My winter birthday on the summer island!

I had a fabulous birthday weekend in northern Norway this year! Having seen nearly all of Norway within the last three years (yes, I still have to fill in some blog posts...), something that I was really missing out so far were the Northern Lights. So, my birthday wish for this year was simply to see the elusive aurora!

Ha, but that's easier said than done... . The weather forecast for the region around Tromsø was terrible. No snow, lots of rain, and a thick cloud cover all over. The hopes were not high, but the trip was booked and I was looking forward to at least seeing a good friend again and having some relaxed time. And that was when we - once again - learned that the weather forecast in Norway can not be trusted. Instead of rain tickling on our heads, we had horizontally flying giant snowflakes. A serious snow storm was shaking the coast and our little apartment on Sommarøya (paradoxically the "summer island") shortly after we'd arrived. Without lots of wine it would have probably been a sleepless night ;) Happy birthday! But yes, indeed happy birthday! As the next morning came with sun, blue skies, a calm sea, and a decent layer of fluffy white powder snow. Who would have thought... . I enjoyed a great birthday with a prolonged breakfast, a perfect skiing tour in fresh snow, and a filling cheese fondue in the evening!

But the absolut bonus on top came with a starlit night and a wild and beautifully colored dancing aurora. No further words needed I guess, just look at the pictures...

It was a truly happy birthday! Even though Tromsø said farewell with yet another snowstorm.. .

Riding the Kongevegen over Filefjell

"The "Kongevegen", or King's Road from Bergen to Oslo was opened in 1793, and was the first drivable route (with a horse and a cart) that connected Eastern Norway and Western Norway across the mountain. Before, it was only possible to cross the mountains by foot. The part between Vang and Lærdal over the mountain Filefjell was the most spectacular part of the Kongevegen and it was recently restored as a hiking trail.
Once we heard about this new trail, we got very excited to bike this path similarly to the "Rallarvegen", the construction road of the Oslo-Bergen railway, that we biked the year before. As this was another one-way day tour, the logistics were again a little tricky. This time it was me who had to wait with the bikes on the mountain, while Micha was driving the Yeti to the endpoint of the tour and was coming back by bus. Luckily the driving distance between start and endpoint was much closer as for Rallarvegen as the current highway between Oslo and Bergen, the E16, still follows largely the same route (it now just mostly disappears in tunnels underneath the old route).
The path was technically easy to bike and but never boring, especially with all the history associated with it. Pretty cool bike trip!

Downhill biking for a 37th birthday.

Downhill biking for a 37th birthday...
... and some sightseeing. Crazy ideas should be realized as long as you're young! Downhill biking was such an idea that Micha had on his bucket list, and which day could fit better than an mid-to-end-30s birthday?! Also - on any other day he just could't convince me. But who can say no to a honest birthday wish?
The largest bike park around Oslo is about 2.5 hours north, close to Lillehammer: the Hafjell bike park. Proper sturdy downhill bikes and an all-body-protection armor (which you really wanna have!) can be rented at the park. Two lifts bring you to the top of the several km long downhill trails, with difficulties reaching from super easy all-family trails to expert-level world cup trails.
We preferred the intermediate trails, which were the perfect mix of sufficient adrenalin but no death-wish feelings. I was very surprised to realize which difference a proper downhill bike makes compared to my normal hardtail. Several times when a stone, log, or a sudden bend was unexpectedly in my path I thought that this is the moment when I kiss the ground. But funny enough it never really happened - the bike just handled the situation and I continued rolling downhill. And admittedly - it was a lot of fun! However, similar as with downhill skiing - having a lift transporting you up the mountain does't mean that just going downhill is not exhausting. After a couple of hours my arms started to weaken and my neck began to hurt. Before a real crash happened, we called it a day - a very successful day! Downhill biking won't be my favorite sport from now on - but I may go again, maybe for my 37th birthday ;)


As it happens, my parents were in Oslo for a visit around the same time, so we combined the downhill biking with a little sightseeing tour to the west coast. Of course - my parents are well past the point where they were young enough for downhill biking, so instead they explored Lillehammer during the time when we were biking. ;)
To recover from a long day, we spend the night at the more than 100 year old "fjell hotel" Hindsæter, a lovely place with a splendid beer selection (and similarly magnificent beer prices as my dad discovered after he generously invited us).
The next day we drove past the Stavkirke "Lom", a traditionally wooden church that dates to approximately the second part of 12th century, across the Djupvatnet pass, down to the famous Geiranger fjord, and in the afternoon we reached the picturesque town of Ålesund. We meandered through the streets lined with Art Nouveau architecture and climbed to the lookout on Aksla mountain.


The second night we spent close to one of Micha's and my favorite Yeti overnight-parking sites. We discovered this awesome spot during one of our previous tours, but with four in the car we had to pick a hotel close by in Fosnavåg. Nevertheless we came back to this wild place at the coast to share a bottle of wine as a nightcap.
From Fosnavåg we picked the most scenic route via the mirroring Jølstravatnet and the "Borgund" Stavkirke back to Oslo.