It has been some time since my last blog
post, but our latest trip to Norway prompted the return to the blog. It was
such an amazing trip that it has to be shared here!
Flying in to Oslo, we picked up a hire car
and drove a few hours North to a little town called Torpo. Here, we picked up
the keys and a map to find our little Airbnb cabin outside of Torpo, in an even
smaller town in the mountains. After several mishaps, and by that I mean we
couldn’t find the cabin in the dark, we finally settled in to our homely hut,
lit the fire, and drank tea. It was so cozy; we barely left the place over the
couple of nights we stayed. To be honest, we just went out to get food
supplies, went for a little drive, then stayed in, by the fire, reading books
and drinking hot chocolates and it was perfect! We were surrounded by a few
inches of snow and a couple of neighbours, nothing more, but it was everything
we needed.
Next, we headed to Odda, on the west coast
of Norway; Fjord region! The drive was insane! Every turn revealed another
mountain, and yet another still lake mirrored reflection of the scenery. Not
five minutes later could be a completely different dramatic landscape; fjords,
winding roads, snow covered hills, frozen lakes and waterfalls. The wintery
weather seemed warmed by the autumn colours of the foliage, then around the
bend of the road, the landscape would change again to barren, rocky,
snow-covered land.
On our way to Odda, we stopped, well..
several times. Here are a couple of stops we made, for obvious reasons:
We had a picnic lunch at Voss, which was
roughly a half way stop.
Once in Odda, we checked in to our Airbnb
with the most amazing view! The accommodation itself was basic, but the view
easily compensated!
Near Odda are loads of hikes. We chose a short, easy hike
of just a few hours. It started in Strand and ended in a little village called
Sandvin. It was a nice walk. We had lunch with a great view!
After our hike, we chose a couple of places
randomly on a map and drove to them. It ended up being a surprisingly great
drive! Lots of amazing scenery! The drive was windy, up and into the mountains.
From up there, we got great views down across little villages and of lakes and
mountains. We headed towards Roldal, then to Sauda, but it was definitely more
about the journey than the destination. The road took us through some really
strange, but beautiful landscapes!
Having no expectations of the drive, and having
literally chosen a couple of places on a map, definitely made for an
unexpectedly amazing afternoon! After driving quite a while and seeing no sign
of civilization, apart from the odd car passing, we drove through a valley with
a few cottages, built in to the landscape. Some perched on huge rocks, some built
into a hill, and all of them with cute grass roofs.
After Odda, we headed back to Oslo, to
spend a few nights in the city. Again, no lack of an array of scenery along the
drive.
We started our stay in Oslo with a visit to Tim Wendelboe, a specialty
coffee roaster and espresso bar. We did a lot of wandering around the city,
including to Damstredet, a quaint street of wooden houses from the 17 and
1800s, and other lovely streets.
We visited Vigeland Sculpture Park, a huge
park filled with human sculptures by Gustav Vigeland; the world’s largest
sculpture park made by a single artist. We also visited a lovely cemetery, full of autumn colours.
Oslo went a bit like this: coffee, walk,
coffee, walk. So it was time to have another coffee, so we went to Godt Brod, a
bakery and café. A coffee and a pastry later, and we were ready for the
Botanical Gardens, probably my favourite space in Oslo! We went at the perfect
time, when the afternoon sun added glow to the already golden autumn colours.
We visited the opera house, where you can
walk up to the roof to get a view of some of the city. We visited several other
sights, like the fortress and the three city halls. Next, obviously, it was
time for a coffee, which we had at Supreme Coffee Roasters, which fuelled us
for another visit to the Botanical Gardens, where we had a lengthy picnic
lunch.
In the evening, we went to the Grunerlokka
area to find somewhere for dinner. Oslo is easily the most expensive city we’ve
ever visited, so finding somewhere affordable was not simple. Once we’d come to
terms with the fact that nothing was in our price range and that we’re on
holidays and we’d barely eaten out, we chose a casual pub/restaurant with a
neighborhood feel and enjoyed our last night in Norway. We just had to laugh
when the bill came, and not say the converted cost of the bill out loud incase
we cried.
