Waking up at 4:40 in the morning to catch a flight is a rough way to kick off a vacation to Scandinavia, but it’s a small price to pay for visiting a group of countries – and great friends – I haven’t seen in more than three years.
Not much has changed in Norway, where I had lived the almost ideal life for a year while studying abroad. Bergen is reminiscent of my college years in the Pacific Northwest: cloudy, rainy, not quite cold.
Yet, as picturesque and inspirational of “deep” feelings a town like Bergen can be, an influx of memories – ones of too many depressing, sunless months – overrode that.
Of course, I could have avoided the city entirely had I flown directly to Oslo, where some of my friends awaited, but a television documentary released a couple years ago by Norway’s government channel Norsk rikskringkasting (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) influenced me otherwise.
Called “boring TV,” the channel’s producers stuck a camera at the front of the train in Bergen and filmed the whole inspiring trip-experience in one, roughly seven-hour take until the train’s arrival at Oslo’s downtown central station.
The documentary’s first three hours – minus the 6.7 kilometer tunnel near the beginning – convinced me it was worth passing up a direct flight for the train’s slight delay and detour. The landscape of autumn’s changing leaves was stunning, as the train passed through the rain-swept fjords to the inland mountains, not yet snow-capped.
As far as homes go, Norway’s architectural homogony still somehow makes me smile. White, dark red, black and a deep, rich yellow – each with white, black or red trim – are the extent of the color variations for roughly 99 percent of Norwegian homes, with the occasional light blue and grey popping up. I think national identity is tied up in this phenomenon, much like baseball, fast food and apple pie in America.
HHH
Oslo is as grand as I remember it: glowing, healthy people; peerless public transportation; and a satisfying sense of safety. For example, the country’s police – from country towns to big cities – do not carry weapons on their person, only in their vehicles, locked up – which is a choice the police have made on their own.
Some things had changed during my three-year absence, obviously. Construction along the dock has shifted east along the fjord; the Norwegian candy confectioner Nidar has pulled its chocolate bars from the market; and many of the friends with whom I partied on the weekends are now in new relationships, married and/or have children.
On a morning walk, I passed Norway’s Ministry of Justice building, which was the center point of a bombing in July 2011 and is in the process of being renovated. One feature I never noticed when I was there during that time was a newspaper display case in front of the building near the street.
These display cases operated by the closest newspaper office nearby typically carry its daily newspaper, so passers-by can read the paper behind the glass. Only, this one had cracked but still-intact glass – much like a windshield after an impact – and the case carried an aged, morning edition of a July 22, 2011, paper. It was a profound feeling touching that glass, juxtaposed with the building undergoing repair in the background.
Perhaps what I missed most were the hiking trails, cared for and maintained by the national volunteer organization Den Norske Turistforening, or the Norwegian Trekking Association. Think of Trails 2000 on a statewide scale. What sets these trails apart from others I’ve hiked outside of Norway are the paint markers highlighting paths: blue for the hiking trails, red for winter’s cross-country trails. So, if you get lost at some point, you back-track until the marked trail is found. Good way, too, to keep people on trails.
HHH
The train I rode out of Norway and through Sweden was fully electric, easily cruising at 100 mph for the seven-hour trip – and so quiet, no clacking from the wheels riding the rails, no train-car sway. Finally meeting my best friends in Malmö and Aarhus, Denmark, was a warm, festive reunion. Most of my time with them was spent wandering, eating French hot dogs, avoiding stepping into dedicated two-way bike lanes and examining thrilling ice-cream signs.
Three things struck me most about being in Scandinavia:
First, you can literally get just about anywhere using public transportation – subway, train, bus, trolley – and not need a car, as many people seem to do.
Second, everyone dressed nicely. Outside of junkies, I saw very few people who were dressed a bit more relaxed – or, as they say across the ocean, American-style.
Third, being in cities that have survived Nazi occupation continues to be a sobering experience. How many of us can say we lived under foreign occupation?
I think there is a lot we can learn from these countries, especially Norway, which has consistently ranked high on life quality and human development indexes. Not perfect, of course, but still high. (Customer service can use vast improvement, as has been pointed out by the natives.)
But, whether it be public transportation infrastructure, press ethics or criminal justice, I think keeping an open mind to their way of doing things can be, at the bare minimum, a learning experience.
jbowers@durangoherald.com
On the Net
Bergen to Oslo train trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7VYVjR_nwE
Norwegian Trekking Association: http://english.turistforeningen.no
