Magical land of fjords called Norway

And here I am again, hurray, hurray! My dear friends, I am here because it’s a very special subject (country) I would like to tell you about. And the name for the country is NORWAY!

A long time ago, more precisely in 2008 (I think so), I often listened to the Brothers Grim (Russian musical band) song “What kind of country is Norway,” and after that I dreamed about seeing “fjords made from foam, rivers made from crystal” (as sung in the song). It is very strange that I constantly traveled and visited many countries, but still hadn’t reached the cherished one.

I was flying there from Helsinki (the city that I am not so much in love with, although I tried very hard), through Oslo to Bergen, on the wings of love, as always. I really liked the fact that I managed to see 2 original works painted by Edward Munk in Oslo airport. I can not say that I liked them, although I found some interesting moments for myself. It was more valuable to me that you could get a bit of culture experience even at the airport. It’s just perfect! Don’t you think so?

 

 

 

 

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However, no matter how much I liked Oslo from the first sight, I experienced the most wonderful feeling of happiness when I arrived in Bergen. Maybe it happened because I saw mountains as soon as I got off , and, as they say, only mountains can be better than mountains! There was a big smile on my face. I thought of happiness spreading inside me, and left the airport with such feeling. There were a few ways of reaching the city of Bergen: by taxi, on a special bus operating between the city and the airport and by underground (well, actually it was more like a train).

I chose the third and cheapest option – the local subway, which was very nice indeed. It was clean inside, the train was going through the city, where one could look around and get positive feelings. It reminded me my first trip to England: everything was clean, cozy, beautiful houses and good asphalt, roads (it’s always noticeable for someone who came from Russia)). I thought that I wanted to live in Bergen already on my way to the city,  and the subsequent hours spent in the city only increased this insane desire.

This is how the subway ticket from the airport to the center looks like.

In order to get to the city center you need to take the train to Byparken.

I checked into the hotel and went to see everything what I could for 1 day in Bergen. Also it was very nice to receive an envelope from Visit Bergen, specially sent to me with my name on it (with brochures, a card, discounts). There was a card for a Guest of Honor. No words can describe how much thankful I was for such a gift.

Thus, I managed to visit 3 hotels, looked at hotel rooms of different categories, talked with the general manager of one of them, visited the aquarium, magic ice bar, “flew” on the funicular, walked around the city, while visiting the main attractions of Bergen, had a little snack on the pier, went to one of the best restaurants in the city and so on. It was a very busy and productive day, as my whole life, actually.

I must admit that the pricses in Bergen (and whole Norway) are not cheap at all, and if they are also transfered into Russian rubles, it is better not to know mathematics at all or not to go to Norway. Everything is very expensive and I am very grateful to a very lovely and sweet girl Maira who provided me with a special guest card, from which almost all the sights of Bergen were free for me, and also the card gave a big discount to restaurants (that I mentioned above).

As about Bergen Aquarium I want to say that I liked it. But the Oceanarium in Dubai made a greater impression on me. I suppose it could also happen because I had much more time there and was not running around while trying to get an idea of everything in a very short period of time. I would like to show you some of the photos taken in Bergen’s aquarium:

Beautiful Bergen on the way to the Oceanarium

Entrance to the Oceanarium, where you will meet a white polar bear

At the entrance to the Oceanarium, you’ll be greeted by a local store with souvenirs and gifts and right after you’ll see the penguins. They were so beautiful and not very active, that I decided they were not real. But I  was wrong.

There was a lecture about reptiles at the time I came to the Aquarium, but I don’t really like them, or if being honest I really dislike them so I didn’t listen to the lecture, I continue my running around.

Marine Art object, installation of different materials

And this one reminded me of the queue to Disneyland (even though I’ve never been to one but know how it looks like)

Decorations: firstly I found this skull, and then there was also an aquarium with a “sunken ship”, a chain and coins. I found it quite interesting and kind of creative.

