Mike's Blog

Don’t believe everything you hear. When someone tells you Swedish people are cold like the weather up here, punch them in the face. Ok, maybe you don’t need to go to drastic lengths like that, but at least tell them they are wrong.

I ended up going to hang out with Swedish chick and her roommate before the BBQ. He’s an awesome dude, they showed me some really good Swedish music… I just wish I could understand the words! I’m beginning to realize that there is a wealth of foreign music that is completely my style that I will probably never appreciate. I’m also discovering that Ray Lamontagne has very little European presence, but so many people I’ve met would really get into his music! I guess it’s up to me to be his street crew out here…

Anyway, I thought I’d be helping with the move out effort, but instead the three of us just hung out in the sun on a blanket with laptops and music. My kind of afternoon, laziness to the max! I could have just stayed there until the party, but it wasn’t really easy to get there and besides, there was a French dude eager to cook something back at the hostel. Upon my return, he was cooking up something “very simple”. He had tomatoes with mozzarella, some greens with a dressing made from scratch, and this interesting creation including a thick piece of bread, shrimp, and some sort of tuna pate. It was awesome. Life is good sometimes

So we stuffed our faces and then headed back to the BBQ. They were just finishing up eating when we arrived, and Swedish chick’s roommate insisted that I try some pork they had prepared, it was damn awesome as well. When we first got there, we were introduced to about 10 of their Swedish friends. I focused and I learned everyone’s name on the first go. After meeting so many people, I’ve realized that if I am paying attention and trying to learn someone’s name, and if I repeat it after they say it (“Victor, nice to meet you”), I pretty much remember it. Sometimes I find that I’m thinking about introducing myself, and this almost always results in forgetting. It makes sense… something I’m trying to work on.

Anyway, I don’t know if I mentioned, but Swedish chick is a director/play and screen writer, so naturally most of her friends were in the artsy category as well. They were jovial, quick to smile, and genuinely interested in me and Frenchy. I felt so welcome in their group… I’ve found that with many groups of tightknit friends, a newcomer is sometimes ignored and has to really make an effor to break into the group and even just the conversation… here it was quite the opposite. They spoke English for us even though they all spoke Swedish as their first language. Too cool.

They also introduced me to an awesome lawn game called Coob. Apparently it’s some game from the Viking times… you divide into two teams and each team is given 5 little blocks to arrange in a line parallel and opposite to the other team’s line. It’s maybe 40 yards or so between them, and in the middle is one tall block termed the “king”. The teams take turns throwing these long stick-like blocks at the other team’s line and, once the other team’s line is defeated, at the king to win the round. There are some other rules, but you can Google if you really care I love lawn games like this… I wonder if there is a culture that doesn’t have them. Maybe Asian cultures? They must!

So yeah, spent the evening drinking beers, talking to Swedes, and throwing some wood at some wood. Aussie dude showed up as well, I guess his extended stay in Goteborg was… profitable? Glad he showed though, interesting fella. During the game, we heard a loud crash of broken glass in the apartment complex… apparently some drunk dude put his arm through a glass door or something. Some of the group went to check it out, and French dude went running once he heard someone was hurt. As a trainer, he learned some first aid, so he took care of the hurt dude until the paramedics arrived… they were there quick!

I never saw the injury… I figured sometimes less people involved is a good thing. To be honest I wanted to gawk and see the extent of what happened, but I hate this part of human nature. Like when you’re in a huge traffic jam on the highway, and then you find out that the road isn’t obstructed at all and people are just slowing down to stare at something 50 meters away or something. So frustrating. I hate that violence and tragedy are what interests people… I guess it’s really just the result of innate curiosity, because this kind of thing is rare. From that perspective alone, it’s not a bad thing… but I think the human element should supercede this curiosity… meaning that when someone is in a dangerous or harmful situation, this should be respected… and like in the traffic example, respect for everyone else should supercede the gawker curiosity.

Ok enough rant, I wanted to look but I defeated my human nature. Take that suckah! We stayed quite late and had to wait an hour or so for the buses/metro to take us back. I think we got to the hostel at 4 something… it was light out. Grabbed some muesli… I don’t think I’ve mentioned muesli yet on here. It’s a cereal that’s kind of similar to granola, and it’s friggin delicious. They do a lot of varieties over here… usually they have some dried fruit chunks and they clump the muesli, so it’s awesome. It’s become a bit of a late night ritual to eat a few bowls. Frenchy loves it too. It must be good, right?

Today we woke up late, of course. Laundry time and then me and Frenchy went to check out some huge sports dome/sphere thingy. It was ok, just a big spherical building, didn’t get to look inside. Me and Frenchy enjoyed chilling out though. The guy is really cool… he really has to put a lot of effort into speaking English. I think I’ve got the right idea about his personality… I think some people need less command of a language to show who they are. Don’t know why, maybe if you are more outgoing, then you’re willing to sound like an idiot and still get your point across. I think that actually increases the charm of what you’re saying… whatever, we need universal language! BGAH!

Tonight there was no cooking. Frenchy took a nap and I went out for a walk… upon my return, he had bought some meat patties and some weird looking rolls so we just ate those. They were damn fine. Again, I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m so hungry out here, but even the crap food tastes like quality. Like sandwiches at the train station, or even the gas station. The amount of ingredients you get isn’t always very much, but the bread is really nice and the stuff that’s in it is actually good. Go Europe! I guess the real test will come when I return to the states…

So the Aussie dude ended up in a different hostel, so we coordinated a joint outing with him and Swedish chick. She was going to show us this really nice outdoor bar and we’d bring peeps from each hostel. Swedish chick came to the hostel and We invited the Romanian guys and a Dutch couple. The Romanians were pre-gaming hard and insisted that we join.

So I’ve never really felt peer pressure when it comes to drinking, and this time, it really saved my ass. The Romanians were preparing this crazy shot for people at the hostel which looked like absolute devastation and was appropriately named an Armageddon. Basically, they had a shot of something on a plate, and on the plate was some oil with paprika or some alcohol or something. They poor another shot, which I think was something sweet like Baileys, and then they light the plate shot on fire and collect some of the gas in a cup. They put a napkin tight over the cup to hold the gas in. One of them coached while hapless victims drank the concoction. First, you drink some of the plate shot with the straw, then quickly some of the stuff on the plate, then poke the straw through the napkin and inhale the gas, then you shoot the whole sweet-looking shot.

The first guy to do it was one of the Romanians, who ended up with a red face and coughing hysterically. I guess if you smoke, it’s easier because you know how to inhale the gas. Frenchy went next and he barely even blinked. He’s a bit of a big, muscly fella and I guess the dude knows how to take his drinks. The Dutch dude struggled through one… me and Swedish chick would have none of it, or the vodka they were passing around. We didn’t get any flak about it, which was damn awesome. One thing that has never made sense to me was when people pressure people into drinking stuff they don’t want to. I mean, what difference does it make if I don’t want some hard alcohol? Or any alcohol… but anyway, it was great to see this going down

At one point, the Romanian dude mixing the shots looked up at me and just said, hilariously, “Today’s forecast, shitstorm!” Fantastic.

So we rolled out pretty late… Frenchy had another Armageddon and I think the dude mixing had 3 or so. Let’s just say, some members of our crew were toasted quite nicely.

Aussie brought a British dude, an American girl, and a Candian. So yeah, it was quite the mix. The Romanians spent the night crowded around Swedish chick trying to hit on her. She kept giving me the amused rolling eyes, it was all in good fun. In true form, the Aussie almost immediately sat down at a table with some older looking Swedish women and started chatting them up. Sadly, he didn’t get anywhere with them, but allegedly had an interesting conversation.

I really didn’t engage anyone for most of the time at the bar… although after a few beers, a very drunk Frenchy was telling everyone what a good man I was. Shortly after, he was telling me how much he loves Obama and how that guy is really so much better than the previous one. But he really hates it when people think that he only likes Obama because he is black. I tend to think that if Obama was white, his supporters would still be supportive and Frenchy enthusiastically agreed. Ahhhh drunken political conversation… how can you beat it?

So I think it was 1 when the bar stopped serving alcohol… I went to the bar to order one more beer and they turned the lights off right as I started to speak. And then they wouldn’t serve me. I mean, I understand having a cutoff, but come on! Oh well. Water is good too So Swedish chick insisted to take us to this other place… it was a bit tough to get everyone going since we had so many people and everyone was a bit blasted, especially Frenchy, who couldn’t seem to get himself to the bathroom because the music on the way there was making him dance. Hilarious, what a nutball.

