I've always enjoyed international travel, and now I'm vlogging about it! A heart attack in 2013 revealed a rare, serious heart condition, and I plan to make the most of the time I have by seeing the world with my husband and soulmate, Mark (and sometimes our adult son, Matthew). Subscribe to my channel to experience this beautiful planet with us! 🌎
Did a similar trip in September 2021. Oslo for a few days and then a week in Svalbard before flying back into Tromsø and driving down to Stavanger over the next 4 weeks. Norway is very much my special place now.
"Det er aldri for sent å bli god" - it's never to late to be good(at something). That's how I would read it, but it seems it's written by a lady in the early 1900 or something, maybe she was thinking more in religious terms. Norwegian change all the time.
8:04 And also governed by a international treaty that gives the citizens of *all* signatories a right to live and do business on the islands (mind you, the local government does have a say in the matter too). The Russians have a settlement there, in oart to maintain a claim on the islands. There's also disputes over where exactly the treaty applies. Everyone agrees that military assets are banned from the islands. But Norway claims that we're allowed to have naval vessels outside the islands, protecting them. Other signatories dispute this claim... 15:04 Most seabird populations have been falling in recent years, puffins included. In part due to climate change, in part due to overfishing, although Norway does a far better job of avoiding that then the EU countries does. In part due to bird flu killing tens of thousands of birds recently.
2:18 I doubt that this one got it. But you can find combined washing machines and dryers in Europe sometimes. 11:11 Its usually a good idea to plan for charging and eating at the same time, to not waste time, instead of relying on fast chargers at specific destinations or trying to fill it all up at once. Charging a little bit here, and a little bit there as you get something to eat. 17:16 Oh dear, I hope that he's okay? May I ask what happened? 20:33 Like I've mentioned before, above freezing is *not* cold. ;-) If you don't have frost in the grass it's not cold. 21:15 They're conscripts. By the way, check out some RU-vid videos of the Norwegian Royal Guard attending military tattoos, and look at how good they are, considering that they're conscripts with limited service time. 21:47 Correct, some people are even walking around in a t-shirt in your video, as you'll see if you wind back from this time stamp just a little bit. 25:06 Poor thing, he must be absolutely exhausted.
@@SacramentoLisa They're really practical. But unfortunately a bit more pron to breaking down if you don't maintain them a lot more then regular washing machines. Emptying filters etc all the time...
1:38 If you care a lot about the environment perhaps consider taking a train between Oslo and Copenhagen? Oslo, Gøteborg, Malmø and København (Copenhagen) are all in a big highly populated area, a mini version of the yellow banana in continental Europe. 7:12 Looks like the Queens guard. Although with her abdication recently they're the king's guard now. By the way, that means that Denmark now has a Australian queen consort "gemalinne" or "kongegemalinne" in Norwegian I think? Honestly, it's such a rare word, we just use "queen" these days without going into details about the exact title in day to day speech. Honestly 10:38 Yeah, when it comes to being sexually open-minded and relaxed about the body it's probably the Benelux people first, especially the Dutch and Friseans. Then the Danes. Norwegians are more self conscious then Danes, but way less so then Swedes. I think that the Finns are a bit more open-minded then us again. The Germans are about the same level as the Swedes. More open-minded in the north, especially further east, less in the south. But all of us are probably more open-minded then a lot of Americans... Topless sunbathing is dying out, but used to be common in Sweden too. 11:34 Its not a toilet. "Pissoar" is the Norwegian word for a "urinal". As you can see the Danish word is pretty similar. 16:38 The thing is, southern Sweden used to be Danish. And Copenhagen was pretty much in the middle of the kingdom back in the day, before Norway and Sweden was included in the Kalmar union. Denmark was the wealthiest of us all and most powerful because they controlled the trade out of the Baltic sea. Meaning that they could charge high tolls for passage. Both Sweden and Germany made canals to try to avoid the Danish control. Even the Russians did. The Russian channel goes northwards into the Arctic ocean. 18:42 The "Ó" is a Icelandic and Faeroese letter. And I believe I've visited a Gló in Reykjavík, so my guess is that the resturant is from one of those two nations. From what I remember they're specializing in vegetarian food? I could be wrong.
