Finally...My Account of Norway

More or less, I became lazy on writing while in Norway, and I've postponed this entirely too long. The lapse in time I'm certain will sadly cause a good story or two to be omitted. Our itinerary was as follows, and allowed for spectacular views along the Western coast, crossing more fjords via ferries than I could count:
Oslo -> Stavanger -> Bergen -> Førde -> Stryn/Olden -> Aalesund -> Molde -> Førde -> Bergen

Ingebjørg and I spent a day in Oslo before catching a train to Stavanger where she lives. She sublet her room while she was traveling, and so we stayed with her friend Tove. It's amazing how great it was to spend time in a house instead of just hostels or camping. Most of our days in Norway were spent climbing when the weather allowed. The other days we generally hiked.  One hike outside of Stavanger was to Preikestolen, a sheer-faced cliff with a 604 meter drop to the fjord below. The weather decided to cooperate for about 30 minutes once we arrived at the top for a nice photo shoot before the clouds rolled in.  The clouds and misty weather of course required us to make coffee at the top to warm up (my new addiction...but hey, there could be worse ones!) and eat a little before heading down.

Sunset in Stavanger

As the clouds rolled in over Preikestolen

Photo shoot on the edge

Just having a peak over the edge :-)...talk about a drop off.

We arrived in Bergen a few days before their national holiday, the 17th of May. We couch surfed Ingebjørg's friends' apartments, so I met lots of amazing, welcoming locals. We hiked two of the mountains and climbed on weather-permitting days. I was informed it was a must to be in Bergen during the 17th of May for the morning parade and celebrations. It was well worth it to see the abundance of traditional Norwegian attire, including Ingebjørg's. After the parade, we headed to her parents' house in Førde. We both indulged in baths, clean clothes, home cooked food, and comfortable beds. Her mom cooked an interesting traditional Norwegian dish that I believe was sour cream porridge, or at least that's how it was described to me. We added cinnamon and sugar to it. It was rich and delicious. We hiked two mountains during our time in Førde to attempt to make up for that porridge too ;).

Hiking in Bergen

 A little girl enjoying the parade and Ingebejorg with her parents.

Parade in Bergen for the 17th of May

Hiking in Førde

Next on the list was Stryn and Olden. We were meeting a group of climbers from Bergen to climb near Stryn at a crag called Beachen, of which I'm probably butchering the spelling. It was an extremely warm and sunny day, leading to a dip in the ocean afterwards. You can't get more refreshing than running into a fjord where the glacier water merges. I oddly didn't mind it, probably due to the fact that I was immediately numbed by the water. We drove to Olden afterwards to the cabins where we were staying at the base of Briksdalbreen (Briksdal Glacier). This was all in a day's work...in the daylight (with quite a bit of road time), including a cookout at the end of the day with some bouldering around the camp. The sun was rising around 5am and setting at about 10:15pm. That's not including the residual daylight that last a lot longer. It was incredible and exhausting all at the same time! I was running on little sleep and coffee. I was up early the next day though to read in the morning sun outside before taking off with a couple of the girls to hike to the glacier and attempt another mountain. I say attempt because we weren't prepared with crampons, and the snow covered areas were too big to maneuver around without risking sliding down the mountain for a sled-less, high speed ride that I didn't care to take. We aborted and headed back towards Stryn to go swimming.

The drive from Førde to Stryn

 

Bouldering near the cabin by the glaciers

 
The next morning we continued our journey North to Aalesund for some kayaking and more local food at another friend's family's cabin.  Last we headed to Molde before heading back South.

View from a hilltop in Aalesund

Here are some random shots from the drive back South too.  We stopped at her parents' house again on the way home.  When we got back to Bergen, we met up with her Stavanger friends for a climbing festival.

Climbing near Bergen

Norway is extremely breathtaking and it was getting even better the further North we went. It reminded me a little of New Zealand, especially Milford Sound in New Zealand. I don't know much about Norway's government or politics, besides the briefing I received from Ingebjørg. I was astounded by the cleanliness of the country as a whole. It seemed to be relatively void of extreme wealth or poverty. Apparently this is government controlled. Since Ingebjørg is a doctor there, we had numerous discussions about the health care system too which is not unexpectedly wayyy better than in the US from my perspective. To reiterate this point to all Americans, including my dad who questioned my access to health care while climbing abroad, the US is ranked number 37 according to the World Health Organization in 2000 (I could only speculate that we wouldn't be any higher on that list if WHO were to do an updated ranking). Seven of the eleven countries I visited are ranked higher than the US and two weren't far behind.

About two weeks into my Norwegian extravaganza, my prior boss in Phoenix sent me a text asking if I would be interested in an overnight position at the hospital that had just opened up. I already knew about the position. I was also considering returning to the US to find work for a few months in July. I was uncertain if I wanted the position, but when he texted I decided it would be the easiest short term job option, since I could stipulate a time frame in which he had to hire and train someone new. I decided to take it and booked a flight back to the US for five days later, hence aborting a flight I had already bought to Croatia. I think there is a fine line between work and play and having too much of either.  I felt like traveling was getting a little too comfortable for me and some work would put things back into perspective :-).

As I write this, I am six weeks back into work.  My perspective has been renewed, and I am even more eager for my next adventure!