After my stay in Oslo, I flew to Kristiansund to visit my friend. She picked me up from the airport and we then made our way to Molde. There was a jazz festival going on that weekend, so we thought we’d check it out. Since we arrived late in the day, there wasn’t that much to do and we just had a bit of a wander. When it was time for dinner, we went to the local Egon restaurant. Egon is like a Norwegian Nando’s or Wagamama, except you order and pay up front, like they do in pubs. I ended up eating at Egon restaurants quite a few times during my Norwegian adventures, because it was easy, the food was nice and prices affordable for Norwegian standards. After our brief visit to Molde, we drove on and stayed at my friend’s parents’ house. They live in a fjord, so beautiful! And even though I’m a cat person, I enjoyed cuddling the family’s adorable dog.
The next day, our three-day road trip started. First up: Åndalsnes! We were going to do a hike called Rampestreken. Ironically, the word ‘ramp’ means ‘disaster’ in Dutch, so I was sort of mock-dreading going up the ‘disaster trail’, haha. But, we were going for the view on top of the mountain, so we followed the ‘stikk ut!’ sign and up we went. ‘Stikk ut’ means as much as ‘get out there’. It’s something you don’t have to tell Norwegians twice and while Norwegians may be known as a reserved people, put them in nature and you’ll get to learn how excited these guys can get! I honestly wish I’d grown up with being in the outdoors like that. Being out in nature is so good for the soul! And the older I get, the more I need and want it in my life.
Being from a very flat country, going up this mountain was a challenge. I don’t know why I didn’t take my trekking poles with me on this hike, because I could’ve surely used them! The hike isn’t long kilometer wise, it just takes long because you pretty much go straight up. It took us about four hours up and down. My friend could’ve hiked it in less, but you know…she was stuck with me, haha! And don’t get me started on how sore I was afterwards! At least I made it to the top. I grinned from ear to ear while enjoying the stunning views! It was so worth it!
The view from the top was very very rewarding! If I hadn’t fallen in love with Norway already when staying at my friend’s parents’ place in a frigging fjord, I would have fallen in love right there, after the Rampestreken hike up a frigging mountain. Can you tell I love fjords and mountains? 🙂
I’m absolutely terrible at taking panorama shots, but luckily my friend is very capable. Look at this amazing view and tell me this isn’t gorgeous?! ❤
Do you enjoy hiking? Is it common to go out and hike in the mountains where you live? What is your favourite kind of area to hike in?
My next top nearby is Devil’s Mountain here in Berlin created with the rubbish and debris of WW II but now a real nice green place to be and see the town, ca. 120 m altitude. We usually go to the Austrian Alps for summerfreshness, just returned from Eastern-Tyrole a week ago, very nice and not so expensive like Scandinavia! But it is also fine in the Julian Alps / Slovenia, High Tatry / Slovakia or at Saxonian Switzerland / Germany., just to name some places which you may possibly not know.
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That sounds awesome! And indeed, places I don’t know. Thanks for sharing!
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Your photo of the track up the mountain is beautiful. What a wonderful walk.
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Thank you! It was beautiful indeed! Quite tough but it was worth it, haha!
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Wow what lovely pictures. And yes, I LOVE hiking. My husband and I go often here in California, there’s lots of mountain trails around with varying degrees of difficulty. We also did a lot of hiking on our recent Europe trip – Switzerland was probably my favorite for that.
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Thank you. Great to hear you enjoy hiking too and that there are heaps of trails to go on where you live! Switzerland indeed seems to be great for hiking. Might have to check it out some time 😉
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One more country for my every-growing bucket list … 😉
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Hahaha! Which country is at the top of your bucket list?
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There is a whole bunch of them, bumping elbows to get to the top! … 😉
But, the front runners for leisure travel (the work-related ones are different) are: Ireland and Scotland, Norway and Iceland, New Zealand (especially if it scoots itself a little closer to NYC …), Zanzibar (my sister is going this month so I’ll have her report to help my planning), Japan (will help if it scoots closer to NYC, too), a few more that are so busy fighting with the other locations for the top I can’t get their names … 😉
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Excellent list 🙂
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The views are stunning!
I like walking in the greenery, rather than hiking per se.
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That’s excellent too! By greenery, do you mean botanical gardens and such?
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I mean the green, like walks in the Lake District in England or walks in Wales. There are no real ‘mountains’ in the way that The Alps are climbing, it’s just green, and the walks may be up or down hill but they aren’t climbs.
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Sounds absolutely gorgeous!
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It is!!! I wish I’d find the time and motivation to do it more often.
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I’ve heard such great things of the Lakes District and Wales too. Would have to go and check them out at some point! 🙂
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Oh yeah, do!!!! There’s also the Peak District, but although that’s right near me I’ve never been there.
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Would love to. I need more vacation days to do it all 😉 Isn’t that how it goes when we live close to something? We can always go, so we never go?
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