Magic Ice Bar

Even if it’s hard to believe I went to this bar for the work purpose. (Asked them for prices, groups, terms of sales, and so on), and also experienced being in the bar for myself. Since I have something to compare with, I just want to say that for such attraction it’s much better to visit Lainio which is a snow-ice palace located about 40km from Levi. It is huge, it is much more interesting and completely different impressions. Although, I must admit that it is wrong from my side to compare the bar and the palace.

Before entering the ice bar, you will be given a ticket for a welcoming drink (included in the entrance ticket price and this is either an alcoholic drink based on white wine and berries, or non-alcoholic like soda or juice). They will also tell you a little about the bar, give you a warm poncho (I would call it a jacket) and gloves.

You can see this special ticket for the drink on the photo. I can honestly tell you that I came in with full confidence that I would take just a soft drink, because: 1. I do not like alcohol and rarely drink something I don’t get the slightest pleasure from) 2. Even being away from the office, knowing that I am travelling for work, I feel that I should not “drink at work”. But when I was told that a soft drink was just a glass of cola, juice, something I tried a thousand times I went for a traditional Norwegian drink based on white wine.

I agreed with the bartender that he would pour me just a bit, just in order to try, but since we did not sign the contract, he didnt’ stick to his words and filled the glass to the brim.

As the glass was completely made of ice, in order not to drop it and not to break it (it also slides), they put it in a normal glass and also asked me (and other visitors) to wear gloves (similar to the ones my grandmother uses at the garden). Now I understand that all this time she misused them))

I could have written that from the first sip, you find yourself in a wonderful country of magical good trolls and bloodthirsty powerful Vikings, that in the background there would be a view of the charming fjord, wine would take you away and … but I don’t like alcohol, therefore, I didn’t feel anything special but only that it would be better if I would have gone for juice))). Yes, that how boring my lifestyle is but at the same time noone would disagree that I live such a spectacular life of  travels and magics, hehe

There were carved paintings on the walls of the bar and they were actually copies of work by Edvard Munk and Gustav Klimt. I liked it! I also enjoyed the music in the bar  which was fun, energetic, good for dancing, perfectly combined with the color music presented on the paintings time from time. Although I am not really sure that it was harmonious and suitable for the ice bar. I personally thought that it had lost it peculiarity and uniqueness, but I anyway danced a bit and, therefore, was happy!

 

 

 

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That famous “Scream” (Ėdvard Munk) made from the ice

You can see the poncho offered to the visitors on the photo above. I went there with my own jacket because it was warm enough for such conditions.

Priceless gift!

It happened that I needed to visit few hotels, but I only found out about it on the day of arrival. For some reason I didn’t think about it, especially since I came on Saturday and now I had to go to hotels and arrange there tours. I cannot say if the hotel’s staff was very easily agree to such events and waiting for everyone with a smile on their faces, or I was just lucky that they felt my love for people and the world and happily agreed to show me around! And if I was just given a list of rooms and keys to them in 2 previous hotels, to the contrary in the third one (the most important and best hotel) I was met by the general manager of the hotel and then his wife was so kind to show me everything that could be shown. I don’t really want to mention the hotel in my blog but I want to say that this man (the general manager) was a descendant of Edvard Grieg and, accordingly, the entire hotel was a bit of presentation with history and a biography of the great composer, and if you listen to the walls of the hotel, it sounds like they whisper music, sounds stalking troll … (please note that it was not after that very glass of wine, haha). I would not allow myself even a bit of alcohol, knowing that I was going to the hotel and presenting there the company in which I work and which I love.

Well, more to the point, as I don’t want to write information about the hotel and I suppose it might not be interesting for everyone. In the meantime, I said to the lady (Britt was her name) that my parents loved the music of Edvard Grieg and I also liked his works very much (my favorite was “Morning”) and Mrs. Grieg was touched by this statement, we had a very nice talk and then she even gave me a book about the composer’s biography. Considering that I can’t finish reading the book started in September, it’s not for sure that I’ll take up the second one, especially biography written in English, but the fact of receiving it as a present from Grieg’s relative was very pleasant for me and I’ll definitely find time to read the book (I hope before my retirement).

Being honest with you, my dear readers, I definitely could live without this book. But it’s difficult to describe how much happiness and gratitude I felt for Mrs. Grieg for such a present. Perhaps this sincere gratitude and joy bring me more miracles and happiness in life.

