Nancin' Around in Norway !

Well, here I am, using this blog as a procrastination tool from my studies. Nance just left yesterday and I selected to take a full vacation while she was here, making genuine productivity a challenge today. But, I suppose I am writing something, so it can be seen as an appropriate start to writing my course paper and master’s paper (both of which I ignored last week). Anyways, me and Nance had some adventures last week! I’m so glad she came to visit and that we decided to go to Norway because it’s unlikely I would have been able afford that country on my own (thanks Tom!)! WOOF.

Day 1 So, Nance arrived on a Monday and after finding her way out of the airport, we tra-la-laed back to Uppsala where she proceeded to take a very long nap. But one afternoon of jetlag was all it took, the next morning we were up and out strolling around Uppsala and eating cake. It was interesting to have a visitor to a place I do not know extremely well but proved to be an excellent opportunity for some exploration and shopping (thanks Tom!). We of course checked out the medieval cathedral and strolled around the downtown, going in and out of many little shops, stopping for tea and cake (FIKA!) and enjoying the crisp fall weather. Nance even wore shoes good enough for walking for multiple hours! We had a delightful dinner at a restaurant I would have otherwise never stepped foot in and Nance made new friends with the old Swedish couple seated next to us. It was Ove’s birthday, what a celebration!

taking pictures in church 

Fika ! 

Chillin' by the river

shopping in Uppsala for decorative napkins for Tom! 

taking a very important picture of the shopping mall

Day 2 The next day we woke up and went to Stockholm to begin our Norwegian adventure. The train ride to Oslo was stressful and stinky, as we had the poor luck of getting stuck in a car with a family with young children and a very hands-off, ‘nap while they cry,’ parenting style. It was not pleasant, but we made it to Oslo. Oslo is a very cool city- an understated cultural hub that more people should probably visit. It was expensive, so I understand it’s a bit inaccessible in that way, but I wish I had had more time there. We walked up through the center of the city, stopping at W.B. Samson for the best cinnamon roll Nance has ever had and up through the center of the city until we reached Vigeland Sculpture Park , the largest sculpture park in the world made by a single artist. Nance loved that all the sculptures were naked. By the time we reached the park, it was dark out, but the lighting and fountains were thought-provoking and interesting nonetheless. We then headed down to Aker Brygge , the wharf area with shops, restaurants and the Nobel Peace Center. Though the museum had closed, it was great to see that symbol and center of knowledge and education so central to my peacebuilding degree. We had a delicious meal and Nance discovered that no, she doesn’t hate all fish! This meal marked the beginning of a long love affair with fish soup.

Still smiling before our nightmare train ride begins! off to Oslo!

Fika! 

Vigeland Sculpture park 

Nobel Peace Center 

Day 3 We woke up in Oslo and had the most delicious Scandinavian breakfast buffet- complete with salted mackerel and tomato beans and eggs and a mini open fire grill just for bacon! Nance discovered that yogurt comes in cartons that look like milk cartons! We then got on the Bergen Railway, the most scenic and arguably the most beautiful train route cutting through the unreal scenery of Norway- complete with views of fjords, mountains, pastures and frozen lakes. We transferred to another famous railway in Myrdal, to the Flåm Railway which took us in and out of mountain tunnels until we arrived at our second overnight stop of the trip in the small fjord town of Flåm. Flåm is extremely tiny and took about 5 minutes to walk around (there was ‘The Mall of Norway’ and a nice museum about the Flåm railway). Most notably, the town did have a brewery where we enjoyed probably our favorite meal of the trip, which was, you guessed it, fish soup! But it was really really really good and we had been really really cold all day so it really spoke to us. Plus, their beer was delicious and the restaurant gave Nance ample groups of people to watch and make dinner recommendations to on the way out.

Taking some blurry pictures from the train window!

Is this real?

Waterfall stop on the Flåmbana railway

our fjord lodge in Flåm

Our hotel backyard 

The most delicious fish soup. Seriously.

We were blown away by beauty the entire day, and our overnight mountain lodge provided us with a pristine escape from what we called daily life, as we slept nestled in between several mountains and could step right out on our balcony to admire the crisp beauty of the fjords. We even caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights- nothing that lit up the entire sky as many may imagine, but some dancing green clouds and a flash of a mystical rainbow across the dark rocky silhouettes in our view.

Day 4 We woke up in our mystical setting and boarded a ‘fjord ferry’ that took us from Flåm to Gudvangen, another fjord town where we caught a bus to Voss and then a train to Bergen for our final night of the journey. The fjord cruise was about 2 hours long, cutting through glass like waters and cutting through ice as we weaved through the passages. The boat ride uses battery power to preserve the Nærøyfjord (a UNESCO world heritage site) and so the trip outside was practically silent. It was extremely cold outside, but we managed to take a few laps outside to soak in a 360 view before retreating to prevent frostbite. It was great that we were traveling in autumn, which is a bit in between seasons of the tourism there, because I could imagine the peace and tranquility of our journey being robbed by mobs of rude ass tourists.

Fjord cruise

Is this real life? 

gotta break the ice!

Our bus ride from Gudvagen to Voss was breathtaking as well, through large stretches of sheep farms and mountains dotted with the quintessential clusters of little red Norwegian houses. In Voss, we grabbed lunch and waited for our train to depart (which was late due to a workers’ strike which I need to further investigate) but eventually we hopped on and arrived in the cute ass city of Bergen, which is often referred to as the ‘Gateway to the Fjords.’ Once again, we put our stuff in the hotel, put on a fresh coat of deodorant and headed out for some exploration. A couple from Bergen that we met on the train suggested that we check out the cable cars to the top of Ulriken mountain. What a great suggestion. From the top, we happened upon a beautiful sunset, views of many fjords, and a couple glasses of wine at the oh so accommodating mountain top restaurant. We descended and had a fireside dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Day 5 We got up and went out to explore Bergen by daylight. The city is very cute, the 2nd largest in Norway, and full of historic architecture, museums and beautiful mountains. We made our way down to the Bryggen Wharf, another UNESCO world heritage site that consists of wooden medieval structures that though have burned to the ground several times, have been rebuilt with medieval patterns and methods, preserving the look of the medieval wooden urban trade center. We loved walking around little Bergen. We headed over to the Kode museums to check out the exhibition on Edvard Munch (known most for ‘The Scream’), and other famous Norwegian painters. We then headed out, back to Sweden where we spent the rest of the weekend in Stockholm.

Bryggen Wharf wooden houses 

Bergen 

Not quite sure how this pic turned out!

In Stockholm, we wandered around Gamla Stan (old town) and discovered a cafe in a building that, from our understanding, used to be an old prison. Of course we had Fika there and of course we wandered around and bought cute little things from the local artists scattered around Gamla Stan.

taking a picture of something??? 

On Sunday, we headed back to Uppsala and Nance started a series of serious cries to prepare for her departure. She graciously took me grocery shopping (thanks for the toilet paper!) and yesterday we had a final fika and ‘tea time’ before going to the airport. The week went by quickly but what a great time with Nance! Vacation is great, homework is not and so I appreciate this opportunity to recap all the fun and AMAZING things we saw during our time together traveling through Norway.

Last fika in Uppsala. Adios Nance!!!

Well, I'm back to the books,

Xoxo

Swedish Jamie