Exploring Vikingland: Norway, Sweden, Denmark

Things we have learned about or noticed in Norway:

1. Almost everything runs exactly on or slightly ahead of schedule, even to the minute
2. Roadways are a little tight, especially on the country roads as several times we came head on to other vehicles on a one-lane wide road only to have to back up or watch them back up to a passing point
3. Their cities are over-the-top clean
4. Water runs through, around, and down everywhere - the waterfalls are particularly incredible with the way they come down the mountains, splitting into smaller streams and then rejoining
5. Everywhere you look is picture worthy - mountains, waterfalls, fjords, and any other part of the natural scenery are abundant
6. If you spent every day for a year hiking around Norway, I doubt you could cover all the trails and/or fjords
7. Norwegian dogs live the life as we passed by 5 – 10 each hike we went on. Soon enough, Marnie, soon enough…
8. Weather could use a little upgrade as their “summer” seems to be a little overcast with rain on and off and lower in temperature – highs in the low 60’s. Nighttime temperatures are perfect for windows-open sleeping, however!
9. Norwegians love to bike/run/walk/ski(assumed for winter) anywhere they can, hence why very few people are overweight
10. Norwegians are some of the happiest people I’ve come across
11. Most Norwegians can speak at least two (2) languages, and probably average more around three (3) or four (4)
12. Kids seem to have the freedom to go wherever they want on their own starting around age 12 or so. We saw quite a few kids on their own or with friends on the trains, ferries, and buses
13. Everything is extremely expensive, but alcohol, tobacco, and sweets are almost over-the-top (perhaps a result of point number 6 above)
14. I saw exactly zero (0) police force anywhere in Norway and people sometimes don’t even lock up bikes and other outdoor-use possessions
15. Businesses run 09:00 – 17:00, with a few choosing to start at 10:00

Important info for this section: A fjord is a long, narrow, deep inlet from the sea with cliffs and/or mountains on either side of it.

Back to interesting international connecting flights again! On our arrival into Oslo from London Heathrow we had one (1) hour to make our connector. Turns out we had terrible timing as we would’ve waited close to an hour alone to get through customs had we not mentioned to a passport control agent eventually that we had twenty-five (25) minutes to make our flight which got us moved over to a shorter line. However, there are still some people that don’t know how to make it through airport security checks without trying seven (7) times – we happened to be behind one of those. Again, we pleaded with the security officer to let us cut the line as we now had fifteen (15) minutes to make the flight. After finally making it through that check we sprinted back through the airport and their last automated check, making it to our gate slightly sweaty with six (6) minutes to spare! The saving grace this time was that we were able to speak English with the Norwegian airport officials to plead our case, unlike Bogota.

I’ll spare everyone tons of details that are way more entertaining through pictures, but Norway is incredible in terms of natural landscapes. Mountains, waterfalls, fjords, raging rapids, streams interconnecting lakes and reservoirs with the ocean, tunnel after tunnel on the roadways, and quaint little villages bordering the bodies of water – just go look at my Facebook pictures because my descriptions here would do the country no justice.

Different Views along Our Travels through Norway


View of Stavanger from the Bridge

Our connector out of Oslo took us to Bergen, on the West coast, where we caught one bus from the airport to the ferry port, a large high-speed ferry (had to be close to cruising 30mph – it was awesome) to several small towns and finally our exit town of Rosendal, and one last bus into the town of Odda. This was our resting place for the night after we trekked uphill to our campsite about 1.5 miles from the Odda bus station. Norway is great for camping as everywhere outside of 150 meters from private property is considered legal to set up camp. We set ourselves up as the rain began to come down and eventually settled in for the night around midnight trailing the sunset by what seemed to be only an hour or so. After a horrible night’s sleep we woke up bright and early to catch a 6:10am bus to the beginning of the Trolltunga trail hike.

Knowing this was going to be the longest and most difficult hike of Scandinavia we decided to get up the mountain early, trying to pass as many people as we could along the way in hopes of beating the crowd to take our highly anticipated pictures at the Troll’s Tongue. Despite blogs and others’ accounts we had read online about the hike taking up to ten (10) hours or more during adverse conditions and around nine (9) for seasoned hikers, it took us three (3) hours to get up the trail, two and a half (2.5) to get down, and another two (2) for the picture line, a lunch break, and our other photo op stops on the descent. Starting a hike at sea level makes so much difference, especially when covering 2,500 feet in altitude and 17.5 miles in one day. The trail was filled with mud, boulders, bald rock faces, one short section of snow to cross, and picturesque views of water reservoirs, waterfalls, and streams. Every time we thought we had seen a top-5 waterfall, around the next turn was another one to replace a top spot again. Crossing the finish line provided much-needed relief as the trail took quite a toll on our legs in general.

