Norway & Sweden
This summer we had an opportunity to visit Scandinavia for the first time as a family.
I was last in the region when I was 25. I was blessed to receive a scholarship from Rotary Club of Burlingame to attend a Group Study Exchange in Sweden. Along with four other mid 20s professionals from San Mateo County, we enjoyed four weeks in the Skone region staying with host families in eight different small towns and villages. I had such a positive impression that 18 years later it felt like time again to plan a trip back to the area with my wife and son. Below are a few highlights.
Our first week of the trip was in the Bergen region of Norway. Bergen is the second biggest city in Norway after Oslo. When you see epic photos of fjords, this is the area. In fact I learned there are over 1,200 fjords in Norway! So while there are of course roads everywhere, often it’s faster to hop on a boat or ferry.
In Norway it’s not uncommon to see everything from barns to homes painted red. I learned this is because back in the 1500 and 1600s copper mining was a big thing and a byproduct was red tinged iron oxide protected wood from rot and insects. In the 1700 and 1800s, red became associated with prosperity, as it copied the look of expensive brick buildings. Now it’s part of the lore and the look is widespread. I’m a fan.
We took a funicular (like a cable car) to the top of a mountain in Bergen and there was a cool troll forest. Norwegians are huge into trolls. So naturally we got into it as well.
Downtown Bergen.
It was common to see homes dotting the perimeter of many fjords. But, look how spread out they are! Tons of space everywhere. Also, this area is very popular for producing cider. I enjoyed trying rose cider for the first time - tasted fresh and sweet!
And here’s an idea of what Norway looks like. Just to the right of Norway, is Sweden (not pictured).
Kayaking in the fjords.
After the kayak adventure, we (as in those who wanted to) had an opportunity to jump off an eleven meter high bridge into the fjord. After seeing a couple adults and another kid give it a shot, our son tried it too.
A rustic but lovely hotel near Voss. Yes, the place where the famous bottled water is from.
Voss is the adventure capital of the world. I had thought it was Queenstown, New Zealand, but apparently the Voss takes the cake with its weeklong Ekstremsportveko, or Extreme Sports Week. I learned that Voss, a town of just 15,000 people, has produced 18 Olympic medalists!
No joke. Literally the nicest public bathroom I’ve ever seen. Looking straight at a stream. Plus, this was just on the side of the road.
One day, we took a gondola to the top of another mountain. The trails were very well maintained. I was impressed. Everything is so clean.
While towards the top on another hike, there was this really cool structure for relaxing. Even had a little library inside for the kindergartners who hike up here each year. Imagine seeing this in Yosemite! Hard to. The Norwegians take a lot of pride in their nature.
Here’s the inside.
We saw a number of related meme posters at the kayaking spot. The was the funniest, and I quote: Never hold back a fart, or it will go to your brain and that’s when the CRAZY ideas come!
At the fish market, we saw this massive sea creature that looked like a cross between an oversized frog and a piranha.
We saw king crabs that deserved the “king”. You can see in relation to this toddler’s head how massive they were. And, you probably already knew this, but Norway exports massive amounts of salmon. Nearly a quarter of US salmon consumption is from Norway.
Check out this insanely fresh sushi!
Even in the train station, I saw the nicest bike storage ever. Monitored by security cameras. Amazing.
From Bergen, we flew to Stockholm for a few days. What a beautiful city!
Friends had told us the Stockholm archipelago was worth visiting, so we found a skipper with a sailboat to take us out there for a night. It was so magical.
On the banks of the shore in the archipelago were many summer homes. Still plenty spread out. The Swedes are big into sauna, so on the left you can see a sauna with a slide directly into the “cold plunge” of the sea.
Our pretty view at 7 am. A few other boats joined us in the natural harbor where it was so calm and glassy. Most of the boats were sailboats but a few yachts too.
And our view at 9 pm the night before. Sunset was around 10 pm.
We met a Swedish friend at the Artipelag. This is a famous museum in Sweden that was built by the founder of Baby Bjorn. We took a 1.5 hour ferry out there but only the way back took a 30 min taxi which was 3x the cost.
One day we tried out the Lime scooters and zipped around Stockholm. Luckily our hotel had helmets we could borrow. It was a ton of fun!
Our hotel had this absolute insane French toast. I jokingly said to our server I’d love to compliment the chef. So she said “you can just walk over there” and pointed to the kitchen. Ended up chatting for a bit to learn the secret sauce.
I had already eaten ours but the chef had this pic on his phone.
A great way to end our Scandinavian adventure!
And here I am back in my 20s in Sweden.