And this is a sculpture (I think, one of many) of Edward Grieg in Bergen.

Visit to the restaurant.

Since I could have a dinner at a restaurant with a 50% discount, I thought it would be a good experience. First of all, it would be simply nice to try something new. Secondly, if customers ask for a good restaurant, I’ll have at least an idea of what to offer. In fact it’s so good to offer and sell something that you have tried yourself.

I booked a table and came to the restaurant which was famous for its fish dishes. I couldn’t remember the name of this place in Norwegian, but in translation it meant “Unicorn”. But, it seems like my horn has not grown after visiting the place 🙂

The restaurant seemed old, with history and its own atmosphere. I was not used to eating a lot at 8:30 pm, therefore, having ordered only one dish from the main menu, I began to wait for my fantastic dinner. They immediately brought me some water (it was served for free, as I understood, especially considering the fact that Norwegian tap water is absolutely safe and tasty to drink), bread and butter. I had to wait for the dish for about 20 minutes and it took about 20 minutes to finish the plate. It was delicious: soft white fish, vegetables, mashed potatoes and pomegranate. The price for such a dish seemed very high for a Russian person. But, again, understanding the local price level, there was nothing surprising …

I want to say that I did not like the waiters at first as they seemed not so friendly. But, then I said who I was and where I was from, asked about possible cooperation and, actually, I was very pleased and satisfied with their help and answers to my questions.

Here (on the photo above) you can see interesting Norwegian coins with a hole right in the center.

I really liked (=loved) Bergen. Also, I was warned by my friends and the Internet about 365 rainy days a year. Bergen met me with such a beautiful weather, warming and gently hugging the sun! And it was the time when I realized that Norway had been waiting for me for a long time…Thank you Norway! You are such a beauty!

And here (above) you can see the city on Sunday morning: quiet, calm and peaceful. Although, I must say, that it was also quite on Saturday evening. I was really surprised that there was such a calm nightlife, or it just happened in my arrival.

And this photo was taken by me at the local fish market, which is a landmark of the city

I found it always surprising seeing McDonalds located in a beautiful building (see the photo above). But then I saw the local Starbucks (see the photo down):

In order to see the whole city of Bergen you can use one of the most famous sights in Norway and the only one of its kind in Scandinavia. I am talking about the funicular Fleybanen to the mountain Fleyen. The tour starts in the heart of Bergen which is about 150 meters from the fish market.

This is what the road for the funicular looks inside.

And this is the funicular itself. In fact, I was planning to go on this trip around 5-6pm so I could observe Bergen in the daytime, the sunset and the evening city, but there were a lot of other things that took my time and I did not have time to get there at 5pm. Therefore, I managed to see the evening city only. But I was very glad about that too!

And this is a souvenir shop on the mountain. In my opinion, it was also very beautiful.

Morning city covered with the fog.

The city is so wonderful that it may even give the impression that I can take pictures in a good way 🙂 And here is Bergen with my eyes and my phone’s camera:

 

 

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The next day I went to Myrkdalen.

Actually my purpose of the trip to Norway was a Fam trip with a very intense program: visiting and inspecting several hotels, a fjord cruise, a Viking village, some fun and activities on a snowy mountain, a boat ride on a fjord, a hike up the hill, plenty of food, delicious food (even more delicious, than you could possible imagine), a lot of meetings, people, information, and so on.

Of course, I’m not going to write here about all the information gained during the trip so I’ll just highlight some points that I want to share with you, my dear readers.

To begin with, there was something that had penetrated deep into the soul and remained there forever, probably. On the first day of the program, we had such an event as “snow activities”. As it turned out, it was a sleigh ride. You may ask yourself “what is special about it?” but you’ll understand it very soon.