Some of the videos in your playlist is out of order. :-/ 7:11 Yeah, tensions with Russia had already been rising for many years before the invasion of Ukraine. In part because Russia has disputed sea borders with pretty much everyone in the Arctic. In part because the relationship with NATO has been falling for many years straight... Georgia, Syria, Libya... All conflicts where NATO and Russia held quite different views... And Russia regularly tests the response times etc of the Norwegian military. We keep having to scramble our jets to escort their air force out, move our border patrols to face theirs, our coast guard and naval ships to deal with theirs, both their military ships and their "civilian" ones... Essentially spy ships... There's been a lot of Russian spies sent home in recent years... We're of course also exercising more and trying to train Ukrainians. And honestly, Norway is preparing for a war we consider likely with Russia. Especially if Trump wins and essentially pull out of NATO... 9:05 That's a varde in Norwegian, or a cairn in English. Its not just a pile, it's intentionally constructed. Its a tradition to bring a rock to add to such a cairn when going on a walk to one. They're landmarks intended to show a safe route to walk. Unfortunately some people that don't get their role has started making them at silly places like by cliff sides where it's definitely not safe. They're intended to help you know that you're on the right track in the fog or snow etc. Not lead you astray. 9:35 What we consider a easy, medium or hard hike in Norway tends to be a bit different from what Americans consider easy, medium or hard. 10:20 Essentially it means the emperors cairn. 11:06 No, not *after*. We eat it *during* the hike for more energy for the hike. Often at the peak. Both as a reward for getting there and to make the return a little bit easier. 11:13 *Never* call a "Kvikklunsj" a "KitKat". -_- There might be a element of truth there but it's still highly offensive. Norwegian chocolate tradition is descendant of the Swizz tradition. And as I'm sure that you've noticed it tastes completely different from American or British chocolates. 14:18 "Redd" is Norwegian for afraid. So "Uredd" means unafraid. Unknown time stamp: Regarding the Germans building stuff, remember that they used slave labour, mostly various slavic peoples. Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, various people from the Balkans etc... Prisoners of war, partisans, resistance movements etc. People died building a lot of that infrastructure... We had no outright death camps in Norway, but a lot of people died in their prison camps here anyway. Especially in Falstad.
0:26 If you're learning Norwegian you'll know that the first city did *not* start with an "A". ;-) (I've read your messages in the email notifications, I'm only watching on a phone and don't want to delete the temporary playlist I'm playing right now from my phone or change things by clocking on them just yet. 1:06 Its a very traditional Norwegian dish. It can also be made Pescetarian while staying traditional. Essentially almost every single village has it's own variation of these that's slightly different. And it's not just Norwegian. There's variations on the Faero islands, and probably Iceland as well, although I've only tried the Faeroese one back when I still ate fish. (I'm vegetarian, in the process of becoming vegan, I didn't want to hurt the chicken, I literally went on hunger strike when I was four for several months, only ate food when distracted with play, till mum and I finally agreed on a pescetarian diet till I was eighteen, then I became lacto-vegetarian, but I'm having issues with milk now, possibly a allergy, so...) 3:50 There's flowers that will bloom while covered in snow too. I don't think those will. But your idea of chilly isn't necessarily that of the plants or us. When picking flowers for our climate it's a good idea to look around the world for similar climates. Flowers growing on mountains for instance or in areas getting just as cold for other reasons. Of course... Bringing in foreign flowers may cause them to become invasive species... Like that purple/pink flower you guys have seen a lot of... 19:26 They're kind of famous for their raindeer sausages. Also, Norwegians often eat sausages in something called lompe. Its essentially a soft flatbread made out of potato. Its kind of like one of those Mexican things except with potato instead of maize. 21:03 Um, that's a fairly common size. But I'm guessing the ones on the American market tends to be smaller? 22:12 Speaking of that. Perhaps take the express boat between Kristiansund and Trondheim next time you come here? Route 25 (100% electric bus) drives between the area that the express boat goes from and the city center as well as further. It also goes past the hostel, Trondheim Vandrehjem. I think I've heard some talk about them changing name... But it's one of the cheaper places to stay where you'll have access to a kitchen. Cooking food yourself bought from a grocery store can significantly reduce your food costs in Norway. So staying at places with a available kitchen and cooking yourself, or renting a campervan might be worth considering. The Germans are working on a electric campervan. Not sure if it's out yet by the time you'll come here. I've moved from Trondheim to Hitra recently, so I use that express boat to get to the mainland. Its pretty empty on weekdays, so you can probably both get window seats then. 27:18 Honestly I think that the train between Oslo and Bergen is a better use of your money then the one to Flåm. Its not zero emission, but considered taking "Hurtigruten" from Bergen and north through Norway then back again past Bergen as far as it will go?
