Ah, the absolute joy of having a 'proper' winter with sub-zero temperatures and snow!
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| Nesseby Kirke This beautiful wooden chapel sits on a little peninsula next to the Varangerfjord |
We have just returned from a week in far north Norway spending Christmas with relatives, leaving behind the poor excuse for winter that the south-east of England has offered up in the past couple of years - minimal frosts, grey skies, well above average temperatures. Thank goodness for Scandinavia.
It's been more than 20 years since I ventured up to Norway's northernmost county, Finnmark, where my father was born, and I've never before visited in winter - only in summer and autumn.
One of the main reasons for my return to Arctic Norway was to spend some time with my aunt who is in her 80s and whose health is not as robust as it once was.
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| A bit of eye-candy reading material on the plane |
The journey was fairly straightforward with a 2-hour flight from Heathrow to Oslo, and then a further 2 hours flying up to Kirkenes which lies about 1,200km north-east of the Arctic Circle. What a relief to arrive in low-population-density Norway after battling the pre-Christmas hordes in crowded London and Surrey.
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| Commuter chaos, Norway style - at Oslo's international airport, three days before Christmas |
And so we arrived in the frozen north in darkness, in the early afternoon. At this time of year it's the Polar Night, known as the mørketid (the dark time) in Norwegian. The sun sank below the horizon on 27 November and won't reappear until about 20 January.
We were greeted at the airport both by my cousin's husband and a light snowfall - an excellent beginning.
After a brief coffee and sandwich at my aunt's apartment just outside Kirkenes we drove an hour to the house at Gandvik, a tiny hamlet on the southern side of the Varangerfjord.
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| The house at Gandvik |
Marion and Erik had driven up from Tingvoll in southern Norway a couple of days before, car loaded with everything to make the house festive and cosy including a full size Christmas tree cut from their own land. Such is the efficiency of wealthy Norway that the expected three-day trip of approximately 1,700 kilometres on excellent, snow-cleared roads only took two days.
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| The view across the street |
My aunt has a lifetime of personal treasures collected in the house, and combined with all the standard Scandinavian comforts, this made for a very pleasant and rustic environment. Under-floor heating, a log fire, candles and a never-ending supply of brewed coffee... from the moment you remove your shoes at the door and don those hand knitted chunky house-socks or hand made felted 'booties' that every Norwegian house seems to have for guests, you are chilled. It's like exhaling after holding your breath for a very long time.
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| The Christmas tree - lugged all the way from Marion & Erik's own woods back home in Tingvoll, 1700km south of Gandvik |
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| The house contains some real Scandi treasures, like this groovy mid 20th century lamp (I think it's Finnish) |
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| Portrait of my grandfather, Per Iver Cromwell Persen |
On our first morning I was surprised, and I have to say a little relieved, to discover that there was a reasonable amount of light for just a few hours. My father had always described the mørketid as being completely dark unless there was snow - in which case you got some reflected light from the sun below the horizon. Happily we did have snow, so from about 9.00am to noon-ish we had a kind of twilight that allowed us to get out and about, taking walks across the snow and getting some wonderful crisp air.
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| The moon over the mountains at the back of the house - at about 8.30am |
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| The dining room window viewed from outside the house |
Some of you will think this is weird, but one of the things I enjoy the most about foreign travel is going into the local supermarket and exploring what's on offer. In our ever more homogenous world, the supermarket visit is one of the experiences that remains reasonably unique to a country.
Having enjoyed many trips to Scandinavian supermarkets over the past few decades I knew I was in for a real treat, and in particular I was looking forward to the extensive range of special 'jul' (Christmas) products. For some reason in Norway and other Scandinavian countries Christmas is an excuse to issue special editions of everything from bread to chocolates, to beer.
Luckily Marion needed to load up on last-minute supplies so we went to one of the largest supermarkets and I was not disappointed! See below for a small selection.
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| Christmas chocolate balls... |
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| Christmas soft-drink... |
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| Christmas chocolate-covered marzipan... |
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| Christmas low-fat milk.... |
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| ... and Christmas skim milk |
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| I'm in knekkebrød (crispbread) heaven in any Norwegian supermarket |
The Finnmark region recently went completely digital in terms of TV and radio, and the house's location is pretty remote. Aside from Marion's brother's place across the road, the nearest neighbour is about a 20-minute drive away, and the closest store a 30-minute drive. These facts combined with a hill inconveniently located between the house and the nearest communications tower means we only had intermittent television, and despite Erik's and Kevin's attempts to reposition the aerial in several different locations, for most of our stay we made do with DAB radio and Norway's wonderful selection of special Christmas programs - All Christmas music, all the time! (that's my slogan, not theirs)
The house has its own sauna, so for those who enjoy the sensation of being slowly roasted alive whilst breathing in super heated hot air, you can unwind in true nordic style. Needless to say, I declined the offer. Kevin made the most of it, particularly after an invigorating two-hour cross-mountain jaunt that Erik referred to as a 'walk' but which I think most people would describe as a near-death experience.
