And so we went off again. Jet-setting. Country-hopping. Backpacking (yes, I still travel like that preferably). After more than 2 years of travel-hibernation and covid intense precautions and restrictions, I finally felt comfortable and found the opportunity to fly off again, internationally. It’s been a while since my last significant overseas trip. Spain, I think it was, back in 2018 (twice, in fact, that same year), if I didn’t quite include my family trip to the Philippines together with my brother as they joined us from Hong Kong (I always tend to classify family trips in a different category. While they are always fun and warm, I find that my mindset is a little different than when I set out to see the world on my own, preferably with a pack on my back).
Of course, this time, for the first time (?ever?), I wasn’t going alone. (And for the first time in my blog, I am glad to introduce Ellen, the owner of the pair of feet in the photos on one of my earlier posts that we took on our day trip to Quebec from when I visited her in Ottawa). We were lucky enough to be able to plan ahead in advance to block off some time to travel together. I had told her that backpacking together has always been part of my to-do list in a relationship. I feel you can learn so much about the other person when on a trip. How we plan, the style with which we like to experience the world, how adaptive we are to challenges and how we grow under new experiences are all sweet moments to go through and equally vital to the growth of a relationship. With the style of trip that we intended to do, I suggested that she consider getting a backpack, and she happily obliged (and ended up getting a great deal on essentially the female version of my pack!). It was honestly such a joy planning and taking this trip with her. More so than I ever could imagine between two people who grew up differently, experienced life separately up to this point, and had different tendencies and desires. She was expectedly always creative, always open, adventurous, and adaptive to changes. We both listened and respected what each other wanted to get out of this trip (I hope!), and without having to bend over backwards too much, felt comfortable delivering what each other had wanted in such a journey (also true I hope!). I do want to thank her for being such a lovely companion and for being such a wonderful travel buddy, in addition to how we already are day to day back home, to allow us to add these wonderful memories to our banks as we look forward to continue to build on them.
And with that, we set out, packs on our backs, cameras and phones in tow. I was honestly quite excited in being able to fly with her together for the first time. I find flying together with someone a really intimate experience. Those who know me would know that I’ve always enjoyed airplanes meals (as she does too!). And once settled into our seats, I find that sitting beside someone you know in a cozy little corner for a long flight feels incredibly joyful. We also derived a lot of excitement in airport lounge hopping, some perks that we got from both of our respective credit cards. It made time spent inside various airports particularly unnecessarily exciting…
Landing in Europe, for the first time together, was also immensely gratifying. I’ve always enjoyed Europe. To me it’s always been somewhat of an “easier” destination. Usually more established, largely English fluent, well-built infrastructure such that you can essentially just land and THEN figured out where to go after. For this trip, we chose the so-called Golden Triangle in Scandinavia, sandwiched by Stockholm, Oslo, and Copenhagen (this was largely her suggestion, for I have already been to quite a few places in Europe and I wanted to let her pick a destination that she was curious about, and naturally she chose that region of the world of which she has already been inspired by their designs, their tidiness, their food and culture. As well, we are both big fans of IKEA, which no doubt created some curiosities in our mind about their home country). Scandinavia also made for an exceptionally easy destination. Geographically, it is so similar to Canada that there is obviously no culture and weather shock when you step outside the terminals. The landscape, the roads, the signs, and much of the buildings are as we would experience in the North American setting, although admittedly with a much more classical look and that undeinable sophisticated European style and language that made everything seems so much more cultured and exciting.
Stockholm, our first landing spot, is perhaps the most crown-jewel like of the three. Highly imperial in its look, the city is built on a series of canal with confusing waterways everywhere but all lined with similarly looking yet beautifully old and stately buildings. The streets were grand, squares wide open and busy, streets immensely tidy, and the city felt very self assured. The people were friendly, as I would expect from most of the Scandinavia, but of the three cities, the citizens of Stockholm seems most sophisticatedly dressed, if not a little bit snobby on the extreme end of things. And like what we have come to learn of the Scandinavia world during covid, they are perhaps some of the most progressive regions of the world in which virtually NOBODY wore masks anymore (we felt inclined to frequently remove our own masks once we were in the open air as to not come across overly impolite to others, but we religiously kept them on once we entered buildings). Progressive as they were, it wasn’t as if they turned a blind eye to the whole thing. Hand-washing and social distancing reminders were still everywhere (although largely ignored), and hand sanitizer stations were abundant (although almost all were virtually neglected now and stood empty as everyone walks by). Still, Stockholm felt safe and comfortable, and probably one of the prettiest cities I have been to in my travels. And just as it was classical and imperial, its newer areas where the locals and younger people hung out were modern and upscale. Its subway system is impeccably easy to navigate, as most European cities are, while its many underground stations are often lined with obscure art work lining its somewhat dingy looking rock face ceilings. Above ground, as a sign of the modern times, scooter rentals are everywhere and most locals, helmets-bearing or not, zoomed around on these two wheelers as if walking on our own two feet were meant only for primitive creatures like ourselves.
