Back from the cold...well, the REALLY cold..Norway trip

I really am bad at the whole keeping the blog thing...

So got back from Norway three/four days ago and the trip was amazing!! I don't really know where to start..for six days, I was in awe of everything I saw! From the moment we stepped off the plane (fabulous Ryan Air...) to the bus to the train to the car...yeah, it was a really long journey...everything around me was beautiful.
So..from the beginning..I was freaking out about the Ryan Air thing since I've never flown on it before. And after extensive research and reading endless reviews on how bad it was, I had no choice since the tickets were already bought and Jez would've killed me if i didn't get my patootie onto that plane...

The flight wasn't half bad! I mean no luxuries but that was expected...and we couldn't understand anything the flight attendant said which made me wonder, in case of emergency...I don't think I can actually follow anything he says! Anyway, the flight was on time and apparently when Ryan Air is on time, they play this little fanfare with the over enthused American accent over the speakers..made me laugh...

After we've arrived in Torp, we had to take a 2hr coach from Torp to Oslo train station, then 4 hrs on the train to Vinstra then another 20 min car ride to the cabin in the mountain. I won't bore anyone with the details of the trip..but one thing has to be made clear..NORWAY IS FREAKING EXPENSIVE!!!!!! We thought this trip was going to be cheap since accommodation was all paid for..but..between all the transportation and food and wine..NORWAY IS FREAKING EXPENSIVE!!!! The public toilet was 10 kronen which equal to about 1 quid and we had a 'lite' lunch at the train station which cost us on average 20 quid a person! So before we even got to the cabin..we've spent about 200 quid...

But it was all worth it..the cabin was beautiful. We were there for Kristian's 30th and his aunt owned the cabin and it was situated about 20 min from the nearest town, which was Vinstra. It was a farming area so all the houses were big and fairly spread apart so no neighbors, no stores, and as one of our cabbie said on one of our car trips, "no one will ever find you here, WAHAHAHAHA"..yeah..needless to say, that freaked us a bit...

The cabin was fully stocked for everything, heated floors, beautiful fireplace, and a gorgeous terrace overlook the mountain. For six days, I could not believe my eyes that I was waking up to such amazing views. I mean I've seen snow but never like this! It was white everywhere and you can see big and small animal prints all around the house. Jez and i were like kids at a playground, throwing snowballs at each other and pushing each other into the snow.

As wonderful as the cabin was, the bathrooms had some problems so boys needed to "relieve" themselves outside so to help things easier, they've dug an urinal...and it was really disgusting by the end of the trip..Jez hid it with snow and I really hope no one falls in it...

I should probably mention I was the only girl on this trip..like the Amsterdam trip..I think I'm start to get really good at lads-only holidays! They were all very polite for the first..12 hours..then everyone was free and easy and did not hold ANYTHING back...lucky me..

Since we were in the middle of nowhere, we played a lot of boardgames..one being Risk..the most violent, volatile, fabulous game I've ever played!!! It was strategic, backstabbing, manipulative, arrogant, and addicting game ever! And with the endless amount of vodka shots passing around the table..emotions ran high and some words were exchanged..but it was all for good fun. We're thinking about getting one for the house..to "bond" us together..heh..

We took one day out and went to the ski resort but only two people skied and snowboarded, the rest of us had a little trek, which ended up us getting lost..but it was still for good fun..knees deep in snow..

We went to this hotel called Wadah (wadahdahdadah....god I'm lame..)and they had this amazing buffet spread with five types of salmon and grilled reindeer?? Everything was so good and we were expecting this huge price tag but it was actually reasonable.

The rest of the trip was very docile, we were all very proud that we all acted like adults and didn't trash the cabin, we were all very calm..kinda..except when playing Risk..and we all cleaned and helped out..i think my mother would have been very proud..

The end of trip should have been peaceful...but it was a bit of adrenaline rush..it goes like this: There were only four of us left on the last day and my visa expired at midnight and the three of us needed to catch the last coach to Torp for our flight. Except we have miscalculated the time and by the time we rushed to the bus station, we were 2 minutes late. We grabbed the first taxi driver we saw and he wanted 300 pounds for the journey!! We basically said that was impossible but we would like him to drive like a mad man and catch the bus before it got to the next stop. We were so worried that the driver was going to mess with us cuz he wasn't driving particularly fast but we actually caught the bus! Ian saw it on the highway and the cabbie went for it, the second the bus stopped, we stopped behind it and Jez threw me out of the car so i can run up to the bus driver and ask him to wait..it was pretty exciting..I think the rest of the bus was laughing at us..or annoyed...

So all in all..it was a great trip, no computers, no tv, no facebook, just snow, wind, good friends and good wine. I don't know when I'll be able to visit Norway again..maybe when I've made a lot of money...since this trip has nearly bankrupted all of us...but I'd recommended it to anyone!