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| Men at work - Erik and Kevin spent several hours in sub-zero temperatures trying to get TV reception. Note the two fillets of salted cod drying on the mesh near Kevin's head |
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| The sauna at the house - just big enough for two or three people (not me, obviously) |
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| Christmas gifts from my aunt - hand knitted house socks in traditional Norwegian design |
We hadn't counted on seeing the Northern Lights, but I'm happy to report we saw them several days in a row. The first couple of times we were excited enough by un-coloured lights - amazing swirls of white light that occasionally had the merest tinge of green or orange. They stretched right across the sky in all directions, mystically disappearing and then reappearing in another spot.
On our third night, however, we were thrilled by a brief but spectacular show of shimmering colour. This happened right outside my Dad's cousin's house, only a short distance from the village where he grew up. We had enjoyed a lovely dinner and it was quite emotional to be together for the first time since 1993, as in the intervening period we had lost my grandmother and each of us had lost both our parents. Norwegians do not show their emotions easily; they are quite reserved. However there were a few tears shed that evening as we remembered those no longer with us.
It seemed a fitting end to the evening, therefore, to head outside for the return journey to Gandvik and be confronted with a spectacle of colour that took our breath away - dancing flames of green and pink that appeared to be falling down through the heavens. We stood, transfixed, for several minutes watching this most dramatic of natural phenomena. My cousin Anders said he had never seen quite such a large display in that area. Those lights were like living creatures, and it was no surprise to be told by my cousins that when they were children, their parents had warned them that they shouldn't stand outside under the colours because the gods in the lights would steal them (the children) away.
I am an atheist and I don't believe in any kind of after-life but I have to say I got the strangest feeling that this beautiful theatre in the sky was a greeting from my Dad who passed away seven months ago. Was it the last remnant of energy from his being? Are we able to channel brief bursts of our last reserves in this fashion? I don't know, but I admit it was comforting to entertain such a thought.
The Aurora Borealis is difficult to photograph, and it certainly can't be done with a phone, however Kevin did manage to get a couple of shots on another evening, using our old SLR camera with a prolonged exposure and a small tripod. The photos below don't capture the utter magic, the sheer gobsmacking brilliance, but having even these modest reminders is better than nothing.
And so to Christmas itself.
The biggest celebration in Scandinavia takes place on Christmas Eve, and after a bracing morning walk in minus 10ºC the day was spent preparing for the late afternoon meal.
I really like the periodic formality of Scandinavia. Though people are generally quite relaxed, there are occasions when social conventions are strictly adhered to. Christmas is one of them. Having grown up in a country comprised of so many different nationalities and faiths, with all their attendant traditions, there is something reassuring about a whole nation doing very similar things at the same time.
In Norway one attends Christmas dinner in best attire - shirt and tie for the chaps, nice frock for the gals. There are lots of toasts over champagne, akavit and wine: to Christmas, to each other, to the year ahead, and of course to the cooks.
The meal includes specific meat-based dishes but in our hosts' usual hospitable fashion we were catered for, with our favourite Norwegian fish dish - Marion's famous bacalao. This is a Portuguese dish using Norwegian dried and salted cod. It's slow cooked for hours in tomatoes, roasted red peppers, garlic, potatoes and olive oil and it's the meal we most look forward to when we visit Marion and Erik.
The opening of gifts after the meal is also quite formal, with the recipient crossing the room to shake the hand of the giver after each gift is opened.
In the evening we played a game devised by one of Marion and Erik's sons, throwing dice to win small gifts from a pile in the centre of the table, followed by a second round that allowed contestants to snatch away the gifts of others. Miniature bottles of Finnish alcohol were very popular, as were lottery scratchies and dark chocolate covered marzipan, and those items ended up in each person's pile at least once. It was a lot of fun.
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| More charming objets in the house |
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| The welcome dinner on our first night included some absolutely delicious dill-flavoured akavit |
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| The table set for julemiddag - Christmas Eve dinner |
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| Kevin posing in his Norwegian hand-knitted house socks. All those rag-rugs on the floor were handmade by my Aunt |
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| Christmas Eve dessert - all homemade traditional Norwegian treats: multekrem med krumkaker (cloudberry cream with a delicate, light-as-air cone) , snowflake-shaped julekaker (Christmas biscuits), delfiakake (hedgehog slice) |
On Christmas Day we got up early and headed out to make the most of the precious few hours of light. It was so nice for me to rediscover the region, having never before seen it under a sparkling blanket of white.
