It was Thanksgiving last week, so naturally my DANISH school gave us a long-weekend to celebrate. We just got that Friday off classes, but all the kids at my school nonetheless turned this somewhat-longer-than-usual weekend into a full-fledged travel week, myself included.
On Thursday night, I was off to the airport with my friend, Alisha, who I met way in the beginning of the year on my trip to Sweden. She goes to Georgetown and plays frisbee. We bonded. For the Redhots who read this, be impressed, Alisha played on the JUNIOR NATIONALS TEAM and went to the Junior Worlds Tournament her senior year of high school. Now, she's in the running to play on the Nationals Team (since she's no longer a junior). Moral of the story, she's really good at frisbee and a pretty awesome person.
Couch-surfing is pretty much the coolest way to stay at a total strangers house in a foreign city.
Anyway, so Alisha couch-surfs all the time, so she organized all our hosts for this trip and I just followed along, but it ended up being AWESOME. I've decided that I love couch-surfing and want to do it more.
(For those who don't know what couch-surfing is: It's an online site where people post profiles about themselves and offer their couches for travelers to sleep on for free. It's an awesome way to meet people, and really not as creepy as it sounds. You chose your hosts based on age/sex and read reviews from past surfers to see how people liked them).
Example A: Our host in Oslo, Norway: Kjerstin, 25. So our flight got delayed 4 hours due to snow, so we actually didn't get into Oslo until 2:30am Friday morning. We felt horrible about showing up so late at our host's house and contemplated sleeping in the train station to make things easier. Alisha calls Kjerstin to see what we should do. Her response: "That's no problem! I'll be awake. Don't sleep in the train station. It's not safe." So, we arrive at her house just before 3:00am, and we meet the most cheerful, adorable Norwegian girl. She made us bruschetta and tea and chatted away with us. In the morning, (after a solid 3.5 hours of sleep), we wake up to find Kjerstin already awake in the kitchen making us oatmeal and tea. It was great.
What did you do for Thanksgiving? Oh, just went on The Most Beautiful Train Ride in the World. No big deal.
So on Friday, after spending only 4 hours in the dead of night in Oslo (to our dismay...stupid flight delays) we were off to Flåm! We took a 5 hour train ride between the two cities which is rated as The Most Beautiful Train Ride in the World, and it truly was. The train ride was probably my favorite part of the trip. Norway is one of the most (if not THE most) beautiful place I've ever seen. I sat their looking out the window and literally couldn't stop smiling from happiness from how beautiful it was. I'll let the pictures speak for me (although they don't do it justice):
Flåm, Norway: There's always a party when you're staying in a Norwegian mountain town with a population of 25 people
So Alisha and I arrive in Flåm around 2:00pm on Friday, only to realize that EVERYTHINGS CLOSED AND NO ONES AROUND. Hahaha. The town is a tiny little village in the middle of a valley in the Norwegian mountains. In the summer, the place is hoppin'. But in November, when its around 10*F, there doesn't seem to be quite as many people hanging on the beach... We explored around town, which meant walking down a singular street, and walked into the only two buildings that were open: The Flåm Museum (one room) and a cafe. Great. We laughed looking around town and realizing why Alisha couldn't find any couch-surfers to stay with here.
Flåm, Norway
However, all is not lost. We checked into our Bed and Breakfast hotel room, which had the most beautiful view of the fjords. Then, we curled up on the couch and watched a "How I Met Your Mother" marathon (I highly recommend watching the show).
View from our porch
Once it was dinner time, we bundled up and walked to the only open restaurant/bar in town. We were one of 5 people there, including the bar tender. But it ended up being a pretty fun night. We both got cider (delicious) and chatted with the Polish bar tender for most of the night. Plus, he made us a delicious pizza for free :) What's better than free food?? (Especially in Norway...everything is SUPER expensive).
The next morning, we took a hike up to a historic mountain town with buildings from the 17th century. Really cool. Plus, we saw SHEEP!! And we met an old Norwegian man who came to the mountain to pick up his salted sheep leg that's been drying in a shed for the past 2 years. Oh Norwegians.
On our hike back to town, we realized we were cutting time pretty close to catch the ferry to Bergen. It only leaves once a day, so if we missed it, we'd never make it to Bergen. So, what to do other than hitch-hike??? (Mom and Dad, I'm alive. I promise). We figured that this is a quaint mountain town with a population of 25 people... Anyone willing to give us a lift is probably pretty cool. And we were right! After being passed by about 7 or 8 cars (they came by rather infrequently) a guy pulled over for us! Score. He was a 27-year old Norwegian guy who lives one town over from Flåm and was on his way to pick up a friend. Dropped us off in Flåm and we made it to our ferry just in time (literally).
At 3:30pm, we said a sad goodbye to Flåm, as our initial cynicism toward the town turned to love by the end, and were off on our cruise through the fjords to Bergen! We traveled through the fjords at sunset (yes, that's at 4:00pm in Norway in the winter) but it was GORGEOUS. Plus, we went these 3 Spanish guys who were also visiting and on their way to Bergen.
Bergen: A town with people! cafes, beautiful views, and where the mountain sheep have been made into grossly over-priced sweaters.
Once in Bergen (the 2nd largest town in Norway), our host, Kim, came and pick us up from the train station. Awesome. It's pretty cold in Norway in November at 9:00pm at night. So here's the best part about couch-surfing: it gives you a chance to meet the locals and they can show you around town. So Alisha and I walked around town with Kim and we met up with our three Spanish friends from the ferry and we all went out to a bar together and hung-out all night. It was a great time. Plus, Kim treated us to a true Norwegian hotdog on our way home (delicious).
The next day, Sunday, Kim pointed out all the cool sights-to-see in Bergen, and Alisha and I were off bright and early to go sight-seeing. You really can't sleep-in in Norway at this time of year because (no joke) the sun starts setting at 2:00pm and by 4:00 its dark. So, at 9:00am, we were off! We rode a funicular up to the top of a mountain that overlooks the city, and then hiked around and down the mountain. Such a cool view. Then, we found a frozen lake, and had a great time running and sliding on the ice.
We walked around town, stopped at a delicious and adorable cafe, and shopped for sweaters! One of my goals in coming to Scandinavia was to return home with a Norwegian sweater, so I was on the hunt. We looked in every sweater store that was open, and the CHEAPEST sweater I could find was $300. It hurt my heart. Most of the sweaters were $500-$800. WTF Norway?? So alas, I did not buy an $800 sweater. But my heart was nonetheless torn when I flew home with no sweater in hand.
BUT, aside from the ridiculously expensive sweaters (and really expensive everything in Norway), our Thanksgiving weekend trip was a wonderful success and I had an absolutely awesome time. I like Norway. I want to visit again in the summer months.
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