Along the Trolltunga Trail

Trolltunga

The Town of Odda from the Dock

We headed back to our campsite to gather our things, walk back to the bus station, and grab some dinner near the Odda docks before hopping onto a double-connector bus that took us all the way over to the town of Stavanger where we stayed in a fairly travel-budget affordable (for Norway at least) Air BnB for three (3) nights.

Our first day in Stavanger took us to Pulpit Rock, or Preikestolen in Norwegian, by way of a ferry and then a 30-minute bus ride. As we walked off the bus to start the hike, rain picked up slightly and didn’t let up until after we had finished our pictures at the top of course. The dryness lasted about 10 minutes so by the time we arrived at the bottom after basically running down, passing around 100 people, we were soaked and pretty cold despite any combinations of rain jackets and ponchos we tried. Preikestolen was a fairly easy hike covering about 330 meters of elevation gain over 2.5 miles one way. It took us 1:10 going up, 0:45 at top for pictures and a little hike to get to a better view of the ledge from above, and 0:40 on the way down. After returning to Stavanger we took care of a few things for upcoming travel, found some groceries, and then I headed out around the town to see the sites. The 4th–largest town in Norway has water all around it which makes for great restaurant patio drinking atmospheres. If I had more time I definitely would’ve sat down to take in a sunset at one of them to cap off a night, but I wanted to make the rounds before leaving.

Along the Preikestolen Trail

Preikestolen, or "Pulpit's Rock"

Around Stavanger

Next, we headed off to the Kjeragbolten Trail starting with a three-hour winding bus ride to the trailhead near the town of Lysebotn. Luckily the weather cooperated with us because this hike is highly advised not to attempt if the starting area is foggy or rainy and we quickly found out why. Somewhere close to 90% of the hike is on bald rock faces angled anywhere from 0 – 25% grade. There are metal chains connecting posts on the steep sections, but hiking poles and a good pair of boots on a dry day work just as well for the most part. This hike saw us cover eight (8) miles there and back with around 670 meters in elevation gain in about five (5) hours, which included an hour of pictures at Kjerag (the boulder lodged in between rock faces), hiking on the cliff edges near the top, and a slow descent as we were in no hurry to get back down having reached the top before noon and our bus leaving at 5:00pm. Sitting at the top watching the variety of people hop out on Kjerag made for good entertainment as some people confidently took the leap out as if there wasn’t a 2,500 foot fall below them, while others needed to be talked to and basically pulled onto Kjerag for their picture. We also managed to stumble upon other rock outcroppings similar to Preikestolen up top and took some pretty cool pictures. Only down side to the day was not picking my seat on the bus rides wisely, or having really bad luck. Both people I sat behind leaned their chairs fully back into my space without care crushing my knees in the process. It seems that I’m a magnet for sitting near wonderful people on these trips.

Along the Kjeragbolten Trail

Line to Get Onto Kjerag

Kjerag


Our I-L-L Picture for Norway Since Our Replacement Flag is in the Mail

The 3rd morning in Stavanger saw us head off for Flam by way of a 5.5-hour, 7:00am ferry to Bergen and then kicked in our Eurail passes to train onward. We took the journey as time to catch up on sleep and reading since somehow we still haven’t acclimated to the time difference. We tried to explore Bergen in the few hours we had between ferry arrival and train departure, but the hour spent trying to get our next train ticket stymied our plans slightly. We were only able to ride the funicular up to a viewpoint and quickly walk around parts of the town nearest the train station. It was definitely a tourist town, but there were a few fish and food markets that had delicious looking food everywhere so we grabbed lunch there.

View from the Top of the Bergen Funicular

Little Norwegian Explorers

Trolls All Over Norway, But Life-Size at a Kid's Park...?

The section of train track located between Myrdal and Flam, Norway is known as “the Flam Railway” for its scenic views and quick access it was to provide between Southern major cities and the fjords to the North. Although the views were beautiful, I felt some of what we had seen along the hikes in previous days was better. Dealing with the heavily-tourist route wasn’t ideal either, but we can check it off our list now. After arriving in the very small town of Flam (permanent population ~350), we had a short walk over to our campsite where we were thankfully able to get set up without having to deal with rain. On our one (1) full day in town we hiked up to some Brekkefossen waterfall viewpoints and then Jenna ran around Flam to another waterfall while I headed back to camp only to be passed by her again en route – go figure. Later on we met up with Jenna’s cousin, Grace, who happens to be working in Flam for the summer and took us out kayaking on Aurlandsfjord. Our typical tour happenings reared their ugly head again as our rudder broke on the kayak and it rained on and off while on the water, but it was great to see another familiar face along the way and get a personal tour of the area. Afterwards, we headed to the local brew pub where we threw down some delicious Viking beer and food. Thanks again, Grace!