So we finally headed out, and it took forever to get there. I wish I’d known how far it was, it took like 40 minutes walking or something. I guess this place was really fancy and it’s a nightclub where all the tourists go… Swedish chick had never been so she thought this was the right opportunity. I played babysitter for Frenchy, who stopped this girl on a bike and was like, “Excuse me excuse me!!! I need this bike.” I guess he thought he was a secret agent or something. He also almost jumped off a bridge… it wasn’t exactly warm out and he told us earlier that he can’t swim… so that was fun trying to talk him out of it. He was just like, “No really guys, I can do it. I think I can do it!” I thought he was just clowning, but he ended up standing on the other side of the railing looking at the water… one of the romanian guys somehow got him back on the sidewalk. I mean it wasn’t a high bridge or anything, but still… a bit nutty.

So we got to the club and it was packed and there was a cover charge, I don’t even remember what it was. I was tired and I had to use a toilet, so I decided to just head home… Frenchy agreed to come with. So that was a bit rough, he came down off his drunken high and then we both had to pee, and it was a long walk back. Somehow, we both made it with clean pants. I later found out that he was not kidding about jumping off the bridge… I guess his life flashed before his eyes and he was seriously going to do it. Crazy man!

This morning, he was in a bit of a rough state… I think he was disappointed with how he was acting, but he was also really down on himself about how he’s got to stop goofing around and be productive with his trip. He’s here to learn English and some cooking stuff and all he’s been doing is hanging out with me and enjoying himself. So that was too bad that he was feeling that way, but I didn’t know how to console him really. Hopefully he’ll feel better after some breakfast… personally, I thought it was an awesome night

Once again, fortune smiles upon the traveling man! I managed to get a bed here in Slotsskogens, but I did have to change rooms. I’m now in a 12 bed with a bunch of dudes that don’t really speak English. I did end up meeting this Australian guy in the next bunk, though… cool dude, another dude with a crappy girl story!

So this guy was in a relationship with this Swedish chick, long distance. He arranged to do a holiday in Sweden for a few months to see her, and two days before he arrives, she breaks up with him by email. Ouch. So he had already made his arrangements and everything, so he just came out here anyway. I remember I read somewhere that the number one important factor in a relationship, or to keep it together anyway, was proximity. I’m beginning to think more and more that it’s true. There’s plenty of relationships that survive distance, but it’s still such a huge thorn. Poor dude.

But anyway, the aussie is a bit of a playboy and has some game with the ladies. It’s interesting to hang out with someone like that… he’s not the typical ladies man, actually has a good brain about him. Studied some psychology and writes articles about how to tell if girls are interested in you and stuff like that. But yeah, his trip is a bit different than mine and basically just focused on bedding as many girls as he can. Somehow, we can still get along

I also met another French guy, a black dude who quit his job as a personal trainer to start working towards opening his own restaurant. He is a hobby chef and wants to turn that into a career. How cool! His English is not the best, but it’s enough to communicate. When he learned that I speak some French, he was very excited and seemed relieved to be able to communicate with someone. I guess part of his trip is about learning to speak English better, so for him I’m somewhat invaluable. So yeah, too good meets just in the morning!

I walked around town a bit during the day, last time I was here I really just saw the big park… Goteborg is actually a pretty dang cool place. There’s another really nice park that follows a river through the city. People just lay out there on nice days… great atmosphere! And yet, scenes like these really highlight how the well off folks are much less social. You can tell that not much intermingling occurs in this situation… people just camp out their little piece of grass and don’t really interact. How sad, makes me remember the conversation with that Swedish woman on the bus about poorer cultures and their communal attitudes. What’s wrong with us richer folks?

At night, met up with the aussie guy and went to dinner with him and these two norwegian and one swedish girl we met at the hostel. I had told the French chef that I’d shoot him a text about dinner, but I had an extra zero in his number so he didn’t get it. It ended up being a pretty cool night, had some Italian food for a semi reasonable price and then grabbed some beers in the town. When we got back, the aussie was really excited about having a sauna with some of the girls, but alas, it was closed for the night. Sorry dude! The French chef woke up and we hung out in the kitchen with the aussie and the girls… me and Frenchy decided to head to Stockholm today, along with Swedish chick. The aussie decided to stay for one more day to keep hitting on the Norwegians… even though they were a bit young! Hey whatever works!

So today, me and Frenchy grabbed some last minute tickets on the train and arrived at Stockholm. He made dinner after we got settled in the hostel, and let me tell you, that dude is the man! Basically just cooked up some salmon, mushroooms, broccoli, and potatoes… but he made this “simple” sauce and added some dill to the salmon. I don’t know what he did, but it was great! The best part is he insists that he LOVES to cook and if I enjoyed it, then he is very happy. So it’s a hugely mutually beneficial meet, language and the cooking thing on top of us getting along like old buds. Good dude with a good sense of humor. Booyah!

We met up with the Swedish chick and she showed us some cool bars around town… overall it was a nice and chill night. Not really sure what to do tomorrow, might walk around the town a bit or meet up with the Swede again. She’s having a move-out BBQ with her friends tomorrow, so we’re invited and aussie is supposed to show up as well! It’s going to get nutty I thinks!

Sadly, I’ve finally left the gorgeous fjord town of Flam. It was unforgettable, and if you ever do Norway, I highly recommend you spend at least a day or two there. Even if it’s just to take a ferry tour of the fjords there, it’s so cool there.

The neighboring town was called Aurland, and it was a little bit bigger. There were a couple of grocery stores and restaurants. It was 8km to get there by bike, and not all of it was downhill, that’s for sure I thought it would be nothing, but it was actually pretty tough getting over there. Not to mention, the bike path ended and I did about 1k on the highway. Cars gave me plenty of room, and there was about a foot or more of room on the shoulder for me. It was kind of cool in the end! I grabbed some home made fish chowder in a little cafe and wandered around the town. I’ve said it a billion times in Norway, but I’m still blown away that people live here.

In the afternoon, I was going to head back to Flam to meet up with tourist info peeps after their shifts, but instead I turned and headed out of Aurland away from Flam. The ride was awesome, more great scenery and waterfalls. I even came across a pair of black horses chilling out in a pen. When I rode up they gave me half-interested glances and mosied over to the fence… I mean when a gorgeous looking horse comes and says hi, you have to get off your bike and pet it, right? Yes, you do. They were so docile, I don’t know that I’ve really pet a horse before. But yeah, I had a little conversation with them before heading on. You just never know what you’re going to find out here!

Speaking of which, I turned a corner and came across a track circling a soccer field. What the heck! There’s a high school out there. How would you like to grow up playing soccer with mountains on either side of you and a roaring river right next to you? They had some extra netting near the river, but I’m sure they lose balls in that thing! People live here, yikes! There was an elementary school out there as well… I saw the class heading out for recess, which consisted of exploring the river a bit while wearing neon yellow vests to help the teachers keep them in line. This place rules.

I went a bit farther before I decided to turn back around. On the way back, I realized there was a library, or bibliotek as they call them here, right next to the elementary school! That means free internet! Ooooooooooo internet. Ahhhhhhh. I checked out some of my departure options. I’ve decided that I’m not going to go north after all. As much as I am loving Norway, I’ll have spent almost 2 weeks here soon and I need to get moving. It’s just 24 hour sunlight, it’s not what I came to Europe for. I’m here to see and taste culture, meet people from all over. It doesn’t help that it’s super expensive up here either. So I’ve decided I will head back to the wonderful hostel in Goteborg before heading to Stockholm.

Back at the housing, I spent the evening talking to the Italian dude… I guess before he gets going on his restaurant, he’s going to go on a 1 year around the world trip with one of his friends. This guy has some stones! I keep meeting people that make me think about how riskless this trip actually is… that’s fine by me, but I don’t see how people can just have nothing and then bum around happily. I wish I could be like that a little bit. Maybe after this trip I’ll understand.

The next day, it was time for goodbyes. After meeting up with Italian dude at the tourist info, I caught a bus to Voss. Didn’t get a chance to see the French girl before I bounced, oh well. I think she’s going to be back in France after July, so if I make my way back over there like I hope to, I’ll bump into her again. Another free couch to crash on, booyah!

