The Nordics
Plot twist: this is a travelogue now. Mostly. You'll have to bear with me.
Since I'm writing this a couple months after the fact, I have the benefit of having forgotten most things that weren't that interesting. From late August through the end of September, I spent time traveling through all the Nordic countries and enjoying what they had to offer.
It all started with Iceland. First they get you into the country on a cheap extended layover, and before you know it, you're out in the middle of nowhere seeing the most beautiful and unique landscapes you've ever seen, paying $50 for a squeaky hostel bed and $16 for a load of laundry. The hiking has been the best on the trip so far and everywhere you look there is unique and beautiful scenery to admire, so the high prices might just be worth it.
A few things noticeable about Iceland right away were the free roaming sheep and beautiful Icelandic horses that scatter across the landscape with the backdrop of mountains. I learned that every year there is a big round-up festival called Réttir and Stóðréttir, which is kind of a big deal in the fall. On one of my hikes, I was actually able to pet an Icelandic horse that a woman was walking back to the stable, and on another, I got up close and personal with a few sheep on the trail. The leader of the pack and I had a bit of a staring contest as his wool ruffled in the wind and he stood majestically on the hillside.
The hikes themselves were incredible, and if anything brings me back to Iceland, it will be more of that.
My first full day outside of Reykjavik took me to Þingvellir National Park. My goal was to hike far enough away that I didn't see people for a while, which I managed. I found a nice knoll to sit and have my lunch on. Despite being peak summer time, I was the only one wearing shorts or a t-shirt. Everyone else had pants and jackets, some people in all out winter gear. I saw one other person my entire time in Iceland wearing shorts.
The next day I drove to Snæfellsnes and did a round trip hike from Arnarstapi to Hellnar. This was a beautiful sharp rocky terrain with black cliffs, which turned into a grassy meadow right when approaching Hellnar. This is well worth the trek if you have time, but I really saved the best for last.
My last day was meant to be a quick trip to the Vík black sand beaches and then a hike at Fimmvörðuháls (I promise I'm not just making these names up). Unfortunately (fortunately?) I drove to the wrong parking lot in Vík, so to see the side of the beach I wanted to, I ended up doing a 10km hike up and around the cliff so I could see it from above. What a pleasant surprise! This was my favorite hike in Iceland - completely alone, wandering where it isn't clear there's a path, the only other people were specks on the beach far below.
Now, I said I was planning a hike at Fimmvörðuháls, but I got a flat tire just before arriving to the trailhead, and decided to cut my day short to avoid running into further issues in the middle of nowhere after dark, hobbling my way back to Reykjavik on the spare. You'd think maybe I went off-road and drove over some sharp Icelandic rocks, but no, I ran over a nail on the highway. Some hikes just aren't meant to be. SIXT still charged me $400 to fix the tire - OUCH! Next time I'm going to put in a temporary patch and let them figure out there was a flat months later. Thankfully, my Vík hike was earlier that morning, so my day was ultimately still a success.
From Iceland, a short flight took me to my true destination of Copenhagen to begin a series of urban exploration, hopping from city to city by train and ferry.
The highlight of Copenhagen was actually the people I met in the hostel. I ended up going to a flea market under an overpass, and doing a daytrip to Malmö, Sweden, with a lovely woman named Delissa (Melissa with a D, as she reminded me after forgetting her name for the fifth time). The Czechs actually named a chocolate bar after her since she is so sweet, but she'll fight you to the death about how Belgian chocolate is better and would refuse to accept this sentiment. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy my time in Copenhagen - the vibes were great, the city was beautiful, and things were hygge, but spending a day with a new friend is just a special memory which makes that all fade away. She also taught me an invaluable tip about fountains throughout Europe - if it wasn't meant to be drinking water, the outlet wouldn't be drinking water faucet shaped. I'm not sure how true this is, but I didn't die after numerous fountain refills in Europe so there must be something to it.
From Copenhagen, taking advantage of my Eurail pass which became effective on September 1st, I made my way north, stopping in Aarhus for lunch and to explore the Dokk1 library, then up to Hirtshals to catch a ferry to Bergen, Norway. The ferry was surprisingly a pleasant experience in itself. I slept through most of the 16-hour journey, and sat outside under cover from the rain, and stood on the deck, talking with friends and enjoying the views for the remainder. Speaking of, the Eurail pass has been working perfectly for the way I'm traveling. I have the unlimited plan, and while booking in advance would definitely be cheaper, the flexibility to change plans last minute has already given me several unplanned adventures that have been highlights throughout Europe.
