Norway : Sept 3 – 8 – So, Live; Through Travel

Trondheim

I saw this Musikk building in June 2015 when I visited Trondheim on a TAD trip. The flashbacks hit me hard as I realized I had been in the exact spot before and it was such a weird but seriously cool feeling to think about who Sgt. Musick was back then.
Stayed at the Scandic Hotel, right on the water, and it’s known for having the best breakfast in all of Trondheim & boy did it! You’ve NEVER seen a better breakfast display (but very European with fresh sliced meat, cheese, yogurts, etc.) You’d think you were at a celebrity wedding, no kidding. Lunch was the same way.
Had some really great Mexican food at Frida’s. 5-star recommend! Super surprising find but these margaritas were amazing! & they had strawberry habanero salsa. It. Was. INCREDIBLE. I know that sounds weird but it truly was amazing. *still drooling* I’m dumb but I found happiness in a small thing that my receipt was my birth date.

Romsdalseggen Ridge

Truly incredible views. The cleanest air, coldest river water, and freshest blueberries.
A 10.3 km, roughly 6.5 mile, hike with a nearly 1,000m ascent.
One point you’re just walking a normal path, seemed like Cali, the next you’re climbing over boulders the size of you; I felt like a little kid on a jungle gym. The next you’re walking across scattered broken rocks worried to twist an ankle. Next you’re sitting to slide down some slick rock. Next you’re holding onto a chain and being careful with each step or else you’re falling right off the side of the cliff and a goner.

Let me mention, there is an annual race for this 10.3km trail. Our group of Norwegian veterans and their families (I was likely the youngest minus the legit school aged children) started the hike at 9am. I got down the mountain at 3:20. Subtract the time stopped to take photos and eat, the 20min I waited for some of the group to meet me at the walk out, the 15min I waited at the summit to see someone I knew behind me before starting the decent, etc..So I’ll say in continuous movement it took me a solid 5 hours plus. Any quick guesses how long it took the professional racers? First place finished the whole thing in 1:01:34. Yes. One hour, one minute. Sickening really. And while on the top of the mountain I wondered how anyone could make it up that fast, I didn’t truly understand how AWFUL the down hill part of it was until I was doing it; and experiencing insane knee pain/throbbing all night long. I don’t know how anyone could have ran down the trail, over roots, on slick stacked rocks for makeshift steps and not have tripped or slipped and died right there. Sketchy.

See the rest of the photos from the Romsdalseggen Ridge! >>

Here’s a link with a lot of info for anyone who wants to do it or is just interested:
https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/fjord-norway/northwest/listings-northwest/hike-the-romsdalseggen-ridge/7422/
Romsdalseggenløpet 2019 race results:
https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=194024&live=1

Stigfossen waterfall along Trollstigen road in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway.
Apparently a really famous serpentine road and waterfall in the area. Pretty for sure.

‘The King and Queen’ mountain peaks on the left.

Things around the waterfall during last day adventures.

After seeing the waterfall, we walked to this river that had the clearest water I’ve ever seen, fresh water running straight from the mountains. And the best part, stumbled upon a pasture with these beauties. The whole day was totally worth it just to pet a horse again. Wowza do I miss my Misty girl and having my own horse in my backyard to pet everyday.
Lastly, this large rock wall is Trollveggen, or Troll Wall, and it’s the tallest vertical rock face in all of Europe. The wall stretches 1,700m to the bottom of the valley with straight drops of 1,000m. I wont bore you with stats, but several people across the world have attempted to climb and base jump from Trollveggen. There is a monument at the base of it with the names of all the people who died attempting one or the other; two of them happened just this year.

Setnesmoen military camp

The base we stayed on for the community relations event. Once occupied by German soldiers, apparently. There was a brief about the military base history but it was in Norwegian so I can’t tell you anything about it that you cant google yourself. But was a really great view in any direction.

Extra random stuff

-Somersby is really great, also had a sparkling rose and it was wonderful.
-Took this random photo because I loved how the sunlight broke over the mountain tops and you could see it through the open space.
-Apparently there’s a hotel that rents out these cute little two seater electric cars.
-Drove along highway 660. Didn’t look like home but the 660 touched my hear (thats the local area code).
-Dinner in Oppdal was delicious. So cool how it was served with the mashed potato border on a wooden plank. Never would have put gravy on a steak like that but every part of it was amazing.