In Bruges & more

What happened to be Colin Farrell's nightmare was, for Lukasz and I, a favourite on the road trip. Who wouldn't like quant little cafes, restaurants, and charming cobblestone streets as far as the eye can see.

Okay, given that we went in low season we probably experienced a different Bruges than most would.  I hear it can get quite crowded. However, we were welcomed with empty streets to explore and winter romance in the air. 

A must when in Bruges is walking around to get lost (preferably when misty and foggy). I should not have to mention the necessity of eating delicate Belgian Chocolate from one of the many little confiserie shops, then of course finishing the day off with some rich slow cooked food and a glass of red.

Given that it was winter, neither Belgium nor Holland disappointed in providing a foggy and cozy atmosphere for our holiday. You may think why go during such a wet time? It was exactly what a couple of Canadian Immigrants like us needed after spending the holidays with family.

Cozy, romantic, and frothy (well the beer) - a solid road trip all around.

Brussels, Belgium

Highway N302, Holland

Volendamm, Holland

Tulips, Rain, and Beer - part I

If you haven't already guessed from the title, we thought January was a good time for a road trip through Holland, and Belgium (yes I know I am posting in June..better late then never right?). There is nothing like your boyfriend watching the world cup for 5 hours straight to make you start blogging again. Anyways, after spending the winter holidays with family in both Bosnia and Czech, we were ready to head off on our own again in search for a new adventure.

Starting in Amsterdam - sin city of Europe. What can I tell you that you have not already read, or heard about Amsterdam? Not much as it is exactly so. Our hotel was located right behind the red light district, prime creeping location of course, and we spent a lot of days strolling through foggy streets, stopping in for a strong smooth beer every so often, and photographing cats in windows.

To me, part of the charm was the moist, grey, and foggy weather that followed us on this trip. Have I mentioned I love fog yet? When we weren't strolling we were eating everything from Pannekoeken, to heavenly moist cakes, with Stroopwafels in between.

After a few days in Amsterdam, we picked up a car and drove to Rotterdam, to meet an old friend of mine, with a stopover at Den Haag for a breath of wintery, yet salty, beach air. 

I have to mention what made this that much more memorable was the rekindling of an old Friendship from 23 years ago (yes, I realize this dates back to me being a toddler). It is a friendship that started in my very first year of life with a boy named Edo, my parents best friends' son, who photobombed almost all my baby photos.
Turns out, we still have a lot in common meeting again now after so many years as young adults.

I would not necessarily recommend visiting Rotterdam, other than the notable architecture, there is not much to do unless you have a friend to take you to a Dutch student bar for some table dancing and cheap beer.

*INSERT PHOTO OF TABLE DANCING HERE* ;)

Next stop was Antwerp, city of gold…literally storefront upon storefront with well priced gold practically sold by the kilo. Being with two boys we skipped the gold and opted out for another night out on the town. Beautiful architecture, scrumptious beer, and another red light district - what more can you ask for?

This is where we parted ways with our new friend, to meet again at the end of the trip, and continued on our road trip solo. Driving through the countryside in both Holland and Belgium is absolutely noteworthy and recommended with; open fields, windmills, storybook homes, beautiful nature, and in our case FOG!

This foggy scenery above was a nice introduction to our visit in Brugge, probably my favourite stop on the trip, but this I will save for another post. Bed time for me - night xo 

Striking Nature

Waking up to the soft twilight in the morning, we were bestowed with beautiful islands, fjords, and white peaks surrounding us that weren’t visible upon our late night arrival. Time for another snapshot of our feet to commemorate the first night in Lofoten. 

Without wasting much time we took off to explore Henningsvaer, and then continued our scenic drive down the coast while the short hours of twilight lasted. Twisty roads, snowy peaks, feel pink clouds as if from a children's picture book. 

With hopeful greed to see the northern lights again, we anticipated our arrival to a secluded fisherman's village. We arrived to Elliassen Rorbuer, one of the oldest fisherman's villages still standing in Lofoten,  and checked into to a fishermans cabin right on the edge of the water.

After a home cooked dinner, the clouds rolled in and we quickly realized that tonight's chances of catching another glimpse of the lights were faint. Still, armed with two bottles of wine, we opened the window with a view toward the water and snuggled up under a blanket, taking in the cool winter breeze accompanied by the sound of waves crashing ashore. Waiting for the lights like this, we dozed off by the open window for one of the best pre bed time naps I have ever had in my life.

The next day's  snow, rain, and fog prevented us from hoping to see another lit up evening sky, but in turn provided us with a breathtakingly raw and alien landscape to drive through. The colours migrated from bubbly pinks and purples, to deep greys, blacks, and greenish whites.

I have always had an infatuation with fog, and this last leg of our trip allowed us to see a striking scenery incorporating sand beaches, blue waters, white peaks, fog, and charming red rorbuer.

Norway - the one place I can say for sure I will be back to, or at least wish to go back to. Nature is the worlds most beautiful and powerful force, it draws you in like a magnet. I can say that the days and nights spent here are some of the most unforgettable of my life. No amateur photographs, nor if they were professional for that matter, could ever do it justice.

Until next time Norway… 

Meeting Aurora

The day started off as quiet - a sandwich for breakfast at the hostel, accompanied by a few of the previously stolen eggs from the ship's buffet. We jumped on yet another plane toward Harstad/Narvik airport in Evenes. This time, a tiny little bird by Wideroe, with a choice of about 25 self assigned seats, took us up in the air all the while rattling and humming. Small planes are not my preferred method of transportation, but we arrived safe and sound, picked up our rental, and were on our way toward Henningsvaer to spend our first night on the Lofoten islands. 

