Fjord Ev'ry Stream*

Hello from Bergen! Bergen is possibly the cutest town you could ever see and it is surrounded by absurdly gorgeous landscapes. 

I started in Bergen with a trip up the funicular for views (anticipated) and goats (unanticipated). There was also a bonus railing with a folk song!**

The next day I took trains and boats and buses to visit the fjords. The fjords are the reason I wanted to visit Norway because they always look so gosh darn beautiful. And they were. Truly. I took hundreds of pictures of slightly different angles of the same view and they still don't do it justice. Here are many, though, and if you're really a fan, come see me for many more.***

A trip to Norway wouldn't be complete without paying homage to Edvard Grieg, Norway's most famous composer. Grieg studied internationally but then returned to Norway and composed original melodies in the Norwegian folk song style. I visited his summer home, Troldhaugen, in Bergen and learned lots of things. Most notably, he was exactly 5 feet tall****, married his cousin*****, and also thought Bergen was too cold for the winters. There was even a piano recital of his works while I was there and it was the perfect send-off for the trip!

Now it is time to head home before returning to the southern end of this time zone. Thank you, Norway, you are too picturesque for words!

-KT

*Yes, I came to Norway to make this Sound of Music pun and had this title planned before I booked any hotels or made any plans beyond merely arriving.

**The caution tape is because it was freshly painted and is not a warning against sight-reading. Like I would ever go to a country that warned against sight-reading. Please.

***Or just scroll more. Really, I have hundreds, but thought I could spare some folks that couldn't a-fjord anymore.

****A GIANT, duh.

*****Ah, the 1860s, amirite?

Bonus un-related photo!

Norway is very anti-Evil Knievel-ing.

Climb Ev'ry Mountain

How to Spitsbergen*, an Illustrated Tutorial:

Step one: Fly north. All the way north. 78 degrees latitude north.

Step two: Visit town of Svalbard

Step three: Climb aboard boat**

 Step four: See fjords and glaciers

 Step five: See lots of wildlife that did not show up on camera, including whales, seals, polar bears, and puffins***

Step six: Promise people it looked like this in the binoculars****

 Step seven: See abandoned coal-mining town of Pyramiden

 Step eight: Pull the blackout curtains to sleep.*****

 Step nine: Go dogsledding!

 Step ten: Get ridiculous (in warmth and look) gear to go dogsledding in******

 Step eleven: Have the COOLEST time ever and even drive the sled*******

 Step twelve: Take it back to camp. You have Spitsberged.

*Country Point 143!!!
**Bonus points if yours also includes the boat captain in most casual driving pose ever.
***According to our guides, we saw more animals in one trip than they usually see in weeks combined. I wouldn't have believed them except they were all taking pictures as well.
****It kinda did, though.
*****This picture is from 12:30am, 30 minutes after "sunset." "Sunrise" was at 1am. This is the land of the midnight sun and there won't be night again until August. From mid-October to mid-February, they never see the sun. #SAD
******In this outfit I thought, "I could live in Boston again!"
*******Real talk. When our guide was first telling us how to drive the sled, I thought, "why is she telling me this information I don't need?" When she then said we would all take turns driving, I thought, "why doesn't she value her life more?" When I was actually driving the sled, I thought, "THIS IS SO AWESOME AND FUN!"