Norway Part I: “New” Old Oslo
Norway Part II: Arctic Train
Norway Part III: The Emperor’s Cairn
At this point in the holiday I was equally pleased at what I’d done, lonely from having spent two days with very little human interaction, and ready to see something new. At the end of my day of hiking, I got on a night-train to Trondheim.
I’d heard lots of lovely things about Trondheim, and they all turned out to be true. It’s a bustling university town with the feel of a small city. There are lots of museums and art galleries, a plethora of independent cafes, and a majestic cathedral which is the site of the consecration of Norwegian Kings. After getting off my train at 7 in the morning, I stumbled sleep-drunk through the streets towards a spire I could see reaching above the rooftops, and let myself down on a damp and chilly bench outside the Nidaros Cathedral. I returned here throughout the day; it seemed like the anchor of the town.
Crossing over the Gamle Bybro,, the Old Town Bridge, just past the cathedral, you reach the Bakklandet neighbourhood. Once again, I experienced the strange ability of Norwegian towns and cities to have very suburban-feeling residential areas practically in the centre of town. Bakklandet was absolutely wonderful, full of pretty painted houses and independent craft shops, as well as an enormous park and a castle. As I was walking around, taking photos of what seemed like every building, and elderly lady stopped my by the arm and said, in very broken but enthusiastic English: “You make photos, so you can tell to your family! You tell to them, Trondheim! Beautiful!”
After exploring the area, I found my way to a cafe which a man who I had met back north had recommended to me. It’s called Anna’s Kafe and is unsurprisingly run by a very friendly woman called Anna. She is German and after au pairing in Trondheim got happily stuck there and has recently opened the wonderful cafe. I sat there until my battery ran out, finishing off some German Expressionist reading and eating copious amounts of homemade food. I left there shortly after lunch, and that’s where the day went somewhat downhill.
I forlornly wandered the streets of Trondheim in buckets of rain, trying to find somewhere affordable to eat dinner. I couldn’t, so I got a strange selection of snacks from a supermarket, had a mini-breakdown about money via text to my Mum (it went something along the lines of “WHY DOES EVERYTHING COST SO MUCH MONEY AND WHY DON’T I HAVE ENOUGH TO BUY FOOD?”)… and then pulled myself together. I found a relatively comfortable bench in the train station, and from 3pm until 11pm I read books about the German experience of the holocaust. It was not the best end to what could have been an enchanting day, but the reality of travel is that sometimes you just have to buck up and sit tight.
Norway Part II: Arctic Train
Norway Part III: The Emperor’s Cairn
At this point in the holiday I was equally pleased at what I’d done, lonely from having spent two days with very little human interaction, and ready to see something new. At the end of my day of hiking, I got on a night-train to Trondheim.
I’d heard lots of lovely things about Trondheim, and they all turned out to be true. It’s a bustling university town with the feel of a small city. There are lots of museums and art galleries, a plethora of independent cafes, and a majestic cathedral which is the site of the consecration of Norwegian Kings. After getting off my train at 7 in the morning, I stumbled sleep-drunk through the streets towards a spire I could see reaching above the rooftops, and let myself down on a damp and chilly bench outside the Nidaros Cathedral. I returned here throughout the day; it seemed like the anchor of the town.
Crossing over the Gamle Bybro,, the Old Town Bridge, just past the cathedral, you reach the Bakklandet neighbourhood. Once again, I experienced the strange ability of Norwegian towns and cities to have very suburban-feeling residential areas practically in the centre of town. Bakklandet was absolutely wonderful, full of pretty painted houses and independent craft shops, as well as an enormous park and a castle. As I was walking around, taking photos of what seemed like every building, and elderly lady stopped my by the arm and said, in very broken but enthusiastic English: “You make photos, so you can tell to your family! You tell to them, Trondheim! Beautiful!”
After exploring the area, I found my way to a cafe which a man who I had met back north had recommended to me. It’s called Anna’s Kafe and is unsurprisingly run by a very friendly woman called Anna. She is German and after au pairing in Trondheim got happily stuck there and has recently opened the wonderful cafe. I sat there until my battery ran out, finishing off some German Expressionist reading and eating copious amounts of homemade food. I left there shortly after lunch, and that’s where the day went somewhat downhill.
I forlornly wandered the streets of Trondheim in buckets of rain, trying to find somewhere affordable to eat dinner. I couldn’t, so I got a strange selection of snacks from a supermarket, had a mini-breakdown about money via text to my Mum (it went something along the lines of “WHY DOES EVERYTHING COST SO MUCH MONEY AND WHY DON’T I HAVE ENOUGH TO BUY FOOD?”)… and then pulled myself together. I found a relatively comfortable bench in the train station, and from 3pm until 11pm I read books about the German experience of the holocaust. It was not the best end to what could have been an enchanting day, but the reality of travel is that sometimes you just have to buck up and sit tight.
Your photos are very beautiful! Norway is very expensive in general and even us who live here don't eat out very often. I hope you come back when the weather is better (maybe winter?). Then you can enjoy it more!
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