I went to Norway – A Winter Wonderland!

I don’t know about you but I adore snow!

It’s now February, 2020 and in North / Eastern Germany, for the first time ever, we haven’t had even a peep of snow.

Not even a single snowflake!

If that isn’t a clear sign of climate change, I don’t know what is!

So in order to get some snow therapy, we went to Norway!

Ah Norway!

By the way, if you think that I’ve forgotten about the issue of Brexit, you’re grossly mistaken.

I’m just sad, upset and sick of talking about it.

For now.

However, you’ll find my distaste and disappointment about it all over Twitter.

🔚🇬🇧 Farewell, Britannia! Zum Abschied um Mitternacht gabs am Brandenburger Tor noch ein Ständchen. https://t.co/eArhBExFGp #Berlin #BrandenburgerTor #Flashmob #Brexit #UK pic.twitter.com/RR5VmqkOuP

— rbb|24 (@rbb24) February 1, 2020

You can just about see my friends and I, right at the very end.

In the 52nd second!

And so we #Brits have shown our solidarity with the #EU.
In #Berlin, we sang songs in sadness, waved flags and peppered our sadness with beer.
A sad night for #Europe.
An even sadder night for #Britain.#Brexit #BrexitDay
Goodnight. We’ll be back! #British #Germany @beriyani pic.twitter.com/MDe4MDbqdk

— Thebritishberliner (@britishberliner) January 31, 2020

And even though I’m smiling, because the show must go on, I actually felt like bursting into tears!

You can follow me here.

Don’t forget.

Click here!

So what do we know about this tiny Nordic nation?

Read on …

NORWAY!

Norway, otherwise known as Norge, Noreg, Norga, Nöörje, Vuodna or officially – the Kingdom of Norway – is a Nordic country in North-Western Europe.

It’s an English name and comes from the Old English word Norþweg or Norðmanna land, and was referred to as thus by the (British) Anglo-Saxons as far back as 880 and means “northern way” or “way leading to the north!”

Norway today is made up of the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard.

The sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island is a dependent territory and on paper, not considered to be part of the Kingdom of Norway.

The Antarctic territories of Queen Maud Land and Peter I Island, on the other hand, are!

Norway shares a long eastern border with Sweden and is bordered by Finland and Russia to the North-East, the Skagerrak Strait to the South, with Denmark on the other side.

It also has a very important coastline that faces both the Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.

Norway is 385,155 square kilometres and has a population of roughly 5.3 million+ people.

FACTS AND FIGURES!

• Norway is both a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. In short, it has a king and queen namely, King Harald V of Norway and Queen Sonja!
• The capital city is Oslo
• They speak Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and the language of it’s indigenous people – Sámi
• Pretty much everyone. And I do mean everyone, speaks English!
• The Sámi people have been living in northern Scandinavia for more than 10,000 years and are known for their colourful clothes and huge herds of reindeer!
• Moose, reindeer, deer, lynx, and foxes all roam freely. As well as wolves, black bears, polar bears and musk oxen. Gulp!
• Whale watching, bird-watching, freshwater fishing and deep-sea fishing are all very popular activities
• The Nobel Peace Prize is the only Nobel Prize not awarded in Stockholm! The yearly Peace Prize laureate is chosen by the Norwegian Nobel Committee every year on 10 December in Oslo City Hall, the date on which Alfred Nobel died in 1896
• Norway isn’t a member of the EU but like Iceland and Liechtenstein members of the European Economic Area (EEA) which allows them to be part of the EU’s single market
• It has it’s own currency – Norwegian kroner (NOK) 1 krone = 100 øre
• It’s the darling of the Winter Olympics with a total of 368 medals – 132 gold, 125 silver, and 111 bronze (2018)!
• In summer, the sun does not set north of the Arctic Circle, thus visitors can enjoy 24 hours of daylight, otherwise known as the Midnight Sun!
• The largest lake is Mjøsa – 362 square km
• The longest river is Glomma – 600 km
• The highest peak is Galdhøpiggen – 2,469 metres
• The largest glacier AND the largest glacier in mainland Europe is Jostedalsbreen – 487 square km
• Norway’s most famous waterfall is Vøringsfossen – 182 metres
• The longest fjord is the Sognefjord – 204 km

p.s If you’re booking hotels, houses and apartments, use this link to save 20% or more, between 5th January and 31st March 2021!

