May was a funny month, it felt like there were so many public holidays that the whole month went by in a second, let the good weather put beside it, it was one of the best summer months ever (even though summer didn't even start yet!). Both László and me, together or separately were thinking about the idea of travelling somewhere for 4-5 days during one of these holiday periods. As work and life in general kept us busy, we kept delaying the acquisition of any kind of plane ticket, until the day when it became too late to book anything in an acceptable price range. That's when the idea of road-tripping to Norway came up as a possibility.
Wednesday after lunch we hit the road and drove all the way to Fredrikstad and visited Tímea who gladly took us around in the well organised downtown of this Norwegian city and offered us to stay at her place, which ended up being a perfect start of our Norway-trip. Next day we hit the road early in the morning with Stavanger set as our destination, on the west coast of Norway. Although most of the time during the drive there the weather was pretty unstable, nature didn't disappoint us and showed its wild side just as how Norway is known (most of you at this point probably skip the remaining of the text and just check the pictures, which I understand, I would do the same 😄).
On the way to Stavanger László remembered about an old friend of his who, as of his recollection, is probably staying in the city, which lucky us, was the case. Therefore we cancelled our second night at the Airbnb we booked and spent it in the company of Kine and her friends. Before which we did an unforgettable hike up to Preikestolen, one of the three main hiking destinations of Norway. The place is formed basically from a huge flat area more than 600 meters above Lisefjord with a straight wall directly towering up from the fjord (again, the pictures speak for themselves). The evening after the hike was again something I've never experienced before: 5 people using three languages: Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. The fun part: all of them were used in the same time, seemingly without issue. (Surely couple of beers helped us to maintain the flow of the conversation.)
The fourth day on the road offered some truly spectacular views which we couldn't even think of before hitting the road. After leaving Stavanger in summer, taking several ferries, climbing mountains and reaching elevations above 1000 metres, we found ourselves in couple of hours in genuine winter landscape with skiers around and massive landscape of nothing but snow and blue water. When you drive through a tunnel and suddenly on the other side it's so bright that you can't keep your eyes open because of the amount of snow surrounding you, there's nothing you can think about but: am I in heaven? It felt so, I tell you!
We drove all the way to Oslo that day where, thanks to the long and bright days we managed to walk around the city centre and have a look at some of its landmarks before the Saturday night life took control over the city.
All in all, I believe (and most probably László agrees too) that it was the best idea not to book any flight with a destination somewhere in Europe but to do this roadtrip. Norway is huge, with dozens of gems left to discover, so see you soon 🇳🇴!
Hereby I wish to thank to Tímea and Kine for their friendship, hospitality and patience. Without you this trip wouldn't had been the same, and remember, my door is open for you in Stockholm. :)
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