After Stockholm, our plans took us west to Oslo by train (we had made it a point to experience a variety of transportations together, from riding local subways to high speed rails between cities to long distances buses (generally much less appealing) to renting a car for a little road trip in the Norwegian countryside. I was also looking forward to the rental given that Europe is one of the few places in the world to still rent out manual transmission cards... but sadly, in 2022, even European car rentals have finally been depleted of the stick shift variety…). We got up early, as tickets were cheaper for the earlier route, and sheepishly found our platform to take our first train ride for the trip towards Norway. Arriving in Oslo, it felt immediately very different than Stockholm. Industrial, modern yet a little rough around the edges, a little grungy, a little tough, Oslo had the feel of a more pragmatic working city. Less clean, less tidy, and with graffiti everywhere, even the locals looked less perfectly dressed than their Stockholm counterparts. But it has a sense of practicality and modernism, with creatively industrial looking buildings in juxtaposition to older heritage style homes. Many of the areas we walked by seemed heavily immigrant-focused, as I’ve read that Norway has gone from previously very anti-immigration to now having immigrants be a substantial portion of their population. There were more smokers too, we felt subjectively, as it seemed we had to dodge smokers (and their maskless breathes) at essentially every street corners of every block. It still felt safe, although we felt we needed to be on slightly higher alert. We also got a few more verbal jabs at our masks-wearing, as one young passer-by innocently blurbed out “corona isn’t here anymore…”. I didn’t care to talk back, but if I had I would probably simply be pointing out for him to just pay attention to international news every once a while. All in all, though, Oslo actually felt like a much more comfortable and grounded place to live. Many of the older buildings were still neat and tidy, with pastel colours everywhere, but seemingly with much less structural details on them than I had remember them back in Sweden.
After Oslo, we rented a car and hit the countryside, as Norway is much more about its land than its cities. Known for its epic landscapes signified by its many majestic fjords (I still cannot seem to pronounce this word), you really have to leave the city to experience Norway at its finest. Ellen found a lovely little airbnb in a small town called Voss, near enough to Flam, traditionally the gateway to many fjord train or ferry tours. Preferring to chart our own way, we took our little rental car and weaved through countless tunnels (Norway, being a world leader in tunnel building, has over 900 tunnels in the country, including the longest one in the world (the Laerdal Tunnel) of almost 25km and took us about half an hour to get through). Scared as you might be of such tunnels and mountain roads, however, they are mostly extremely well-lit and well paved (although still single lane opposite traffic with frequently tight-fitting large trucks roaring towards you…). It also has LTE signal throughout the systems both inside and outside of tunnels and mountain ranges (puts Canada to shame on this) and intermittent wider "pull over lanes" where you can perhaps stop for a break and stretch (under some rather mesmerizing disco lighting). Still, I would caution most people in taking those roads lightly, or trying to pull an all-nighter to rush through them. Risky drives, to be sure, but epically rewarding nonetheless. The fjords themselves were stunningly beautiful, especially in the early morning hours when we decided to beat the crowds (as it turns out, there were NO crowds, for we were in the shoulder seasons and tourism in Scandinavia seems to be an exceptionally SHORT industry in the summer months only). More memorable than the views, perhaps, were the little tingling sounds from the neck bells of the numerous sheep that we came across throughout the countryside. So much, in fact, that we would not have been faulted for pretending that we were travelling through the villages in New Zealand.
Beyond the fjords we went to Bergen, Norway’s second largest city and sometimes quoted as one of the pretties cities in Europe (as well as the rainiest, but luckily we caught a dry day..). Bergen was indeed a very beautiful port city, lined once again with by-now commonly seen Scandinavian looking houses against a set of rolling hills where a short uphill walk could take you to some of the nicest views of the region. We spent only an afternoon and evening there, needing to wake up for a day-long drive back towards Oslo the next day. On that drive, we took a slightly different route and drove along some of the most epic sceneries I have experienced on highways when crossing the vast and bare Hardangervidda Mountain Plateau, with such remoteness paralleling what I remembered during some of my drives in Newfoundland or years ago my family and we took on the Alaska Highway.
Back in Oslo, we crashed for the night before taking an early morning bus to Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, for a brief stay simply as the halfway point towards Copenhagen. Interestingly, there has yet to be an efficient train line between Oslo and Copenhagen, as one would expect there should be. Looking online, it seemed that some long distance train services, as well as a night train, had been in the works since before covid times, but no doubt got delayed like everything else with the pandemic. It did however let us enjoy a brief stop in yet another Swedish city. Gothenburg, like Oslo, is very unassuming, and actually has a lot of quiet charm without all the glamour of Stockholm. We also took the opportunity to visit the Volvo Museum nearby, paying homage to one of the most iconic Swedish brands of the world (sadly, the “first” Ikea was too out of the way for us to visit, as that would have been the first choice on our list of a famous Scandinavia brand to check out).