We drove along the Varangerfjord, including a detour to my Dad's home village of Karlebotn where I had spent several happy summer holidays at the house of my grandmother.
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| The road into my father's home village of Karlebotn which sits at the end of the Varangerfjord |
This is where most of my relatives have been christened, married and farewelled and it's one of the few buildings in this vast county to survive the Nazis' scorched earth policy as they retreated from Norway in 1944.
As an added bonus we were lucky enough to spot a pod of killer whales swimming in the fjord just behind the church.
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| Varangerfjord at Nesseby - we saw about five killer whales swimming here just after I took this photo |
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| The rear of Nesseby church |
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| Fish drying racks in silhouette above the Varanger Fjord at Nesseby |
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| The lovely coastal town of Ekkerøy - snow on sand |
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| The last of the light - exploring the coastline at Ekkerøy |
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| We were lucky enough to spot a few reindeer on our second-last day. In summer you see a lot more of them |
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| The sweet little harbour town of Bugøynes on Christmas Day |
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| About 2.00pm, returning home after a trip along the Varanger peninsula. At this point the temperature was minus 21ºC |
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| This café was the social hub of Varangerbotn when I first visited in the mid 1980s. It was nice to see it's still open, despite there being some competition these days |
Our daily routine was a gentle one; getting up at our leisure and enjoying a robust breakfast, followed by some exercise and fresh air or a trip in the car. All activities were punctuated by Marion's superb meals, with contributions from Aunt Rigmor.
Sadly, of course, after a week it was time to return to our normal life.
Our journey back to Kirkenes airport was a dream. In the dusky blue of the polar night we sped past an icy paradise - each leaf and twig on every tree coated in white; frozen lakes, endless stretches of forest and mountain, pretty painted timber houses with their windows aglow with lanterns.
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| Leaving Norway - en route to Kirkenes Airport for the trip home |
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| Taken from a moving car so not great, but this photo shows the beautiful white-frosted trees that cover Arctic Norway in winter |
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| We have a couple of traditions when we are leaving Norway - I purchase beautiful interior design magazines, and Kevin buys at least one 'Kvikk Lunsj'. It's a bit like a Kit Kat and mandatory food for any hiking or skiing trip |
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| No trip to Norway is complete without the purchase of jam. Norway makes THE world's best jam - it actually tastes of fruit, not just sugar |
The coldest temperature we had was minus 21ºC, and it was a thrill to re-experience that sensation of breathing in and feeling (and hearing) the moisture inside your nose instantly freezing into ice crystals. What a hoot! Lets you know you're alive.
In Finnmark people never bother saying the word 'minus' when referring to the temperature. In winter it's just taken for granted that the figure quoted will be sub-zero, and thus when somebody announces that it's 'ten' you can be certain that it's actually ten degrees below freezing.
With the proper attire, extreme cold is a delight. The crisp air, the blue light, the crunch of powder snow under your boots, that incredible silence that you only get with snow as all sound is absorbed... it's a sparkling, white dream. I highly recommend you experience it at least once in your life.
We came away with an invitation from one of my Dad's cousins to return at Easter and join them as they travel by snowscooter with the reindeer, on the annual migration from the mountains to the coast. We're not sure the timing will fit with Kevin's school commitments but it's an honour to be asked.
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| The blue light of winter in far north Norway, viewed from the house |
The only thing to mar our trip was the tragic news we woke to on Christmas Day, that of George Michael's unexpected death. I've been a fan of his since the very first Wham! single in 1982 (Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)) and have most of his albums. Just the week before I had been thinking of George and the fact that he'd been pretty quiet of late; I wondered whether he was once again in the black hole of depression. I also happened to add his marvellous song John and Elvis Are Dead back into my current playlist which I refresh every month or so. It's one of my George Michael favourites; spookily, it's about the untimely deaths of musical heroes. I'm not sure what to make of this coincidence.
George was such an accomplished songwriter and performer, sadly with significant emotional issues in recent years. It is a great loss to modern music.
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| One of my favourite George Michael albums |
What a ghastly year for losing heroes - from the entertainment sphere in particular. And now I await the first anniversary of Bowie's death. Add to that the outcome of the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump... I'd like to think 2017 has to be a better year but with the results of those last two disasters looming it seems unlikely.
All the same, I wish my readers all good things in 2017. May we all enjoy health, wealth and happiness.
Until next time,
- Maree xo