Voss is cool, it’s more of a town than Flam or Aurland. And, there just happens to be some extreme sports festival going on there! Skydiving, kayaking, rafting, climing, rappelling, bungee… that kind of stuff. I was in a bit of an antisocial mood and just cooked. I bought some little tub of seafood stuff that turned out to be some kind of seafood salad I think. There was some goop holding it all together, I had thoought I would just cook up some pasta and some broccoli and mix it up with that… which I did. It tasted a little strange, I think the goop was dressing. Hey, it’s all food, right?

After food, I just walked around town a bit aimlessly… there was a still lake next to the town that was nicely reflecting the mountains, snapped some nice pics! Someone had built a massive bonfire next to it that was an incredible orange once it was lit. Nice and chill. I went to bed relatively early and had a nice rest, despite the early wake up to catch the train the next day.

I met a cool chick on the train to Oslo, she was kind of a young punk dressed in black, but the nicest girl. Again, appearances often indicate the wrong thing! But I’ve ranted enough about that. She swore a ton, but not in a caustic way. Just how she talked. Hopped on a bus to Goteborg and here I am. There was a security check on the way, they dumped everyone out of the bus and had us walk past a canine unit… I wonder what it was trying to sniff out, but nothing much happened. Just put us all in a room and then put us back on the bus. I ended up talking to a slightly older Swedish woman who gave me some suggestions for islands and beaches north of Goteborg to check out. I don’t think I’ll have time, I’m heading to Stockholm baby!

Upon arrival I went to an Italian restaurant just near the hostel, and then spent the evening chatting it up with some aussies and a brit while using the net. So hard to find time to write when there’s so many cool people. That’s something amazing to realize, there are really a ton of cool people in the world! Maybe there’s a lot of nutballs too, but there’s still plenty of interesting ones…

I don’t have a room for tomorrow night, the hostel is full but they might get something cancelled… we’ll see!

Well, I just can’t get out of Flam! The one bad thing about being here is that the internet access is quite limited… I spent some time in one of the hotel lobbies with an hour that I bought for too much, but I couldn’t find any good options to go where I’d like. I’ve been thinking to head north through Norway to Trondheim and then further to Bode to see 24 hour sunlight… but there’s no direct way to get there. All the trains and buses are expensive as well, so after much searching, I decided to grab a bus to a town called Voss on Monday and train from there on Tuesday to Dombas, which is on the way to Trondheim.

Phew!

Most of the deliberating occurred with the help of the tourist information folks, who helped me look for options and also let me use one of their desk computers to check it out. By the end of the day, they had invited me to a little party that night at someone’s house. It turned out to be an awesome night… basically, the town is staffed almost completely by people who come there just for the summer, which makes it sort of a little European mixing pot. It was a small little BBQ with a French girl, a Swedish girl and dude, German dude, and an Italian guy that showed up quite late.

I half-jokingly asked if someone had a guitar, but the French girl explained that she had one back at the other staff housing place! She got really excited about it and after we had some hot dogs (they all call them sausages) she went back and grabbed it. I forgot to mention that I walked 40 minutes out to the staff housing and then ended up “borrowing” one of the other staff member’s bikes. They all assured me it would be ok, c’est la vie!

So yeah, she brought the guitar back and she turned out to be pretty dang good! Kind of like a female Jack Johnson in the making. So it was a great experience, to sit around a little fire with a couple beers, some people from around the world, and share some musicality. Not to mention, it’s been like a month since I had my hands on a guitar. I need to buy one! This one was a half size classical, she said she bought it in a second hand store for 20 euros! Not bad! I need to look! Still, I’m not sure that I want to cart one around…

One of the pieces of the conversation really struck me… basically, working in the tourist info really means you get treated like crap. I guess most tourists just come in and talk to them like they are robots. Which is ridiculous because they are there to help them and for free! I’ve been so happy with the tourist info offices here in Europe. Easy to find, you always end up with a free city map, directions to wherever you’re going, and suggestions on what to do. It’s a fantastic resource! But apparently, many of the people that come in act like they are the king of the town and act like little babies whenever there’s a long line. The sad thing is that these particular tourist info folks are some of the coolest, kindest people. So it’s sad to think that they are doing this great job for very little compensation and getting crapped on. I worked a lot of retail jobs so I kinda know what it’s like. No one wants to or needs to be treated like a robot or something less! If someone is being paid to help you get info or find something, that doesn’t mean they should have to put up with abuse.

Yeah so as the night went on, it came out that I was leaving the next day and everyone was telling me I should stay in Flam and hang out a bit more… maybe I could stay in the staff housing! But I had bought the train ticket already so I was thinking I should really move on. Oh well, these were great people and the night was a lot of laughs and great stories… I was surprised to find that I had hiked more than most of them in Flam! I guess they don’t really take days off, which means they don’t have time to see this beautiful place. How tragic is that! I can’t imagine living here and not doing some crazy hikes. I guess that’s just how it goes.

After returning the bike to the other staff housing, I walked home… it was a super calm night with a cloudy sky, kind of bluish even though it was night time. The sound of the river next to me was nice and peaceful, and I started to realize… I actually did really want to stay in Flam and hang out, but the main reason I was planning to leave was the train ticket I’d bought. It was not refundable, but at the end of the day, who gives a crap!? How free was I if 40 bucks or whatever was going to coerce me to leave when I want to stay? So I decided I’d try to cancel it the next day, but no matter what I’d see about the staff housing.

The next morning I packed up my gear and told the tourist info peeps I was going to stay… the French girl said I could stay for free as long as we didn’t tell anyone I was crashing in one of the vacant rooms, but I asked if I could talk to the dude in charge anyway. I don’t like sneaking around and it was cheap. They introduced me to their landlord guy, who seemed a little bit uneasy about letting me stay, but agreed considering there was a vacant room. The rate was about 10 bucks per day… considering I was paying about 35 at the hostel, that was awesome.

So in the end, here I am at the staff housing just chilling out. The room is nice, the kitchen is great, plenty of bathrooms, and I have a mountain view out my window… not to mention some sheep neighbors. In the end, I think the money I save staying here versus the hostel will make up for the train ticket I lost, so not bad! There’s about 8-9 people staying in the house, and I feel a bit weird being there since I’m a tourist. I don’t feel like a tourist… maybe backpacker is a better term? Yeah that’s it, sounds like more of an action word and much cooler.

The Italian dude made authentic and organic lasagna for the whole house when he came home… this guy is super cool. He’s basically really poor, but one of the most rich in character sort of people I’ve ever met. He’s studied some organic cooking from one of his friends who is some kind of professional, and he is looking to start an Italian restaurant somewhere in Norway that employs only organic cooking methods… I’ll just say that the lasagna had one problem and that was the fact that there wasn’t more

But yeah, this guy was explaining about this high that he gets even working in tourist info, because when someone comes in and is lost and frazzled… if he can brighten there day and help them even a little, it’s enough for him. And he has no money, but he spent some extra that he got for working overtime to buy the ingredients for the lasagna. Again returns this crazy theme that material things don’t matter. I don’t know, it was really interesting to hear the guy’s story, it sounded like he went through a lot of changes in his life and ended up someone really cool.

Also got to hear some more of the French girl’s music, it’s funny because she has some English songs that I still can’t understand. In the songs, she puts emphasis on different syllables of the words. So for example, toGETHer has the emphasis on the middle syllable, geth. But she would put it on the first one, to. TOgether da dun da da. Strange! Most of my songs are about girls and junk like that, which I want to change. She has songs about a lot of crazy stuff… like she had one song about all the roadkill in the world. Hehe, who thinks of that! Nutty.

So yeah, another great night in Flam, I’m pretty glad to have stayed here another few nights. Tomorrow, I’ll take a bike to one of the neighboring towns and see if I have time for some more hiking… honestly, I’m still feeling a little hiked out!

So the girl that showed me pictures of Norway recommended that I stay in Flam… I’ve got to say, I owe her one! The bus ride to Gudvangen was just as impressive as the train to Bergen. Approaching the ferry, the bus kind of snakes down this incredibly steep incline with flowing waterfalls at some of the turns and an amazing valley view. People were craning their necks trying to get the perfect photo and after a while I decided to stop and just enjoy the sight of the place.

The ferry was incredible. I thought I’d been in the fjords before, but this was something else. The ones near Bergen were quite wide, where this area was much more narrow and there were a variety of waterfalls on each side… some small and wispy, some gushing. The weather also made the experience a little surreal… quite cloudy but calm, and without the bright sun, it was easy to open my gaze and absorb the beauty of the green cliffs on both sides. Near the end of the trip, some seagulls flew above us at the same speed and seemed to just hover… everyone on the boat was delightedly taking pictures… meanwhile, I waited for the squadron of birds to start dropping bombs. Fortunately, they didn’t.

