Fire Fjellsturen! (Four Mountain Hike)

Finally! Some words to go with these pictures! And more pictures!

So, these pictures are from the fire fjellsturen, or four mountain hike that I did a few weekends ago. It was an incredible experience, and definitely one of the crazier things I have ever been a part of. 8,000 Norwegians (and at least one American!) spent the entire day hiking up and down either 7 or 4 mountains. Doing all seven takes a lot of training, and I was only here for a month before the event, so I did 4, but next year I am going to do all 7!

I really ruined my legs on the Friday and Saturday before the hike. Friday night I had a date (!) in town and made the mistake of wearing high-heels. I always forget about the cobblestone streets in Europe. So before and after dinner, my date and I went on a walk around Bergen, each for about an hour, in my high-heeled shoes. I woke up the next morning and my feet were killing me! I was called into work early, at 10am, and was told I would leave around 6. Instead, a lot of people made last-minute reservations so I worked until 2am, 16 hours on my feet serving. Needless to say, after 4 hours of sleep and those two days, I woke up at 7:30 Sunday morning, the morning of the hike, not with the freshest of legs.

But, nonetheless I packed my backpack with waterproof clothes, dressed in layers and hiking boots (Thank you Jody!) and went to meet my hiking partners: Lars, my dad's 75 year old cousin, and Filip, his 6-year old grandson. We were not out to set the record time (well maybe, the record slowest time). So we got dropped off in town, and went to the registration, which was packed with people. It was at the beginning of the fourth mountain for the people who were doing 7, and even then, at 9 am, lots of very fit men came running through, with 3 mountains already under their belt for the day.

Then we started the hike and at the first hint of an incline my legs were screaming at me, but that faded quickly as I got into it. We were always around a lot of people, there were families, dogs, people of all ages, all out together to conquer 4-7 mountains! It was fantastic. The first mountain, Ulriken, is by far the hardest and at points going up you are on your hands and feet gripping to make sure you don't slip. Finally, after about 2 hours, we got to the top of Ulriken. You are given a card at the beginning with each of the mountains, and at each summit you have to get a hole punched at that mountain to show you actually completed them all. The 6 year old LOVED this, and the "klippestasjonens" were the only things that kept him going. So we got our clip, I was revved up and ready to go, and then we sat in the restaurant, and Lars and Filip had ice cream and waffles. I had packed snacks thinking of fueling myself for the grueling hike, dried fruit, nuts, etc. and they were snacking on King Cones!

Anyway, then we started down and it was incredible! It had rained recently so the path, and I use the term loosely, was very very slippery and muddy. It was intense collective tension and fear from the hundreds of people climbing down the mountain, scooting down the mountain, holding onto branches, strangers, for dear life. It was awesome, I was so scared. But kids were running down, their parents were not concerned, it was very very loose, as my brother would say. Everyone got to the bottom, hugged their loved ones, and maybe even rethought some of the decisions they've made in their life. I think some people quit smoking. It was that scary.

But that was just one mountain! And it had been 4 and a half hours! So we kept on, and started up the next one, after stopping and buying waffles from kids who had a stand on the street, of course. So we go up the next, Floyen, which is a very popular mountain for tourists. And there were a lot of people walking on the paths up there in the opposite direction. Which made me think, if you were from out of town, visiting Bergen that day, and decided to go for a hike, without knowing about this event, you would think Norwegians were crazy! It looked like EVERYONE in town went hiking, on the same day, in the same direction. Hilarious.

That mountain has a fantastic view but the weather was changing, so no dessert this time, and we went on. The mother of the 6 year old had made him special cookies for the trip and he had a bag of them. It was amazing, he was like a car that needed gas, he would get tired, slow down, eat two cookies and then run ahead of us for the next half hour.

