Hello, welcome and greetings my dearest Steemians!
Norway, action! Cut! What first thought appears in your head? Fjords, cold, darkness, trolls, Vikings or maybe… salmon?! Probably a bit of everything ;) At least I had these pictures in my mind. Still it was totally different from what I experienced there. Why is that? Well, enjoy this reading :)
I booked my trip to Norway a few days before my holiday in Thailand in Feb this year. I asked myself: "Norway? Eeee… why not!". But as a person ABSOLUTELY adoring the sun I flinched at the thought of low temperatures, which I associated with Scandinavia. And here is the first positive disappointment - the whole week sun, sun, sun and once again - SUN! This was accompanied by, of course, high temperature - it was hotter than in Spain ;)
I spent these beautiful seven days near Bergen. After landing, together with my companions, we quickly escaped to the bosom of nature. On the way from the airport, I could enjoy the sight of the views that stretched out just after leaving the city. And it was really breathtaking. What am I saying, I became mute, because I didn’t want to disrupt the natural order. When we arrived at our place, the absolute wilderness never sounded so fantastic.
Immediate acclimatization
Honestly, as soon as I dropped my luggage and went to lie on the grass, I felt at home straight away. And you know what? At sight I forgot about the internet, phone, computers, music. In fact, I forgot about the whole world. Seriously! The street traffic was close to zero, the neighbors might have been somewhere, but nobody could be seen or heard so much. And just at that moment I realized how silence is wonderful.
How I missed it.
How cool is to lie on soft grass and touch the ground with your bare feet.
Do you know this feeling? Or maybe you have never tried it? If not, then do it wherever you are right NOOOOOW! :)
The only thing that was able to disrupt the new Norwegian order was my stomach :D In the end, you cannot fool life ;) In terms of lying on the grass, these are the views that greeted me every morning:
What else surprised me in Norway in the very begining?
Man's subordination to nature, not vice versa - nature to man.
How it was visible? Ubiquitous forests or lack of garbage bins in the mountains.
No garbage bins in the mountains? Oh yes! Norwegians assume that communing with nature is for free, however the whole mess that people bring there, needs to be taken back with them as well. Simple as that. And this is a phenomenal approach. This is one tiny example of a completely different mindset that I adore. Other examples are:
- you will not find any spray deodorants in Norway,
- the state "pays" to the residents to buy tesla - among others no customs duties, special tax registration discounts, no fees for using road infrastructure, etc.
- instead of cutting the tree to be able to build a road, another trick was invented in this country - you will find here, for example, two opposite stripes of a road around the tree :D
- any investments such as new bridge are paid for all users until the financial outlays are returned.
These are just a few of many examples of how people can care for what surrounds them.
Cottages guest houses in the mountains
I was very surprised when I heard that in this country there is something similar to couchsurfing. The difference is that you don’t stay at somebody’s private place with the owner. The thing here is that if you are in the mountains and you find an empty house, you can just go inside and stay for some time. Usually until somebody else shows up. While we were walking in the mountains, we found one place like this. Of course, curiosity won and I needed to have a look inside - a very cozy interior. I think that each of you would love to stay in such cottage at least for a few nights.
Of course and invariably everyone using such a house leaves it in order :)
Mountains, hills, lakes, steep slopes and once again hills
In addition to lying on a soft grass, some movement would never hurt;) During one of the trekkings, we managed to reach the top of one of the hills where we found a beautiful lake. The water may not have been super warm, but it was definitely refreshing. Anyway, have a look yourself:
Bergen
The other day we went to Bergen to visit the city. "Old Town" is really picturesque, but I must admit that after a few days in nature, the city noise made us want to run away. Which we actually did hahaha - we just went for another trekking to the most famous observation deck in Bergen - Mount Floyen. The views were of course breathtaking :) and for lazy people it is always possible to go up/down with the cable car.
What I will never forget from my trip to Norway?
Glacier!
Yes! We also went to reach the tongue of the glacier. Before we came there, we passed this lake:
Of course, we could not resist and we jumped straight into the lake - highly recommended! Although the water from the glacier was nothing like warm, it is absolutely an incredible experience! Later on, a "little" climbing began. During small stops when you are thinking how to get higher, don’t look down! Personally, I got scared a few times, but somewhere inside me, this quiet but strong voice kept on pushing me higher and higher ;)
And… WE DID IT! The prize for overcoming fears was absolutely stunning:
The other side view was also amazing!
I really like to be positively disappointed while traveling
Of course, I did not doubt the potential of Norway, but I certainly did not expect so many beautiful experiences. For me, this place is absolutely the most beautiful in Europe, in which I had the pleasure to be so far. Norway also allowed me to relax mentally, physically, helped me get to know myself better and made it easier to take a few, I think, life decisions. What are the decisions? Certainly, the nearest months will be a breakthrough. I will also share the news with you, but in due course. I wouldn’t like to spoil the surprise ;)
