we left the DIS group and he
brought us to a pizza place for dinner. We had Hansa beer, so yummy. And then
we went to a grocery store for some Easter candy. Oh my goodness, it was
amazing. We then went to a bar for more Hansa, where we meet a bunch of
Norwegians. Laura and I snuck in a bottle of South African wine I bought at the
CPH airport...whoops.
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| Probably better then the Danish Carlsberg. |
All the Bergen students were going out because of Easter break so
the place got packed. The people we were next too were interesting. They kept
making jokes about how the Danish people talk with a potato in their mouth, which
I now notice is true. There was one Chilean guy that drove me up the
wall though. He was singing “Our House” loudly and obnoxiously into
my ear with his own lyrics such as “My House” or “My Apartment, in the middle
of the Block.” I thought I was going to go deaf. I quickly changed
seats but he kept singing. For the rest of my travel break I had this
song stuck in my head. But the night was still great! We finally made it to bed
at 3am and got up early the next day for breakfast.
Wednesday April 4th: We started the morning with riding a
funicular to Mount Floyen to
see the expanse of Bergen. Like I said earlier I thought it was a tiny town.
Nope, it expanded for miles around the fjords and turns out the population is
close to 950,000.
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| Yep this city is huge. |
When we made it back into town Laura and I hit every tourist shop
before heading to the fish market for lunch. I had crayfish I believe, so
yummy. We then meet Laura's friend again, Will, and headed to a little coffee
shop that was so hygglite (roughly meaning cozy in Danish). It is a very homey
and warm feeling, think of candles and dim lit rooms. It's a very Scandinavian thing.
They have a word for it in Norwegian too.
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| Bergen |
We then made it back to the hotel and headed to the airport to
depart back to CPH. Once back in CPH I meet Chris and his friend Erica from
home for dinner. I then fought with the train construction and
finally made it home to only get up early the next day to pack and catch a
plane to Rome (check my next blog for my time in Italy).
All in all I adore Norway and hope to go back at another point in
my life and see Olso, the capital.
