[RD] Hiking through Norway

[warpus]

Day 35 - Nidaros Cathedral (continued)



This courtyard, just south of the cathedral, is the Archbishop's palace and castle. It is one of the largest medieval stone structures in Scandinavia. Today it houses several museums and is also used by the Church of Norway.

A view from the courtyard:

 

[Arakhor]

The decades of work all that carving must have taken never fails to amaze me.

 

[warpus]

The decades of work all that carving must have taken never fails to amaze me.

There is a whole wikipedia article on this part of the cathedral.

Some excerpts:

The restoration of the west face structure took place from 1901 through 1969, and the last statue was erected in 1983.

...

Many of Norway's leading sculptors joined in creating the western façade, working for several decades. These include Gustav Vigeland (1869–1943), Wilhelm Rasmussen (1879–1965), Dyre Vaa (1903–1980), Stinius Fredriksen (1902–1977), Nic Schiøll (1901–1984), Arne Kvibergskaar, Odd Hilt (1915–1986), Knut Skinnarland (1909–1993), Tone Thiis Schjetne (1931-, Sivert Donali (1931-), Kristofer Leirdal (1915–2010), Arnold Haukeland (1920–1983), Anne Raknes (1914–2001), Helge Thiis and August Albertsen.

 

[warpus]

Baklandet Skydsstation

After my walking tour of the city was as complete I made my way to a restaurant which was recommended to me for authentic Norwegian food. It got great reviews wherever I looked and reviewers raved about the authentic dishes, so it seemed like a good choice for my last proper meal in the country.

The restaurant is inside a building that has a rich history dating back to the early 1700s. You can read a bit more about that here



It was a unique experience overall. First you have to walk up to a counter and order. Then you get seated in a tiny seat at a tiny table. There is interesting stuff on the walls to look at, such as photographs, arts and crafts, books, and other interesting artefacts.

I ordered some sort of a multi-dish combo option that came recommended by the people at the front counter. It came with fish soup and other dishes which I unfortunately can't quite remember.

A small glass of Akvavit came with the combo that I had selected. Akvavit is a distilled spirit made from grain and potatoes which is quite popular in Scandinavia, but I believe nowhere else except for Germany. It is infused with certain herbs and spices which give it a unique flavour. It also plays a role in Scandinavian drinking culture

Aquavit is an important part of Scandinavian drinking culture, where it is often drunk during festive gatherings, such as Christmas dinners and weddings, and as an aperitif.[3] In Sweden, Denmark and Germany aquavit is cooled and often sipped slowly from a small shot glass. This is usually attributed to tradition.[4] In Sweden commonly the aquavit is consumed immediately following a song, called a snapsvisa. The most well-known song is Helan Går.[5] In Finland and Sweden, aquavit consumed from a shot glass is commonly associated with crayfish parties, which are traditionally held during late August. In Denmark aquavit is called snaps or akvavit, and is primarily consumed in December during Christmas lunches. It is consumed year round though, mainly for lunches of traditional Danish dishes where beer is also always on the table. Drinking it without food or at a bar will be considered a little strange.[citation needed] In Norway, where most aquavit is matured in oak casks, the drink is served at room temperature in tulip-shaped glasses or shot glasses. Aquavit arguably complements dark beer well, and its consumption is very often preceded by a swig of beer

I had never had Akvavit before, so of course I was going to try it here! I asked to be served whatever a seasoned Akvavit drinker would order with my meal. And I can't quite tell you what Akvavit tastes like because I don't remember, but I remember thinking that it was a great way to top off a very good meal.

The rest of the night was spent in bars and nightclubs and in the morning I woke up hungover and flew to Oslo, where I had a connecting flight back home. Five weeks in Norway were now over..

I was ready to go home to be honest, but it was a trip I will never forget. The natural beauty of the country is not easily described. The hospitality, humbleness, and practical and relaxed approach to life by the Norwegian people was refreshing, as was their their love and appreciation for the great outdoors. It was time to go home, but I was sad to be leaving

 

[warpus]

Appendix - Accommodations

In order to make this trip possible I had to do a lot of research well ahead of time. Norway is one of the most expensive places on the planet, so first I had to figure out how much everything was going to cost. I started looking at accommodation options fairly early on and ended up booking the hotels months in advance.