Then we started down that one and back up for the next one, at which point the weather was completely different and we were practically walking through a cloud. It was very eery, you couldn't see 5 feet in front of you, but there were people everywhere. And they are not great about putting up rails along the side of the paths where there are steep drop offs, so you had to be careful. Then we get to the top, get our punch, eat a hot dog and another ice cream, and go for the final mountain. It looked like a completely different country and season at the tops of those mountains, with the clouds and terrain, it was incredible to see the difference from when we started.

Then we finished the final mountain and started down, past beautiful lakes and fjords, and then a great waterfall and finally came to a spectacular view of the city! We had to walk through the city a bit to get to the finish line where we collected our t-shirts and diplomas! It took us a total of 9 hours, but as I said, we stopped a lot and took a very slow pace. It was an amazing day! And I didn't walk for the next two days, my legs were ruined!

These pictures are actually in reverse order, so, if you want, it's best to start at the bottom and then make your way back up to the top. And the video is of a particularly interesting part of the hike where its slippery and everyone was going really slowly. I hope it gives you a sense of what it was all like. Here are some pictures!


I finished and got my diploma!


The finish line! Free water and t-shirts!


The city view at the end of the hike


Coming down from the final mountain and getting back into the city


City view


The final descent


We're almost done! I was so proud of him. You can see a bit of the waterfall on the left


3 mountains down, one to go, beautiful little lake. I think he just got his card punched, which is why he is so happy!


A mountain-top lake


A bench with a great view....


Hiking through clouds


One of the fiew fences, and the mountain on the right. Ahead of this was the most intense, straight uphill part of the whole hike.


Hiking


Top of the second mountain, Floyen, everyone is stopping to catch their breaths and take in the view.


Top of the first mountain, looking across to the top of the second mountain. We were heading to the tower you can see in the distance. It looked SO far away, I couldn't believe we were going there.


The terrifying descent from the first mountain. I should have taken a video but I was too busy staying alive.


Everyone trying to find the best path for themselves.


Top of the first, and highest, mountain.


View out towards the fjords and Bergen city center.


Woo hoo! 1 down, 3 to go!


Along the top of the first mountain


Everyone trying to make it to the top


Beautiful view of the whole city


Looking down at everyone on the path up





Working our way up to the top




Everyone starting off on the first mountain.


It was really crowded in the beginning, there were some spots with bottlenecks.

17. Mai- Norway's National Day!

The 17th of May is Norway's National Day, probably the biggest celebration of the year throughout the country, and as Bergen is the second largest city, it has a huge celebration! People come from all over western Norway to celebrate the day in Bergen. The festivities include parades, music, foods, family brunches, fireworks, the "Russ" high school seniors partying for their last day, fairs for the kids, a long candlelit walk, and a good bit or partying downtown. Everyone wears ribbons that are red, white, and blue (Norway's colors also) and waves flags and blows whistles. Also, whenever you see someone for the first time that day, you say "Gratulerer med dagen!" which translates to "Congratulations with the day". It's the same thing you say to someone on their birthday. So I was saying that to everyone, until I realized a lot of people I work with are from Sweden, and it made no sense to say that to them. So, to the Swedish people, I would say, "Sorry for your loss". Not entirely accurate, but close enough.

One of the most interesting parts of the day is that everyone who owns a bunad (the national costume of Norway) wears it on this day. So the city is filled with the most beautiful men and women wearing these gorgeous, ornate costumes, which take months to make and cost many thousands of dollars. It is often a present for confirmation, and they start making it when the child starts confirmation classes so that it is finished in time for the confirmation. They are very beautiful and the colors used in the bunad depend upon what part of Norway the person is from. Bergen and nearby have dark blue bunads with red and yellow embroidery. Green is from parts of northern Norway and there are also yellow, light blue, etc. Men also have their bunad, it is a bit different, knee length pants, high socks, vests. These costumes, and then the way people dress who don't have bunads, combine to make me want to rename this holiday, "Strutt our stuff and show how beautiful we all are day". It is shocking walking around downtown and seeing how attractive all the Norwegians are, truly.

