Tvedestrand, Norway
The sun blessed coastal Norway with its presence the couple days I was there. My friend and I set up chairs outside and dawned our winter coats and blankets, so we could get a nice tan on our cheeks. We took my friend’s dog for a walk around the island and later drove into town. Tvedestrand is a tiny town famous for books, and appropriately enough, I spotted around five book stores in 15 minutes of walking. Few people were visiting the coast so early in the year, and the only movement from the water came from the ducks on the surface and the jellyfish beneath.
At this point, I had gotten used to the Norwegian diet. Breakfasts were usually around my normal lunch time, and they were comprised of bread and toppings that spanned from brown cheese to caviar in a tube. I tried a little bit of everything and happily settled on topping my bread with jam. On my last day at the coast, my friend’s family was so kind as to make American style pancakes for me. For dinner, I was spoiled with a seafood chowder and had my first taste of akvavit, a Scandinavian alcohol.
Tvedestrand, Norway
The day I was in Oslo, I visited the Viking Ship Museum. It’s a small museum that houses three large ships, a few skeletons, and a vast array of Viking artifacts that didn’t need to be explained to be appreciated. People, dragons, and serpents were carved into the sides of pull carts and ship prows. Repeatedly, a serpent was depicted eating its own tail, which is a sign of infinity. Two of the ships were made for transporting people quickly through the water, while the Oseberg ship might have been used in a ceremonial context. The ship was highly decorative and fit for the aristocrats. Even the oars were painted.
After getting a kabob and a soda that would put American supersizes to shame, I wandered down to Vigeland Park. The amount of statues in the park was overwhelming. Many of them were parents and their children. Some were babies you could rub the stomach of and be granted good luck, and others were entwined lovers. Four giant men held a fountain surrounded by carvings of the circle of life—people being born, growing up, growing ill, and turning to dust. At the peak of the park was a giant monolith built out of people climbing over each other up to heaven and salvation.
The Oseberg Ship (left) and the Vigeland Park Monolith (right)
I was sad to leave Norway. It was like experiencing home and adventure all at the same time, which I think is funny. Sometimes home is in the needles of a tree or the way the water laps at the shoreline. Sometimes adventure is re-experiencing home. I packed my bags and said goodbye though because I had places to be. Namely, Greece, a place I had dreamt of visiting since I was probably 10 years old. As I made my way through the airport and onto the plane, I just kept telling myself the same thing I had been telling myself for the last 10 years. I was going to Greece. It was something I had to do.
Tvedestrand, Norway
