The Visitors

What a summer!!! I moved here at the end of October 2011 so my first 6-7 months, I had only known cold, dark, and colorless Norway…and I thought I couldn’t have loved it more. People repeatedly told me, “Bergen is the best place to be in summer,” and “There’s no place like Norway in the summer.” They were not kidding, this place is incredible. What’s even more incredible is experiencing the beauties of this country with great people. Some of the highlights of my time spent in Norway this past summer were shared with visitors from far and wide.

One of the most epic experiences of my life was shared with dear friends old and new – Trolltunga. Robb Wills, a hometown friend since the beginning of time, had the opportunity to attend a scholarly conference in the mountains of Norway as part of his CalTech PhD studies. He took advantage of the travel opportunity and was able to plan a couple extra weeks to bike from Oslo to Bergen (where he spent a few days with me) and then up north to the conference location. Not going to lie, Robb and I had mostly lost touch since the end of high school, but holy smokes am I so glad we were able to spend some serious time together this summer – he is one of the most wonderful and intelligent people I have ever encountered and I love knowing that despite time and distance, we will be friends forever.

Very soon after his arrival, Mariann and her friend from back home in Arizona, Christian, joined us in Bergen. What a motley crew to have on Bjorøy! My room was so packed and cozy (and messy) with all of us. Our first day together, Cato took us out on a boat ride around the island and the nearby areas. We decided to drive into the Navy dock (totally legal here) to check out all of the fancy boats. Normally, this would be 100% fine but we looked a little sketchy…I was wearing a scarf around my head (to keep the wind from attacking my hair) and Robb and Christian both had fancy cameras with which they were snapping pictures of the Naval fleet. Sooo, we were abruptly “pulled over” by the most interesting of Navy boats and Cato had to vouch for us (didn’t even have to show ID or anything though) that we were all just American tourists. Hilarious, in my opinion…I mean, we were thought to be terrorists and “pulled over” on the water by the Norwegian Navy. All they did was delete the pictures from the cameras and let us go on our way again, into the naval docking area. Afterwards, we had a nice dinner on our front deck and then headed into Bergen to show Robb and Christian the Bryggen part of the city, as well as to visit our friends Eric and Johnny at the Anti office where they were laboring away on Eric’s entry for a Sigur Ros video contest.

Bright and early the following morning, we departed to hike Trolltunga, near Odda, Norway. The hike is approximately 13km each way with over 1,000 meter elevation gain. Because Norway is pretty and we are easily distracted, our drive took much longer than expected and we did not get to the trailhead until 2pm. And so began our ascent. The hike begins with a tough decision – either take the poorly maintained trail that zig zags up the first major elevation gain or take the emergency stairway along an old, closed-down tramway. Most people choose the stairs because it’s one straight shot, despite the rickety and narrow state of them. Each “stair” is more so a hip-width board nailed approximately the distance of each small step up alongside a rail track. The stairs are for people hiking both up and down and there is only one skinny cable to hold onto on the outer side of them. It’s a hell of a start to a long hike - 900 meters straight up. From the bottom, you can’t see the top. From the top, you can’t see the bottom. And there was one particularly steep section where you can easily grab the next few steps with your hand because you’re nearly climbing vertical. And all this was done while carrying a backpacking backpack. Not to mention if someone were to take a wrong step, they could easily fall off the stairway to the side of the mountain, which varied from one meter to a few meters down below. Passing other hikers was terrifying. I hated my life kind of. If it weren’t for Christian being my moral support, I’m pretty sure I would have lost my cool entirely.

After many necessary pauses, we completed the first ascent in under and hour. While taking a much-needed break at the top, it was a little disheartening to see another significant ascent just about a 15 minute hike away. So we strolled through the nice glacial-carved valley and began the next ascent up along a delicious creek (you can absolutely drink from creeks in Norway, especially this high up, SO PURE) and up over the rocky face of the mountain. The view from the top was worth it all – looking back, there was a light, illuminated mist hanging over where our hike began far down below with the sky reflected in a small pond in the foreground…and in the other direction, a glacier! Also at the top was a killer perfect snowmelt lake, which will definitely be mentioned again later in the story. Not a bad place to be.

The hike continued on for many more hours, crossing streams, slipping through mud, inching along cliff edges, and scrambling over rocks. By the time the sun was setting (in the summer, sunsets last a longgg time and darkness does not come for even a while longer after that), we were beginning to wonder if we were going to make it to Trolltunga that night. Near where we thought was the end, we crossed paths with a scraggly old man headed in the opposite direction who spoke NorwEnglish to us. When we asked him how much farther to the rock…he responded something something something mumble mumble mumble in half English half Norwegian and then what sounded like “six eggos.” Great, six more waffles to the rock, you guys! Looking back on it now, I’m realizing he probably said, “Six eg går,” which is terrible NorwEnglish for basically he has been walking for six hours. But don’t quote me because whooo knowsss what that man said.