So, I went downtown to watch the parade with some family members and then was set to meet everyone who works at Cornelius on our sightseeing boat for a 17th of May brunch. This is the traditional meal of the day, and people spend it with their families, after the main parade downtown and before the fairs for the children and smaller parades at schools, they all go to these brunches. The typical meal is a sourcream porridge (rommegrot) that you top with cinnamon and raisins, and then cured hams with sweet pretzels that you eat together. It sounds odd, but it's very delicious. You can only eat it one day a year though, sourcream porridge is not the healthiest meal! So people really go crazy for it on this day and have about 3 bowls... I could only handle the one.

We stayed on the boat for hours and different people came and went and we watched the harbor which was packed with boats and people. Afterwards, I went and met some friends, hung out downtown, which was totally packed, although most people went home and changed out of their bunads. I had the funniest thought ever of someone not having time to go home and change out of their bunad, having a little too much to drink, going to sleep at someone else's house, and then having to wake up the next morning, the 18th of May, and put their bunad back on! Ultimate walk of shame. It may be a "you have to be here" thing, but I laughed at the thought of that for a good couple hours.

Anyway, it was a really fantastic day, at about 11 they had this long parade of people with candles walking to a lake in the center of town to set off the fireworks, there is a picture below. That was really really neat, there were drums and singing the whole way.

I think the whole country was exhausted, and potentially a little hungover the next day, Monday, May 18th, after that weekend!

Sorry this post was not that funny, so I will include a bonus joke! Woo-hoo!

There is a tourist who has been in Bergen for a week and it was raining the whole time.
He passes a young boy on the street and stops the boy.
He says, "does it ever stop raining in Bergen?"
And the boy replies, "How should I know? I'm only ten years old!"

Here are some pictures!

People in bunads walking from the bus station to the city center.


A band practicing before the parade



The parade route and all the spectators, in the middle of the city


Walking towards the parade


One of the funny floats, someone isolated for having the swine flu...


Another funny float, focusing on the importance of dental hygiene.


Me, laughing in the city center, with a lot of bunads behind be and some of the beautiful buildings downtown


Some boys in a band performing in the parade


Bunads, downtown, and the beginning of Floyen, the mountain downtown


People watching the parade, preparing themselves for the Russ coming!


Boats parked downtown, all tied up together, to celebrate the day


My meal... not the fanciest plates and silverware, but the most traditional meal. Serrano ham, sweet pretzels, and sour cream pudding with raisins and brown sugar, and a glass of white wine


Some friends, Russ, sitting on the bus, celebrating


Karianne (Alf's daughter who is Russ) and me together on the boat


Some friends celebrating on the boat


A view from the boat of the harbor downtown


The candlelit walk, which people take to a small lake downtown to light the fireworks.



First video: a group of bicyclists in the parade, doing tricks, and riding different crazy bikes. Also, look in the background to see the spectators in their bunads. Second video, a band of drummers in the parade (typical of Bergen) and some spectators watching the parade, with the mountain in the background. Final video, the Russ in the parade, going crazy. They jumped around like that for over an hour all around the town, following their bus.

May 16th!

The seventeenth of May is the National Day for Norway, and there are countless traditions and celebrations as part of this day. They actually start the day before, on the sixteenth of May. The 17th fell on a Sunday this year, which made for a very very crazy, fun-filled weekend. This post is about Saturday, May 16th. It would be too much to do one blog post about the whole weekend, so the post about the 17th will follow soon.

In Bergen, on May 16th, the biggest tradition is that there is always a home game for the city's soccer team, Brann (fire). They are the most coveted tickets of the season and people sleep out over night outside of the ticket sales office to be first in line for the tickets. The stadium is not that big, only 20,000, so the tickets are very hard to come by. Somehow, I was lucky enough to get a ticket! The chefs from our restaurant went and waited in the line hours before the office opened and each bought the maximum number of tickets, and through a series of incredibly fortunate events, I was able to get one of their tickets. It was for standing room only, but, let's be serious, who would want to sit down anyway!