It was 6 or 7h in the evening, it was getting dark and even darker, we were told to dress warmer and here we were… We were standing and listening to the instruction. Each of us was given a sleigh, helmet, flashlight on the head. After we went straight to the lift…

(Photo taken by professional photographer Sverre Hjornevik – https://www.sverrehjornevik.com/ you can find there absolutely amazing photos of Norway)

Having climbed the mountain, we were all together photographed by a professional, very nice, cheerful photographer Sverre and one of the main coordinators said to us:  “All right, you can go. Have fun, take your time, but remember that we will see who will come first and who will be the last ”(and all the time the organizers made fun of it, that this was an unspoken competition).

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

I realized at the very beginning that it was not my cup of tea as I was scared, had a lot of adrenaline and so on. Almost all the time during this “fun” I braked (stopped) with my foot, sometimes with my hand and the whole body, I turned over with the sledge and thought that the main thing for me was not to break my limbs. Moreover, it was the first day of the program! What a great start 🙂

I watched others going down, some kept quite professionally while others were just like me. And of course it was not getting any lighter but the other way around. During one of our stops, we were asked to turn off the light of our lanterns, we all looked up to admire  the starry and beautiful sky of Norway, a wonderful moment of such a scaring (at least for me) excursion.

There was a very strong sharp slope (not 90 degrees, of course, but very sharp) on our way back. I understood that I could not survive after this, and I was not the only one who got scared. Thus, I agreed with one girl that we would somehow run away from the hill, and would dragg the sleigh alone. At that time, it seemed that it would be much easier to run than to sleigh. However, after seeing that everyone, absolutely everyone was moving out of it, I felt shy to resist such an experience, especially since I was the only representative from my company and therefore I felt some kind of responsibility and a need to be brave.

Well, anyway I sat on the sled, put my feet on the brake, trying to prevent a quick descent from the mountain in advance, I wanted to slow down. And so, it started… Fortunately, I do not swear, otherwise Norway would know all about my emotions at that moment)) I rushed with the speed of the wind (the brake wasn’t helping that much), it was wildly scary and I really talked to myself!! I didn’t even talk, but screamed in Russian and English, “Natasha, come on! Everything will be fine. You’ll see. Do not be afraid! You can do it! You caaaaaaaaaaaan, aaaaaaaaah!”))) To be honest, I do not remember when I was so scared the last time, I really thought that I would not get out of this “entertainment” alive. In the end, I saw that someone was stuck in front of me or ran into another sled. So, I couldn’t turn at such high speed and was afraid that the sleigh would bring me in the girl that was stucked. Thus, I began to brake with my legs, arms, body and stopped right in front of someone else’s sledges, but there was snow melting and there was a huge puddle and I was kicked right in the puddle..there was a lot of water in my boots, plenty of water, it would be enough for watering the botanical garden))) Afterwards I couldn’t wait till the fun end and I wanted to go home, take off my boots and feel that life goes on. Haha

And in fact there were 2 people from our team receiving minor injuries. So, as you can understand now it was an unforgettable start of the program. I got off with pain in my arms and legs, a small bruise and ice on my boots and pants (I slowed down with my legs). And I will probably need to throw my boots after this.

Whatever happened there I am still very grateful to life and our people in charge for such an evening. First of all, I understood for sure that extreme sport was not my cup of tea, alas. If I can not cope with the sled, then I should not probably even think of skiing and snowboarding. Secondly, I began to appreciate life even more))

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

Hotels and food.

Of all the hotels that I had a chance to visit Fretheim Hotel (in Flam) was my favourite one. This hotel consists of the historic part of the building, where all the rooms are in the style of “like a grandmother’s house”, with old furniture, with a bathtub on the “legs of the beast”, with small things in the form of a casket, vases from past times. I really liked my room and that I got exactly the one in the historic part of the hotel. Because there were also new American style rooms. But I have already stayed in such rooms  in different hotels and countries. I mean those American style rooms are not quite special or at least I didn’t think so.

 

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This is my room as well as the view from it. You can simply click on the photo and it should open in a larger version I believe. It was also very pleasant to find a postcard from the hotel staff (or from the director). How nice of them!

Also, I really liked the location of the hotel  which was among the mountains, close to the fjords and nature. You seem to be in another world: quiet and peaceful. If it were not for the working theme of the trip where I had an active and busy program from morning to night, I would be happy to sit outside, admire nature and “go inside myself”, but, alas, there was no time for that at all. Maybe someday I’ll go there as a tourist, although I don’t like to visit one place twice.