0:17 No, the issue isn't a lack of lanes, but a lack of viable alternatives. Cars are inefficient use of space when trying to transport people. 4:17 We're working on it. More and more ferries are electric, cruise ships are getting tighter and tighter environmental regulations, we're encouraging electric cars etc. 7:41 I believe that the charger is that thing st the bottom, not at the top. 36:38 McDonalds and other fast food restaurants are *not* cheap in most of Europe, including Norway. You know how a authentic Mexican or Chinese or whatever resturants might charge a premium for a unique experience, right? Well, that's McDonalds to us... Its a "exotic American fast food"... So something you'll pay a premium for, not something that's cheap. 41:45 It also tends to be a bit on the expensive side for what you get since they're staffed long hours and all that overtime is *expensive* in Norway.
The electric vehicles and ferries are partially what drew us to Norway. Both of us worked in transportation electrification, so we were anxious to see what the world's leader in the implementation of that looked like. We were stunned at how much progress has been made between 2019 and 2022 where nearly all of the ferries we rode were now electric, even in more remote areas. In our 2022 trip, we traveled through the country in an EV (we've been driving electric at home since 2011, so we are very familiar, and we couldn't stand the thought of renting a dinosaur juice car again).
1:08 To be fair, Trondheim is the third biggest city in Norway. Or fourth, depending on how you calculate it. Pity that you guys lost out on the Helgeland coast. Driving along the E6 between Trondheim and Lofoten isn't really that interesting, but if you take coastal roads and go out exploring, perhaps hiking up dome mountains the view from many places along the Helgeland coast is amazing. That said, it looks like a low pressure system had hit Norway around that time, so flying south might not be a bad idea. 1:25 Excellent Hotel choice. Pretty good breakfast, usually among the cheaper hotels, although definitely not the cheapest, and *excellent* public transportation connection just outside the hotel door. Buy a day pass and keep riding, even small distances to get places. 1:57 I think that this is the hotel with the second best breakfast I've seen in Trondheim when using hotels there myself. Its good, although I prefer the one on the Scandic on the other side of the river closer to the harbour. That said, Scandic tends to have good breakfasts. 2:45 The big building in the distance is the university, or rather the Gløshaugen campus of the university. They specialize in natural sciences there. The humanities are taught in another campus. 3:05 Trondheim used to be the capital of Norway during the early middle ages, although our kings later moved the capital to Bergen and banned foreign ships from doing trade in Norway further north then Bergen. Leading to it being a hub of trade between the German Hanseatic League traders and Norwegian fishermen. Trondheim remained a religious hub, but locked out of international trade we didn't grow as fast as Bergen. 6:17 That one is from the conservatives. Mind you, they're a far cry from US republicans. The first Norwegian gay parliamentarian was from their party as well as a whole bunch of other things. They tend to focus on education, pro-business politics, more army and police and reducing government spending. They're not necessarily the most socially conservative, although there's a element of that there too the truly socially conservatives tends to join the Christian peoples party instead. We currently have 10 political parties represented in our parliament. I can give you a overview later if you're interested. 8:00 So, Norwegians tend to pay about the equivalent of 3 000 $ to get a drivers license. In part because driving lessons with a trained driving instructor in a approved car with passenger seat breaks and mirrors is required, as well as first aid classes, winter driving classes, slippery conditions, dark driving, city driving, countryside driving, there's test roads with essentially jump scare pedestrians, animals etc shooting out onto a slippery road where you can practice driving under those conditions. Getting a license here is no joke, and no one wants to lose it. Its a privilege, not a right. And 20 kph above the speed limit is enough to lose you your license, give you a large fee and potentially land you in jail for a few days. 13:19 If one of the many cameras catch a driver eating or calling or something while driving expect a major ticket, or potentially worse. Norway has a goal of zero fatalities on the roads, we're really close, but one of the ways we're achieving that is not taking traffic violations lightly.
