All I can say is that I am in awe of and in love with Norway - the natural beauty with the dramatic landscapes of the fjords, the unique culture, and the people. You know how you get a certain vibe about places? Well, from the minute I stepped off the train at Oslo Central Station, I was under the spell of Norway. I have so much to tell you about. It is going to be difficult to describe the immensity of this experience.

Norwegians are described as reserved - calm, thoughtful, and modest, with a strong sense of boundaries and self-sufficiency. They value personal space and tend to avoid small talk with strangers. However, once a door is opened, they are engaging, kind, and humble. This was my overall experience as I ventured forward to immerse myself in the culture.

Oslo

Oslo is a pretty little city on the Oslofjord. The architecture is a mix of very modern on the waterfront (the Opera House, the Munch Museum, and the contemporary residential area coined “The Barcode Project”, contrasted with the architecture of the Old Town. All of it is quite stunning, so vibrantly visual. I spent three days walking and walking and walking in exploration, taking it all in.

The Munch Museum, dedicated entirely to the art of Edvard Munch was so impressive and awe-inspiring. First, the building is spectacular. A woman from Oslo that I met in the gallery explained that it was highly controversial and most residents opposed its creation, citing that it was too modern and unusual in its design, concerned it would be an eyesore. She said now they are quite happy with it, other than it is grayer than they had been promised. Beyond the building is the art itself. I hadn’t experienced a museum dedicated to one artist before and the exhibit is spectacular. If you should go to Oslo, be sure to visit this gem and be sure to go to the 12th floor for the panoramic views of the city.

My other favorite in Oslo was the Nobel Peace Center. I learned about Alfred Nobel and the history of the prize and saw lots of evidence of the conflicts our world has, and is experiencing, and the strong and deserving souls who have made such a difference for peace. One exception to that, for me, was Henry Kissinger who won in 1973 or his role in ending the Vietnam War. History now tells us that he perpetuated ongoing conflict for Nixon’s political gain (he was running for reelection) and he did not uphold his promise to South Vietnam when the cease fire failed. All those lives lost, American and Vietnamese, only to have the North Vietnamese and Communism prevail. There is a current documentary on Netflix called Turning Point: The Vietnam War, that I’d recommend watching.

I took a cruise on the Oslofjord and did an “Food Culture and Walking Tour”, which took me off the beaten path to the neighborhoods of Grunerlokka, a trendy community with street art, artists galleries, some squatters quarters sanctioned now as legal for budding artists, and lots of green space. The walk included a stroll through some parks and along the Alkerselva River and a stop at Mathallen Food Hall, with an introduction to some of the traditional food culture of Norway, particularly the brown cheese and reindeer. We then had and a very traditional ‘vaffel’ with brown cheese, jam, and sour cream at Harald’s Vaffel (clink the link to watch the YouTube video of the story - genius college student).

I also took at beautiful long walk to Vippa, a great food hall near the Fish Market. I had a gorgeous view looking out over the long-stretching fjord as I enjoyed a lunch of delicious food from the sea. I think this is a bit of a hidden gem, I hadn’t read about it and overheard some people talking about it so I ventured over - well worth it!

Much more to see in Oslo, I hope to return one day.

Bergen and Flam

Then off for an incredibly scenic and memorable journey by train to Bergen, which is on the west coast of Norway and gateway to exploration of the fjords and the natural beauty of Norway (more to follow on this). On the train, I met a fascinating Norwegian, full of incredible knowledge about so many things, I was surprised by the conversational territory we covered on the six hour journey. He is a TV and film producer, quite humble about his achievements I later learned with a Google search. He was on his way to Bergen for the Norwegian equivalent of the Emmy’s and was writing his acceptance speech in hopes of a win. I learned he won several very prestigious awards for a documentary film called “One Day”, about five 14-year old girls from around the world and their experience with adolescence. He provided me with so much information about Norway - history, politics, culture, economy. In all, the Norwegians are a happy lot with financial and political stability (now a wealthy country due to more newly found oil and brilliant management of the money by the government for social investment), gender equality (in fact, he said Norwegians don’t typically have to even think or talk about gender equality, it is a given and is ingrained in the culture), and they are active and outdoorsy, making the most of what nature offers them. As in Sweden, freedom to roam is a social construct in Norway. I learned that there is actually no word in Nynorsk (Norwegian) for trespassing.

Bergen, itself, is pretty touristy and quite expensive. It’s beautiful and worth experiencing, particularly Bryggen (a historic harbor and UNESCO World Heritage site ) and the excursions up two of the mountains that envelop the city (Mount Floyen and Mount Ulriken). I took the funicular up to the peak of Floyen and walked back down and took the gondola to Mount Ulriken, where I hiked around at the top but did NOT walk back down. The views from both were panoramic and spectacular. I also took a self-guided audio walking tour through an off the beaten path neighborhood, Sandviken, learning a lot of interesting history about the city and its development. And It was in Bergen that I had both a traditional Norwegian reindeer hot dog and shrimp sandwich, - um, yum.