I drew up a budget and figured out how much I could afford to spend per night for the 33 nights that I was going to be there. I stayed in dorm rooms at hostels where possible in order to drive that average down.

The following table covers all 33 nights of accommodations and is sorted by total cost per location. Everything should be in USD and includes all fees and taxes



The only part of this that was not booked in advance was the cabin. As you can see that ended up being a bit of a splurge. At the time I had no other options and I was frustrated with my accommodation search, so I ended up going for it (and did not regret it one bit).

The average per night ended up being just under $82 USD a night. If I hadn't gone to the Lofoten islands that would have been at $64.

In my initial budget I dedicated $60 per night for accommodations + a 15% error margin multiplier. In hindsight it's easy to say that this was a bit too optimistic, but ended up actually being a very good approximation of what to expect

I haven't finished doing the math, but accommodations accounted for about a third of the cost of the trip

 

[warpus]

Appendix - Transportation

This list might not be complete, and parts might not be 100% accurate. I did not have all the prices from 2015 and had to look them up and estimate. All amounts in USD. Grand total for transportation ended up being $2,234, not including some money I spent on taxis and public transit.



I saved the most money booking some of the train tickets months in advance. The Flåmsbana prices were always a bit inflated nevertheless

The boat, cruise, and ferry prices seemed reasonable, and the bus prices were usually very cheap. Some of those bus route amounts include ferries as well, so that's a part of the reason why some of them are significantly more.

Every section is sorted by amount. Please excuse me not using proper Norwegian letters here, as it was just a lot faster to maintain this document by leaving them out

 

[warpus]

Appendix - Activities

Nothing of note here. It's possible I am missing a museum entry/donation fee, but that would have been quite small. All amounts again in USD



The Folgefonna glacier hike was cancelled, so I did not end up paying for that.

It's possible that this list is incomplete in other ways, but I can't remember anything. A lot my free time was spent walking around and looking at things, which is usually free

 

[warpus]

Appendix - Charts and Graphs

I did not keep track of all the food & drink on the trip, nor the snacks.. but I can give a reasonable approximation of what it might have cost on average per day. As you can see my estimate puts it rather close to the money spent on transportation.



Looking back, there wasn't much I could have saved in the Transportation category unless I cancelled parts of the trip. Accommodations could have been a bit lower; I could have stayed in hostels in Oslo and I believe Bergen and maybe 1 other city. Hotels/airbnbs in those cities weren't too expensive though and I didn't mind getting a bit of extra comfort here and there.. In my mind this is a justified minor extra expense, good for overall morale

I could have been smarter about my accommodation decisions up in the arctic.. but in the end that part of the trip was my favourite and I'm sort of glad it happened.

Activities don't contribute much to the budget in the grand scheme of things, but are a vital part of the experience, so I would probably not have wanted to save any money there.

Food & Drink is the one place where I could have saved some money. In theory I could have gotten this down by at least $400 by always eating at 7/11. From what I remember they had this large sausage/hot dog wrapped in bacon that was really filling. I would dump lots of onions on it and it would keep me full for a while. I can't remember what it cost, but compared to restaurants it was cheap. Cheap, but in no way feasible nor healthy.

Ok, so I ate at least 5 of those sausages on this trip.. But it was done in order to drive down costs.. Plus bacon is delicious ..

I say that I could have saved money here, because I did splurge on nice meals several times. and even average restaurants are expensive in Norway. So I could have, but I really enjoyed most of those meals! And sometimes a really good meal will raise your spirits and completely change your attitude for the rest of the day.. Eating a good fish soup every once in a while can be good for morale.

When I stayed at hotels I made sure that my room always had a breakfast buffet included. As I discovered Norwegian breakfast buffets are incredible. There is usually a very large selection of food, including seafood, I want to say usually at least smoked salmon and pickled herring, Norwegian brown cheese, Knekkebrød, other breads, other cheeses, coldcuts, jams, eggs, vegetables.. The key is to stuff yourself with delicious food in the morning so you don't get hungry again until dinner. You can also think ahead and pack yourself a lunch using buffet items, although hotels will expect you to pay extra. At DNT huts I seem to remember sandwich bags you could purchase and make yourself a couple sandwiches for later during breakfast time.

All in all I think I did a great job keeping costs down, while at the same time allowing myself to occasionally splurge. It all averaged out to pretty much what I expected to pay (+15% ERROR MARGIN)