"Wouldn't it be nice to see more of Norway this summer?" My husband and I are sitting at the diningroom table with maps and guidebooks planning yet another trip to Italy. Venice, Rome, Terracina, places which have become more and more familiar to us after so many visits these last years.
We finish our bookings for yet another two weeks in Italy, and keep on talking about the Norwegian western coast.
"Remember the booktown Fjærland. I wonder if it has changed since we last visited 10 years ago". "Marta is 11 now. Isn't it full time to show her a glacier before the global warming melts them all". "I would love to cross the Hardangerfjord on a ferry again":
We live in the middle of Norway, and with family all the way down south we are used to driving the 1000 kilometers down there at least once a year. Always in a hurry. One day on the road on our way down, a week or two in the south, one day on the road up north again. Hardly time to stop to really see this beautiful country.
This year we are doing it different. Instead of driving the fastest way down, we've decided to spend several days along the western coast. Where high mountains and beautiful fjords can be found around every corner.
I am up early the day we are leaving. The weather forecast is very good, and I prepare a lunch to bring with us to enjoy somewhere up in the mountains. Pasta, eggs, chicken, vegetables, thin slices of homemade bread. I fill a thermos with coffee and find Marta's special chocolate muffins in the freezer. I enjoy my quiet morning in the kitchen, with the anticipation of a travel ahead.
First stop is the mountain village of Oppdal. A bright sun is warming the crisp, thin mountain air. The girls jump into their bikinis and are out in the icy cold water in no time. When lunch is ready they hardly have time to eat before they are out in the water again. The air fills with delighful cries. Afterwards they spread their bath towels and lay down to lick sunbeams, dreaming they are on a mediterranean beach.
Terje takes a nap in the car while I sit down with a book. Travelling life can be easy!
This is part one of my travelogue from our week in western Norway. Part two will be here tomorrow.
