Fishsoup & Fløyen
8 September 2024, Norway ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Early wake up in Zürich and, after less than 12 hours, I found myself at the airport AGAIN. hihi
Okay to be fair at that point I was not too amused. I was tired, the night before I had done nothing but washing clothes and packing my stuff for the following week. WHY hadnt I allowed myself even 1 day „off“ between two vacations?? But then still I was happy to leave again. Being back felt a bit weird to be honest. During the past week I had really forgotten I still had a life back home..
On the flight from Amsterdam to Bergen I sat next to a friendly elder man who turned out to be Professor at the university of Bergen, doing research on obesity and growth and hormone signalling during puperty. We talked all flight long. He talked about his work, asked me many things about myself and my studies and even told me about his kids, grandkids etc. I took the opportunity to ask him about Bergen, some sightseeing I could do and how I could get to the city from the Airport.
So, When I arrived I knew where I had to go, took the train and 25 mins later i stood in Bergen sendrum. I checked into my hostel & met 2 solo traveller girls, Finja and Caro. Finja is also celiac - but a hardcore one. I told her I was going to try some local food somewhere in the evening and she said she never eats outside, only has yogurt-drinks and nuts while travelling and doesnt use the hostel‘s kitchen because she‘s too scared of getting colon cancer at the age of 50. I then told her that I would definitely prefer eating outside and being careful in my choice of restaurants and running the risk getting colon cancer instead of never eating out, never trying local food, and living up to my 90s or until I get smashed by a car.
Maybe I was too direct because she seemed quite shocked about my lifestyle and my statement. Eventually I left to walk around the city. I didnt make it far, it was pouring outside so I walked into the first cute restaurant and ordered a traditional fish soup from Bergen. It was good but I was slightly disappointed that there were about 4 miniature pieces of Salmon and 3 pieces of Cod. But still it warmed we up and gave me enough energy to walk around, see the fishmarket, the harbour, the old Brygge village and even do the 50 mins hike to Fløyen. It’s always better to be warm than cold. So I was wearing 4 layers which all had so say goodbye at some point on my way up the hill. In the end I was only wearing a t’shirt and had to carry my hoodies and jacket… On top of Fløyen I bumped into Caro, who had taken the train to get on the hill. We headed back to the hostel together. I changed and went out again to look for a restaurant where I could eat some local speciality. On my way Thomas Tschanen, a childhood friend, texted me that he had seen I was in Bergen and gave me some Restaurant recommendations. Great coincidence since I was looking for one at that moment. I decided to try Fjellskål, one of the restaurants he told me to go to. It was quite different to sit at a fancy restaurant alone. I think also the (very good looking, blond, tall and blue eyed-) norvegian waiter thought it was strange because he came quite often to ask if everything was alright and when I had glutenfree bread left after dinner he brought me a „present from the kitchen“ which was a scallop in a sauce, baked with parmesan, where I could dip my bread in. Either norvegian people are very friendly or he just felt sorry for me haha;) Anyways the salmon was delicious and also the glass of white wine fit very well. I was super satisfied when I left and strolled a bit through the city until i made my way back to the hostel to get some sleep.Baca lagi
Rain and Stormy
9 September 2024, Norway ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
I absolutely love solo travelling! Not only because I can do whatever I want whenever I want but also because I pay way more attention to details while travelling. Today for example I realized that there are MANY public toilets all over Bergen. Also I came to the conclusion that people from northern countries build colorful houses to counteract the bad, grey weather. And the last observation was that even though Bergen is the city with the most rain, people still are optimistic, because in every shop I was given paper bags (which obviously were DRENCHED after 3 meters of walking).
So my day started with a delicious glutenfree cinnamon roll and a double shot Cappuccino at Baker Brun. Then I walked on some very pretty streets, got into a talk about the rainy weather with a norvegian man from that neighbourhood and walked to the Aquarium. When I arrived at the aquarium my jeans were COMPLETELY wet, even my underpants were wet. The aquarium was very nice because they showed many local habitats and ecosystems and had an exposition on different algae and how they can be used by humans.
After the aquarium I walked to a lookout and because I was still wet, plus was freezing, I started running. I honestly dont know if there were any drugs in that cinnamon roll or if it was just the sugar-high, but I was so incredibly happy. Despite the storm and the wind i was laughing, running around enjoying the rain on my skin and just being thankful for these moments I had just by myself. I went to see the university of Bergen then grabbed lunch to-go and made my way to the train station to take the train to Odda:)
On the train a (very friendly) conductor had to tell me that I had accidentally bought a bus-ticket instead of a train ticket, which was quite embarassing. However the train ride was beautiful. I saw fjords, rivers, small towns and forests. Now I‘m currently sitting in the bus, quite proud of myself I even got the right ticket and excited to see Norine in two hours! :)Baca lagi
Via Ferrata & Spa Day
10 September 2024, Norway ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
In the evening when I arrived at Norine‘s place we had a looooong talk to catch up with everything that had happened in eachothers life‘s - and damn that was a lot.
