Michi Photostory: Stugudalen

April 05, 2024

Spring in Norway

For the past few years, I stopped planning for summer vacation because we all know it is not school break yet. So I was so happy when I learned that DepEd adjusted the school calendar this year because when the pandemic happened, ang haba ng school calendar namin. Imagine, yung start ng school year namin is August tapos ang vacation end of June pa. I don’t understand bakit 11 months na pasok namin. Namimiss ko yung 2 months na summer vacation talaga.

And because of that, whenever my mom asked me kung kelan kami babalik sa Norway? I always say “Ikaw na lang magbakasyon dito”. Kasi naman, ang effort mag-apply ng visa and ang mahal ng airfare tapos one month lang kami, parang sayang. Anyway, at least this year, bakasyon na kami sa June.

Also, if I ever return to Norway, I prefer the Spring Season, which is March to May, because I like cold weather. Even though I know Spring weather in Norway is unpredictable, I will still choose it over the Summer Season.

Two years ago, we were lucky because we were in Norway for three months, from March to first week of June so we experienced two seasons which are Winter and Spring. So we witnessed the transition of trees from bare to blossoming trees. This is one thing that amazes me how trees survive the four seasons.

This trip is memorable because there were so many unexpected events like we had a Glimpse of Northern Lights, not once but twice.

I’ve said that Spring weather in Norway is unpredictable because you will experience sun, rain, and even snow. Yes, snowfall during Spring in Norway so it is an advantage for us because we can still experience snow. Our last trip was unforgettable because we built a snowman, and we tried skiing and snow sledding.

And lastly, during those months, we celebrated my mom’s birthday, Easter, and the 17th of May. Easter in Norway is a week-long holiday so people usually go to the mountains to have fun in the snow or travel abroad. When we were there during Easter Week, we traveled to Røros, Oslo, and Stugudalen.

April 11, 2023

Holy Week in Norway

Just like that, the long holiday is finally over and the alarm clock is on again. Well, we did not travel last week so I will just share our Holy Week last year. This was our third Holy Week in Norway; we were in Røros in 2017, Oslo in 2019 and last year we were able to visit Stugudalen.

Read: Easter in Norway

Easter Monday in Norway

I was looking forward to our Holy Week break because even though we are in Norway, my son has classes so hindi rin naman kami makapagtravel talaga so naghihintay talaga ko ng walang pasok. Unfortunately, the weather was not good so we were stuck at home for the first few days. My son was preoccupied with his project. I’m thankful that my mom has the materials so I was able to save money, no need to buy art materials.

Anyway, my mom’s sister-in-law has a cottage in Stugudalen and they usually go there every Holy Week so my mom decided to visit so we can meet them again after two decades. We were supposed to stay in Stugudalen but all accommodations were fully-booked. But we still pushed our trip kahit day tour na lang. So we had a last-minute grocery shopping so I can cook Pork and Liver adobo for our potluck. We also took advantage of the Easter Sale so we bought some chocolates.

Day Trip at Stugudalen and Tydal Nature Park

Travel time is more than four hours so we left early to catch the first boat trip. No more snow in Ørland but when we reached Stugudalen, parang Winter Wonderland na naman. We also dropped by at Tydal Nature Park on our way home. This deserves a separate post.

We traveled more than 5 hours on our way home because we did not ride a Ferry so it was a long drive but I was able to see the second-longest bridge span in Norway which is Hålogaland Bridge.

Northern Lights

It was a long day for us but I couldn’t sleep yet because according to the Northern Lights forecast, there will be an 83% chance of Northern Lights. This was my second Aurora Borealis experience in Norway and the first experience for my son.