This past week has provided me with, among other things, a crash course in how to party like a Norwegian.... if this blog entry is a little less than stellar, you'll have to forgive me... it may take me another week to fully recover!
In Bodo I met up with a local Couchsurfing host who, while she couldn't host me because she already had surfers that weekend, invited me to spend the afternoon with her and her surfers, cooked us a delicious dinner and then took us out for the ultimate Saturday night on the town. The price of alcohol is so high here (even by Norwegian standards) that Norwegians tend to be pretty reserved with their drinking on weekdays, only really letting loose on Friday and Saturday nights...but when the Vikings go out to play, they play hard. Going out Norwegian-style is a three part process:
1. The Pre-Game: With dinner there was beer. After dinner, there was more beer. We hung out at the house and drank beer and listened to music for so long that I had all but forgotten about the "going out" part. Around midnight I was reminded, and it was time to hit the road.
2. The Club: We walked about 20 minutes into the center of town and hit up the local rock music bar, which, unlike the night before when I had attempted to go out on my own and found it nearly deserted (I showed up at 10pm thinking I had done well in not getting there too early), was just beginning to fill up. Beer, beer, and more beer flowed freely until last call at 3am, when we were ushered out into the street in the harsh light of day (the whole midnight sun thing is still weird at moments like this).
3. The After Party: We hadn't been on the sidewalk more than five minutes when the offer came in from an American Ex-Pat and his Norwegian buddy, to join them at their hotel room for more drinks and conversation. I had been told by this point that this was a pretty standard part of a Saturday night out in Norway, and so I scuttled my American skepticism and went with. At 7am exhaustion got the better of me and I finally had to call it quits and head back to my hostel room, where I had 4 hours to sleep, pack, and check out!
I did say that I wanted a taste of Norwegian nightlife and I definitely got it. I feel like I ought to have earned some sort of merit badge or something. But the party didn't stop there... After a few days back on the road, traveling down the scenic Kystriksveien by bus, (and 18 very long kilometers by foot) lots of camping, and a very unsuccessful Puffin hunt, I got a chance to check one more thing off the Scandinavia bucket list. I stumbled upon a music festival! But not just ANY music festival... this was Traenafestivalen, a music festival featuring predominantly Norwegian bands and set on a small island 33 miles off the coast:
In Bodo I met up with a local Couchsurfing host who, while she couldn't host me because she already had surfers that weekend, invited me to spend the afternoon with her and her surfers, cooked us a delicious dinner and then took us out for the ultimate Saturday night on the town. The price of alcohol is so high here (even by Norwegian standards) that Norwegians tend to be pretty reserved with their drinking on weekdays, only really letting loose on Friday and Saturday nights...but when the Vikings go out to play, they play hard. Going out Norwegian-style is a three part process:
1. The Pre-Game: With dinner there was beer. After dinner, there was more beer. We hung out at the house and drank beer and listened to music for so long that I had all but forgotten about the "going out" part. Around midnight I was reminded, and it was time to hit the road.
2. The Club: We walked about 20 minutes into the center of town and hit up the local rock music bar, which, unlike the night before when I had attempted to go out on my own and found it nearly deserted (I showed up at 10pm thinking I had done well in not getting there too early), was just beginning to fill up. Beer, beer, and more beer flowed freely until last call at 3am, when we were ushered out into the street in the harsh light of day (the whole midnight sun thing is still weird at moments like this).
3. The After Party: We hadn't been on the sidewalk more than five minutes when the offer came in from an American Ex-Pat and his Norwegian buddy, to join them at their hotel room for more drinks and conversation. I had been told by this point that this was a pretty standard part of a Saturday night out in Norway, and so I scuttled my American skepticism and went with. At 7am exhaustion got the better of me and I finally had to call it quits and head back to my hostel room, where I had 4 hours to sleep, pack, and check out!
I did say that I wanted a taste of Norwegian nightlife and I definitely got it. I feel like I ought to have earned some sort of merit badge or something. But the party didn't stop there... After a few days back on the road, traveling down the scenic Kystriksveien by bus, (and 18 very long kilometers by foot) lots of camping, and a very unsuccessful Puffin hunt, I got a chance to check one more thing off the Scandinavia bucket list. I stumbled upon a music festival! But not just ANY music festival... this was Traenafestivalen, a music festival featuring predominantly Norwegian bands and set on a small island 33 miles off the coast:
Once again the beer was flowing and the party didn't stop for three days straight (even though two and a half of those three days were cold and rainy). I'm not quite sure how it is I'm still standing, but somehow I've managed to make it back to the mainland to the beautiful town of Sandnessjoen, in the shadow of the Syv Soestre Mountains where I've rewarded myself with a hotel room for all of my endurance over the past week. It's Sunday afternoon, I've got a shower, a comfortable bed, and its 68 degrees and sunny outside (Hallelujah!) This will do just fine for a bit of instant rehab! 
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