What was meant to be a 2.5 hour drive to our destination, turned into over 4 hours of cruising underneath a mysteriously lit up sky. 

Let me go back - we were driving down the narrow and winding roads, me as the passenger planning our hunt for the aurora when i spotted 'clouds' in the sky. Disappointed at our chances to see the aurora later that evening, I point out the clouds to Lukasz who in turn tells me to look closer as clouds don't have a tinge of green to them. That was just the start. 

Fast forward half an hour and we were blessed with the most magical light show we could have ever imagined…

We were hypnotized. The cold creeping up to us as we stood there, but we barely felt it. My fingers numb from trying to capture the moment. None of the pictures could ever do it any justice, nor could they portray how small and insignificant we felt in the world at that moment.

Suddenly the whole sky lit up in green, illuminating the snow covered mountain tops, with ribbons of purple peeking through.

We retired to our two story cabin (which was somehow cheaper than a room), then proceeded to relax in the private sauna and steam shower.  We felt on top of the world buzzing with excitemend from the experience we just had on the road. Not even our gas station bought dinner consisting of salty instant noodles and frozen pizza could ruin the mood. I went to bed feeling very lucky to have been privy to one of Nature's most amazing shows.

Sweet Dreams.

Bodø to Tromsø with Hurtigruten

It's an early morning, and we are catching a flight to Bodø. I must say timing was on our side this entire trip. It started out with the storm that had hit northern Norway a few days earlier. We were slightly nervous as 15% or more of the flights were being cancelled as we were sitting and waiting for our gate to be announced. Some were cancelled due to continued bad weather, others due to lack of crews from the previous cancellations and delays.

Luckily we boarded the plane, arrived safely in Bodø  & relaxed over a coffee hoping that our luck was to continue as we were to get on a boat in a few hours. It seems we were moving the opposite direction of the storm, and once aboard the MS Lofoten, we were giddy for our adventure.

With ghastly prices on board, we quickly decided to run out to town for some groceries so we can make sandwiches for dinner (story of our trip since the $60 burgers), and also to find its only Vinmopolet (state controlled liquor store) in order purchase a bottle of vino for our voyage. Well hidden it was too this liquor store, thankfully Bodø is not a very big town.

I highly recommend the Hurtigruten, pastel skies, icy waters, and fjords. We were reading, relaxing, and enjoying the view. Then came the itching for a beer to enjoy with all this relaxing. We decided we would share one as we were prepared for it to be pricey, but we were definitely not prepared when she said we owe her $17…for one beer!

Not long after we retired to our tiny cabin, the captain announced a sighting of  Northern lights over the PA. I have never gotten dressed so fast in my life. Less than ten seconds later we joined other passengers on top of the windy deck, watching a light haze of green dance over the Norwegian Sea with snowy hills in behind. Unfortunately, strong winds and a moving ship prevented me from capturing this moment on film. Still, this being the first lights I have ever seen, I was buzzing with excitement and fiending for more. 

I had a restful sleep on the ship; the humming of the engines and the gentle swaying of the waves putting me to bed like a baby. Lukasz  - not so much. He is a very light sleeper to say the least, and quite the grumpy morning person. Breakfast was included in the ticket for the ship, which we welcomed with hungry stomachs and left with a few hardboiled eggs in our pockets J

Arriving to a windy Tromso, looking out the cabin window, and seeing people bundled up with layers and fur, one would have thought that there are sub arctic temperatures awaiting us. Bundled up we stepped off the boat into the fresh air to find a milder version of a Calgary winter….thank you for preparing us for anything Canada. 

Armed with the Aurora Borealis app for Norway, I was tracking the activity in each location.  Tromsø  looked promising for a glimpse of the lights up until our arrival, when clouds gathered in the sky. We checked in to our hotel, and enjoyed a stroll to the most Northern Brewery in the world to sip on their beer at the oldest pub in Norway. 

We picked up a few more groceries for breakfast to avoid the gauging prices for food in the morning, and then decided with all these savings we had made over the last 24 hours, and a cloudy evening ahead we deserve a nice hot meal out (barely justified). Nestled into a cozy atmosphere with a fire crackling in the background, we enjoyed the most tender norweigen lamb shank accompanied by parsnip mashed potatoes, mint, and topped with candied apricots, almonds, and horseradish.

It was the perfect end to the day even though we had not seen the lights this evening.

Norway - Oslo

Our splurge of 2013. We arrived in Oslo, and conveniently enough the train to the city is attached to the airport for a stellar fee of $50/ person return trip. Keeping in mind the city centre is about 15 min away I felt this was rather steep, but that was just to prep us for the prices in Norway. 

We walked to the Opera House at twilight, with the clouds reflecting off of the vast glass surface. It is really a neat structure piercing out of the water like it was meant to be there, allowing you walk up on to its marble stone roof. They had a little christmas market in the centre, of course we had to try the  Glühwein (mulled wine) in order to compare it to the copious stands we visited in Berlin and Switzerland. It was too sweet and cost us $13 for a tiny dixie cup amount. The only interestingly positive aspect were the raisins and nut pieces that they put inside..yum.

After exploring Oslo a little more, we decided to go get something to eat as we were starving at this point and the little bit of nuts and raisins was not holding us over. We decide to hit up a recommended Burger joint for the quality, and value of the place. Well...$60 later we got two burgers, a beer to share, and two small sides of fried potatoes.

Welcome to Norway.