Norway update

Dec 19, 2012 09:24

Well, I'm now over half-way through my vacation in Norway, so it's high time I updated y'all (all six of you!) about my travels here.

If you don't want to read all this stuff, but you want to look at pictures, feel free to check out my Facebook album for the trip. I'll be adding to it over the next week, as I take more pictures.

The first week of my time here was made a little more difficult by my host's car having problems, but mostly that meant we had more cozy at-home time, with a little adventure thrown in (pushing a wheelchair up a snow-packed hill is fun! Though my lungs and fingers disagree).

So at first, I hung out with my friends Kevin and Mira from the renfaire circuit, at their friend Maya's house. They live about two hours NE of Oslo in Finnskogen, which translates as Finns'-Forest-The. (Norwegian puts definite articles at the end of words, and indefinite articles before words.) We stayed close to home Monday-Thursday, with a short hike around the area; a drive to a nearby town to see a stave church, which are medieval buildings made without nails (alas, it did have nails! It was only built to look like a stavkirke); a shopping trip into Sweden (a common journey to Norwegians, as most everything is cheaper there); and a sightseeing trip to a small, mostly deserted village just over the Swedish border. Elsewise, we stayed home and socialized with their friends-and-neighbors Stian, Łucazc, and Ewa. We also made use of the sauna. Yay, sauna!

On Friday, Mira and I went to Oslo, where I got to do some touristy things! Being on foot slowed us down a bit, but we wandered around the Akershus Fortress and went through the Norwegian WWII Resistance Museum. Then we headed over to the Vigeland Sculpture Park, also known as "the naked park," to admire the many nude sculptures throughout. By then, our blood sugar was getting low, so we went to Rice Bowl for some delicious Thai food and then to a random place for a mocha (for me. Mira was content with coffee). We had been hoping to go to the "oldest goth night in Oslo" as well, but they moved venues last minute, and since Maya and Kevin barely knew their way around Oslo, we skipped that in favor of being able to find our friends.

From Oslo, we drove to Mira's mother's and step-father's house for some traditional holiday fun on Saturday! Her whole family came (three married siblings, with two, one, and no children) to make a gingerbread viking ship, marzipan confections, and other assorted cookies and treats. There I had my first authentic lefse experiences, both savory and sweet. The pressed-meat-cake-thing with sliced beets was an unexpectedly tasty combo! Her mom is awesome by the way, as a social worker who works with Norway's GLBT community, especially that last one. I also got to use a little more Norwegian, not as much as I was hoping, but I did get to say things like, "Could you give me..." while pointing at assorted cookie cutters.

On Sunday Mira drove me to the train station, and I took the train all the way across the country to Bergen! That was a small adventure in itself, as the main station in Oslo was closed, and I had to a) take a local train for the final 15 minutes to the station, b) take a cab to a suburb 30 minutes SW of Oslo, and then c) take a bus an hour north to get back to the train line where it was functioning again. Many thanks to the random University student for guiding me through part A, and the random cute guy who pointed out Utøya Island during part C. Once I got back en route, everything was nice and boring, and it was rather nice to have the train largely empty for most of the trip, as the train caught up with different buses at different points in the trip. In Bergen, I checked into my hostel, and settled in for the night.

So, my time in Bergen has been a lot of traditional touristy things. I've explored the historical Bryggen district, gone to a bunch of museums, and taken the light-rail to an actual stavkirke. I've eaten at a local McDonalds (not noticeably different to my indifferent taste-buds), and bought some souvenirs - mostly post cards, and a couple kids books for a friend. I also splurged on a Swedish pattern for a fitted sleeve dress and over-dress with bell sleeves, for potential future SCA fun. And translation fun. Wheee!

Today will be my last full day in Bergen. I plan to spend most of it above the city, wandering around Fløibanen mountain, and then I need to pick up a thank you card for Maya, and mail out a letter. Thursday has a lot of potential for awesome, as I'm taking a fjord tour back to Oslo. Here's hoping for clear skies! Or at least not foggy ones!

I'll probably post another update next week when I'm back State-side, unless I'm really bored while I'm waiting for my plane. Have a wonderful Solstice everyone!
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