I've only been in Trondheim a few hours, but my God what a welcome. The flights went surprisingly well, in a system where delay is practically mandatory. Schipol Airport in Amsterdam was the biggest and...grandest airport I've ever seen. You could fit Dunfermline within the buildings, let alone the grounds. Lots of marble / marble effect and many different types of bar and restaurant from various places in Europe. I was very tempted by the first ever revolving sushi restaurant I've seen in my life... but I had to run. I had been delayed from getting from arrival-lounge to the next gate by a huuuuuuuge queue of Asian folks wearing medical masks. It stretched off into the distance like a line of men who just heard that Christina Hendricks had decided to do individual lap dances for each of them.
This left me a little startled, but Mia later assured me this sort of thing happened quite often with Asian folks travelling through Europe. Some mad (and frankly a little insulting) fear of catching disease from us. Psssht.
All of this was completely driven out of my mind (along with everthing other than awe and the realisation that a life-long memory was being formed) when I saw the Northern Lights from the plane. Tempering this exceptional view was the ferocious lightning storm silently flaring in the clouds behind the mountain range to the north. Like with all such moments, a perosn has the choice to look or to take a picture. I chose to look, unfortunately for you. Insert generic northern lights photo here:
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| It looked roughly like this. Except there was lightning and an astonished American woman. |
I got into Trondheim just before midnight, lugging my luggage (fun to say) off the bus next to Sentralstasjon. Trondheim has a river going through it called Nidelva, and next to the station was a boardwalk filled with boats. My breath was misty in the freezing air as I leaned against the barrier and took in my surroundings. The buildings were all wooden and painted colourfully, the snow tips of nearby hills and mountains poked out over the top of them. I still had no idea what the city looked or 'felt' like, but I was welcomed warmly by random drunken citizens who shouted and waved at me from across the river. All my nerves about travelling washed out of me in a slow-drip of coziness, and I waited for Mia and Jørgen with a smile.
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| Koselig :) |
They helped me with my bags, and very kindly paid for my bus ride back to their student halls. Shaded in Darkness, the city was yet a mystery and my focus was directly towards the bastard ice-rink beneath my feet. Ice everywhere. Mia had warned me repeatedly about the size of her flat, saying it was 'veldig bittesmå!' I live in a bedsit back in Dundee so I'm fairly used to cramped living conditions. Mia's flat, I can tell you, is HUGE compared to mine, and richly furnished! Look for yourself!
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| Scottish first year students living in halls, altogether now: "Sadface". |
And for God sake, pictures say it better than words, they greeted me with a table flushed full of Norwegian food. Just...take a moment to think of the noises my stomach made when it saw this:
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| Notice that they had kaviar? Buy it. Go to Norway and buy it immediately. It tastes like victory. |
So, all in all a very cozy arrival! I woke up today to see Mia; whom I've long known through photos and text, smiling and making breakfast. It was so cool seeing her for real again! When online reality coalesces into the offline world, bloody good holidays result! Her Dad, the author Birger Sivertsen, came round to give us a tour of Trondheim in his car. What a pleasure to see the city through the eyes of locals who knew some of the history. Here's a few of the pictures, until my next post :).
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