Flam is a tiny town right at the end of a fjord… it has one grocery store, a couple of restaurants, and no stoplights. There’s one hostel which is located in the camping ground and also a pub that might also be a brewery… other than that, there’s the train station and a souvenir shop. Not much else to Flam, just mountains all around you and the big snaky arm of the sea. There were still plenty of waterfalls feeding a river that continued onward and cut through the mountains next to the main road there.

Finally! I’m glad to be out of the big cities of Europe and really get into some of the most beautiful countryside. On the way to the hostel, I bumped into another backpacker who was trying to find it. When we arrived, we found out we were roommates, but she’d be leaving in the morning to continue on to Bergen. It was nice to meet someone right off the bat, we grabbed some dinner and then headed out hiking along the river. I had hoped to find some rough hiking paths, but this was just a road… the sidewalk disappeared after a while and there were signs cautioning drivers to watch out for hikers and bikers… yikers!

My new companion was pretty cool, a Chinese girl studying in Finland for 2 years… I forget the exact specialization, but it was some sort of biology that involved developing sports medicine. Apparently she’s done a lot of experimenting on rats… like introducing chemicals into their tissue and then observing the result on the muscle mass and such. Some of these experiments involve ending the rats’ lives, I’ve always been curious how they do it! If you can’t bear the thought of rat death, skip to the next paragraph. Apparently, there’s two common ways to kill a rat in the name of science. The most common is to break their spine by pulling their tail, which kills them immediately. The other is to inject a bubble of air into their bloodstream. Less common because they die slower if the bubble is a little small.

I asked how she felt about doing it, and she said what you might expect… it’s regrettable to end an animal’s life, but you just have to think about what is gained from it and make sure you capture the data so it’s not a waste. I think that’s a fine answer, especially when you are researching something that can improve health. She was a good walking partner, at first she was acting like she was out of shape for the hike, but I think we walked about 5 hours total… was good times!

Back at the hostel, my companion went to bed early and I farted around on the computer for a while and ended up going to sleep around 11. It’s nice to go to bed on time sometimes, even if you’re traveling. Roomy left the next morning after we grabbed some breakfast, strange to think I can have such an in-depth conversation and walk for 5 hours with someone and end up not even knowing them for 24 hours. Reminds me of Fight Club and the whole single serving friend thing. If you haven’t seen it, watch it… not just for that part, it’s a great movie.

So now that I was alone, I decided it was time to put my hiking game face back on… trip to the store for some hiking supplies and then I was off! There was a sizable waterfall not too far from town that I decided to tackle first. It was a lot more strenuous hike than I had anticipated, there was a path but it was quite steep… not exactly wet ground but humid enough to provide some slip. Standing next to the gush of that thing was incredible. There was a lot of mist and spray, but I saw a path that could take me to a little right in front of the fall… I slowly made my way down there and stood in front of the thing for a few minutes. It was crazy loud and the mist attacked me and made me turn away a bit. Dang nature is powerful sometimes!

Right before the waterfall, I had noticed a sign that point to a path that continued further up the mountain… I had some plans to do a pretty tough hike at another spot but I thought a little diversion wouldn’t be too bad. It turned out to be even harder than the first way up… there were a couple of spots where it was just inclined rock face with no footholds, was extra careful getting up there. Had a couple slips and my ankles held me nicely, it’s good to feel like my bum one can take a little stress again… doesn’t mean I was going to be to careless (mom).

So the end result of this climb wasn’t as impressive as I hoped… it turned out there was another waterfall about twice as high up as the first… it was still cool but I felt underwhelmed after the first one. The view was great from up there, but not much better than the first. I didn’t feel like it was a waste though, I didn’t feel I needed the reward for the effort on that one. It was just fun making my way up and getting up there safe. There was a cool little hut up there with a pitched tent inside, I guess they weren’t home Grabbed a sandwich and headed back down.

The second leg of the path was a bit rough, and as a result I was filthy. Who cares! My shoes were soaked through and I didn’t mind. Going back down the inclined rocks was interesting… normally I only go places with secure places to step, because getting down sucks. But this was actually cool, I gave up trying to walk down the smooth parts and just sort of slid… I think it would have been more difficult if my shoes weren’t wet. Seems like the opposite of what you’d expect, but it worked out!

Walked up the road a few kilos, it was getting a bit late and I still needed to make it back to the grocery store before it closed. But I decided to do a 9 km one way hike made of fairly steep switchbacks… I figured I could guage the time depending on my progress and turn back if I was running out. It was really hot and I kept repositioning my hat to protect my face and neck… I kept challenging myself to keep walking on each switchback, made great time and forced myself to keep a steady pace.

After a while I found a good view to take a break and grab a sandwich… I think one of the elevation maps said that this thing took me 800 meters high or something… I’ll need to look it up. I ran into some other American or Canadian travelers I had seen on the ferry up there, they told me that the path on the map didn’t exist any more. What! I was like, I didn’t do all this work getting here to not make it up the damn thing, I’d make my own path if I had to! They gave me a good luck and promised to find me in town to see if I made it.

It was just like they described… about 5 minutes later, I found a sheep farm with a big gate across the road and maybe 50-70 sheep laying around on the other side of the gate. I tried to knock on the door of the farmhouse but there was a locked gate and some Norwegian signs that deterred me. I did notice a little sheep path kind of going up some rocks to the left… after tracing the way, I saw that the fence and gate only blocked the road until a spot where the little sheep path went. So up I went. There were some lambs chilling out max up there who freaked out as I approached… I tried to calm them down but I guess I’m one scary mofo!

On the other side of the gate, the road was covered in sheep crap, it wasn’t that mushy or anything, somewhat manageable. So I kept on going, most of the sheep gave me a tired look and only a couple bolted on approach. After the sheep the path was back to normal. Ha, take that silly American couple! Until now, the view was mostly blocked by vegetation except for some spots. Up here, It was much more open and bright… I could tell I was getting close to the top. Once again, I was running out of water too, so I began to ration. Finally, I made it.

By made it, I mean I found another farm that the map outlined as the destination of the hike. And let me tell you… I was friggin high! Both elevation-wise and adrenaline-wise. The valley below and the other side of it made such a fantastic sight. There was still some snowcap on the mountains… I was above it! It’s interesting to look down at snowcap and waterfalls. And it was the first day of summer no less! Crazy. The road continued, and I had time, so so did I!

There was another farmhouse, knocked and no one was home. Since my water was low, I kept thinking I’d take the last of it and turn around, but I kept picking a new turnaround spot down the road. After another 20 minutes, I knew I made the right choice. Let’s just say, I ended up eating lunch on a rock right at the mouth of where the snow was melting into a roaring river down to the waterfalls below. It was an awesome spot, to see the water gushing out of a little hole in the snow. As I was out of water, I filled my bottle from the flood… I felt a bit like a yuppy as I considered that I didn’t know if the mountain spring water was safe to drink.

It was so cold! And refreshing! I can’t explain how it felt to reach this place. There were many times I thought I should turn around or stop and rest and I just kept pushing myself forward, and then I end up in a place like this. I felt bad for the couple that turned back, all because of a stupid little sheep gate. They didn’t find me in town, too bad. After relaxing for a bit, I started back down. I felt the mountain buzz again and ran most of the way down. I saw piles of rocks that defied physics, and went off path a couple times to catch some more great vantage points.

I’m kind of glad I was out there alone… I felt a kind of elation to know that I’d made it to that place completely on my own. It makes you feel strong, to climb that whole way on your feet and stand at the edge of something breathtaking.

So yeah, I made my way down and jogged or ran most of the way. I learned in Bergen that it takes more energy to try to keep a slow pace on some slants, so I just let the mountain push me down. Even a slow jog felt more comfortable than a walk, and I wasn’t even breathing heavy. Still, I could tell that I was going to eat a TON that night! Made it back to town and to the store with plenty of time to spare. I treated myself to some of my tuna broccoli mushroom pasta. So dang good!

I feel overhiked, and after sleeping for about 20 hours, I’ll see what I can do about planning my way out of Flam tomorrow… I think I got what I came here for and more

It’s nice sometimes to just take it easy. Especially when taking it easy involves a 4 hour ride on a boat through fjord country. I could comment how beautiful it was, but I’ve been doing a lot of that already. I will say that the fjords were quite green, and since the water is so clear up here, the water gets a shade of green as well which looks awesome. I can’t stop saying, “I can’t believe people live here!” It’s just crazy to think that people wake up and look out their windows and see the kind of scenery I’m looking at. I guess the winter sucks, so it’s not paradise by any means, but still! Gah! I bet the snow looks great as well.

