This Time Last Year

by m

A year ago we were in Norway, exploring Lofoten with my mum and simultaneously celebrating the end of the academic term and my thesis defence. This year the academic term stretches into the summer on my end, although there will be travels and adventures sprinkled throughout. My general impression at the department is that everyone gets a lot of writing, research and holidaying with their families done during the summer. Classes are over, there are no meetings, no seminars, and no reason to be at the university if you would rather read your texts somewhere else.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to do a bit of free advertising for Norway! Living in Scandinavia provides plenty of interesting and beautiful travel experiences, and for someone who misses the mountains, Norway is a good fix! So if you find yourself in northern Europe with a bit of extra cash/resourcefulness then Norway is a great trip.

We went up to Lofoten, which is in the arctic circle but fairly mild because of the gulf stream. However, you will still be quite cold in June if you do not bring proper sweaters and coats.

But it is a beautiful place to explore so don’t let the chilly temperatures get you down! We rented a car and bopped around between mountains, beaches and little towns and it was wonderful.

The year before last we drove to Norway and got caught up in all the amazing fjords in the more southern parts. This year we won’t be heading to Norway to fix my mountain melancholy because we will be going back to Canada! It will be my first time back in Canada during the summer for several years so I really hope the weather cooperates and I can prove to the Swede that we have nice, warm, pleasant summers.. (I have been complaining non stop about being cold all June here and how miserable that is, so I really need Canada to get its act together to prove my point!)

🙂