Norway summer 2026

This summer our big trip was to Norway with my brother and [most of] his family. I was last in Norway in 1992 at the age of 14, when we went for some sort of high school reunion of my dad's. Needless to say, I don't remember a lot except that it was very beautiful and very bright. I think Teg was last there around the same time, but as part of a Brown University Choir summer trip. We had been several times when we were younger, of course, and Teg remembers a little of those trips, but sadly I do not. Our dad had wanted us all to go back together but by the time he voiced that desire it was rather too late for travel for him. In summary, this trip was an opportunity to visit our roots, fulfill his and our desire for the grandkids to see it all together (we missed you, Jasper!), and enjoy time together in a stunning location. I feel we more than achieved all those goals.

The other interesting feature of this trip was that we got together with some new family. Teg and I have two cousins we hadn't previously met. We reached out to them to let them know we were coming, but also that we wouldn't be able to travel to their homes on this trip. They graciously met us in Oslo our first weekend there. Liz and her husband Karim, and adult children Jasper (yes, another Jasper!) and Ferdinand, along with second (?) cousin Max, made the trip down to Oslo from their home outside of Ålesund (a tiny village called Haugsbygda). Gro was in town for a naming ceremony for one of her grandchildren, so it worked out for her and her youngest daughter, Camilla, to also join us for dinner.

Teg, Heather, Reed, and Arlo (Jasper was unable to come) arrived the day before us and spent some time with the family before we landed. When we arrived, Teg, the boys, Sally, and I explored a little (through the Royal Palace grounds down to the waterfront) while everyone else rested up from the day of heat/exploring/travel. A highlight was a ramshackle (think Will Ferrell as the "old timey prospector" in that SNL skit) busker who opened with an intense, long yodel of sorts and then used every body part with a mishmash of metals to sing us a song. 

Then we all had a delightful outdoor dinner in the shadow of Oslo City Hall. It was wonderful to connect with family and start to learn about who they are, where they live, and how they got there. We heard and shared stories of our father and uncle and learned a lot of family history. Karim has spent years working on the family tree and has built up a wealth of knowledge on the topic that he generously shared with us. It's difficult to describe the impact of meeting family for the first time at this age…the most concise way I can put it is to say it felt very meaningful, they felt like family, and I look forward to getting together with them again in the future.

The following morning we had breakfast with Liz and her family, bidding farewell with promises to get together in the future. We had a little time before heading to the train station, so I explored the other side of the beautiful Royal Palace grounds before we were slated to be seated for 6 hours. In the train station there was a striking art installation of life-sized suspended horses made of raincoats called "Gross Domestic Product" — apparently a commentary on modern industry and economics (since horses were the most recent "beast of burden" of the industrial era).

We enormously enjoyed the train ride to Flåm, our next destination. For the first 5 hours we had a private compartment, then changed trains in Myrdal, then took a scenic 1-hour ride down to Flåm at the head of Aurlandsfjord. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. Bucolic farms, crystal-clear lakes perfectly reflecting the mountains or farmland, endless still fjords, a couple of glaciers (!), fast-moving rivers pausing in turquoise pools, and countless waterfalls. I was fairly glued to the window. Our compartment was fun, and of course Reed broke out the guitar post-haste, so we had incredible live music the whole way. Reed also tried to teach Sally and me to solve a Rubik's cube. His brain works really well for that (he does "speed cubing”) and he managed to patiently teach me to complete one side, but beyond that I was not successful, nor could I replicate my minuscule success without his guidance the following day.

The final hour down to Flåm (the Flåmsbana) is considered one of the most beautiful journeys in Norway, and that's saying a lot in a country that had already proven to be stunning. A fun surprise is that partway down, the train pauses for 5 minutes so passengers can don their rain gear, disembark, and check out Kjosfossen waterfall. While admiring the waterfall, very loud music (heard over the waterfall's thunder) begins, and a Huldra starts to dance by an old stone cottage adjacent to the waterfall. Huldra are "elusive forest spirits from Norse mythology…that lure men into the woods" — or, here, hired dancers from the Norwegian ballet school on a summer gig. Either way, a fun and surprising treat.