After the boat tour, LA girl went souvenir shopping, the Scots went back to the hostel, and I went to finally collect my little bit of fish from the market. I talked to the fish chick for a bit and then she explained that she would give me a sample of all the different kinds of salmon. Score! She started with the wild salmon I had bought, I guess you can eat it raw and it was amazing. Then I got some farmed salmon that had some sort of seasoning and dressing on it, also wonderful. Then some smoked salmon that I liked the best, after that she had to help some other customers but I did score a little chunk of whale meat from one of the other workers… that was pretty awesome.

It turns out she’s from Italy and just working there for the summer, some of the other fish people were doing the same. I like that, FISH PEOPLE. It got really busy and I ended up just standing there waiting for more free fish for like 15 minutes, finally I told her I’d let her work but first I wanted to have a smoked salmon sandwich… bartered down to 40 from 50 krona, so 6.50 or so in american. It turned out they were out of bread and she gave me another 10 krona and enough salmon for my own bread. It was actually more than enough, good times! I wished I was staying longer, I probably could have hung out with the Italians after work or something. I think with the onslaught of impatient tourists, it was nice for someone to actually talk with them.

The night before, South African dude had suggested we have ourselves a little BBQ somewhere after I mentioned that sports area… so we met up with the Scots again, grabbed a portable grill (will explain in a bit), some beers and dogs and started up the hill… right as it began to rain. Score! It wasn’t an easy walk back up there either, so we ended up finding another place that looked like an outdoor concession building that was closed and setting up there. So I don’t know if they exist in the US, but out here they make these awesome little portable grills that cost like 2-3 dollars. It’s like a little baking pan full of charcoal with some kindling in there to get it going and a thin network of metal on top for the grilling surface. I guess the NOrwegians just buy those little guys and then have impromptu BBQ wherever they damn well please. Badass. In the end, you toss it in the trash and it’s done.

So we set it up on a rock and struggled with the instructions… it was a 6-7 step procedure on the label, but we didn’t read the language so we really just went for the bull in the china shop approach and just dropped a match in the thing. We did guess from the directions that we should wait 20 minutes for it to get hot… which ended up working out nicely. The rain was mild just in the window we got the grill going, so we got quite lucky there. Yeah, BBQ in the rain. Not something I’d expect to do in Norway! sA guy had suggested we buy this bag of fried onions, which ended up being a little sweet and awesome on the dogs. Never had a rainy BBQ before!

Afterwards, the baker Scot went to bed and we decided to grab some beers at the grocery store and play some cards… apparently they don’t sell beer at the grocery store after 8! I was thinking it was to give the bars the business because bars charge so much, but SA guy said the government is trying to control the Scandanavian overuse of alcohol. Who knows. Still sucked. Ended up at the hostel bar playing Spit and making card houses. I’ve never made it to two stories before and somehow I did it with ease. Oh my goodness, the whole trip was worth it just for that! Ok so it wasn’t a big deal, but it was. Not.

So I might have mentioned it before, but tomorrow I’m heading out aiming to stay in Flaam… there’s a self guided tour out here called Norway in a Nutshell that has a bunch of different routes… I bought myself tickets on the first few legs of a roundtrip back to Bergen, so I will take a train to Voss, a bus to Gudvangen, and then a ferry through the fjords to Flaam, which is actually right at the end of one of the fjords. Looking forward to getting even deeper into the nature country!

Hiking up a mountain can sure give you a burst of energy… which is strange. Here you’ve just spent a huge amount of energy over the course of hours and when you get to the end, you’d expect to just collapse or sit down for an hour or something. But no, you get up there and the view of the place fills your lungs with air and makes you feel like you could hike 3 times as far… ok so maybe that’s not the case with everyone, but it happened to me.

The fjord tour is at 10, not 10:30. Oops. SO I sort of rushed to the tourist office to buy a ticket only to discover there was no need to rush! So I bought a ticket for the next day and decided that this meant today would be spent hiking. The weather was fantastic too, so oh well! I went home and changed and then popped over to the grocery store to grab some supplies… ham and cheese for sandwiches, fruit, water. I’ve decided not to run out of water again!

And then I was off, chose to take the tram up to the same spot I went with the crew the day before. Figured I’d already hiked up it once, might as well skip that and get on to the new stuff. Went back to the same lake and headed out from there. I started on what you could loosely call a path through the wilderness, and after a bit found myself back on the main, nicely paved gravel path. I had some vague ideas about where I was going to… just picked some lakes to aim for and from there I didn’t even have a map. After a while I found a little detour that looked like it used to be a stream or something, basically a bunch of rocks that sort of made a path uphill… you just never know what you’re going to find out here! After a bit of hiking up that, I found a little camping area full of kids with a couple of adults herding them. Found a quiet spot with a nice view to have a sandwich and relax.

I checked my map and found I was a little off course, but used my compass and headed off in the right direction. After a nice hike through the woods, crossing a few bridges over streams and a river, I found myself hiking at a steep angle and ended up at a rather large lake at the base of one of the mountains. I guess it wasn’t really the base, since I was already on the mountain, but you get the idea. There were signs all over the place explaining that this lake was used for drinking water and don’t poop in it etc. It was dammed on one side and I saw a large pipe that, I”m guessing, took the water to the city.

It was so peaceful… I saw maybe one other dude up there with his dog, but it was just serene. A little ways up the path, there was a freshly made bench perched on a nice overlook of the place. So calming there, to see the sharp cliff leading down into the water. It was so clear and reflected the blue sky so well, just beautiful. I found myself once again wishing that everyone could experience places like these. Cameras and words just can’t represent the feeling of a place… watching something on a TV or a computer screen just can’t compete… you can try to imagine what the scene is like, but there’s nothing like viewing a lake that fills your periphery… or the mountains, they just don’t fit in the camera lens… even if they did you’re still looking at them inside a little plastic and metal box. And you miss the things that your rational, conscious mind doesn’t even realize. The subtle sound of the water and the forest, barely perceptible but there. Or sometimes the silence of a place. The breeze that cools you and then soothes you as you sit there taking it all in. Um, it was nice.

If only there was a camera that could capture an emotion. Alas.

Found another serene little spot with a little building that looked like a concession stand at a suburban baseball game or something, but it was closed. There were a few still ponds and another lake with tables and two old ladies sitting there chatting. I left them to their devices and grabbed my own table. Ham and cheese baby! The lake was at the edge of the map, so after my rest with the beautiful view, I headed out into the unknown! The path was quite paved and shortly on the way, one that was more of a walking trail with 3 little bridges made of just lateral wooden planks… off I went. It began to get a little rougher and instead of grass, there were these spongy moss plants that didn’t look good for walking on. The path became just a thin dirt trail through the place. There was a mirror still pond after a bit, and it framed up perfectly with the large cliff I had seen at the dam. Awesome!

Soon I began to find some large boulders that looked like they might be on the edge of a cliff with a nice view, so I left the path and bounded through the spongy moss thingies… I kind of felt uneasy like the plants would be bad for my shoes or maybe give me some rash, but I risked it! In the end, I just felt like a silly yuppy… the plants were very resilient and actually had some bounce to them, so it was not bad at all. I’d love to make friends with some wilderness guide and then I could learn whats up in the nature… I’m starting to think after this trip, being able to take treks like this will be quite influential in deciding where to hang my hat.

When I arrived at the rock, I was right and the view opened up to a green valley with a large blue lake and then some civilization around at the end, stunning view. Sometimes, the path doesn’t lead you to the good stuff and you just have to go after it yourself! There was some obstruction of part of the valley and I knew that if I just got a little higher, I could see it all. Traipsed back to the path and followed it up a bit, then detoured again a bit deeper this time and found another boulder with an even better view. There’s nothing like being rewarded with a fantastic view in the nature! I returned to the path exhilerated. It kept climbing up the hills, but it wasn’t terribly steep.

Shortly, I passed a couple of older men, and I only said hello to them as I started to climb some more boulders off the path, but something about the way we looked at each other communicated the excitement about the moment. It was cool to see old folks that made it all the way up here and still had a smile on their face. I hope I can be that way when I grow old… still excited to feel alive and experience things. For many years, I’ve been trying to always look forward and anticipate the excitement of the future more than dwell on the pains of the past… I hope even as I near death I can continue this endeavor.

