Our Little Birdhouse in the Woods

 No robots tried to kill us during our stay. 

Around the property:

Places we hung out: 

Dining room

Lovely shot of pumpkin soup served at dinner one night.
At least one of us thought so... 

Olafsvegen hike

A short hike up the road

The Road to Valdall

The impetus for this trip, originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, and we all know how that turned out, was to stay at the Juvet Landscape Hotel. My original solo plan involved an additional flight, a boat, a train, a bus, a donkey-cart (maybe), a jet-ski... hell, I don't know anymore how I planned on getting there, but it didn't involve renting a car and simply driving to the destination. As the trip morphed to include a partner who learned to drive on the main streets of Boston, the twisting, narrow, cliff-side roads between Oslo and the tiny village of Valdall near where the hotel is located became a passable obstacle. Reaching this destination was going to be a long day of driving, we knew that when we set off, but we didn't anticipate a mountain pass, a ferry (which ran every 20 minutes so when we showed up 1 minute after the boat left, it was no big deal), and a GPS that seemed to want to kill us -- or at least strand us in the middle of some Norwegian woods. We did find a gorgeous lookout to a fjord along the way, though, and after getting close to our destination before being led astray (damn GPS...), we made it to where we were going, and it was totally worth all the hassle. 

random view point of a random village along the way

Geringer fjord

Somewhere near Hundorp

After stopping by the Kistefos Museum, we continued on our way north. Gorgeous countryside, clear, sunny days, lakes and valleys, and long winding roads took us to a little farmstead near a miniscule village called Hundorp, where a cottage on a small farm waited for us. One night was not enough.

our cozy cottage

Kistefos

After only two days in Oslo, we picked up a rental car at the airport and headed north, but first we took a small detour to spend a couple hours on a beautiful day visiting the Kistefos Museum, which is my favorite kind of museum: out in the middle of nowhere. The grounds were spectacular and the small building which housed the exhibits was stunning. A worthy first stop on our tour through the countryside. 

b

Oslo

And then it was on to Oslo, where I landed just a few minutes ahead of Greg's flight from Boston, culminating in a happy reunion at baggage claim. We took a taxi to the apartment where we'd be staying dropped off our stuff, and then walked down to the waterfront, looked at the iconic building that is the opera house, ate some bad pizza, and came back and crashed for the night. The next day we headed out in the same direction but this time, after we walked around on the roof of the opera house, we took a tip from one of Greg's co-workers who had just returned from a tour of Scandinavia, and wandered into the newest branch of the Oslo Public Library. This branch opened in 2020 on what must have been the most prime piece of real estate in the city (next to the opera house). Instead of condos for the wealthy or Google-Norway, the land went to the City which put it to use for the public, in the form of what must be one of the most dynamic libraries in the world. It is truly a gathering space for... everyone. There are spaces to lounge, to study, to play, and yes, even to read. Everyone seemed to be there: young, old, parents, students, and tourists like us. It's a beautiful, inviting space, and I'd like to think that if I lived in Oslo, I'd find myself there at least twice a week. 

Oslo public library - Deichman branch

View from our balcony in Oslo

Helsinki

Just before my Iceland Air flight took off on what was supposed to be a non-stop flight from Seattle to Reykjavik, the pilot announced (sounding very annoyed) that we would be making an unscheduled stop in Minneapolis to refuel before crossing the Atlantic. Thus, half a plane-load of people, including me, landed in Reykjavik having missed our connecting flights. After getting rebooked on a flight from Reykjavik to Munich (WTF?) that left at 1:45am the next day, and then connecting from there to Helsinki, my original destination, I found myself in a hotel near the airport with some of the other delayed passengers, where we were given breakfast, but where we would NOT be staying (the infinitely patient woman at the front desk informed us that they didn't actually have rooms for us - but to enjoy the breakfast and lunch which would be provided for us a few hours later, after which we would be transferred to a hotel where I and a few others who had midnight-1am flights could rest before being transferred back to the airport). We waited at that first hotel for 4 hours before groggy and limp, we were transferred to the hotel where we could actually shower and sleep for a good 8 hours before heading back to the airport, where I had another 3 hour wait before boarding my flight - to Munich. Then, after a short layover there, I was finally on my way to Helsinki, a day and a half late. Brenda was waiting for me with snacks and a place to nap before we headed out for our sauna appointments at a very cool waterfront sauna facility, which seemed to be the happening place to be on a Sunday evening. There were three sauna rooms of different temps, each seemingly being portals to hell. We lasted approximately 5 minutes in each room, relaxing between sweat-fests in a lovely lounge area overlooking the sea. Shopping. lunch, walking around the waterfront the next day, and the day after that it was time for me to leave and head to Norway. Despite the hassle of getting there, Helsinki was cool and I'd love to return someday. 

Post-sauna, if you're brave. Or crazy.