Am I Corn or Kale?

Norway has been truly enchanting; it is difficult to translate our feelings of awe into words. The natural beauty of the country rivals any of the other stunning places we’ve seen through this trip; calling it the cherry on the top would be an understatement — the fjords are more like the golden leaflet on top of the $1000 dessert Donald Trump eats in New York City.

The “Norway in a  Nutshell” trip consisted of train, boat and bus rides that took us from Oslo to Bergen (there is actually a direct train, but tourists take a scenic detour from the town of Myrdal to go through more fjords). From the train, the most impressive sight was the cold and desolate landscape of the Lapland.

The Flam railway was nice, though we can’t say we lucked out with the weather. It was quite chilly, and by the time we hopped on the boat to Gudvangen we knew rain was coming. The lack of sunlight did not stop me and Nancy from taking hundreds of pictures, but admittedly my favorite part of the ride was when I put the camera away and turned on my iPod. The light rain was enough to drive the tourists out of the deck, and I once again put my raingear to the test and stood there all alone in my best music experience in months (Beach House’s Teen Dream was the culprit).

***

Not Rio:

After traveling for over 14 hours we finally arrived in our hostel in Montana, a “suburb” just outside of Bergen. The receptionists couldn’t find our reservation and or provide us the private rooms we had already paid a deposit for, but all was well once they let us stay at a 4-bed room on the first night, totally free of charge. This represented yet another significant saving and made us feel better about paying so much for the second night. Norway, as we’ve already mentioned, is one of the priciest places on Earth; however, the workers here are very well paid and their “poverty line” for a family of four is about $40,000/year — two times more than the U.S. figure. Of course, the prices here are also two times higher, but if you keep in mind that Norwegians get universal access to health care and pay nothing for university, things start looking lopsided. Next up add the fact that only about 8% of Norwegians fall below the previously mentioned “poverty line” and virtually everyone reading this blog should start to feel jealous. The truth is that people in Norway pay a hefty load of taxes — for example, despite being one of the largest producers/exporters of petroleum in the world, gas here costs about $8/gallon (there is an 80% tax), but with low corruption levels and only 5 million people living in the whole country, it is possible for the government to implement an effective welfare state. Unlike other oil-rich nations in which the natural resources are a curse (think Nigeria) or only good for the rich (Russia), Norway has used the revenue of its exports to “spread the wealth around” and create a nation of educated, socially conscious people who have a higher purchasing power anywhere they go (our host in Oslo told us about going to Sweden — an expensive place for our standards — to buy cheaper goods).

***

The coastal city of Bergen is known for two things: fish and rain. It rains 260 days out of the year, with only 60 sunny days out of the rest. We were thus fortunate to go 50-50 during our stay. Despite its atrocious transportation system, cloudy Bergen was still quite charming, and with the sun out the place simply shone.

Norway’s second-largest city is more traditionally “historical” than Oslo and its old centre (Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage site) is quite well-preserved. As a major port city, Bergen was once part of the Hanseatic League and the architecture on the waterfront reflects this influence  (though I solemnly swear I am still not “into” architecture; I just think those buildings look like Lego houses).

We visited the famous fish market and sampled some odd fare, including smoked whale meat; it had the sub par, chewy consistency of beef combined with a light fishy flavor — not too special. Moose and reindeer sausage/jerky were also available and… not that good either. We settled for some great smoked salmon on the first day and a classically unhealthy fish & chips meal on the second, before taking the funicular railway to the top of one of the seven mountains that surround city and take in the marvelous geography of the region.

***

As if our Norway leg hadn’t already been sufficiently remarkable, on Friday night we boarded a Hurtigruten ferry/cruise ship going North. They offer a few incredible packages that will take you deep into the Artic Circle, but we opted (and asked Nancy for it as a Christmas gift) to ride it for “just” two nights on our way to Trondheim. Despite being on a “cruise”, we tried to keep living on the cheap and brought enough food to get us by, including yogurt and cheese we had no means of refrigerating (we developed quite the faith on the Norwegian brown cheese). As we are headed northward, darkness is now nonexistent and we stayed up late taking photos of the colorful horizon.

The scenery is so ridiculous it borders of the surreal, and again I must say that pictures do not do it justice (especially when taken through windows).

On our only full day on the boat we actually opted for a bus excursion through yet more fjord land. We went through the Geirangerfjord and many more that I can’t pronounce or remember but are nonetheless unforgettable.

It was a bit odd at times to be driven around with mostly elderly people, but it was also nice to get a break from planning daily activities.

It sure did not hurt that the weather was gorgeous. I am very happy and can officially declare our round-the world trip a success.

***

On Sunday morning the ship docked in Trondheim. It was cold and cloudy, with all the makings of another “hangover” stop before a 14-hour train trip out to Stockholm. Nonetheless, it was a nice place to check out.

The most remarkable event was our stumbling onto a youth dance/gymnastics competition on a park area near the city’s famous Nydaros Cathedral. There were hundreds of kids jumping and doing cartwheels up and down the grass, and just as many supportive relatives there watching with their chairs, blankets and cameras. We reckoned it must have been a regional competition, or else Trondheim would be universally known as the gymnastics capital of the world. Most of the kids were actually not that good, but it was quite a trip to just walk into an event like that and get our fill of Michael Jackson tunes.

Other than that, we had a pleasant yet much delayed meal at a cafe near the “wooden house” district and walked around long enough to know that most businesses are closed here on Sundays. Luckily, we did find an open grocery store and had a good time at our hostel eating and playing ping pong, though not at the same time. The next morning we took off to our last destination.

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