Norway: Land of the Midnight Sun

This summer’s Euro-trip was beyond amazing.  I had lofty goals of coming home and writing a new post every day until I covered each country we travelled too.  That’s not going to happen.  Sorry.  I’ll do my best, but it’ll probably take a few weeks, unless I’m feeling particularly ambitious.  People keep asking me which country I liked best, but I honestly can’t decide.  Whenever I start to come up with an answer, all the memories of the other countries come flooding back and I have to start figuring it out all over again. I think the only real answer is the same answer people give when asked which of their children they like best (what kind of question is that!): all of them, because they were all special for different reasons.

The first part of our trip was a Holland America cruise to Norway.  Cruising is definitely a different sort of experience from the way we normally travel, but I think it was a well-deserved taste of luxury.  Before leaving Hong Kong, I even had a gown tailor-made for formal nights.  (Formal night was wonderful, but felt a little less upscale when I asked for the mocktail menu and was subsequently handed the kiddie menu from which I proceeded to order and thoroughly enjoy a fruity little number called the “Taylor Swift Magic”.)  All in all, the cruise was great.   The food was good, the scenery was amazing, and the nightly song and dance shows were outstanding.

cute little village near Eidfjord, by my husband

Norway was magical.  It was misty and cloudy the entire time, but that added to its mystique.  The clouds loomed low over the mountains and the water ran deep through the fjords (300 metres).  Most of the time there was a light drizzle, except when we were sea kayaking… that’s when it poured sheets of rain.

Cruising includes a lot of planned activities.  Usually this is not really my style, but after a very hectic, stressful last little while in Hong Kong, I was ready to sit back and have someone else do all the work.  There were excursions on land to explore the quaint little Norwegian towns, onboard a ship activities like Scattergories competitions (I won!),  and even a Dancing with the Stars theme night (I auditioned and didn’t make it… quite glad I didn’t because those judges were mean).

Beautiful view, by my husband

Amazingly, in Norway, I learned two important lessons about living in Hong Kong: 

1. If you are lucky enough to live in Asia and be able to get most medicines super cheap over-the-counter, do so.  Don’t wait until you are in one of the most expensive countries in the world to buy lactose pills for $98 CDN per box.

2. If you can’t read the sign posted at a store, don’t just guess.  Ask.  Use Google image pictures, wild arm gestures, and that handy language translator app you likely have on your phone.  I didn’t do any of these things.  That is how I ended up with a $5 CDN windbreaker that I thought was a bargain raincoat.  And then, that is how I subsequently ended up in a kayak with my icy, drenched jacket stuck to my skin for three hours.

kayaking, before the heavy rain

The most fascinating thing about Norway was the light.  We didn’t see the sun the entire time due to all the drizzle, but whether it was noon or midnight, it was equally light; the sun set after midnight and rose again around 3:30 am.  In winter, it is the opposite and they barely get any light.  One of the most amazing sites I’ve ever seen in my life (and unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of it) was when we were sailing back to England from Norway.  Shortly after midnight, we went up to the top outside deck to take a look around and enjoy the stars.  Out on the open sea, there was nothing but blackness around us in three directions.  However, as we looked north towards Norway, we could still see a dome of light on the horizon. 

Norway is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  

view from the ship