6+ Months
Hasta Luego
Days 122-157
Western sunrise
Days 85-122
Gaudi was right
Days 72-85
Barcelona rises
Days 59-71
Anchovies and Kitty Cats
Days 47-58
Patrino means paradise
Days 39-46
Alp d'Hamish
Days 24-38
French Laundry
Days 18-23
Conquering Britain!
Days 10-17
Made it to Mosjoen!
Days 6-9
Arrival in Frankfurt
Days 1-5
SF - Vancouver
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- Email Sasha
January 8, 2005, Sasha
Days... Holy crap has it been 6 months?
Guappa Barcelona seems like a million miles away at the moment. We are currently cradled in the winter beauty of Norway and loving every degree below zero. It's like the whole country has taken us into warm candle-lit homes and given us a degree of Christmas not unlike those seen on children's TV specials.
Four days ago we left the mania of Christmas infused Barcelona and hopped on the next $15 flight to London. Then our trusty Ryanair pilot carefully navigated a violent Nordic sky to Oslo, slamming the plane down like a football post goal. Of course Ryanair tends to service the most obscure and formerly forgotten airports, so a 2 hour bus ride dropped us off in the impeccably clean Oslo bus terminal.
By the time we got off the bus I was anxious to get up north. Luckily cousin Kari lives here in Oslo and always shows us a nice time. A 5 minute taxi ride (cost $20) in an uncommonly nice smelling leather lined Mercedes wagon took us to the familiar gates of Kari's 18th century apartment. It was like coming home, and Kari went all-out with a fantastic reindeer stew that Laplanders would have considered divine. Kari's new boyfriend Stein joined an evening of American policy debate common to most of Europe, and parts of central Berkeley.
A quick stroll down Karl Johan street took us to the bustling Oslo central train station for our 8 hour journey northward. Times have changed here, not too long ago Norway was a humble nation without much going for it minus an abundance of fish. Not until oil was discovered in its northern seas did the country leap light years ahead into one of the wealthiest countries per capita in the world. And the new trains reflected every ounce of this new found wealth. Jaguar motors clearly conspired with Ikea to design our train wagon.
Aunt Aida's open arms greeted us in HOLY SHIT IT'S COLD UP HERE Levanger. The whole town was covered in a thick white blanket, very silent and very dark. Bjorn and Karman nestled in the candle lit warmth of Aida's house where we were reunited for the first time in 5 months. Tired and traveled we talked until the early morning, followed by the late morning tradition of Aida's breakfast spread. Home again, and it felt very, very good.
11am: wait, where's the sun?
12pm: um, isn't the sun supposed to rise?
3pm: wait, why is it getting dark?
With recharged souls and a new found appreciation for Norwegian thermal tolerance, we left Levanger for our way further up north. A cozy vintage Norwegian train car took the four of us 6 hours to Mosjoen. The icy snow covered countryside captivated our Californian imaginations. I was awaiting the ice monster from Disneyland's Matterhorn ride around each tight bend. Cousin Odny and brother cheerfully greeted us in the dark white train station, threw us in a late model Opel and next thing we knew we were sitting at a table of Peenoshet (lamb ribs) and reutabager. Our 4th traditional Christmas feast. 20 minutes after the last scoop of reisenkrem was devoured all of us lay asleep, even our host.
Awakened by cousin Lars, he quickly arrived to take us up to Lian, the family home in the woods outside Mosjoen. Driving a very large VW bus, we slid up the dark icy roads to our home for the next 4 days.
And what a wonderful next 4 days it was. Days were even shorter up here, but nobody seemed to mind. The kids were happy as can be playing in 3pm darkness, jumping in freezing snow, and skiing uncharted back woods. We left the mountain only once to visit downtown Mosjoen, the rest of the time spent from house to house in the very Norwegian tradition of visiting 5 families per day.
Every house was filled with the most wonderful Christmas kitsch, lights filled the windows and I couldn't feel more at home. Finally I have a new appreciation for my own mother's Norwegian Christmas home, it's something they take very seriously. From Christmas napkins on the table to Christmas toilet paper in the bathrooms, you had no doubt what time of year it was.
Every night was filled with a traditional yet exotic Norwegian delicacy. Reindeer, lamb, sheep, pork, and, of course, the dreaded Lutefisk. I don't think I'll ever understand the Lutefisk phenomenon, taking a perfectly good piece of cod and preserving it in lye, ash and whatever else was found in the shed.
Sad goodbyes from a visit far too short put us back on trains south. Bjorn and Karman took the early train to catch a flight from Trondheim. Leslie and I slept in and took the later night train to Oslo. The sleeping car exactly as I remember, only a million times smaller. The swaying of the train lulling us to a 7 hour nap until we switched trains in Oslo for our destination Copenhagen.
Our brief visit to Copenhagen was more than we could have asked for. Bjorn and Karman graciously offered us their living room which hosted many hours of cable TV watching. Stations in English were a very welcome relief for ears tortured by endless Catalan dubbing in Barcelona. NYE delivered us to the central square downtown where public safety was certainly not the priority. Fireworks filled the sky, very large ones. And after some time the fireworks were directed at people on the opposite sides of the square, turning the downtown area into something resembling Baghdad. Feeling lucky we made it out alive it was something not to be missed.
Now we are back in lovely Barcelona counting the days until we must depart. It's been the trip of a lifetime. The type of journey where you constantly say to yourself, 'damn, this really is the trip of a lifetime' and honestly feel it is. I wish it would never end, but at the same time I'm chronically home sick. I think that means it was perfect.
Love,
Sasha and Leslie