Norway-4

This week was a nice change of pace…and scenery. The Aspelund-Strømme family invited me to spend the winter holiday with them at their cabin in Geilo, so I’ve spent the last ten days touring Western Norway, skiing, and sipping hot cocoa (it’s been rough). We left Bergen Friday afternoon and drove East into the countryside passing through the famous Dale, where the famous Dale sweaters are made, and stopping for a quick dinner in Voss, a picturesque town that sits right in between the Hardanger and Sogn Fjords. Then we actually took a ferry over the Hardangerfjord, which was amazing (even in the dark), and drove up into the mountains to Hol where Geilo is. The roads on the way up were solid ice; the wind was blowing at crazy speeds, and on either side of us for as far as I could see were rolling hills covered in snow. I had never seen terrain like that; it almost looked like what I would imagine Antarctica to look like.
Their cabin is actually a really old school house that was converted before their family bought it (it still has some of the original paint and decorations!) And they’ve done a lot of work on it so it now has a guest house, a ski storage, an attic (where I slept), and a sauna. It was very cozy and quiet, aside from the trains that passed their back door every hour or so, and it had a beautiful view of the ski slopes and a little lake at the base of the mountain.
A wind storm shut the lifts down on our first day so we went extreme sledding instead. With the wind still blowing full-force we managed to lug a dog, a million sleds, and eight kids up the side of the mountain to the perfect sledding spot. As soon as we reached the top the sun came out and the wind stopped…perfect conditions and the entire mountain to ourselves (that dream usually involves skiing, but I won’t be picky). We did get four days of skiing in and they even took me for my first cross-country skiing trip which I loved. The downhill skiing was a bit different than what I’m used to. The slopes are very gentle and wide open, there were at least half as many people on the mountain, and after taking two lifts up to the farthest point I could get to, I was skiing by and around private cabins, just right in the middle of the mountain. I also got to partake in my very first ‘after-ski’ experience which was fun. We went to a lounge at the ‘famous’ Dr. Holmes Hotel, where people go to “see and be seen,” and had drinks while the kids ran around loose in the hotel with all the other children.
Nights were spent visiting friends, playing board games, watching movies, reading, and relaxing. I also completed a ‘Norwegian course’ the girls created for me; they labeled everything in the house with post-its and they would walk through the house with me helping me say each word. My final exam was to put the post-its back after they had been taken down which I managed to pass with a 99%! I even have a certificate to prove it.
I was surrounded by breathtaking scenery and views the entire trip: At the top of the mountain with the sun shining, looking out across the fjords, even the view from their living room was beautiful. There was one night coming out of one of their friend’s cabins where I had to stop in my tracks to try to take everything I was seeing in. There were mountains as far as I could see with the quiet little lake at their feet, all covered in snow. The stars were clear and bright, it almost looked like just the constellations had come out. No street lights or house lights were shining it was just me and the view in the dark, and yet it was almost as bright as day. The moonlight shown everywhere but it was a different moonlight then I’ve ever seen, a beautiful blue I can’t describe, it was so amazing. Sometimes I lose sight of what my purpose here is but it has been moments like that that make me stop and say ‘this is why I’m here.’
It felt good to get out of Bergen for a little while, see more of the country, and spend time with the family as a whole. Sometimes I think the kids think I’m from another planet so this was a good way to show them how ‘normal’ I can be. We got to play together, they saw me fall over myself on skiis, and they even got to speak to my mom in Norwegian (I think that did the trick).
The day we were supposed to leave they shut down all the roads so we were going to have to drive East to Lillehammer, and then all the way around to come back to Bergen (seven hours of driving to get four hours away) but we got lucky and they opened up the pass by Hemsedal so we only ended up going about an hour out of the way. I think I remember a few tears when we found out the pass had re-opened, at that point Andreas had been screaming for about an hour, I had been moved to the middle seat after he had pulled Vilde’s hair and punched me, Vilde was crying in the very back, and Thale (who was sitting by me) had thrown up. Quite the adventure.