.Sunday - June 3oth -
We left the comfort of our Bergen digs early in order to hop on a fjord cruise to Flam. It would take us most of the morning to get there but it was a very relaxing ride with incredible green landscapes dotted with bright pops of color. One of the most remarkable things (and there are so many) about Norway/Sweden is that they love color in the countryside. Most of our tour around Stockholm by boat displayed a very grey, industrial feel in the architecture. Very minimalistic. But the countryside....oh the countryside, I could live there. Lush valleys, steep hillsides and mountains carved for millions of years by the glaciers. Pictures just can't do these places any justice. Fun fact: Did you know that the glacial weight pressed upon places like Svalbard and Scandinavia were (are) so heavy that much of the region is "bouncing back" as the glacial ice recedes and will continue to do so for many years to come. So at 8am we were off on one of our longest travel days of our trip. We spent the morning traveling to Flam. The cruise was as smooth as glass, and a bit chilly in the front if you were willing to brave the wind and slight mist. I enjoyed the hum of the engine and the table conversation we had with 3 youngsters, well, they were in their twenties but I feel old enough I can call them youngsters. They had been traveling throughout Europe and had about another week to go before getting back to reality. Our simple conversations made me rewind the clock to when I was young and brought a tinge of regret. I wish I had travelled when I was in my twenties. I grew up travelling with my parents, sure, but I never really struck out on my own or with friends to see parts of the world before I was in my 30s......so I encourage others to do so. Make time to do those simple things like work at a national park over the summer, be a river rafting guide, study abroad, back pack for cheap in Africa or Europe. Take in the full wonderment of the world as often as you can and start as soon as you can. That's my unsolicited advice. As we arrived in Flam the sun came out for just long enough for us to view the contrast of Flam; cold and dark, crisp and bright. Both were beautiful. We had 3 hours to kill so we of course found a trail and ventured up. This one was no Stoltzekleiven (or as Laura called it "Stairs your climbin") but the view was no less inspiring. I remember this day fondly for one reason....lack of planning. Those that know me know that my heart is always in the right place but I'm not always the most organized person. So months before we ever left for our trip, Nicole had emailed us with details and information that I perused and then "flagged" it to go through later. In that information she had suggested we make sure to print out our tickets for this day. We would be boarding 1 boat and 2 trains in a place where WiFi was questionable.....so what did I do? Well I didn't print out my ticket of course because I like to live dangerously, and I couldn't pull it up on my phone. Before I could board our first train I had to go to the visitor center and have them print my ticket. As my 2 roomies were getting in line to board the train, I was lamenting over my poor choices. I ended up getting in line so late that there was no way I could catch up to my friends so I managed to get in a car that was close enough that I could find them if I needed. I didn't see them for the whole train ride.....bummer right? Not exactly..as circumstances go, I ended up across from a lovely older couple, who had just finished their expedition with Lindblad and National Geographic. I was "exactly where I needed to be"--> the sign at the visitor center said so. (pictured above) The couple noticed the yellow expedition tag on my luggage and started an enlightening conversation with me for the next 2 hours. They gave me great travel insights, told me about Rick Steve, who puts out travel guides for places all over the world and how I needed to look him up, talked about their trips to several of the 105 countries they've visited and gave me some pointers on how to best remember my own experience I was about to go on. The visitor sign wasn't wrong. We all have "bucket" lists I believe.....and what I came to learn, to expect almost, was that even though I was knocking items off my list as I came across them, I added just as many, if not more, to the bottom. Every story I heard, every person I talked to offered new insights, new perspectives. As a geographer, I teach these principles to my students; perspectives matter, stories matter, what people and cultures believe matters, go places and do things and don't just read about them, go experience them for yourself and find the truth of what Google says about a place. This experience renewed these ideations in me that had been long buried by the responsibilities of adulthood. I've always loved travelling. It'll be my mother's legacy when she's gone. She planned every detail of every vacation we ever went on as kids, and dad drove us all over the country to "learn things". I have them both to thank for my wanderlust. I want my students to have that too. They don't have to travel far, they just need to start by asking "why" and that'll lead them to down the path to their own Stoltzekleiven.