So much great info in your comments! Thank you! We did finally get to the Helgeland coast in 2022 (I've posted the first couple of videos from our 2022 trip, and I'm hoping to post the rest before we arrive in Norway again in August of this year). I keep thinking Norway couldn't possibly get any more beautiful, but then we see more of it and discover even more beauty. We ended up staying at this same hotel again in 2022. We will be back in Trondheim this August, and we are trying a different hotel to get a different experience. Fingers crossed it's a good one! I wish the US had such rigorous requirements to get a drivers license and less tolerance of breaking the rules. The drivers here are insane, and every time we come back from driving in Norway, we have to recondition ourselves. Those first few days back on US roads are pretty terrifying.
1:33 The wool and the meat. Sheep meat used to be the main meat we ste in the past. These days, not so much, but they're still a part of many traditional dishes. 2:27 Its often not, but there's a button to make it nontransparent if you want. 2:43 Apparently it was in this case. But still, don't assume that it is. 27:23 You don't really need to worry. Norwegian drivers are excellent, and while tourists are all over the place a lot of ours are German, Dutch etc, so they're pretty good too. Last time I looked at the fatality rates out there only two people on bikes actually died on the road that year in all of Norway, less even then pedestrians. Just be sensible and you'll be fine. Of course mind the weather and light conditions etc. 28:32 We have a saying: There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. And this definitely would not qualify as bad weather for us. Its just rain, visibility is good, there's little wind (the rain is falling mostly down rather then sideways or even upwards) and not *that* cold, since it's rain and not snow, hail or sleet. People would absolutely go on a hike in this weather, although they might avoid areas that can be lethal when slippery. 30:27 Okay, a little more wind then I thought given the sea state, but still, I don't think that you should worry. It doesn't really get bad till the waves starts to get white on top. In many parts of Norway this is not unusual in summer or any other part of the year and typical autumn weather. Winter would be more likely to be snow and darkness. 31:03 ❤ Its lovely looking out at the rain while sitting in the warmth of a house eating cinnamon roles. ;-)
I'm enjoying your comments and learning things I didn't know. I had no idea that some of the toilets had a button to make the window non-transparent. That is great info! We have since traveled extensively in Norway, and I've been learning Norwegian ever since this 2019 trip. Jeg snakker bedre Norsk nå. Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær. 😊
0:22 Its not. There's lots of deep ones like these in the former USSR. They're intended to provide some shelter in case of nuclear war. 1:00 The text says "Niklas has created a stock savings account." The next slide asks: "Have you?" Then continues to explain how. 2:17 Its a bit weird to see you calling this small. Its a fairly normal sized one for us I'd say. We don't really live in the bathroom. 16:05 Funny, no, the idea is that liver paté is healthy for kids.