Upon arrival in Flåm, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Fretheim Hotel, then found a ride to Aurland, a little town about 4 miles away where we spent the next 3 nights in a perfectly placed apartment with gorgeous windows to "fjord-watch." Upon arrival we of course immediately put on swimsuits and jumped in the fjord (there was a dock with a diving deck just outside our apartment), at a refreshing 54ºF water temperature.

Monday morning we hopped aboard the gorgeous Flåmsbana train again, up to the Flåm Zipline, the longest in Scandinavia (at almost 1.4 km) where you reach a max speed of 100 km/h! Sally in particular was very brave as they strapped her in for an adrenaline-filled journey down. 

At the bottom, we retrieved our rental bikes and cycled the 18 km or so back down to Flåm. The group split up as expected, with David, Reed, and Arlo racing down; Sally and I enjoying the trip and stopping to climb on rocks and take photos; and Teg and Heather doing a similar sight-seeing journey.

After a light lunch in Flåm, we headed back for an afternoon fjord sauna session. It was as relaxing as you'd hope, with stunning full-window views of the fjord, relaxing music, and invigorating dips in the fjord. We capped off the day with a delightful dinner al fresco next door at Vangsgaarden Gastropub.

On Tuesday I enjoyed a lovely morning run then we hopped on a fjord cruise right from the dock outside our apartment. The massive tour boats run on all-electric power, gliding silently and smoothly through the fjord, barely leaving a wake. It was amazing, and even David didn't get seasick. After about an hour and a half, we arrived at the tiny town of Gudvangen.

There, after a quick lunch, we all really enjoyed an immersive Viking village experience. It was very expansive, with axe-throwing, archery, and even a chat with the founder of the village, who was all in and lives on site in a room filled with candles and a taxidermied albino bear head. Most thrilling of all, I found a 4-leaf clover! The first of my life, and by total fluke I spotted it during the tour. In Norway. With my people. ;)

Late afternoon we all went our separate ways (see photo of Teg and Heather kayaking), then met up again for, of course, a fjord dip (Reed was amazing, often staying in for 5+ minutes at a time while I immediately got out, sure my body would freeze and I'd drown!) followed by dinner at Vangsgaarden, and we wrapped up the day watching the Norway World Cup match and learning card games from Arlo.

On Wednesday morning we enjoyed our third trip up the Flåmsbana (with the Huldra!) and then changed trains in Myrdal to head to Bergen. The scenery was again just breathtaking. It was a beautiful day, so when we arrived in Bergen we enjoyed lunch outdoors along the Bryggen (randomly at an Irish pub, because it had available outdoor seating near the water). Also, we walked past a bar/establishment called "Dark and Stormy," which felt like quite a coincidence (our mother's favorite drink). Then Teg, Heather, Sally, and I took a wonderful, very informative walking tour. We learned some history of Norway, and of Bergen in particular. Specifically, I was shocked to learn that after FINALLY getting out from some 400 years under Danish rule, at the first opportunity Norway elected (yes, elected) a Danish prince to be KING of Norway. What? That'd be like if Ireland held a special referendum and elected Harry to come be our king — and he chose to call himself Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair the Second.

After a brief explore on our own (see the crazy crooked stairs photo below), we had dinner at a cool foodie spot called The Amateur that evening. For carnivores it was amazing, as the staff and chefs clearly cared deeply about the food. They cared less about vegetarians, in spite of me asking before making the reservation, but the atmosphere was lovely and it was fun to do something a little different. Plus I'd never seen a server grate the marrow of a long bone onto a person's plate before, so that was something new.

On Thursday we took the funicular up to the top of Fløyen, the most accessible of the many wonderful outdoor things to do in this area. At the top we looked for the goats (they were resting, sadly), took in the views, played in a troll garden or two, and then had an absolutely beautiful walk down the hill back into town. It was green and mossy and rocky and magical. At the bottom there was a very long slide to finish it off, which Teg, Reed, Arlo, and Sally all went down.

After lunch, we headed to the aquarium at the boys' suggestion. To get there, we walked through Old Bergen, which I had run through in the morning and found completely delightful with colorful houses, the tiny pedestrian streets, the striking flowers. The aquarium was fun and of manageable size, though I did feel a little concerned about the quality of life of all the reptiles in the third-floor basement.