Her flatmade offered me to sleep in her bed because he wasnt there for another two weeks and I was very thankful because I had a bed and a room by myself and slept like a baby.
In the morning we had breakfast & made our way to the Tyssedal Via Ferrata, one of the hikes Norine guides.
I‘m so fascinated by how she does things, how she handles her life and how she just follows her dreams wherever they may lead her.
This was the first Via Ferrata of my life and I didnt know I would like it that much! We climbed up a Rock along pipes that had been built in the early 20th century. The area is and was very important for hydroelectricity. On our way up the views got prettier and prettier. At some point the sun caught up with us and warmed our freezing hands, which made clinbing a lot easier!
As we were up, Norine gave me a provate guided Tour in the Tunnels and the Pipes. I was so surprised I didnt know we could enter them, nor that she was actually giving tours to people. As we hiked back home it started to rain and we decided to go to the Spa in Lofthus after eating lunch.
Norine can go there for free and I was allowed to go with her without having to pay. The spa was part of a very nice and rather fancy hotel. There was a sauna with view on the fjord, different Pools, an outdoor pool and a way to reach the fjoord, which I obviously did, and so, yesterday I had my first swim in a Fjord:) it was quite cold, but somce I could just jump back to the sauna it didn‘t matter that much.
In the evening we drove past a „Sideri“ (a place where they make cider) and we bought one for dinner.
After a cooking & eating pasta with veggie saue, we watched a movie & drank our cider.Baca lagi

PengembaraOh man your little text warmed my heart soooo much! 🫶🏼 I had such a good time with you there, what an adventure we had! Love you much
Freezing overnight hike to Stavali
12 September 2024, Norway ⋅ 🌫 2 °C
We woke up in the morning and checked the weather app to see what hike we could do in the following two days. Our plan was to sleep in a cabin on the mountain over night and hike down the day after. The temperatures had dropped quite a bit and there was snow on the top of the mountains. Plus the app also indicated lightning at some spots in the mountains, which obviously meant we couldnt go there. There was however one hike to a cabin called stavali, which seemed doable despite these conditions and we decided to go for it. We drove with the car to Kinsarvik and listened to some motivation songs since it was raining quite heavily. But after screaming „feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you only you can let it in……“ (song is called unwritten), we were ready to go. The hike was 14 kilometres one way with about 1100 meters of elevation. It lead past 3 huge and impressive waterfalls and up quite steep and slippery rocks. The hike was very long and it took us 6 hours and a couple of mood swings from desperate to laughing all the time, to get to Stavali. We had to cross a couple of rivers on our way so our feet were DRENCHED. The hut was self-service, which means that there‘s no one and you have to put on the fire yourself, cook and do everything. We were SUPER LUCKY that two norwegian guys, Chris and Ronny had arrived about an hour before us and had already put on a fire so the cabin was nice and warm when we arrived. They had even lighted some candles and it all looked very inviting. Although the cabin has 62 beds, it was only the 4 of us. Norine and I cooked dinner, we made some Sodd, which was avaiable at the hut with potatos, carrots and meatballs and warmed it up in a pan from the kitchen. After dinner we talked to Chris and Ronny for a long time, we shared a ginger beer, played games drank hot chocolate and heated ourselves up at the fireplace. The talks with the two of them were very interesting. We went to bed at around 11 and decided that we were all going to have breakfast together the following day.
The night was quite rough because the fire was gone at some point and it got very cold. I dont even know how many layers I slept in. ALSO i had gotten a notification that the results of bioanalytics exam had been uploaded BUT our phones didnt have any connection after about half of the hike so I had to wait until the next day and it was freaking me out. This and the cold really made it an awful night in which I constantly woke up. The next morning we woke up and cooked a big pan of hot porridge with cinnamon and honey for all of us. We got ready and hiked down. My back was hurting, probably from the hike of the day before, the heavy backpack and the bad night. The shoes and socks were still wet even though we tried to dry them. But we knew that as soon as we would get to Lofthus we would go to the sauna, and this gave us so much energy that the hike fown was actually quite nice. Even the sun came out for a while:) after 5,5 hours we were sitting in the car, happy that we had survived our 2 day trip and ready for the spa to warm us up again:)Baca lagi
Adjø Norway
13 September 2024, Norway ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Crazy how time flies. I‘m sitting at the airport in Bergen and trying to read papers for my upcoming project next week but my mind constantly wanders to all the beautiful things I’ve experienced in the past two weeks. This little runaway was very much needed and the best thing I could‘ve done:)
I‘m tired but incredibly happy, i‘ve seen so many things in such a short time and i‘m so thankful for it.
Norway is such a fascinating country and i will be back for sure to explore more of these amazing landscapes, try more ciders and meet new people:)
For now, I‘m (more or less) ready for studying again;)Baca lagi













































