Kaupanger

I've been off the grid for the last few days. I met up with a family that I nanny for in New Jersey. The dad is Norwegian so they come to Norway every year and they invited me along. It was a good excuse to head to Europe and the trip happened to fall perfectly in the timing of shit hitting the fan at home. I'd been planning on going with the family to Norway since about New Years, so the trip was never new news. The only thing that has really changed is the duration of my trip. 

So I hopped on the ferry Saturday from Bergen to Songdal. 

It was a four hour and forty five minute ride up the fjord. We stopped at some super small super cute towns...

But mainly it was cruising! 

And amazing scenery!

It was legitimately inspiring because I started a new writing project... it's currently just a teasing idea distracting me from my other project but we'll see where it takes me.

And the closer I got the more excited I got. 

Then we docked in at Songdal and there were Linda and Nils waiting for me. And it was one of those crazy moments when you see someone you know in a foreign place and it's suddenly very real that you're not in New Jersey any more. 

We hopped in the car and were off to Kaupanger. I got to stay in a cabin!! They belong to Nils' parents and it's where they stay when they're not in Oslo. There are three adorable cabins seriously in the woods! It was so amazing and quiet! And we didn't have wifi till last night because it wasn't working or something. But that totally worked for me. 

I've actually been hanging out with the kids a lot. We had secret mad lib parties in the "secret room" it's actually just the loft space in the furthest cabin. But they wanted really funny ones and they asked me to write food mad libs. And not to brag they were pretty stellar. All I could think of was how great it would have been to play with my brothers because even when we're keeping them PG rated they always come up with the most obscure words! But the kids were just so funny coming up with words. I knew they were struggling with a crazy one when they'd opt for bookshelf or window.

But we also did some cool things! Like hiking to a glacier!

My very first glacier!

And it was as epic as I thought. And there were warning signs there that I thought were funny. Apparently they have serious meanings....

This one isn't telling you to body surf the waves... it's a warning that flash flood may occur if ice breaks away.

And we have the signs for the two things that could fall. Rocks and Ice!

It was just so pretty.

I also swam in the fjord!!

We went one morning and I knew it was going to be cold so I opted for jumping off the dock over climbing in. 

It was a balmy 12'C (54'F)! But it felt so nice after you swam around for a while. And I wish i was a stronger swimmer because I would have loved to have stayed in longer. But I ended up clinging to the dock to give my arms a rest. And when I got out it was so warm.... or maybe I was just really cold...

Either way it was the perfect way to start the day. If I lived in Kaupanger I would totally start my day in the fjord. It was refreshing. Not to mention the view was....

Well amazing!

Just driving around was amazing and everything is so pretty. Like all the stereotypical photos you see of Norway is shit that I've been seeing since I arrived! It's just stunning!

Then we stopped by the  church Linda and Nils got married at. And we saw some of the grave stones of his family. There's 300 years worth of his ancestors buried there!

Then today we stopped by another family cabin. They view there was even nicer...

Like holy fucking shit! I could just live there and be happy. Apparently the fjord is only a 20 minute hike away. Perfect!

Then I caught my bus to Oslo. I got to ride the ferry across the fjord.

It was amazing. And now it's rainy and I'm on a bus to Oslo.

I'll be meeting back up with the family there. They have a small rental car and a lot of luggage. But taking the bus suits me because I can get work done... as this post demonstrates. 

As nice as it was not to have wifi I missed talking to my brothers and friends. So I'm hoping for wifi otherwise I'll be off to a cafe tonight or tomorrow to post this.

The ride has been nice. I'm sad it's been rainy because the scenery is amazing and rain makes it so tough to photograph. At least I got to see it. 
I also started listening to Doll Bones by Holly Black. It's addicting and I'll probably go back to that after this post. I'm already on chapter 9 and it's good! I also really like the guy who reads it. Actually I think that catches you up so I'm back to Doll Bones!

Cheers,