So since we thought he said it was six more waffles to hike until the rock, we opted to call it a day and scout out a place to camp. Mariann and I were completely content with posting up on a perfect, empty, out-jutting peninsula with a killer view of the cliffs and lake below. The boys wandered off in case they could find better and within minutes, Mariann and I heard some yelling. Christian had slipped and injured his arm. Å nei. At first, it looked like it may have been broken and a bit cut up but talks of heading back down – hours and hours back down – that night was quickly hushed. No way, Jose! Hiking that trail and those stairs at night would have been the worst idea ever. It was decided that we would stay on the peninsula, clean out the cuts, elevate and ice his arm with bags of snow, and wait it out til the morning. It would have been tragic to travel, drive, and hike so far to get within six waffles of Trolltunga but not get to see it.

Our campsite ended being spectacular. We were all alone in the Norwegian backcountry, a perfect view of sunset with clouds below us and clouds above us. B-E-A-UTIFUL ughh take me baaack. Marz and I set up camp, fetched some snow for Christian’s arm, and got everything sorted as Robb cooked us all a super good dinner of curry noodles and veggies. After dinner, spirits were much higher so we had a bit of a dance party/light show/long exposure photo shoot and then called it an early night.

Pretty rough night for little old me! So, rather than packing a proper sleeping pad like a smart person, I packed an inflatable pool mattress (and an inflatable shark) for post-Tunga swimming in the lakes. Such a terrible sleeping pad!!! Because we were at such a high elevation, despite it being August, it got COLD and the air in the mattress made me even COLDER. Didn’t sleep much because I was shaking violently most of the night. Once the sun came up, I slept maybe an hour…but the show must go on!

Marz and I went out to fetch water and watched the sunrays beaming over the edge of the cliffs onto the water below. It was a beautiful. Our day began with discovering Nugatti (like Nutella, but better) oatmeal is the most delicious breakfast in the world and that Christian’s arm would live to see another unbroken day, so we knew nothing bad could happen after starting with such amazingness. After breakfast, Mariann and I left the guys for a bit, telling them not to leave the campsite, because were off to partake in a growing Norwegian fjellkjerringer (mountain women) trend…We scouted the most epic location on the peninsula and took turns standing near the edge (but not the actual edge Mom, just a spot that looked like the edge), facing out to the open scenery, and taking our tops off. Not that we are nudists to any degree (I’d say Mariann and I are quite the opposite entirely), it was so liberating to do such a thing!! So we now have pictures of us from behind flashing the Norwegian wilderness that neither of us plan to show anybody. You can only see our backs, but still. Quite a memory!

After that, we scrambled over rocks for one more hour until we reached Trolltunga. It’s the Norwegian version of Pride Rock and it is heaven! There were quite a few people hanging out around the rock but everyone cooperated and took turns on the rock so anyone that wanted to go alone could easily get that experience. Watching other people on the edge nearly gave me a heart attack. They seemed so careless, balancing on the edge, casually sitting with their legs dangling over, crawling around the edge….euugh makes me sick to think back on that. I SWEAR I WAS CAREFUL. The riskiest thing I did was sit with my back towards the edge and leeean back just to get my fingers over the edge. No danger in it, I swear. Also, this rock was much less scary than Preikestolen. PreikPreik was angled much more dangerously and the drop much more direct, therefore more nauseating. Trolltunga was slanted in such a way that gravity was constantly doing it’s best to pull you back to safety. You really had to pursue the edge – which I did not. Anyway, it was such a rush being on that rock. The sense of accomplishment was through the roof. I had seen pictures since before moving here and I always wanted to go, I just never knew if it would happen – I knew the stars would have to align to find friends wanting to go and being able to go at the same time, to have a window of great weather, to be physically able to make the trek, and such and such. I’m so lucky to have experienced it, especially with such great friends.

Our hike back was long, seeing as we had already done one hour from where we camped, then we had to hike that hour back, and then all the way to the trailhead. We did not stop much at all, except at that one perfect lake at the highest point.

I carried two inflatable swim toys in the backpack all the way up and I WAS going to put them to use. Robb and I plunged in and nearly froze. Not really, but it was soo very cold and my floaty was not entirely floating properly so I was pretty quick to paddle across the lake. It was such a fun little addition to top off the Trolltunga experience. To bring the whole hike to the end, we had the (surprisingly) hardest part of the hike last. The downhill of the stairs was absolute torture. We were so tired, and then the descent required total focus on the stairs to avoid taking a bad step and falling…our brakes were burning. We had to take more time-outs going down than up. It was rough. But the feeling when reaching the bottom was just spectacular; aside from the fact our legs took a while to remember how to function on flat ground. We rocked Trolltunga! And then we headed back to Bergen, where all three visitors departed the following morning….they were a great group of visitors!

