Chasing the Midnight Sun
If Iceland was an appetizer of near-endless daylight, Norway was a full-on feast of never-setting sun.
Days One and Two: Midnight Sun Tromsø
To get to Tromsø we had to fly through Oslo, which meant an epically long schlep from Iceland. We arrived around 7pm, instinctively half-expecting it to be slightly darker outside. However, Tromsø is above the Arctic Circle, which means that the sun never sets during the summer... at all. It's light... all day. And while you can intellectually know this means the sun will always be out, it's another thing to experience it firsthand. When Sophie can start a movie after 8:30pm and stay awake for the whole thing, you know something is off.
Side note: there are no priority pass lounges in Norway. This means we had to opt for a shitty, expensive beer at TGIF. It was a new airport low for us.
Since we had just spent the day traveling, once we arrived in Tromsø and it was still light out, there was only one thing to do: go in search of beer. And beer we found - at more than one place. Huken Pub hooks it up in the form of good beer, a delicious burger, and some great people watching in a very small space.
However, as in Iceland, hopefully you don't want to buy any alcohol to drink back at your accommodations because, as you probably guessed, that would be a no go. Norway doesn't sell ANY alcohol in stores on Sundays. And they only sell most booze at select, specific stores the other days of the week.
Regardless, we still managed to buy one from the bar and sneak it back home. Well, Mirek managed to do this... but I guess that goes unsaid.
With our delicious beer in tow, we returned home to stay up till 2:30am to get the full experience of the midnight sun.
The next day we woke up at a very reasonable 12pm (it is daylight 24/7 after all). While the rain seemed to be a constant companion those two days, we still managed to spend the day doing one beastly hike - and the rain luckily gave us a window of time to do it in. Our calf muscles paid the price, but it was worth it. Norway is stunning.
We of course topped it off with a well-deserved beer.
After the hike, we had planned to spend the evening out on the lake watching to midnight sun, but the adventure booking agent called to tell us the weather and boat would just simply not allow it (she was probably one of the nicest people we have spoken to while traveling). So instead, we found ourselves seated at a quaint restaurant, sipping wine, and eating whale.
Okay fine, Mirek ate whale while Sophie watched...
... but Sophie's steak was better anyways, and she did at least try the whale.
Day 3: Funkadelic Oslo
It's hard to describe Oslo other than funky, in the best sense of the word. Oslo is a little bit Portland, a little bit Amsterdam, and a little bit Copenhagen.
We spent less than 24 hours here, and our agenda was clear: chill out. So we did just that. The day was spent walking around, stopping when something caught our eye, and moving on when the mood struck. Mathallen Oslo food court was an awesome find and one we definitely recommend spending some time at.
Alongside the river that runs through Oslo is a beautiful place to walk, and you can find people hanging out everywhere. It's one of the things we love about Europe, people love to chill outside.
There are also some (ahem) interesting statues located around Oslo.
In the afternoon we wandered over to a castle, Akershus Fortress, overlooking the water. We stopped for a glass of wine and admired the view. Before leaving we came to find out that the castle is also a military base. How did we find this out? Because the lovely officers that told us we were not allowed behind a roped-off area (who knew?) also informed us of this little tidbit. Oops...
At the end of the night, we wandered over to a bar called Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri. We would highly recommend you go to this bar if you are ever in Oslo. They have some dankity dank beers on tap and an extensive bottle list. Needless to say, Mirek rated his fair share of beers that day.
All in all, between Tromsø and Oslo, we got a little bit of everything. Sophie also got a little bit of history on her Norwegian roots, which makes Norway feel just a little more like home.
Sophie's great-great-grandfather, George Brekke, is from Telemark, Norway. He is seen here in the top row in the middle.