As for food, we had 3 meals (and once there were even 4 meals) a day on this trip. We definitely did not have enough time to get hungry, and the food was of the best quality and taste whenever we ate there! But my favourite meals were at Fretheim Hotel. Believe me, I have something to compare with: my grandmother is a professional cook, my brother cooks amazingly, in England I lived for a while in a Turkish family who had their own Italian restaurant, then I lived in a Russian-English family in London (food was very tasty there too), then I worked in Italy for 3 summers in a row, in the most beautiful resorts with super-cooks and these delights of Italian cuisine… it seems that my whole life is a big food party! But what the chef made in the above-described hotel was real fantastic! He was a chef specially invited from Bergen, who has been delighting visitors of the hotel with his masterpieces for 2 years now. To my great regret, I do not know the hero’s name, alas, alas … but I know his face which will not forget for sure. What’s more he had an interesting hobby which was visiting Michelin restaurants around the world and getting some inspiration for his own work. In addition to that, I found him being such a PR person. It was obvious that the man absolutely loved his job. And his every dish was not just heavenly bliss to taste, but it was also served beautifully, with an artistic point of view. I hardly remember tasting something better and tastier than it was there. I was ready to say “Yes” to this man. Apparently, my happiness lies through the stomach, haha.

You can see our restaurant at Fretheim Hotel on the photo above.

It was awkward to photograph food in the restaurant, even for the blog. It seemed to be stupid. But then I saw it (next photo) and all the awkwardness immediately passed:

Lets compare my photo taken on a Samsung Galaxy phone and a photo taken by Sverre:

My photo

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

My photo

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

 

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It’s just a mix of dishes that we all had a chance to taste (or, more precisely ate them being full like for the rest of life) on the trip. But my favorites were down below:

That’s a real pity that the lighting wasn’t good for taking any photos and, perhaps, the dish does not look appetizing at all, but it’s just “flying to heaven”, it’s so tasty. It was a carrot, mashed potatoes, fish and vegetables. And in my opinion it was served very beautifully. But it’s impossible to describe this taste though!

I didn’t really like the “pillow” for dessert above, as it was made with honey and it was tasty but I don’t like honey in general. However, I finished it as everything else in the dessert was magical! It was panakota (which I love so much, alas))), and in this particular case it was also made on the basis of brown Norwegian cheese, which was my favorite! And the cook said that the raspberries had been also harvested in a special forest and frozen according to a certain technology, it seems that each berry was frozen separately. Honestly, I do not know how they achieved such a result, because the raspberries were large, fresh, as if they had just come from a bush. Awesome!

Fjord of the Future

We were also very lucky to go on the “Fjord of the future”. It was completely “green vessel” which runs entirely on electricity. 950 volts are used for charing it so it takes about 25 minutes to fully charge this huge vessel which is enough for one whole trip with the duration about 2 hours. She (the ship) is very comfortable, with a minimalist design in the tradition of Scandinavia. There are no stairs on the boat (ship), so it is very well adapted for people with disabilities (again, in the traditions of Scandinavia, in countries where people think of convenience for everyone which is simply great!)

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

In fact, his photos are much more beautiful, but I had to make it less quality so they won’t be so heavy for the blog and unfortunately they lost a bit of their beauty. Sverre, I am really sorry about it.

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

We had some kind of welcoming speech and the captain himself told us some facts about his vessel

 

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

The trip was awesome. First of all, I can admit that the ship definitely goes very quietly if talking about its sound. I would say it’s silence and harmony connected with the fjords, the local calm and majestic nature. Most of the time I spent on the deck, although we were provided free wi-fi there! Everything is designed for passangers’ comfort. You can also buy water, juice, alcohol and something to eat there.

Well, anyway, I went outside and just began to enjoy the magical world of the Norwegian nature which was extremely beautiful. I decided that I’d rather freeze (standing outdoors, near water) than I would sit in comfort, inside. But after 40 minutes of such a pleasure, I returned to the heat and joined others as even for a Siberian girl it was too much.