My next few days included helping Eric making his Sigur Ros video – it was the best of times, it was the worst of times….videos are hard work! And Emil had his first day of elementary school. Oh bless him, he was adorable dressed in blue head to toe….even had blue dye in his hair. So cuuute.

And then some more visitors of a whole different kind came along – Couch Surfers! Couch Surfing is an organization that brings together a community of people who encourage travel at a low cost and who offer up their couches for people to sleep on. While I do not participate in such a way, from time to time (pretty rarely) I offer to meet up with some people and show them around the city, and this was such a time. I had a Saturday entirely free and there was a young German guy, Ingmar, driving around Scandinavia in a VW bus he fixed up. He was looking for someone to walk around the city or check out some museums with, and I agreed to show him Bergen’s few sights. He brought another CSer (CouchSurfer) with him, Richard from Oxford, and within about 15 minutes of meeting, after making sure these guys were not creepy or lame, it was determined that we would all go up to a cabin in Voss with a large group of my friends for the night. Best idea ever, these guys are wonderful humans! We walked around the city just a little bit, mainly to help them get some gear for their impromptu Trolltunga hike two days from then (these guys had just met the night before and had already planned out a week of exploring Norway together…they were adorable). After gathering our things, they hopped into the VW, Lydia and I hopped into my car and we were Voss-bound.

The cabin belongs to the company Aker, which our friend Ian works for. It sleeps 18(?), has a sauna, and an impeccable view. We were told the cabin was in Voss, but upon arrival in Voss, the directions kept going and going….all the way up into the mountains on dirt roads. We FINALLY arrived and it was WAY COOL. Everyone else had arrived much earlier so they were already settled in and in the relaxing mode. We were quick to join in, cook some dinner, and the CSers busted out a guitar and performed for us all the way until about 7am with only one break for a big group sauna session. It was such a great, chill night. We really could have been anywhere and had a good time but waking up the following morning to look out the window at remote wilderness was most excellent. As the rest of the group began to wake up, Lydia and I enjoyed tea and breakfast on the porch, overlooking Voss. Once everyone was up, we did lunch and a short hike around the cabin to pick blueberries. And then it was time to pack up and go home. Such a short trip, but so much fun! I still keep in contact with both CSers and even plan to meet up with Ingmar again in February while some friends and I are in Berlin….friends I actually met through CouchSurfing – Mariann, Eric, and Eric’s cousin Andreas. Such a great organization, I’m tellin’ ya!

The last visitors of summer were Ian and Klara, as well as Eric Zellhart and Derek Clay, my cousin Matt’s friends. It’s always great to meet up with people I know, but even better when these people have familial connections. Ian had just recently broken his foot, so to spot him in the big crowd at Bryggen, wobbling around on his Norwegian crutches, yelling for me louder than any Norwegian has ever heard….priceless. Soon to follow were Eric and Derek, with reindeer burgers in hand, and then finally Klara who had the feat of parking the car on such a crazy weekend day. We spent the next hour or so trying to navigate the food festival and beer festival going on at Bryggen but it was a bit hard for our little cripple, Ian. He kept yelling out, “HOT DOGS, GIT YER HOT DOGS HERE!” I’m not entirely sure of his phrase selection but it was meant to clear out the crowd for him to be able to get through. It worked! He was actually faster than the rest of us. Highlight of our Bryggen time was when we were taking a break in one of the emptier walkways through the old buildings when a parade of terrifying Medieval gypsy jesters came marching past being creepy as heck (there was a Medieval festival going on at the nearby fortress, too) and we didn’t know how to react except with awkward straight faces as they passed, followed by a collective “whattttt theee………?!”

After our time in the city, Eric, Derek and I went grocery shopping and later met up with Klara and Ian and Klara’s older brother’s house where Eric and I whipped up some mean Norwegian tacos for everyone. It was so great having so many people from home sitting around the table, talking loudly and Americanly, having a grand ole time. Although the time together was short, it was wonderful. And Ian and Klara are engaged now!!!! SO EXCITING!!!!!

Thanks for visiting, visitors! I loved seeing you all!

Since summer, I have had some amazing experiences – including a day adventure in the fjords, a surfing trip in southern Norway, a sailing trip in Croatia, a weekend in the mountains, Halloween, a surprise birthday party, and a weekend in Oslo! As well as little events and occasions along the way. So hopefully I can get that all written within the next month or so. But now, I’m heading back to America. In 12 hours exactly, I will be walking out the doors and heading home. I’ve been in Europe 424 days; it’s time for a bit of America…time to get gone.