[Interlude] A trip to Norway

I’ve been feeling a little burned out recently, too much to do and too little time and too much effort spent trying to keep things all together. I found myself becoming scattered, unable to focus. Headachy and tired. Compulsively making lists and still forgetting to do things. It’s been an unsettling few years. Covid, of course, has affected everyone. During Covid I changed jobs twice, after working for the same organisation for 24 years. However, I’m settled into my latest job and it feels like this is the one I will retire from. Then, in April, my brother died quite unexpectedly. He was 61 years old. He had a heart attack, and then a triple bypass which he survived. He was doing fine, they said he would be coming home, and then he stopped being able to breathe by himself. There was nothing more to be done. He was gone.

I wasn’t particularly close to my brother. He was 14 years older than me and there’d been some family problems when I was young and there was a long period when he was out of touch. When he was back in touch it was hard to bridge the gap of those years. We weren’t close, but I still cared about him and a part of me always thought he would be there, that perhaps there was a chance to bridge that gap after all. Now it will never be bridged.

My brother’s death pretty much broke me. I needed a rest. Attempts to book a family break failed and in the end, on a kind of crazy impulse, we booked a cruise, just my husband and I, to Norway. The idea being that I could have a proper break – no cooking, no cleaning, no working, no responsibilities at all. If I wanted to I could sit on our balcony looking out at the sea for 7 days (ha ha! Likely chance). The important point was I’d get chance to really wind down.

So did it work? Well, of a fashion. Before I went on the cruise I spoke to a bunch of people who love cruises and they said a cruise was like Marmite: you’d love it or hate it. My experience was somewhere in between. I liked it, but I wouldn’t be in a rush to do it again. That being said, if you like a holiday in which there is food on demand, group activities a-plenty, and long days in which you can just sit out and look out over the ocean, reading a good book, then there’s a lot to recommend it. For me there was too much sea and not enough time in port, and the timings of the fjord transits meant that a lot of the scenery was lost in the necessity of sleep. However, there is nothing quite like waking at six in the morning to this view outside your window:

Flåm

What I did discover, however, is that I LOVE NORWAY!!!!

What a country! Our trip took in the ports of Stavanger, Nordfjordeid, Flåm and Haugesund. Sadly our stop in Stavanger was on a Sunday so most of the shops were closed. On the plus side the bakeries were open and we were quickly introduced to the utter joy that is a strong cup of coffee coupled with delictible Norwegian baked goods.

Cake!

Coupled with some very friendly sparrows who were keen to share our goodies:

A sassy sparrow

And our wanderings took us to one of the loveliest libraries I have ever encountered:

Stavanger library

I would love to visit Stavanger again when it is open.

Nordfjordeid was my favourite stopping point, mostly because we lucked out with the weather and there were lovely, gentle walks which showed off the Norwegian countryside to its advantage. After a trip around town in which we bought more baked goods AND then stopped at a coffee house for apple cake and ice cream (yes, we ate a great deal of baked treats), I went for a wander by myself up to a (rather disappointing) waterfall and then by the river. Later my husband and I walked by the river again, stopping to rest and listen to the crystalline waters flow by.

Nordfjordeid

In Flåm the weather was more moody, which was perfect for highlighting the dramatic mountains and the pretty, bowl-shaped valley in which the tiny town is nestled. There isn’t a great deal to do in Flåm other than take the railway or go for walks. We eschewed the idea of any organised trips, all they seemed to do was take you away from the place you’d visited, so instead we hiked up to the waterfall at Brekkefossen. It’s a steep hike, but extremely rewarding. No disappointing waterfalls here.

Brekkefossen

After inadvertently collecting a pair of goats it was back to the boat for a scenic trip back down Sonjefjord. Sadly we didn’t get to the end of the fjord before nighttime (such as it is, it stayed light well into the night) and after a days hiking sleep came on pretty easily.

Sassy goats

The last stop was Haugesund, a town based around their fishing industry (herring), replete with many boats and a nice shopping area. We visited the Haraldshaugen monument, which memorialises the unification of Norway under Harald Fairhair in the year 933. And yes, even more baked goods were consumed this day!

Haraldshaugen

And the last day was a drizzly day at sea, which was perfect for catching up on my reading and relaxing before the long drive home from Southampton.

Some light holiday reading

I absolutely adored Norway, it has so much to recommend it. Everywhere we went was clean, the people are so friendly and decent. English is spoken pretty much everywhere we stopped (perhaps not surprising for cruise liner reliant ports). Every town however small had atleast 1 bookshop, and the libraries in both Stavanger and Haugesund were well-stocked and well-used. No books for me this trip, my book buying ban is universal, but it was nice to encounter a place where reading is still such a big part of daily life. The bakeries were to die for! Not just the sweet treats, but the bread was amazing too. All baked on the premises. It made me kind of sad that in the UK we seem to have adopted the industrial food complex at the expense of smaller, more artisnal products and somehow don’t see this as a sacrifice. I think we would rather have the choice of 50 so-so things, rather than one really good thing. Maybe that’s not the same everywhere, but I struggle to think where the nearest bakery is producing goods as appealing as these.

Of course Norway is rather expensive, each of those buns cost about £3.50 – £4.00, but frankly they were worth it.

In the absence of a decent local bakery I was inspired, instead, to try my hand at making kanelboller or, to the English tongue, cinnamon buns. I’m pleased to say that my first attempt turned out pretty okay, and I’ll be having a go at skoleboller next and, at my husband’s request, eplekake (apple cake).

I came back from my trip pretty well refreshed. I am still not exactly okay, I am not sure if/when I will ever get over my brother’s untimely death, or if I even want to. Maybe I have to accept I have simply been changed by it, that some sadness will always linger, and a heavy dose of regret. But I think my trip has helped me remember that life is here to be lived, that we must experience it in all its ups and downs and try to live as best we can. My brother’s undiagnosed heart condition has made me more aware of the need to stay on top of my health, but his death has also reminded me that some little treats that bring a bit of joy into life are also necessary. And sometimes we just need to look out on the indifferent sea and accept that there are some things we cannot control, some things we can never change, and that’s going to have to be okay. That’s life. It’s enough.