I took a day trip to and from Flam via the famous Flam Railway. The scenery was breathtaking. My only regret is not taking the ferry back to Bergen through the fjords, a missed opportunity. Flam was an incredible tourist trap. I had three hours to spend and could not fill the time. I sat on a park bench and listened to a book on tape, albeit surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and fjord. The good thing about the day was that I met a wonderful group of women from Minneapolis on the way down to Flam and went to the microbrewery with them. And also a lovely, warm, and engaging couple from New York on the way back up.

Coast of Norway

And then I was off to explore the amazing Coast of Norway on a Havila cruise ship for the next seven days, the cruise route in the photo above. I met some really amazing people, like-minded travelers, from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the US. We discussing everything under the sun (inclusive of a lot about current US politics and impact on the world and fears for the future). The food was delicious, sourced from the areas in which we were sailing - so a lot of great fish!. Havila is one of two shipping lines that carry people and cargo from port-to-port since most of Norwegians live on/near the coast due to the difficult terrain and limited access that is most of the country. Therefore, we stopped at multiple ports, picking up and dropping off, with some main ports of call where we disembarked and explored. This was an unforgettable experience, I don’t think I have ever experienced such beauty. As we sailed north from Bergen, through multiple fjords, the landscape changed as we crossed the Artic Circle and continued toward the Artic Sea. Here are a few highlights from the excursion and I’ll share some of the history learned along the way.

We spent a day exploring the Geiranger Fjord, a UNESCO World Heritage site, including sailing deep into the fjord and then a bus ride through breathtaking countryside to catch the ship at the next port. Simply stunning. My photos could not capture the depth and the magnitude! There were more waterfalls than imaginable, including The Seven Sisters. In hopes that this helps you to picture size, scope, and to imagine the beauty, a fjord is a long, deep, narrow body of water that reaches far inland, typically formed by the glacial erosion of a valley over millions of years. Fjords are often surrounded by steep cliffs or mountains and are usually found in areas previously covered by glaciers. After the glacier retreats, seawater floods the valley, creating the fjord.

May 17th is National Day in Norway. The country goes all out in celebration of their independence day, everyone dresses in native dress, called bunad, and there are children’s parades and marching bands, and Norwegian flags flying absolutely everywhere. We celebrated on the ship with our own parade, the crew all in budan, with marching bands greeting us at every port that day. Really festive and a lot of fun to experience. On top of this, the Eurovision finals were happening and there were many on the ship rooting for their country to win. The ship was still rocking with festivities well past midnight. Speaking of which, we had now reached the latitude and time of year for the Midnight Sun, where there is 24 hours of daylight - no sunrise or sunset. It has been really neat to experience this, if not a little disorienting.

We crossed the Artic Circle (truly exciting) and entered the land of the Vikings, of which there is much history and lore that was shared by the cruise staff and museums visited. As we crossed 66.5 degrees North, there was a very small island with a globe to mark the delineation. There was an Arctic hike in Bodo and a bus ride through the Lofoten Islands, simply filled with beauty and history and for which you could spend a week exploring. Many people summer vacation there, hiking, biking, camping. We learned that not very many natives live there any longer due to the challenges of the environment and opportunities elsewhere. The homes have become summer rentals and the country is promoting tourism there.

As mentioned, the landscape changes as we sailed north and, by now, the mountains were mostly snow-capped and the air much colder. Out came the hat and gloves! In Honningsvard, we took a bus ride through Arctic tundra - everything snow and ice, frozen lakes, and little to no flora or fauna. Our destination was North Cape, which is the most northern point on continental Europe at a latitude of 71 degrees. The average temp here in May is 25F degrees, my weather app said “46 feels like 24”. The Gulf stream does bring the fish, the major industry, and also keeps this area warmer overall, compared to other places at the same latitude, such as Siberia and Northern Alaska. There are many storms with high winds up to 120km/hr, so you can imagine lots of blowing snow. There are often road closures and the only way to navigate is to follow huge plows in snowplow convoys. When we reached North Cape, it was gray, blustery, and foggy, so we could not see the curve of the Earth, which you typically can. Huge bummer!

I disembarked in Kirkenes, just 11km from the Russian border. This is an area of Norway called Finnmark. At the end of WW11, the Germans retreated from Norway using scorched earth tactics, destroying almost all buildings and all boats. The area was rebuilt quickly, but all architecture is now post WW11. There was a huge communications ship sailing in the waters off Kirkenes. Its stated purpose was US maritime surveillance of the Russians.

I’m not going to lie - I have googled what it would take to be an expat in Norway, I believe I could live quite happily here. Words and photos cannot adequately express the experience, but I did try, so check out the photo gallery. For some amazing pics of the Norway, the coast line, and the history, click on the links on this page. I hope it inspires you to plan a visit!

I am now in Inari in northern Finnish Lapland, just across the lake is Russia. I’m excited to share my experiences in Finland with the next blog post, so please stay tuned!

Peace, Laurie