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

and this me in the light-coloured jacket taking a photo

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

Our Big Team 🙂  Sverre Hjornevik (c)

You know the song “I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky…”. That was the very moment when I did not just believe, but I was completely sure that I would come up a little closer and touch the clouds … It was simply incredible.

That’s a pity though that I did not have the opportunity to dance and shoot a video on the background of such a cool wallpaper)

Viking countryside.

On the Fjord of the Future that I was talking above we sailed to the place called Gudvangen (Viking village).

We were met by the “village” manager who showed us a restaurant and a souvenir shop, and then transferred us into the hands of a viking wife. From her accent it was immediately clear that she was French. I love the French accent in English! Whenever I hear that I remember my lovely friend Manu that lives in Copenhagen nowadays.

Have a look at the viking helmet in the photo. In fact they have never been with horns. This is just an artistic image, the desire of the narrators to present the Vikings even more formidable and scaring. Well, the Viking girl told us various legends about the Vikings, a little about their character and habits. It was very interesting. So, for example, she said that she was a slave to a Viking, and then married him. She was humorous and told everything in a funny way:

“I tell my husband – you need to bring me this and that” – “Ok, dear.” “I tell my husband you need to wash the dishes” – “Ok, dear.” “My husband always answers correctly – Ok, dear” …

Then she took us to their leader’s house, the main viking (he was sitting inside and waiting for our arrival). After that, we were all invited to do archery and to throw few axes at the target. It was fun, interesting, but I felt that I didn’t show very good results in both activites. Apparently, I won’t be a good viking then, haha

I also want to mention how some people stay naive at their 30th year as they were at the age of 5 years and I am talking about myself. The thing is that I stood there, listened carefully and could not understand: were they the real vikings or just invited actors, if everything there had been done for the tourists and business. I listened to the French girl and believed almost every word she said.

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

The Viking lunch impressed me less than all the other things when compared to all the dishes we tried on this trip, but I really liked the atmosphere of the restaurant in which we were located there. Some of the dishes were served on a wooden board, we were drinking from very interesting glasses, etc.

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

 

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I took a photo of our amazing (in every meaning and aspects he was such a lovely photographer) professional at work. Next, see the result of this work:

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

Snowshoes and Stegastein

I had been waiting for my own snowshoes experience for a long time, because I had heard a lot about it, but I had never seen or tried it. And so, the day has arrived. We were waiting for a hike on snowshoes, but when we arrived at the departing place by car, the guides said that there was very little snow in the mountains and, in fact, there was no sense in snowshoeing. They offered to put them on for those who have never used this human invention before. There were 5-6 people, who preferred to go in normal shoes and I was among those. Nevertheless, I took a photo of those who used snowshoes and found out about their impressions. And I give you a small photo report.

It was pretty hard to go uphill in this hike, also because the soil was very different: it was grass and ground, then snow, in which you fall through. And I was also worried that I would slip and fall into the grass with the ground (in some places it was rather dirty) and I had an expensive light-colour down jacket, completely new. I found these thoughts such ridiculuos considering that they were inside someone’s head who follows the law of attraction. I walked and thought how I would fall and how would I then have to clean the jacket … well done, Natasha! It is good that not all of my “desires” and requests to the Universe are realized immediately. This is good, I think.

After the “snowshoes” trek, we had a little stop with an amazing view of the fjord, somewhere in the mountains, with the local Norwegian Kit-Kat (this chocolate called differently but tastes very similar), with cookies and hot juice. It was delicious, beautiful and peacefully.

And then we went down straight to the official tourist-favorite view from Stegastain view-point. To our surprise there were bottles of water  and rolls with salmon/ vegetables for everyone. It was so kind and nice from the organizing team side. Everything was done in the way that we could not get hungry even if we tried our best, haha. It’s just impossible 🙂

Also we were really lucky that almost no one was on that place but our group. There are usually a lot of people in the season during the summer and therefore it is almost impossible to take a photo without strangers on your background.