Views from the Flam Railway


Kjosfossen Waterfall along the Flam Railway

Brekkefossen Waterfall near Flam


Views of Flam from the Brekkefossen Waterfall

Kayaking on Aurlandsfjord with Jenna's Cousin, Grace


Greeted by Several Tower Cranes in Oslo Outside the Train Station

Off to Sweden we go…after twelve (12) hours of trains and layovers, one of which we were able to spend two (2) hours walking around Oslo, we crossed the border where we spent the next two (2) full days meandering around Stockholm. We hopped on a free walking tour of what’s considered “Old Town” in Stockholm, or Gamla Stan. Here is where the Royal Palace, Nobel Museum, and other hundreds-of-years old buildings can be found. We then walked along the waterfront over to an island garden, Djurgarden, with a theme park and several more museums trying, and failing, to find a decent high up viewpoint of the city. The last day in Stockholm was used to relax in the beautiful 70-degree and sunny weather, and then plan our upcoming countries and eventual route to Iceland - much needed after essentially being on the go since we have arrived in Europe!

Nordic Museum in Stockholm

The Royal Palace in Stockholm

To round off the Scandinavia portion of our trip we headed to the Malmö, Sweden/Copenhagen, Denmark area to see those cities and visit Jenna's friends from Illinois soccer, Ella and Erin. Our train took us straight to Copenhagen where we stored our large backpacks and hopped on a free-walking tour of the city for the afternoon. It included walking by Tivoli Gardens, Amalienborg Palace (where the Queen and Royal Family reside), Christiansborg Palace, the national library, buildings associated with Carlsberg beer (as Copenhagen is where it was founded), the beautiful port area of Nyhavn, Gefion Fountain, finding the Statue of the Little Mermaid, and a few other sights. What's so special about a Little Mermaid statue? Well, the author of the original book, Hans Christian Andersen, is by far Copenhagen's most famous person and there are statues and buildings in honor of him all over the place. The little mermaid statue, however, is extremely small and actually rated as the 2nd most disappointing tourist attraction in the world (#1 is in Belgium). The main takeaway from the walking tour was that Copenhagen needs to get a grip on their fires. They have had four (4) different royal palaces built because it has burnt down that many times. Also while touring, we found out the Royal Family is hosting an exchange student from Tasmania, Australia currently. I can only imagine being told that my exchange semesters were going to be spent living with a royal family somewhere. Now, you may think that these "royal families" have much power and influence, but we've come to learn that they're mostly just titles and seen as carrying on centuries old traditions while having very little political influence within their countries. Malmo, where Ella and Erin live, is a short 40-minute train ride back across the water to Sweden.  It's a smaller, cute city, comparable to Naperville.

Nyhavn Area

Christiansborg Palace

Little Mermaid Statue with Wind Turbines Lurking Behind

Our second day heading over to Copenhagen covered seeing Kings Garden, a high-up view of Copenhagen and Sweden from the Christiansborg Tårnet, Rundetaarn (or Round Tower), and grabbing some lunch from the Paper Island (or PapirØen) street market which has a bunch of food truck type stalls set up in a big warehouse building. We also walked down the main road of what could be best described as an "unincorporated" part of the country that doesn't even consider themselves a part of Denmark - Freetown Christiania. Basically, a bunch of hippies squatted in some Danish army barracks back in the early 1970s and the army didn't do anything about it so it grew into a city more or less without rules or a government. This area doesn't allow pictures to be taken because they openly sell marijuana and marijuana-edibles along the area walkways. When exiting Christiania, their sign literally says "Now entering the EU" because they do not consider themselves part of Denmark. It's quite the experience that shouldn't be missed if heading to Copenhagen - just in the daytime. Our final day in Scandinavia we spent in Malmö and got watch Ella and Erin's soccer practice for a while, before heading off to the train station to begin our next 22-hour journey. Thanks to Ella, Erin, Max, and Sven for letting us crash with you and showing us around the area!

Views from the Top of Christiansborg Palace

Kings Garden Looking at Rosenborg Palace 

Delicious Ostrich Burger from the Paper Island (PapirØen) Market


Entrance Sign to Christiania


Taking in Erin and Ella's Practice