And no, the tittle does not indicate a pregnancy, it means that we had a little holiday without our two monsters. A mom-and-dad-break. And because we are destined to walk sandy beaches for the upcoming years, I decided that a snowy adventure was in order. So I surprised Kay with a trip to Norway, to the Scandinavian mountains.
It was a 3 hour drive from Oslo Airport, of which 2 hours into the deep woods. I was preparing myself for the bears I heard so much about, but they remained in deep hibernation.
We were welcomed in Villa Fregn by the lovely Claeys Family, a Belgian family of 4 that has been living in Norway for 1,5 years now. Side note, if you ever want a back-to-nature-experience, but also want to be spoiled, go and stay with these lovely people.
Our cabin was in the middle of the woods, but was still fully equipped.
My surprise for Kay included lots of fun activities. The first day we went on a dog-sleigh ride, organized by Andreas from Switzerland. He quit as a banker and followed his dream and became a dog trainer to participate in dog sleigh races. Clearly a man with passion, as he knew all the names of all the dogs. All 65 of them.
It was an experience of a lifetime, the force of these animals. You could feel the drive to run, but you could mainly hear it in the deafening sound of howling dogs, full of impatience.
In the evening Ellen and Bart from the Villa Fregn prepared a tasty 3 course menu, with bear as main course. The days following I was counting on karma to settle the score, but still no bears in sight.
On Wednesday we climbed a Scandinavian mountain in a snowstorm. Because Bart said it probably can’t be done in these circumstances, Kay was extra motivated to get to the top of the mountain, where the remains of the oldest tree in the world could be found.
It was a hard trip, but after climbing Grossgluckner and surviving my first storm at sea, my comfort zone was stretched and it was kind of a walk in the park.
In the evening we went on a horse sleigh dinner, in the dark. Surrounded by fires, candles and lights, our food was served in a tent. The romance was evident and was no less than an ‘All you need is love episode’. We learnt that is actually was the most recent ‘All you need is love Christmas Special’ location.
The day after, the magic continued as we flew through the mountains on a snow scooter. Boys will be boys, and so Kay was very excited to be my driver during the day. I did try to drive this monster for 10 minutes, but the force was too much for my arms and shoulders.
It was my job to film and take the pictures, if we weren’t going to fast. At some point I really needed two hands to make sure I did not fall off.
As closure we were invited to a real life Mario-Kart fest, as we could try out Barts Moonbikes. It was so much fun!
We ended the day with the panorama sauna looking over the lake and the hot tub. Kay even tried the wake in lake for cooling down, I stayed with a snow-bath. Something like a snow-angel, without your clothes on.
After six days we were so excited to see the kids again, fully reloaded and ready for our adventure that will start in two weeks.
What characterized this trip to Norway was the authenticity and the care, attention and passion of the people who work here. There was personal attention in all activities and commerce did not predominate. Highly recommended for everyone!
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