0:02 A picture of Norway while showing the headline "Sweden"? ;-) 5:28 The oldest *what* building in the world? 17:54 You're losing out. Nordic countries have a pretty good coffee culture. Our black coffee tends to be quite a bit better then American coffee. And a lot of places sell fancy south European style coffees with all sort of things in them, like milk. We don't use nearly as much sugar.
Heh, heh... it's because it was a whole series on our trip to Scandinavia, so I chose one shot to represent the series. If I had to do it all over again, I would have a different opening for each video. I'm still learning. ;-) That was the oldest bank building in the world according to the sign in front of it (and Atlas Obscura: www.atlasobscura.com/places/gamla-riksbanken-old-national-bank.)
Such a beautiful video! Thanks for sharing your “little” trip with us so far! It’s really cool seeing how the landscapes change from south to north in Norway as you make the drive up :) also super awesome that you got Bjørn’s old Tesla Millennium Falcon! What an icon, I totally lost track of what happened to it so it’s so cool to see it still being put to good use! Looking forward to the next video!!!
Aww, I loved this! 😄 Such a nice trip through Norway! Shame about the weather, but it looked pretty typical Norwegian summer though 😂 Thanks for bringing us along! 😁 Can’t wait for part 3, and to see you again later this year! 😁❤️
Thank you! 🥰 I’m so excited for you… you’re going to love Norway, including Trondheim! 😍 We were there again a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed our return (I’m just very slow at posting videos). I hope you have a fabulous trip! ❤️
@@SacramentoLisa Oh my gosh! I get slow to post...We have two more from Australia and then we've got to get New Zealand and Indonesia done before we get to Europe in July.
We would have liked to explore both of those islands, and I hope we will get to do that on a future trip. The ferry we took was direct from Moskenes to Bodø on this trip.
Awesome tour! Amazing take off with great views! Also, amazing Norway nature with stunning views! THanks for nice tour and sharing! Have a great day friends!
Hi Lisa! Great video! Love the peace and ambience of your vlog. You have a beautiful voice too. Looking forward to the next episode. Wishing you safe travels😊
Thank you! ❤️ Actually, we’ve been following Cecilia for more than 2 years; she’s the reason we went to Svalbard. 🥰 You can see her cabin in my video as we’re flying into Longyearbyen. 😊 I agree, her videos are amazing!
@@SacramentoLisa same here :-) we visited Svalbard last February... VERY different hahahah. (you should also visit Svalbard in winter... as I should -really want to actually- go during summer). Great video!!!!
I loooved this!! 😁 So funny seeing Oslo through someone elses eyes. And Svalbard looked so beautiful! Really wanna go there myself now! We are so looking forward to part 2 😁🙌
Thank you! ❤ There will be a whole lot more of Oslo in later videos, since we spent 3 weeks there the following month. You will love Svalbard... highly recommended! 😀
Great video from magical Svalbard. I'm Norwegian but haven't been there yet. I have to do something about that.🙂 I hope the Russians are kicked out before I get there. 😃
We did not have to book in advance any of the ferries in this video.😊 They’re part of the road system, so they don’t require advance reservations, and they run very frequently. However, if you’re taking the ferry from Moskenes (Lofoten) to Bodø (about a 4-hour ferry ride), I would recommend booking ahead during summer season, as it can get very busy, and the ferry doesn’t run many times a day.
@@SacramentoLisa I really enjoyed so much and I am watching with my kids your beautiful other vlogging in Sweden as well. i really encourage you to keep continuing post like this.
This seems to be a very charming region, I hope I can visit sometime in the future when all this is over. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much! And please keep up the great job!
You will love Stockholm and Sweden in general. We can’t wait to go back when the world recovers. I agree that seeing and sharing travel experiences is so valuable! Thanks so much for watching!
Yes, you’re right. While it’s not technically part of Scandinavia, it is a beautiful country and was part of our overall Scandinavia trip, so we decided to include it in our series.
