I am like good three weeks late with this post... The original plan was not to do any blogpost but to publish an amazing travel video of Norway instead. But oh well, the video is still only in the planning state... So if you know any good video making software for noobs let me know plz!!! ANYWAYS, I'll do least a little photo dump post here on the blog :) And we will see about that video later.
EDITEDIT 06.12.2021 here is a link to the video
Okay so me and Rolf decided to spend a month in Norway mostly because it looks so pretty out there and even more importantly because Norway is accessible by car. Pyni, the dog, is too old for flying and there's no way I'd leave her for a whole month... So we rented a car and started driving on the first of July. The first night of the journey we stayed still inside of Finland at beautiful Kilpisjärvi. We enjoyed the nice sunny weather and Rolf even went swimming in the freezing lake water hahah I was impressed. Right after crossing the Finnish Norway border, the scenery changed drastically and we were faced with all the gorgeous mountains!! Not to say Finland ain't pretty, but oh daamn Norway got 'em mountains so they might win after all...
At the border, we needed to take a Covid-19 rapid test but all in all that went super quick and smooth. We had rented a place in the northern Norway city of Tromsø. I somehow had pictured Tromso as like a small town but it turned out out to be bigger than my hometown Rovaniemi. And our AirBnB was downtown so we were all middle of the action which kind og got me off guard hahah. The first few days of our arrival the weather was gorgeous and really warm!! Over +20 celsius is some serious summer weather for northern Norway so obviously we hit the beach and wandered around the town to enjoy the sunshine.
Honestly like 70% of the time the weather was rather gloomy and rainy but somehow all the pics were from those few sunny days.. I'm still grateful for the chillier weather as Pyni really struggles with the heat now in her old age. And you know it's always good weather to be indoors hahah. Luckily with over three weeks to spare in Tromso there was no stress to be out and exploring every day :)
But oh la la lemme tell yall that when the sun was out the city looked extra nice! Such a nice old town and beautiful nature with a lake, mountains and sea all around. There is a nearby mountain with a cable card (Fjellheisen) from where one can see the whole breathtaking view over the city! A must-see if you ever visit Tromso!
Of course we also explored the local restaurants and especially the local craft beer scene. MMM I tried and rated my beer number 200 while in Norway. One of my proudest accomplishments I must say. And actually I gave the so far highest rating 4.25 stars out of 5 stars to a beer from Norway Macks Ginger Beer. Rolf's still saying that ginger beer ain't real beer and my ratings are biased?? But oh well haters gonna hate... And hey all the rumors are true - Norway is PRICEYYY!! And there were not that many vegan options at the restaurants which surprised me a bit but yaash there were at least beyond meat everywhere :)
Oh and I'll just dump a few more pictures of me from the time in Tromso because whyy not?
Overall, Tromso felt quickly like home. It was relatively small but still full of life. There were tons of places to go out, nice restaurants and bars, lil museums and of course the beautiful nature everywhere :) It was quite sad to leave when we headed to the Lofoten Islands. But oh boiiii, the nature just got more gorgeous when we reached the Lofoten. We stayed at the campsite near a town called Kabelvåg on the island of Austvågøya.
The weather was great and the campsite had a lil beach. This was actually the first time for Pyni at the sea. The first time touching the sea. And oh no - she tried to drink the saltwater twice and got frikking confused and was all not that impressed by the whole big water... But yup I was happy to do some beach yoga haha - this same pose was on my vision board for this year so I had to do it.
The Lofoten islands are all about the outdoors. We chose to hike up Festvågtind as it was claimed to be a moderate route and take only about 1-2 hours. You know Pyni cannot hike so we could not be gone for too long. But yeah about the moderate quick hike... hahahhh it was tough and took closer to four hours back and forth so dunno what was this blog writer on when she wrote that or are me and Rolf just hopelessly out of shape :)) We were literally dying climbing up that rocky path hahahah! But we made it - and it was sooo beautiful and extra rewarding after that tough journey :)
We also spent one night at Svolvær where we continued being all outdoorsy and went kayaking - lots of fun!! Here again, we were faced with the question that were we in bad shape or wazzup when we were constantly left to be the last ones in our kayaking group... Maybe all the other tourists in Lofoten were just more serious outdoors people than we are? Dunno.
Pyni was such a good travel doggo. She seemed to get younger while in Norway - lost some weight and started moving better and all :) She was so good with staying alone in new apartments without any issues and knew how to relax everywhere. I think she enjoyed the trip - she got to be with both of her parents again and tons of attention. Luv mi Pampam ❤
Now three weeks later when I am writing this post Pyni is not doing so well... :( This was the last trip for this 14.5-year-old sweetheart. I am so glad that we got to do this trip together and she seemed to have such a great time. And of course Rolf and I enjoyed our time too :)