Back from Norway!

As some of you may know, we decided to take a little excursion to Norway for a few weeks in May and the trip was incredible.  Traveling via all the forms of public transportation proved very easy in this family-friendly country, and even though life is relatively very expensive, deciding to travel by couchsurfing and wwoofing made our experience affordable and all the more enriching.  For those of you who don't know what either of those terms are we have put links, and highly encourage you to try them out! 

En route we traveled to Iceland for a few days, went in the thermal pools and saw the Geysers.

old faithful, the most active geyser

Then in Oslo, we did the typical sight seeing musts, viking museum, norsk folk museum, the downtown area, national gallery to Munch's The Scream, the royal palace, the fortress, the food markets :), and stayed over at a friend's flat which we knew from university.  Thank you so much Beata!

holy pruning batman!

birch bark, check. sod, check. border of logs, check...now that is a roof.

Atypically, we befriended a senior advisor of the Norwegian Center for Cultural Heritage who gave us contacts of the remaining true blacksmiths in the country, we found and purchased an antique draw knife which has already been sharpened and put to use on the homestead, and posed with the FREE electric car ports that are scattered around the city!!

 Then off to the Fjords, by bus, to the village of Laerdal, at the beginning of the Sogn Fjord, the biggest and deepest of all the Fjords in Norway.  There, we rested a bit because Léo got a little stomach bug (and the hospital visit was FREE thanks to the public health care...we took notes to bring back to the states ;)!), took a walk around the beautiful valley sprinkled with cherry, apple, raspberry and pear orchards, and also visited the Borgund Stave Church, the best preserved of the last remaining 18 Stave Churches, it was quite a sight. 

We then got up at 3:38am (in a bit of a hurry...) to catch the only Sunday local bus to bring us to the plush hydrofoil ferry - Leo got to play with legos (thank you Scandinavia) while we got to eat hot dogs wrapped in bacon (again thank you Scandinavia).

 
The ferry sped for five hours down the SognFjord, passed gorgeous snow covered cliffs and small farms, to our next destination, the Island of Lygra. On Lygra we 'wwoofed' (willingly worked) on the only organic vegetable and sheep farm in the Hordaland region, just outside of Bergen, the second biggest city in Norway.  There our host grew all his own food, made his own cider, beer, sausages, sheep skin, and we shared many stories and much knowledge about sustainable living, community living, best farming practices and humanure.  Thank you so much Erik!

the orphans, and Erik's neighbor

We left Lygra for a quick walk around Bergen, but like most days of the year in those parts, it was pouring rain, and Léo was all soaked, so off to the airport we went. With only one day of the trip remaining, we flew to Trondheim, the most Northern city we were going to have time to visit.  Trondheim is the smartest city in Norway, with a large University population and therefore a very positive energy. Our host, being a young energetic biotech university researcher, was the greatest guide for us to discover all the great aspects this town has to offer in a short amount of time. 

From the alternative coop neighbourhood, to the SykkelHeis (cycle-moving sidewalk - the only one in the world! I don't understand why there aren't more of these. They are SO cool!), to the best vegan restaurant (which now also prepares food for the local Hospital to meet their demand for organic vegan options), to a local eco boutique 'Ethiken', to the great Salvation Army Shop where Alex found his sought after Rosenborg Soccer team paraphernalia :)! We really enjoyed our day of walking around, thanks Mali!

Lift anyone?!

The only remaining question is beginner or advanced?

Trondheim's coop neighborhood, sheep inclusive!

A lengthy but relaxing train back to Oslo from Trondheim ended the trip's in-country travel very smoothly. With a few hours remaining we visited Viggeland Park where one artist created a plethora of statues, all in the nude, depicting all aspects and stages of life. Very worth a visit or a google search :).

is this my future?

As travel always does, our views and perceptions of the other side as always being greener were in some ways changed. For those things that we had dreamed of being truly special, and turned out to be so, we will integrate them in our lives and communities as best we can. May all vacations have a reward as valuable as a pocket-full of life lessons.

Until next time...or should we say Ha-det!