BEER

One day we also had an excursion to a local brewery, a small but unique one. You will probably be surprise but I was not waiting for this tour at all, to be honest I absolutely didn’t want it and it’s simply beause I don’t like alcohol, and especially beer. Many friends told me that they would love to go there instead of me. Where were you at that moment, my friends ????)))

If talking briefly, they gave us each a try for small snacks of 3 types. It was something like tomato soup in a glass, baked shrimp with something, then reindeer meat with something, and, finally, a piece of chocolate cake with something (oh, this “something” I know how to make presentation, haha). There was a little bit of everything, literally a spoon, but, as always, very tasty, elegant and artistic, which was not uncommon in those places.

Then we were told about how beer was made. Honestly, since I was not in the subject, I did not quite understand the technique and did not understand all the words (the story was in English). Usually, I have no difficulty understanding anything in the language of Shakespeare, but, apparently, not about beer.

After that fascinating story of beer history we were each given a wooden plate with 5 glasses and there was beer of a different sort. The brewery worker talked to us about the variety, we tasted it and tried to guess what was used in this or that particular type of beer. Then he told us what was there in fact. Most of my colleagues were shining with such happy faces during the tasting while I was struggling inside myself: “Natasha, please, here’s a glass of beer with a flower or something else with citrus notes. And this one with chocolate and coffee! Don’t you like it? So, try again… what kind of person are you!?”And I decided to try it for the second time. I tried my best to love at least one beer, but it was beyond my strength. I do not understand how people can love this sort of alcohol, maybe one day I will…anyway, I was glad to have such an interesting experience, new knowledge and emotions. And of course as always I really appreciated everything we were given, told and had.

RIB boat and Brown Cheese

We also had a rib boat ride. At first we were dressed like minions, big weighty minions (see the photo below) and along the way, the guide told us different interesting stories about fjords, legends of these places and so on.

How could I describe the trip. Well: Beautiful views, the wind in the face, desire to take a photo (but the phone is somewhere far inside, under the minion’s suit and life jacket)…

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

When we arrived at Undredal (small village in the municipality of Aurland in Sogn og Fjordane country) we were taken to a house-shop to try Norwegian goat cheese. Alas, I had to go to the ladies’ room like 5 others did and while we were standing in a line, almost all the cheese was eaten by another part of our friendly, hungry expedition))). And they were also told about cheese and its production.

Sverre Hjornevik (c)

It was very sad that I missed everything, but still happy that I got a sample of the famous brown cheese! In my opinion it was such magic! The taste was so unusual. People say that this cheese is either hated or loved. Thus I took the second option. It is a pity that I could not buy it and bring it to Russia. Hope I’ll do it next time.

The Flåm Railway

On the last day of our wonderful Fam Trip we went on the world-famous Flåm Railway (Flamsbana). It was very beautiful indeed but unfortunately the view was quite grayish. I think that this path is much more fascinating in summer. However there are a lot of tourists in the season and this time we had own private car which was superb.

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People

I could tell you only about our transportation, about inspections in different hotels, though it it’s not a report but a blog of an emotional and sensetive person as I am. Thus I would really like to tell you all about how much I am gratefull for meeting wonderful people, again and again 🙂

It all started with our arrival to Myrkdalen and right after that we had a small presentation before sledding. We sat at the tables put in the rectangle shape and in fact, everyone could see each other. We were asked to introduce ourselves, the company we were from and tell two words about our work. I must admit I usually get very nervous and not only before serious performances, but even before the minute presentation of myself, I have a “drought” in my throat, I begin to groan and have some other symptoms of an insecure and not confident person. Yes, I happen to be this way… but at the same time, hearing how others quietly speak about themselves and the company they come from, I understand that the point of the presentation is to introduce yourself and the company, and not to mumble something under your breath and therefore I put myself together when I hear “Your turn”, breath in the air and loudly and clearly say that I usually introduce myself as “Natasha From Russia” and everyone remembers my name and hopefully they do remember Easy Travel being my work and home, haha), and then I say a few words about our work. As a result, several people came up to me after and said that my name was remembered out of all others, and some, fortunately, also remembered the name of my company, which was also very nice.