At this point in the trip only having visited a few foreign cities I had already caught a cold. This slowed me down a bit in Bergen, along with the rain, but I was still able to enjoy a nice hike up the Fløyen and get a view of the city.
After Bergen, I had booked a high-speed train to Oslo. Key words, had booked. After turning off my alarm in my sleep (this is a true fact, I can't explain it) I woke up with 8 minutes until the train arrived. Thankfully I was 5 minutes from the train station, so after jumping out of bed, throwing clothes on, grabbing my bag and running to the station, I was able to watch as the train departed at 06:21:00.01 as I was alongside it. For any other city I would not have cared, but this was one of two trains I had to book in advance due to high demand, and ended up having to wait for four hours for the next available seat, and take a slower track (9 hours instead of 7) to make it to Oslo. That and having the cold made it a not fun travel day.
To make matters worse, I only planned two nights in Oslo, which were poorly executed due to Munch museum closure on the day I wanted to visit and not doing much the other half day. As a side note, in my first draft of this, I completely forgot to mention Oslo, so that should speak to how impactful it was to me. Yet, I wouldn't mind going back to relax and properly explore the city.
Another long train, this time to Stockholm. Stockholm has a bit more to do. They also have a great cafe culture which is a vibe I enjoy. The Komet Café knew how to make my iced latte just right which justified multiple visits. My biggest issue with Stockholm as a whole was that the museums are aggressively overpriced. You'd really need to spend a full day in each to justify visiting, which did not match my viewing the highlights and GTFO travel philosophy. So to save my soul (and my money) I used my time to go on a long walk through the open fields and greenspace of Djurgården just to the east of the city, which I much preferred to the ship museum or open air museum I spent $30 on.
My last full day in Sweden before the ferry to Finland was a day-trip to Uppsala. The only reason I'm mentioning this is because I had the most validating coffee barista EVERRRR. I ordered an iced honey latte as per usual, and she told me it was an underrated order and they are so good. Immediate 5 stars. Nobody since has reacted that way when I order one. For any baristas out there, the correct way to make an iced honey latte is to first use real honey, second mix the honey in with the espresso (enough to cover the bottom of the cup), and third make it like a normal latte.
The ferry to Finland was a bit more rocky than the last, but I slept decent enough. While all the travel was taking place, I made last minute arrangements to visit my relative Juho in Turku over the weekend. So after dropping my pack off at the hostel in Helsinki, I packed one change of clothes and my charger, and caught a train to Tampere for a night. What a pleasant surprise! Tampere isn't the largest or most popular city, but it had a very calm college city atmosphere. It was yet again, raining, but I was still able to walk around all afternoon, stop at the library for some hot chocolate (yum!) and read a bit. A morning train then took me to Turku, where I visited, had coffee, and got to know my distant relative I hadn't heard about until a few days prior. It was great to meet and visit, have coffee, and pastries.
Back to Helsinki! Finally, I've been looking forward to spending more than a few days here. But what was originally a week, reduced to four days, and now two. Part of my plan for this trip was to review Helsinki as a potential new home, as I've been considering emigrating from the United States. It's still on my mind, but might be a few more years. Maybe I need to give Seattle more of a chance.
Coincidentally, after initially arriving in Helsinki, I walked past a notice about an upcoming 5k night run. So what do you do when you haven't run in several years, don't have running clothes or shoes, but are going to be free that night? Of course you sign up for the 5k. I finished in 36 or so minutes, 10 faster than Strava said I would. Mission accomplished.
For the rest of Finland, my dad joined me and we drove all around visiting and meeting different family members, learning about the genealogy. I also inherited land in Finland which was exciting. My grandmother immigrated from Kalajoki, Finland in 1949, but retained the farm and forest land she had there throughout her life. That was passed down to her two sons as her wish for it to stay in the family, and now to my siblings and I for the next generation. While everyone was so kind and generous it honestly got exhausting visiting for two weeks straight (I suspect this won't be the last time). And my dad, in his hatred of cities, had us change our flights to a day earlier to go home.
So am I doing what's right? A month in, I've already been sick for over a week, I'm tired of small talk (in English and Finnish), and I'm no closer to personal clarity than when I left. But my next flight takes me somewhere that looks nothing like last month.