I’ve also been exploring the notion that when one dwells on the past and feels regret etc., it’s like you’re applying the past to the future and the present. So when you are upset about something in the past, you’re not thinking, oh I was so hurt then, that sucked then. It’s more like, the now and the future could be so different if only this had happened. Or, if I had made this choice or had this luck, I would be so happy now and tomorrow. But the past is gone, so it only has power if it affects the present or the future. So for me, the ultimate attitude about past, present, and future is to learn what you can from the past and then stop feeling the pain of it. It’s nice to look back and remember things sometimes, but the true value of memory is to improve today and tomorrow, not to get stuck wishing that yesterday was different.

I’m not saying that I can live this way so perfectly, but it’s what I’m aiming for. I think it’s sad to feel like the future holds nothing valuable for you, like your life is over and you’re just trying to get through the rest of your days. One of my great hopes in life is to always believe that there is something on the horizon. And when I don’t have that, I will make it happen.

Another fine anyway, when I got back to the path, there was a dip in it through some trees and on the other side, was a house! It turns out that at the top of the path I was on, there are some cabins that I’m guessing you can rent. Two older women, probably with the men from before, were just heading out. I was astounded that there could be a house here… we were so high up and I could see all around. Bergen was gorgeous below and I could easily see the other mountain peaks, I wasn’t quite at the top of the one I was on, but almost. And again with the benches, there was one a bit of the way from the house just perched on some boulders. of course I had to relax there. Wow. again, such a view. I need to think of new creative ways to describe amazing sights out here. Wow, awesome, crazy, I don’t have enough words. It reminds me of the movie Contact, there’s a part where Jodie Foster sees some gorgeous stuff and she’s just like, “No words, no words… so beautiful… so… beautiful.”

Yeah so I chilled on the bench and found some more good outlooks, from one of them I saw another cliff a little ways down with some sort of little concrete column or monument on it with a thin trail leading out to it. Of course I had to get there! Found the path, practically ran down it to another stunning view and another bench, this one was just wood set into a part of the rock. The monument thing was nothing, just a column of concreate with some metal block on top, probably a post that ran through it to give it structure, or maybe something was mounted there. I used it to take some timed pictures of myself in triumphant poses. Booyah! Exhileration is a good word! I had come so far and used so much energy, and yet I felt like I could go so much further… so I did.

After basking in the adrenaline, I headed back to the house and back down the path. There was another way to go from the house, but it looked like it was more down the mountain than up. I made it back to the nice paved one, and around one bend, I saw a steep incline with much larger rocks and less gravel. Charge! Soon, the path was just made of block-like rocks that were resting on each other mostly slanted in to spite me and test my ankles. Many who know me know that I have a bum left ankle, but after all the walking I’ve done in Europe without incident, I think it’s quite strong at this point. The hike was becoming a bit more difficult, but I could tell that I was getting close to another great view, so how could I stop!?

I passed a few more mountain ponds/lakes, they were everywhere! Finally, I found myself at the top top top of the mountain. It was incredible… this was an even better view than before, and the cliff was steep enough so it was pretty much unobstructed. I looked down at the stone column thing and realized how high I had come. Fantastic. There were a couple of rectangular shaped columns of rocks that looked as though a bunch of people passing by had, over time, created them. They were like guardians of a place that was touched more by sun and wind than shoes, standing their posts like sentries that time would never abandon. Ok so they were really just piles of rocks, but be a little romantic, sheesh!

Before inspecting them I took a few moments to just bask in the view… it was not serene as the wind was quite active up there. But despite the gale, it was a gentle place. It’s strange to see vegetation that doesn’t receive a lot of traffic… it seems stronger and wilder, kind of similar to wild vs captive animals. Grass that is walked on all the time becomes softer and tamer, wild grass remains tough and resilient. Interesting parallel, or maybe the mountain air had some weed in it or something.

When I climbed up to the rock columns, I was surprised by another mountain pond and I also realized that you can hike along the top of the mountains! It reminded me of Braveheart, in the scene were he’s just kind of running around in the mountains and along the top. Just like I imagine the Highlands of Scotland to be. So off I went, still buzzing on my adrenaline, Let’s call it mountain buzz. After going up so many inclines and steep parts, I began to jog and then run through the more level part up at the top. There was a radio tower and some small buildings maybe a mile or so away, so I figured I’d head there and think about turning around. It was getting late, about 5 or so and I’d been out since 12… didn’t feel it but I knew at some point my body would say, sorry I’m done now.

There must have been like 7 different mountain lakes up there on that jog. Ridiculous, so clear, so blue. Good pictures to say the least! As I neared the houses (the tower was actually more inland) I noticed a group of 8 or so young folks walking on a path that lead down the mountain, I asked what the quickest path back to Bergen was and they said it was that way, and only 1 hour or so! Here I thought I’d have 3 hours back for my 5 hours here, so I decided I could stay up there longer.

The small buildings were actually a sheep farm, and some mountain sheep cast funny looks at me as I passed like, “Hey punk, this is our mountain, what are you doing up here” Again, maybe the mountain air has weed in it. The wind was pretty bad and I sat down behind a large boulder to have another sandwich. The rock made a perfect dead zone, and it was strange to see the grass and everything blowing around without hearing it at all. So quiet actually. Suddenly, some mischievous sheep let out a large baaah that sounded more like a human impersonation of a baaaah and it scared the shit out of me! She knew what she was doing, damn you you ewe!

I hiked a bit more up there, the path was more coarse and full of large broken rocks, got a couple more nice views and then headed down. Going down for me is worse. I find that it takes less work and more care… so it’s easier to slip but it’s less taxing on the muscles. I like the up more… but whatev. It was nice to have a different path down too, although sometimes it’s great to take the same path because you see views you miss going the other way. So you can’t lose, booyah!

On the way down, I happened upon a little sports complex kind of area with sand volleyball courts, a track, some soccer nets… people had busted out the BBQ and there was a lot of fun occurring. I think there was a game like ultimate frisbee with a football instead of a frisbee going down, I was tempted to try to join but I was destroyed and the mountain buzz was definitely gone. Still, another holy shit people live here moment. Again, I’m seeing the place at the best time of year, but still. They got it good in the summers up hyah!

I made it to the bottom a little after 7, stopped at the fish market and they had been packing up… the fish chick gave me a hard time for being so late and I told her I’d come back tomorrow. I made myself a huge feast of chicken, broccoli, and noodles. HUNGRY. Thought I’d spend the evening taking it easy, but one of the Scots invited me to join her and some dude she met on a train for a drink. Why not! He was a cool dude, a Portuguese descended South African working in Switzerland. People get around out here! It was good times, we found a bar where the beer was still ridiculous but only 7-8 dollars for the cheap stuff. The place was really chill, it was definitely a bar but there were like old style couches and stuff in the room… the bartender told me they had open mic the night before! Dammit, can’t believe I missed it. He told me about a place down the road that had it tonight and I was all over it.

That is, until we went there and they said they don’t do it in the summer. What! I’d think they’d have it more in the summer, I guess it’s just backwards. Damn you Bergen! I guess it makes sense, people want to go camp and be in the nature with their short daylight. We headed back to the hostel and tomorrow will be the fjord tour. The Scots and some girl from LA are taking it as well… I’m not really a fan of the LA girl, she seems kind of bland and not much going on upstairs. Always has an opinion, rarely interesting. Still, she’s nice enough and it won’t really detract from the tour or anything. Whatev! In the traveling scenario, it’s easy to get along with most everyone, but there are some people you’d rather see more than others!

Today, I overslept. I’ve been getting used to the sunlight, and our room has no windows and stayed dark. Must have slept through my alarm until 11:05 or so. Little did I know that they kick you out of this hostel from 11-1 for cleaning! It was posted on some bulletin boards, but no one at reception mentioned it to me. Sheesh! I also only had the first night booked, so I had to rush to the desk to extend myself a few nights. Asked the dude if they are pretty strict with the kick out and if I could grab a shower, he basically just said no to that. Thanks buddy! I rushed back to the room to grab some laundry and toiletries… I usually need a shower to wake up, so I was a little out of it.