What I really wanted and dreamed about was to meet some representatives of France and Italy at this event in order to practice those languages I love. Fortunately, I met them (there were two colleagues from France and one from Italy), but, alas, because of my belief that it is impolite to speak a language that someone does not understand, I almost  did not use this opportunity and managed to speak Italian properly only once and, literally, 5 minutes for the entire trip in French. So, I am now making a request/wish to the Universe: I need to practice my rrrrr and other sounds of this beautiful language for a little while. Please do send me more French people on my way as it’s getting worse than my Italian.

In any case, I really liked our team,  some people I got to know quite closely, while with others I almost didn’t communicate at all, and I don’t even know the names of those people. It was a very funny moment with the Greek girl Ani from Copenhagen. We both had some trouble with the sledding. I think she was also not very enthusiastic about this and two of us dragged her sleigh to the finish when our incredible adventure was comming to an end. And it accidentally happened that we always sat side by side at every lunch and dinner. And so, the people in charge decided that it was necessary to break up the “couple” and “triple” so that we all could make new friends, talk to other people and they put some cards with our names on the table. It was, by the way, fun when one of the main organizers (he’s a sales manager at the hotel) saw that it was written “Natalia Barantseva” on my card and asked me, “Why isn’t “Natasha From Russia” written here?” We all laughed about it, I said that this was an unforgivable mistake from their side, but I decided not to complain and try my best to forgive them.

As talking about those cards it happened that mine one was alone at the table meaning that there was noone on the opposite side. There would be sitting people next to me, but noone in front and I wasn’t shy and joked with one of the people in charge if they decided to put me in the way so I could talk to “a new person” that was myself. They laughed, also realized that they had done the wrong thing and swapped places for me and, purely by chance, put my name next to Ani and so we were together again. Later we laughed with her as she would be sitting in Copenhagen, I would be in St. Petersburg and how could we eat lunch and dinner separately from each other. After all, the fate itself placed us to eat nearby.

In general, our team was very good. In my personal opinion, everyone made a good impression in one way or another. I found some great professionals in my field, realizing that I was still far away from them and, I must say, there were many moments when I felt my own lack of knowledge in tourism, more precisely in Norway. By the way I was really shocked that a person with such good memory (as I consider myself) found it almost impossible to remember all the Norwegian names of places, natural points, etc. It honestly made me very upset.

Anyway, I am extremely happy that this trip happened in my life. Of course, I will always be grateful to Easy Travel and my wonderful boss, and the excellent managers and workers of Visit Flam. After the Fam Trip, I went to Oslo and I spent an evening and half a day in the capital before I came back home, finally … as talking about Oslo, there is also so much to share but I will post some photos instead.

This is the National Gallery of Oslo, where I was hoping to see the original work of Edward Munk “Scream”, but instead I saw this:

Closed until 2020 !!! My face expression was just like in the picture “Scream”, haha

Good decoration at the cafe Amsterdam. Bicycles and tulips made the atmosphere, though I was just passing it and didn’t go inside

How beautiful! 

 

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There were a lot of interesting sculptures in the city. Here is some of them (above)

Modern art

The Royal Palace in Oslo. You can see how the guards replacing each other at 13:30 every single day. I specially came there by the time.

And this is a sauna in the center of the city. You can get warm for a fee and jump right into the cold water of the North Sea. There is also the National Opera on the background of the sauna as you can see.

And the capital of Norway also met me with wonderful, sunny weather! Thank you, dear Oslo!

My dear friends, I’ll probably finish here. Although, I would like to tell and share a lot more, but it’s impossible to find time for everything and I don’t want you to get bored with my endless text and pictures… And besides that, I also have a job, office, sport, cultural program, drawing, languages, friends who are always waiting for my messages, attention (although, many have already forgiven me for being isolated and followng my life and dreams without paying that much attention to communicating with everyone).

I really hope that after reading this you are right now checking the flights to Norway and planning to visit the beautiful, magical Flåm, Bergen and Oslo… this is a real fairy tale! And I really wish everyone to see all these places in reality, right in front of you!

With love, Natasha from Russia 🙂