We ended our almost 2-week trip in Copenhagen (surprisingly, it was much cheaper to fly into Stockholm and out of Copenhagen than the other way around). Two things struck us as soon as we arrived into the city. The first was bikes. They were literally EVERYWHERE. If I remembered correctly, not too long ago our mayor of Vancouver had visited Copenhagen and couldn’t stop beaming about how he wanted to model our city after theirs in terms of bike transport (it wouldn’t work, since Copenhagen, like Amsterdam, another bike friendly city, is largely flat, while Vancouver and its vicinities are largely hills..). Cophehagen also has some of the mildest weather in Europe, and its streets are often wide enough to accommodate the masses of bikes tearing through them at every hour. It does feel very efficient, and very environmentally friendly, if not a little nerve-wrecking and at time down right dangerous. The second observation, having just spent two weeks in the rest of Scandinavia, was just how international Copenhagen felt compared to Stockholm and Oslo. Throughout much of Sweden and Norway, we got used to seeing many local brands, local designer, and local store names. Stepping into Copenhagen you were once again reminded of the world that exists around you. Although they still obviously boost their own language and culture, in many places English is now the dominate language in their signages. Food from all over the world once again seems to be present in every corner, as we are so accustomed to seeing here in our multi-cultural country of Canada. Copenhagen also seems to effortlessly mix both elegance and grunginess, marrying the imperialism style that we saw in Stockholm to the humble and pragmatism of Oslo. In a nutshell, it probably has everything, as it should being the connecting point between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe and the world. It probably also boosts the most number of people talking on or looking down at their cell phones while crossing the street, as we’ve had to dodge quite a number of individuals who were completely oblivious to our existence. Appropriately it seems, it is sometimes referred to as “the happiness city in the world”, of which I can probably see why. It strikes a good balance, between having the energy and convenience of a large city, while still maintaining the chill and relaxing atmosphere of what Scandinavian are so proud of.
Of course, a large part of travelling has always been about the food. Admittedly, Scandinavia has always been known as an expensive destination, and with our weak Canadian currency, it was particularly difficult for us to stretch our dollar. Luckily, we didn't often have a strong desire for superbly fancy dining in multi-starred restaurants (Copenhagen IS known for having some of the finest restaurants in the world, with many already recognized with various Michelin star designations). In truth, often the most memorable eats when you travel is not necessarily the obscurely delicate fine dining restaurants, but the stuff that the locals would eat day to day, mixed in with some traditional foods that usually reflects their heritage and geography. Shrimps, smoked fish, and various open face sandwiches are probably the area’s best known delicacies. We happily ate along the way on our city walks, frequently stopping into various eateries or markets and particularly grocery stores to see what products they had that we haven't seen elsewhere (we must have hit probably every single grocery store on our routes, and many of them numerous times). And of course, as we are both a fan of coffee shops, a LOT of cafes (Scandinavia have some of the best cafes in the world, with many also serving some wonderful little bites that feels so representative of their local flair). Scandinavia would definitely not be a destination where you can stretch your budget easily, but if you are not overly fixated on fine dining, you could still enjoy a lot of wonderful eats and perhaps get a even more intimate experience with their culture. (We also, evidently, take a lot of photos of our food. And more importantly, take a lot of photos or oureslves taking photos of our food...)
Finally, we also stayed in a variety of budget friendly places to make our dollars last. I’ve always been a fan of the hostel experience, and was somewhat worried that those days were behind me when covid came. Luckily, we are now in a stage where we felt comfortable taking some measured risks again, and Ellen was a good sport in even trying out a few hostels with me despite never trying them before. We also tried a few reasonably priced hotels, clean and many in convenient locations along a subway stop. Among them, City Box, a chain which has a number of locations in the region, were always clean and tidy, and often with common eating and kitchen area where you can heat up and enjoy some simple meals. Before covid, I frequently found that these down to earth places to stay were much more memorable, especially when I travelled on my own. I could usually strike up a conversation or two with fellow travellers and swap travel tips or just interesting experiences. This time around, we didn't need to mingle quite as much as we already kept each other company, but we both still enjoyed many of these relaxed atmosphere as we recharge after usually a long day of walking. I hope we can continue to strike the balance between travelling comfortably without excessive luxury while maintaining our adventurous and curious spirits. We don't always need to feel pampered, especially when we are out seeing the world, as long as we are safe, fed, clean, warm, and as I’ve experienced during this trip, have each other to goof and kid around with.
Thank you for taking this journey with me. Here’s to many more to come. :)
(Thank you also to all who read this ridiculously long post. Or at least attempted to. I tend to write about nothing in particular and just let my fingers take me to places I didn’t know I was going to. In the coming days I’ll also be posting some more travel photos to my account for causal browsing. I’ve taking over 1200 shots during this trip, and every one seems as precious to me as the next, even though they would likely make no sense to others. I’ll trim them down and post some shots of the trip to share what we saw. Thank you for reading and viewing!)