After a short search for the laundromat, I found it with a “Be back soon” sign on the door, sweet! Went to tourist info to check out some… tourist info. Mainly fjord tours, I read in my Frommers about a tour called Norway in a Nutshell that was supposed to be pretty awesome. There’s a few tours, but I am considering taking one that starts in Bergen, then a train to Voss, then a bus to a mountain town called Gudvangen, then a ferry ride through the fjords to a town called Flaam at the end of one of the fjords, then a train back to Bergen via a mountain town called Myrdal. I already saw the last leg, and Flaam was my next place to stay, so I thought I’d see if I could just skip the last two train rides. Didn’t have time, but grabbed a booklet about the tour.

Got the laundry going, ate some kebab and walked around… they have a pretty famous fish market there in Bergen so I checked that out. All the people working there had these neon orange overalls with navy blue hoodies, pretty fisherman looking. It’s kind of pandemonium there, lots of old folks meandering around looking at the fish. I had heard whale meat is easy to get in Bergen, but everything looked so expensive. I didn’t see salmon prices, but I figured there was so much it would be reasonable… would buy some later.

That evening, some Scottish girls I was rooming with came back and I ended up taking a walk around town with them. They were sisters and had grown up on a sheep farm in Shetland… as they said, they don’t have that many sheep, just about a thousand. Whoa! I don’t know, sounds like a ton to me! I guess everything is relative. One of them is studying environmental chemistry in Glasgow and the other happily works in a bakery in Shetland. They were homeschooled for the second half of the education, I guess they were getting homework that they weren’t taught, so their parents decided to try to do a better job with them and their 4 siblings. That must have been fun!

They didn’t have any money, but they said that the farm life was a great life… their parents were hard-working, positive, and always around. This trip has only reinforced my opinion that kids don’t need material things, just time with their folks, to have a good life. Growing up in Libertyville, the ultimate suburb, I became very cynical about suburban life. Basically my view is this: The parents grew up with very little and vowed that their kids would have a better life and not know the same kind of hardship. So, many of them ended up at jobs they didn’t really want because they were paid the right amount. Many had a long commute because the good job and the good schools/houses/communities aren’t always near each other.

So what you end up with is strung out parents that aren’t happy with their job and they come home to these spoiled kids that are all messed up because they don’t see their parents enough. But, they have plenty of toys and stuff to distract them. So they become focused on the material stuff… it’s an ugly cycle! I mean, in my high school, there were so many brilliant kids that were just conflicted and messed up. Well no wonder. It’s like the kids don’t have the monetary hardship, but they are burdened with an emotional one instead. Yeesh! And the parents too, I think so many feel frustrated with their kids and part of this is an element of resentment. They are working so hard to give the kids a good life, but the kids don’t appreciate it enough. It just doesn’t work for either party!

Now, I’m just saying that this is the norm that I’ve observed. I’ve known some parents who work hard and still manage to spend time and energy with their kids. I’m not saying that suburban life doesn’t produce good peoples… I mean, this was the environment that produced yours truly, the most humble and amazing person I know. But seriously, I’m not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but I think one of the reasons I turned out well was because my parents made a conscious decision that one parent would stay home with the kids until they were old enough to be independent. It’s like the simplest thing in the world. All kids need is love and time, and maybe parents that don’t bring anger and stress home from work. Gah!

So yeah, if I ever have my own family, I’ll make sure I can provide this kind of positive environment and if I can’t, then I won’t have them. It is a choice to have kids or not, especially these days. I mean, I’m young yet, but we’ll see. I guess it’s a moot point since I’m missing half of the equipment required to have kids at this point Maybe even more than half

Ok enough parent ranting, I just will say that the place that I’m at in life is due in no small part to what my parents did with me. There was a lot of kicking and screaming along the way, but I am happy to be who I am, happy to be where I am in my life, and I owe that to them. Maybe I’ve figured out a lot of things on my own and from my bro and sis, friends, people I’ve met… but I had a strong foundation to build from and stand on. Thanks mom and dad! Mush mush!

Anyway, the first place I went with the Scots was a nice round fountain in the main part of town, and the other park we found was an awesome park full of druggies! Just inside the park, we found a couple of benches to hang out on and chat, when one of the girls noticed the discarded syringes on the ground! When we continued through the park, we took a turn and there were some younger dudes that said something in Norwegian to me, not that threatening or anything just sounded like a “What’s up”. I just said hey and continued walking with the girls… same thing happened again about 100 meters later. I didn’t feel worried about it at all, at the time I just figured they were hanging out, maybe something was going down but I didn’t get any danger signals from them.

So don’t worry mom! It was like 4 oclock in the afternoon anyway. The rest of the park was lovely as well, there were some college kids juggling a soccerball and some others just laying out. Nice and relaxing. We ended up walking back through town and the girls decided to do some reading, so I headed back to the fish market! Hello salmon, I am coming for you! I walked boldly to the fish lady, and said I just want a small cut of salmon… she had me point to the spot I wanted her to cut and she cut me maybe a 5 ounce portion. She weighed it and told me it cost 70, which is like 9-10 dollars. Whoa! At home I get 6 oz salmon fillets for 4. I thought a second and decided this opportunity to have fresh salmon from the fish market in Bergen might not come again so quickly and told her to wrap it up.

She replied by asking, “Do you know what this is?” I said no, and I am kicking myself for not being a smartass and saying something like, “Ummmm i’m pretty sure it’s salmon.” She explained that it was the best wild salmon in the place, and it’s like some 450 krona per kg, which is about 35 per pound or something crazy. But she said it’s the best salmon in the world and I’d know that when I tasted it, yeah yeah just wrap it up. It turns out she meant 79, not 70. I could tell it was an honest mistake in the English, but asked her about it and she seemed to think I was really upset with the price. She was like, “If I came to the market to buy a little fish and then it was that price, I would be very upset.” So she told me to come back the next day and she would give me a little fish. I took my expensive salmon to the hostel and looked up a good simple way to cook it.

I had some free corn from the hostel and some pasta as well, the internet explained that I could just put a little oil, lemon, salt and pepper on the salmon and in the pan and cook it up that way. So I prepared my little feast… some other people in the hostel were a little interested by some real cooking effort going down in the hostel and made some encouraging comments. My favorite part was the lemon, I’ve never cut up a lemon before and the internet told me to cut a hole in the bottom. Basically I cut it up in a few different places before I got some juice out of it. Chefmaster Mike in the hizzy yall! In the end, I put just a little too much salt on it, but eating it with my bland noodles kind of balanced it out. The salmon itself was in fact the best salmon I’ve ever had. It tasted like salmon, but the flavor was somehow just more… flavorful. The consistency was different as well… a little firmer or something. Oh mommy was it nice! The best part is, at 79 krona, it still was cheaper than any restaurant out here. Meals run at 100 or more, it’s sick. A kebab and a drink cost me 55 krona, 8 dollars. Sheesh!

After dinner, grabbed a beer with the chemist Scot and some other roommate from England. He was a social worker that basically sets people up with housing. Interesting chat, he said his work is both inspiring and making him cynical. On the one hand, some good people that need a hand up get some help. On the other hand, there’s corruption and people taking advantage. He said the more memorable situation is where there’s a single mom with a kid that gets knocked up again and then asks for a bigger house. And she gets it over honest, hard-working people that need it. He said one woman did this all the way up to 5 kids. Sheesh! But it was nice to throw back a couple of beers. Oh and they were about 9-10 dollars each. My kronas are flying away!

Tomorrow will be a 4 hour fjord starting at 10:30 and then maybe I’ll finally get to do some playing in the mountains! I have a feeling that the Bergen hiking will beat out the Oslo stuff I did… the view of the sea here is just amazing!

I was going to wake myself at 5:45, but history has taught me that 5 minutes can make the difference, so I gave myself an extra 15. I had a little scramble to find my passport, which delayed me and I made it to the train with only 5 minutes before departure. So that worked out quite well! I love train travel vs plane travel! You can show up at the buzzer, running with a suitcase in each hand and your shoes barely on and jump on the train as it begins to move. No problem! No security line, nothing. Traveling the way it should be, heck you can even buy the ticket 5 minutes before the train leaves. Sometimes on the train! It’s too bad the US is so spread out… someone needs to bust out some mag trains or something that are just as fast as flights. I was thinking about why the trains don’t need security, I guess it’s not so easy to hijack it because it’s on a set track. Never thought about that!