Booking.com

Don’t judge me!

So book your hotel sooner, rather than later.

Right here!

Speaking of Fjords.

Norway has the highest concentration of fjords in the world!

A fjord is a deep, narrow and elongated sea or lakedrain, with steep land on three sides. It’s when glaciers retreat and seawater floods the U-shaped valleys, thus making Norway quite famous!

In fact, the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord both feature on the UNESCO World Heritage list such that the National Geographic Magazine named the fjords as “the best unspoiled travel destinations in the world!”

HISTORY!

• 11,000 years ago: First signs of human settlement in Northern Norway.
• 800–1066: The Viking era
• 1030: Olaf Haraldsson is killed at the battle of Stiklestad. He was the driving force behind Norway’s conversion to Christianity and was later canonised and known as Saint Olav
• 1349: The Black Death kills half of Norway’s population
• 1450: Norway becomes a subject of the Danish Crown. It will remain under its authority for almost 400 years
• 1814: Secession from Denmark. The peace treaty of Kiel gives Norway to Sweden. The Norwegian constitution is written
• 1825: First wave of Norwegian immigration to the USA. The big exodus starts
• 1905: The union with Sweden is dissolved and Norway becomes independent
• 1960s: Oil is found in the North Sea, a discovery that will change the fortunes of the country significantly
• 1972 & 1994: Norway votes against EU membership
• 1994: The Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer

NORWEGIANS THAT OTHER PEOPLE KNOW!

• Henrik Ibsen – playwright
• Roald Amundsen – polar explorer
• Fridtjof Nansen – explorer, scientist and humanist
• Thor Heyerdahl – explorer
• Edvard Grieg – composer
• Ole Bull – musician
• Edvard Munch – artist
• Knut Hamsun – novelist
• Gro Harlem Brundtland – politician
• Sonja Henie – ice skater and actor
• Jo Nesbø – crime novelist
• A-ha – pop band

VIKINGS!

Need I say more?

Famed for their boat building and navigation skills, the Vikings also had a reputation as raiders. They were however, also traders, explorers and settlers, and the legacy from the Viking Age (AD 800–1050) lives on in Norway.

We visited the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo – which was fantastic and home to the world’s two best-preserved wooden Viking longships, going back as far as the 9th century!

As well as in the successful TV series – Vikings!

MUST DO’S!

• Cross the Arctic Circle
• Stand on the edge of Europe’s most northern point
• See the Northern Lights, otherwise known as Aurora Borealis
• Be a Viking for the day
• Eat Nordic food
• Visit the Sámi people
• Go skiing
• Visit Oslo – More next week!

I WENT TO NORWAY – A WINTER WONDERLAND!

This article is not sponsored, and the awesome time that I had in Norway, are my very own!

I’ll be at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) – taking place between 20th February – 1st March.

If you’re not in Berlin in February, throw your skates on!

February is going to be thrilling!

See you soon!

Watch this space!

Note! I never travel without insurance as you never know what might happen.

I learnt my lesson in Spain. And obviously, in countries like Qatar, where technically the risk is higher, I can’t imagine going that far beyond WITHOUT INSURANCE. No siree! You can get yours here, at World Nomads!

So what are you waiting for?

Thanks a million!

Have you ever been to Norway? Let me know in the comments below!

See you in Berlin.

If you have any questions, send me a Tweet, talk to me on Facebook, find me on LinkedIn, make a comment below or send me an Email: victoria@thebritishberliner.com

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