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It's been two weeks tomorrow since I arrived home from what has to be the most incredible journey I may ever go on. I'm happy to report that as a non-journaler I actually accomplished journaling every night while I was on my expedition, with a little help from one of my roommates, Laura, who also journaled every night. It's helpful to have accountability. I've had very little time to reflect on my experience until now so I apologize for the few images and limited text that I was able to post daily on Facebook. In my defense, the WiFi was spotty and it was easiest to get out a few pics and a small description with the hope that I would follow up later. So, here's later...... I'll try to combine a few days together so as not to bore you with too many details...and I'll stick to the highlights for the sake of time. I hope you enjoy these moments as much as I did going through them. Side note: We were at 78 degrees north so the fact that WiFi was even available at all? My hats off to the tech people at Lindblad and National Geographic...BRAVO! Pre-Expedition AdventuresTuesday/Wednesday - June 25/26 - Our adventure began with an unexpected plane delay, running through the airport, sacrificing an amazing half-full water bottle at airport security so we could make our flight, only to watch our friend and GTF Laura leave without me and Nicole. So as Laura headed off to Stockholm, Nicole and I hung out, grabbed a bite to eat and waited for the next flight, a 1-stop flight through Copenhagen, Denmark (positive: passport stamp!) and finally getting to our quaint little apartment in Gamla Stan, Stockholm. It was a 24 hour ordeal; Laura braved it like a champ, site seeing and killing time waiting for us to get there. By Wednesday at 5pm we had finally reunited and found our first meal; what else but Swedish meatballs! Thursday/Friday - We spent our next few days seeing museums, (Vasa, ABBA, Medieval, National History) where I discovered that I like the old art over the new. As I perused the National History Museum I found myself drawn to the intricate detail of the furniture, paintings and desks. To make those pieces so detailed gave me a sense of wonder and amazement at the time it took to create such masterpieces. We ate lunch and dinner at a variety of places, trying to get the feel of the locale but our most memorable for me was our Viking meal. The setting was dimly lit, loud and raucous, just the kind of viking world I'd imagined. As we came in our names and places were taken and then we were loudly announced to the rest of the restaurant by the host, a rather large and boisterous man as the crowd cheered and welcomed us in. We sat at a picnic style table with others, elbow to elbow, and had a fabulous meal, viking style. Saturday/Sunday - As much as I loved our time in Stockholm I might have fallen in love with Bergen. Aren't we allowed favorites? We arrived in the afternoon in this happy little town full of color, despite the overcast skies, and the smells of a fresh food market down by the waters edge. After we taste tested our way through the various vendors we settled on some fish and chips (Nicole) fish soup (me) and some kind of rice dish (Laura), it was fabulous and much cheaper than our other intown options. On our flight over we'd met a lovely lady who regaled us with how wonderful Bergen was. After a short conversation she stopped, looked us up and down and said, "You look sporty, you have to try the Stoltzekleiven (Stultz-el-Kliven) trail to Fløyen." She continued to describe this beautiful hike up to the overlook (Floyen) over Bergen. So after filling our tummies with yummies Laura and I decided we must discover what this trail was all about, while Nicole chose the more established path up to Floyen, a tram straight up the side of the mountain. Laura and I had no idea what we were getting into; we had no phone service (i.e. Google), only a map (in Norwegian) and just our "head this way" mental compass...practicing our inner explorer. And for those of you that know me, you know that this is not a good idea. So we headed in the direction of the trailhead, according to a Radisson Hotel employee that pointed to a place on a map.... in Norwegian might I remind you........and got a little lost. I know you're surprised...shocked even. But we eventually made it to our starting point after about an hour or so (I'd stopped looking at my watch), and began our 700+ stair master class....an hour or so later, we made it to the top, and then found our next clue, a sign that read "3.2 kilometers to Floyen"....UGH! An hour and half later we'd made it to our final destination, Floyen...and it was worth all the hours getting there. Along the way we found an