Bergen harbor was absolutely bustling: fishing boats, huge ships that support oil rigs, de-lousing vessels, megayachts, cruise ships, tour ships and ferries — you name it. It was such a pleasure to be around.

On Friday, July 3rd (what would have been my father's 88th birthday), we took the train to Drammen, his birthplace. After check-in we immediately headed over to Teko Print and Copy, a shop our grandmother Ruth had started in 1954 and which is still going strong. The women in the shop were partial owners (still women-owned and run!) and had heard stories of Ruth and her success over the years. They were very gracious and said we should come back and meet the now-retired woman who had worked there when Ruth did…next time. Then we hopped into 2 taxis and drove to the 2 addresses Teg had found related to our dad and grandmother. The first was a house up on the hill that our dad had listed as his address of record on his US naturalization paperwork — presumably he lived there prior to emigrating to North America. The second was a house on the other side of Drammen which was the last known address of our grandmother. Teg remembers visiting there when we were little (him, 7 or 8 years old, and me, 1–2), and there are photos of us there at Christmas on our way home from Egypt, I think.

While every Norwegian we spoke to seemed unenthusiastic about Drammen, I thought it was a lovely town. I walked around for a couple of hours before dinner…found a marina where perhaps our dad had tinkered on his little wooden sailboat; walked along the river; enjoyed the revitalized, pedestrianized downtown; and took in the many statues and parks. It's a real city, not for tourists, and I found it very attractive and well-maintained.

We finished the day as our parents would have loved — sitting outside along the river/fjord in the bright sunshine, celebrating our families. After dinner, Teg and I headed to the cemetery at Strømsø kirke to look for Ruth and Erling's grave. We were successful! It was quite emotional, really, to see it sitting there — the first time either of us had ever seen it. We spent some time at the site, thinking of them and feeling gratitude for all the lives for which they are responsible. Reed and Arlo had to leave early the next morning, so David, Sally, and I headed back to Oslo on our own midday. Before we left, I took David and Sally back to Strømsø kirkegård with some flowers.

In Oslo the 3 of us spent some time at the Munch Museum. We saw 2 of the 3 copies of The Scream (they rotate every 30 minutes) and learned how incredibly prolific Munch was! The museum itself was gorgeous, many stories tall with an expansive view of Oslo from the top floor. I was also stunned to run into a work of art I'd spent my childhood staring at — a print of The Brooch by Eva Mudocci that hung, framed, in our house until our parents' deaths. Neither Teg nor I'd had any idea they would have gotten it in Norway!

After a picnic lunch on the beach in front of the museum, Sally and I wandered around Akershus Festning (the fort) and took in the gorgeous views of Oslofjord. Also, coincidentally, a NY Times article dropped that very day about how we should all move to Norway for a better life. I kind of get it! Though, it was also a spate of really nice weather in the dead of summer. It's probably a little different in early January, when there's about 2 hours of daylight and endless snow.

This was a delightful and well-executed trip on all levels. Beyond that, though, I learned a lot, and not just about Norwegian history or culture writ large. There were so many things I'd thought were "just my dad" that turn out to be cultural…the love of nature, trees, walking in the woods, being in the woods, eating a sparse but precious snack in the woods (do you sense a theme), self-sufficiency, boats, water, that dry sense of humor. Also, our parents had always said they chose Nova Scotia because it reminded our dad of Norway, but of course I'd never appreciated that before. On this trip there was no doubt — from the moment we flew over southern Norway, to the coastlines, to the harbors, to the forests, it was so incredibly reminiscent of Nova Scotia. Obviously, Nova Scotia doesn't have the glaciers and steep mountains, but the essence of it, the plants, the smells. I get it.

Finally, I would never say that I've walked around America and felt out of place or like I didn't belong. However, walking around in Norway I just felt "right.” Like, "yeah, these people are like me." It was a strange sensation, because I hadn't realized I wasn't having it before. Finding something you hadn't realized you were missing is a rare thing in this day and age, and for that I am grateful.