Anyway, started chatting with a Norwegian girl in front of me(score I finally met a local in a country I was in!!!). She was awfully nice and the ride was indeed amazing! Sadly, I was seated on the right side, which just had a steep hill next to it. Most of the good views were on the left! I still leaned over a sleeping dude to snap some photos… now that should earn me a few tourist stripes! Booyah! There were waterfalls, there was snow, there were pancakes… Yes I said pancakes baby! I didn’t mention, but me and J went on a pancake search in Germany with no success. I guess they just don’t eat pancakes over here, but Scandanavia is different! It was the blandest pancake I ever had, but they were serving them up in one of the mountain town cafes we stopped at. Mmmm. There was also this really cool stop at the highest point on the route, snow and ice everywhere. Yet it wasn’t really that cold. I hopped off and snapped me up some pictures, gorgeous!

During the ride, I was just looking forward to the nap I would take on the other end, but when my new friend invited me to come on a little hike with her sister and possibly her boyfriend, how could I just sleep? We arrived and walked to the hostel… for the first time on the trip, I did not reserve my room in advance. The Brazilian dude from Oslo had also gone to Bergen and told me that his hostel there was nice, so I checked there first… no problem they had room! Dropped of the stuff, and actually bumped into the dude. So we headed out to meet up with Norse (Norwege?) chick’s sister. Brazilian dude had actually hiked a bit of the way up the path we were going to do earlier in the day and there was a tram that went up to the top… so he was just going to meet us up there. Smart man, those girls set quite a pace! And it was all basically uphill. I had thought it would be a nature trail, but it was just a road with even a few neighborhoods on the way up! It took us 40 minutes, but I was dying a bit.

The top of the tram yields a view of the city that I’m sure could make it into some magazines or probably already has. It’s amazing up there. Bergen is basically at the end of a wider fjord, which is a kind of bay between mountains or cliffs for all of yall ignorant as I. basically, there’s like 7 mountains full of green that are arranged around the water in the shape of a C and Bergen is on the inside of the C. It’s awesome. Again, I can’t believe this kind of elevation and nature view is within 40 minutes hike, or a 5 minute tram ride. So cool. They had a restaurant up there, but it was crazy expensive. Brazilian dude showed up and shortly after so did Norse chick’s boyfriend.

It got even better, an easy 10 minute hike put us at a nice clear blue lake with no city sound at all. It wasn’t far around, maybe 5-10 minutes to walk around the thing, but we ended up chilling out on a bit of grass next to it. I ended up lying down with my hat over my face and half dozing… the grass was too soft and the sun felt too nice! The girl I met on the train kicked my shoe to let me know she and her guy were going to take off, so me, her sister, and Mr. Brazil just hung out for a bit. When we decided to leave, it was 7:30 and all of us realized we were starving. The Norwegian gal explained that she normally eats at about 4, can you believe that?! Sick… mind you with the crazy daylight up here, it felt like it was about 4. She got a “where the heck are you, I’m going to eat without you” text from her boyfriend, but I think she made it in time to eat with him. Me and Brazil decided we’d try to cook something!

We settled on attempting to recreate the same thing Miss Brazil cooked the day before… pasta with a mix of veggies and sauce… instead of ground beef we’d use some tuna that some guys left behind at the hostel. The ingredients only cost about 45 krona, which is like 7 bucks, and a girl at the hostel donated us some peppers and cheese. In the end, it was damn fine! I always say hunger is the most important ingredient, but I think even without that this would be good. Nice and cheap too… if you ever need to spice up your cheap and quick pasta meal, just add some delicious veggies and a can of tuna to the sauce, then heat until just boiling! The best part is that you can do everything with the sauce while the water is boiling, so it takes just as long!

After the food and some laughs, parted ways with Mr. Brazil, but I will definitely be visiting him in Italy when I go. It’s interesting how some people I meet out here I just have a feeling that I’ll see again. Maybe it’s more of a hope, but I guess when you’re a traveler, and the people you meet are travelers, it seems so possible to end up in the same place again. It’s a great feeling to know that you can connect with people from all over the world…

Tomorrow I have some laundry to do and then maybe I’ll play in the mountains! It’s gorgeous here!

Is it just me, or is there something freaking awesome about a city tram that drops you in the middle of bike and hike trails after about a 30 minute ride from the city center? Yeah, I thought so. The best part is there are three of them, or at least that I know of. There could be more! Two of them have lakes right there. Sadly, we picked the one without because the Brazilian girl insisted that it was the one that the Spaniard told her about (he circled the other one with the lake on my map, but who would argue with a bed bugged Brazilian chick!). It was still a lovely hike through the woods and the girls were quite cool.

Once they rolled out though, the adventure began! I decided I’d strike out for the lake that the spaniard circled and then grab the tram back to the city. Took a quick look at the trail map and plotted a tentative route, and then I set out. It was fantastic to have the wilderness so accessible from a city. I can understand why Oslo is so damn expensive! I walked and walked, even jogged and ran part of the way. I guess all the walking around cities and climbing stairs really conditioned my legs because I felt like I could just keep going for miles. So that’s what I did. At the turnoff south to head towards the lake I was aiming at, I headed north instead and was rewarded with a beautiful and completely still pond with no one in sight. Sandwich time!

There’s something inspiring about taking a turn on a whim and finding something great immediately. I am continually surprised how well the absence of planning and the following of instinct is working out for me out here. Kind of makes me feel like I can’t make a mistake. I don’t mean it’s giving me an invincibility complex (I’m sure some of you know I already have that), but it’s more like I’m realizing that the wrong turns that you take in life sometimes lead you to something better anyway. So you either get where you wanted to go, or maybe learn about something new. Booyah to the world!

So yeah, I had a quick sandwich and decided to keep going even though I had to ration my water. Most of the hiking was uphill so I figured going back would be much less strenuous. After the water was gone and I started to entertain ideas of turning around, I turned a corner and there was suddenly a huge red building with people eating and sitting in the grass… apparently there was a fully functional cafe just kind of out there in the middle of nowhere. And they had free water, of which I drank a horse’s bladder’s worth. I bought a sandwich to munch on, who knew it would work out so perfectly!?

I was still hungry and started making my own PB and Nutella sandwich (mmmmm chocolate sauce) and ended up eating it while chatting it up with an older Norwegian lady who just decided to spend the morning walking her dog out there. Yeah she definitely lives in Oslo. Amazing. Her husband runs his own logistics business and they basically organize the shipping of salmon to some part of Russia or something. Crazy. Apparently, the jobs in Norway are in high demand and people are immigrating up from Poland willing to work for far less compensation… sounds like Mexico and the States! I guess the EU makes it more legal out here, so she was a little concerned about what will happen to the Norwegian folks. I guess everything reaches equilibrium after a while…

After parting ways, I found another nice lake that was a little bit north of my targeted lake… so amazing. I got a lot of nice photos, and just enjoyed being out there. So lovely to see blue water like that, I never expected this in Norway. I don’t know why not, but I am just shocked at what I’m finding here. I guess the big drawbacks are the screwy daylight hours and the expensive living. But still, this time of year out here is just great.

I found the other lake easily, it was the biggest one that I had seen out there. Ended up just relaxing sitting on a log on the shore for a while… still just blown away that I was a 30 minute tram ride from the city center. I’m sure there’s some monthly public transport pass, so basically get out to the nature easy and free. Can’t beat it. Ok enough of the nature praise. Gah, so cool!

Jumped on the tram back to the city to check out some park full of sculptures that peeps told me I needed to see, it was rad. Yes I said Rad Emily Aikins. Your face is rad! Some of the sculptures were really dramatic, all had the theme of human relationships with each other and with nature. Ended up chatting with some Australian dude and before long was walking around with him and his 4 friends. They were all asian, from Australia, and living in London because it’s an easy city to travel from. Apparently they are part of a larger group that travels about once a month just over a weekend taking advantage of ryanair specials. What that means is that these folks fly somewhere for 1 euro roundtrip. Ridiculous!

They invited me to join them for a nice expensive meal at some fish restaurant and I thought, the hostel refunded me those two nights so I figured, why the heck not. I ended spending about 50 american on some sea bass with potatoes and ratatouille… it was mmmmm. To be honest, I don’t appreciate food enough to really have gotten my money’s worth, but the company was great. I guess I have plenty of places to stay when I go to Australia or back to London! They have another trip to Portugal (town is Porto or Portos or something?) so I might meet back up with them if I’m down there!

So I parted ways with the Australiasians (did I just invent that?) and now I’m just trying to pack up… have a 6:30AM train ride to Bergen that I hear is just amazing scenery. So that’s going to be rough, minimal sleep and I need to stay awake to soak it all up! We will see what happens! I’ve heard Bergen itself is more out in the nature than Oslo, so I guess this was the warmup round!