So, days before the match, I went to the official Brann store and bought myself a jersey and a scarf. I had planned on buying these anyway as I think they make for great souvenirs. And, ever since I was a very little girl, my great uncle Henry, who was born here in Bergen, taught me about Brann and instilled in me his love for the team. He would always sing and chant "Heia Brann!" when he was playing soccer with us in his front yard at the ripe young age of 92! So I guess being a supporter of Brann is in my blood. I bleed Brann red.

With my jersey and scarf, feeling like a true supporter, I rode the bus into the city and sat outdoors at a cafe for breakfast. It was great, everyone was walking around with their red on, jerseys, scarves, and the football pub was becoming crowded at around 11am (5 hours before the game) with people drinking and reserving the seats with the best view of the tvs. (I would have been there had I not been lucky enough to get a ticket). After my coffee I went to meet my friends/coworkers for a pre-game party followed by a walk to the stadium. I was even involved in some friendly screaming/trash-talking with supporters of the other team, walking around Bergen in their bright yellow jerseys! (I have had a lot of practice with this at Redskins-Cowboys games, just not in Norwegian, so I was much less creative "You (not their team, I don't know that word, so I was being personal) are not good! Brann is good! We are good!" I think I really got them...

Anyway, we went to our friends house where they had the traditional 17th of May food (I'll tell more about that in the next post) and we watched DVD's of old Brann highlights, when they won the league, famous goals, etc. to get ourselves pumped up for the game. It worked! At one point, I was moved to tears (thanks, Dad, love you!)

Then we walked to the stadium which is beautiful and nestled in the mountains, so even if the team plays terribly, you have great views all around. The game was not that exciting, except that the fans are awesome and we were close to the field. Brann scored a great goal at about the 70th minute, and we went wild! But then the other team scored about about the 85th minute, and we were less excited. It ended with a tie, 1-1, and the fans were disappointed.

After the game we went back to our friend's house, relaxed a bit, changed, and then walked into town to party with every other person in Bergen (the 16th of May is one of the biggest nights for going out and partying because everyone is off work the next day and celebrating).

Which brings me to the 16th of May tradition in Bergen that is a close second to the Brann home match: a fantastic 80's coverband playing a live show at Rick's, one of the more popular clubs in town! There weren't quite as many people, and you didn't have to camp out for tickets, we actually just walked in, but I think it is still pretty important to the 17th of May weekend traditions.

The band was hilarious, half the members of the band were crossdressers, they did all the popular American, and some Norwegian, songs from the 80's, and they were the most energetic, fun, strange, performers I have seen! One tall, lanky, hairy man with very very long curly hair dressed in all women's clothes and removed one article of clothing at the start of each song, until he was in an itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-pink bikini at the last song. Fortunately for you, I filmed the band performing "Take on Me" by the most internationally famous Norwegian band, A-ha. It was also a huge song in America, which is why you can hear me singing along embarrassingly loudly (I was closest to the camera). Enjoy!

Here are some pictures (and videos) from the day:

A friend of mine and me sitting on the blue rock in the center of town, where everyone meets (He had to work that day, so it's okay that he wasn't wearing red...)


Some friends at the pre-game party. (The guy on the left is from Scotland, so it's okay that he wasn't wearing red... although he did put a borrowed t-shirt on later)


Me, all dressed up and ready, walking down to the stadium! (The two girls in the middle of the picture are Swedish and Danish, and weren't going to the game, so it's okay that they weren't wearing red... )


Heia Brann!


A sea of red in the stadium


The view of Ulriken (the mountain) from the stadium. There's a soccer game going on as well...


Walking back to our friend's after the game.


The fountain downtown on a beautiful evening.


The lead singer of the band...


The man removing articles of clothing...


And here are two videos:

The first is the craziest fan section of the stadium celebrating when the team comes out on the field, and the second is the band performing "Take on Me". Again, please do not judge me and my singing along, I really like the song!