“Be in love with your life.
Every minute of it.”
Norway
I always knew that a whirlwind trip to Scandinavia would not satisfy the ache in my soul to explore Norway -- but it would perhaps assuage it. 36 hours of 4 plane rides, bomb threats in the Frankfurt airport, flight cancellations, walking through the streets of Bergen at 1 am, 5 hours of sleep, and a 3 hour drive through the rain --- and I arrived in the fjords. And it was all worth it.
I had one day to explore the Sognefjord, and after such a long and tiring trip to get there, I was a little bit disappointed that the skies were grey and drizzly. But, I decided to make the most of it. After all, Norway is beautiful no matter the weather. When I first arrived in Aurland, I drove up this windy, one lane road that led you up into the mountains to the Stegastein lookout. As you can tell from the photos above, the view was beyond stunning. On my way back down the mountain, I happened to glance in my rearview mirror and saw the most amazing rainbow stretched out across the fjord. I quickly pulled my rental car to the side of the road, grabbed my camera, and spent some time just taking it in. I really can't explain the feeling I had in that moment. My photos cannot do it justice. Norway was breathtaking -- and that rainbow was truly the most beautiful gift after such a long journey.
On my way to catch the sightseeing cruise through the fjord that afternoon, I passed this house. You can still see a faint outline of the rainbow in the distance. If I could have a dream home, this would most definitely be it.
Nærøyfjord
While I don't normally do the typical sightseeing tours when I travel, I decided that seeing the Unesco World Heritage Nærøyfjord was a must. So I caught the cruise from Flåm to Gudvangen to explore this branch of the Sognefjord. The light changed as the skies shifted from cloudy grey to patchy blue, and the mood was pure magic.
I don't think I could descibe the feeling that flooded my soul in that moment, in that boat, floating through the fjords of Norway. The air was crisp and the skies were grey -- but the mountains were strong and the sea was turquoise. Fellow travelers stayed inside the boat where it was warm. But I found myself out in the rain and the cold until my fingers were numb. Because of this feeling: the feeling as if the world were mine and only mine. The feeling that life and love and everything that moves us is big and beautiful and worth all the heartache. The feeling that there is more, if we could only reach beyond our finite grasp and see the limitless possibilities that lie just past our fears and our reservations and our wounds. That feeling -- I would chase that feeling to the end of time.
The drive to and from the fjords is beautiful and rustic as one would expect the Norwegian countryside to be. I spent the last remaining hours of the day on a slow drive back to the charming city of Bergen before catching the midnight sleeper train to Oslo. While I would have loved to see Bergen on a clear day at sunset, the mood seemed appropriate for this seaside town.
I merely scratched the surface of Norway on this trip. I cannot claim to know her stunning landscapes or appreciate her unique culture in such a short amount of time. But what I do know is that Norway holds a power over my heart like no place has so far. And I cannot wait to return -- to be lost in the strength of her mountains, to be found in the stillness of her seas.
“It’s a funny thing about coming home.
Nothing changes.
Everything looks the same, feels the same,
even smells the same.
You realize what has changed
is you.”