Anna in Geiranger
by Anna Marie Fegi-Brown
Growing up in a tropical country such as the Philippines makes us conditioned to a certain environment. Compared to the rest of the world, we typically have hot temperatures, a specific rainy season, and we are also prone to earthquakes and typhoons. Other areas in the world have their peculiar environments, too. One place that is almost opposite to the Philippines is the country of Norway. So when I found out that I would be spending two weeks traveling throughout Norway, I was excited and nervous, as I did not know exactly what to expect.
Our itinerary started in the southern part of the country and went north throughout the Norwegian fjords and all the way up to a place called Nordkapp, which is the northernmost point in all of Europe. This part of the world can only be reached during certain times of the year as the weather makes it very difficult to explore during the brutal winter months.
During our visit, It was in the middle of their summer, which includes what they call the “Midnight Sun.” It is called this because the sun never fully sets during the summer. At midnight the sun is still fully out and around 3 a.m., the sun comes close to the horizon but never really disappears. That means for almost two weeks we were in constant sunlight. The first few days made for an interesting experience, but after a few days it really started to mess with our heads.
Getting cozy with a stuffed polar bear
Our bodies are conditioned to sleeping during the nighttime. If you take out nighttime, our bodies don’t really know when they should be sleeping. If I finish my show at 11 p.m., I usually stay up a while later having the adrenaline of having performed. But in Norway, at 2 a.m. I look out my window and the sun is still up and it’s as though the sun is telling my body to stay awake. Eventually we had to cover our windows so we could sleep at a normal hour.
The Midnight Sun happens because Norway is located so far north in the world. If during the summer months they never have a sunset, the opposite is true during their winter months. The sun never comes out and they are in total darkness. This is also a time that people come from around the world to view the famous Northern Lights.
We went throughout the Norwegian fjords in our travels in Norway. I had visited fjords before in Alaska several years ago, but I have never seen anything like it before. We visited the Seven Sisters Waterfall, a series of seven waterfalls that combine on the side of the mountain. We visited the Troll Fjord, a place that I never imagined our ship would ever fit. The views everywhere were amazing and I took so many pictures.
The writer in Fjords
Another thing that took an adjustment were the prices throughout Norway, and the entire Scandinavian region. Europe has always been expensive compared to the Philippines, or even the Unites States. But even having traveled in Europe many times, we were not exactly prepared for the prices in Norway. In one stop in Bergen, a simple cheeseburger and French fries totaled near US$25 (or P1,100).
When we visited a grocery store in the town of Geiranger, a normal-sized bag of potato chips was US$7 (P300). One of the reasons is that salaries in Norway are very high compared to the rest of the world. So are the taxes, which is almost 50 percent of a person’s salary. But in return they have excellent government health benefits as well as public education and state retirement plans.
One of the fun parts of traveling is finding the unexpected. One of those moments took place while walking downtown in the city of Stavanger. They were in the middle of a festival, along with an international beach volleyball tournament featuring the Olympic teams representing their countries.
My husband is over six feet tall, with blondish brown hair and blueish eyes. That means that he kind of looks like a local in this part of the world. While walking through the festival, a local person started speaking to him in Norwegian. We didn’t understand a word, of course, but they were offering us free tickets to attend the volleyball tournament. We decided to go and made it inside the stadium right as the United States started playing against the Norwegian national team. Who would have thought that my husband, from the United States, would end up watching his national team take on the Norwegian team, in Norway. And it was also unexpected to watch professional beach volleyball in Norway, a place usually known for cold weather.
One of the highlights of our time in Norway was taking a bus trip from the port city of Honningsvag all the way to Nordkapp, or the North Cape, which is the northernmost point in all of Europe. At Nordkapp, we were only 2,000 kilometers from the North Pole. I have to admit that I wasn’t able to spend too much time outside there, even with a heavy coat and multiple layers of clothes. The temperature was below zero and with heavy wind that cut right through the clothes. But I did visit the very edge of northern Europe and looked out north towards the North Pole. The wind was so strong that it was blowing snow across the ground and it looked like a river of snow moving around our feet. My husband, being more used to the cold, hiked around the area and took pictures all along the northern coast as I waited inside for him.
North Cape Globe
On our trip back, our bus driver quickly put on the brakes, catching the attention of all of us onboard. We looked out the window to see real reindeer crossing the road right in front of our bus. The only reindeer I had ever seen before came in the way of a Rudolph and his cartoon friends. Never did I think I would get to see the real thing so close up and in their land. To see a group of real, live reindeer across a frozen ground was something I will remember forever.
As our time in Norway drew to a close, I appreciated the chance to explore a country so different to what I have been used to. Reindeer, the North Pole, and the Midnight Sun would normally be things I could only read about in a book. Travel gives us the opportunity to see new places and experience new cultures and it also opens our minds to see the world in a whole new way.