interesting slug, other hikers (always a good sign that you aren't completely lost) and an amazing playground built for children....of the larger variety? So we played and hung out and then took in the view of Bergen. Trying to pronounce the Norwegian signs as we came across turned into a fun game for us as we hiked along (and later I'll teach you all some Icelandic and Norwegian...which would have been handy this day)...... We were thankful for the gift shop being open at 9:30 pm and the hot chocolate they were selling. It was another 3 kilometers or so to get down the mountain...and by then we were feeling less "sporty" so we bought a ticket and rode the tram down :-) . What I remember most about this day was how I felt like I was truly living in the moment....not really worried about tomorrow, just taking life as it came at us....it was incredibly liberating.....and a feeling I want to experience more often. I also fondly remember how delirious Laura and I got towards the end of our hike...Example: I licked my "creamy choc" cup (pictured above) because it stated that it was made from 100% sugar cane....so shouldn't it be even the slightest bit sweet?...that was my hypothesis, but I was sorely disappointed. :-) I'll spend my next blog describing our scenic tour through the fjords of Norway and our views from the trains as we traveled to Oslo. I have about an hour before we pack up and haul our luggage to our final one night stay. Tonight we meet up with our National Geographic crew and other guest on the National Geographic Explorer for dinner. After getting in late last night from an all day sightseeing, fjord cruise, train ride through the breathtaking country of Norway, we decided to take it easy this morning and sleep in until 9. I'm working on details of our last few days so I'll be posting before we board the ship tomorrow. As a first time traveler abroad, I can't yet describe the feelings I've had the last few days.....incredible gratitude for the opportunity I've been given, humbled by the people I've met and will meet going forward, awed by the beauty of such fascinating landscapes and responsible to share this journey with others, to inspire others to explore their surroundings, even if only in their backyard. In the last few days, I can't count how many times I've pondered "wow, that's so unique, we don't do it like that where I'm from".....and many times I found myself thinking that their way is better than my way. I've learned that minimalism is really a thing, and the Scandinavians are really good at making the most out of tiny spaces. Tiny bathrooms, showers without any doors, tiny sinks, walking......everywhere, tiny tables in cafes packed in so close you might as well be sharing your meal with strangers. And why not? We've had some great conversations with some of our "table mates" and "strangers" over the last few days...and here's the kicker...everyone has such a fascinating story to tell. Forcing ourselves to be vulnerable and share a piece of ourselves with others and learn from strangers is so transformative. It makes you feel like you're all in this together, learning and growing as a community. Seeing the world (whether local or global) through their eyes and yours really makes you truly feel connected. I came across a phrase at the visitor center in Flam, Norway as I was asking the gracious ticket agent to print out my ticket. If I had printed it out ahead of time I would have never seen that little nugget of wisdom. (and I've seen it before but this time it spoke to me). "You are Exactly Where You Need to Be".......In essence, it means regardless of circumstance or mishap, you are where you are meant to be at this very moment, so take advantage of it, use the heck out of that moment. Whether it's missing your flight, or getting in the last part of the train line and not sitting with your shipmates (this was me), don't panic because things didn't go according to plan. For part of the train ride through the fjords I wasn't with my shipmates due to the ticket issue, but I ended up sitting across from a lovely couple who had actually just departed from the National Geographic Explorer (which we will board tomorrow) and remembered meeting some of the other GTFs aboard their ship. In between snapping pictures and small talk, we shared our love of travel and tips to think about while on board the ship...it was a most enjoyable train ride for me. I was exactly where I needed to be. So I hope whatever the circumstance you find yourself in, travel, staycation, or best laid plans gone awry....remember that you are exactly where you need to be and make the most of it. Specifics on Stockholm, Bergen and Oslo will be posted later tonight. :-)
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