Beautiful Norway

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Beautiful Norway

Kick-off in Lillehammer

Last weekend it was time for yet another kick-off with my colleagues from our Oslo- and Stockholm office.
The destination: The Olympic town of Lillehammer.

Lillehammer was the host town of the 1994 winter Olympics; the only time in history when the whole world was watching Lillehammer. As a Norwegian I still remember the famous sentence "the winner is...Lillehammer". We were all so proud when we watched the opening ceremony and our hearts almost stopped when the ski jumper set off down the ski jump with the Olympic torch in his hand. Luckily he made it down safely and could pass the torch on to our crown prince Haakon. It was a magical moment in history for Norway and Norwegians. Even those of us who had not fully appreciate Sissel Kyrkjebø's beautiful voice, were suddenly convinced that she was the best singer in the world when she sang the official Lillehammer Olympics song.

Nowadays Lillehammer still has a lot to offer during winter time! Much thanks to the Olympics. Last weekend we tried the bob raft and tobogganing, in addition to several fun team building activities like paint ball and bow and arrow competitions. Beforehand I was extremely excited about the bob-raft, but it was not as fast, nor as scary, as I had imagined. Next time I will have to try the real bob (the one we tried looked like a fridge without door covered in thick plastic). I loved the tobogganing however!

We also visited Hunderfossen Winter Park which is located about 15 minutes north of Lillehammer (close to Hafjell alpine resort). The Winter Park is magical! To ensure a mystical atmosphere the park only opens in the late afternoon; from dusk to the pitch black night the lights of the park creates the perfect contrast. In addition to the beauty of the park’s ice and snow formations the park offers plenty of attractions; horse sledge, quad bikes, ice bowling, high ropes course, snow rafting, off-road vehicles, mini snow scooters for the children and much more. Another of the park’s main attraction is the 14 metres high sitting Troll, which inside you will find displays from Norwegian fairytales with trolls and princesses. And last, but definitely not the least, make sure to visit the ice hotel! I have never slept in an ice hotel myself, but will definitely try it some day. The best thing about the ice hotel in the Hunderfossen Winter Park is that it is located only 2,5 hours from Oslo's main airport, making it Scandinavia's southernmost ice hotel. This means that you can have a wonderful winter adventure in only a few days, and without paying a fortune to fly up to Northern Scandinavia.

In addition to a lot of fresh air, constant snow, thrilling activities and great colleagues we had a crazy Mamma Mia/ABBA party at Rica Victoria Hotel. A memorable weekend in other words :-)

Authentic Scandinavia

The name of our company, Authentic Scandinavia, was chosen to reflect the quality of our products and services; we want travellers to experience the real Scandinavia; to come back from their vacation with memories that will last a lifetime!

We offer Norwegian Fjord Tours, Scandinavian Capitals Tours, cruises and also combination tours like Fjord Norway, Stockholm & Helsinki.

Our role as an incoming tour operator is to put together the best of what our destination has to offer, and thus create package tours with the flexibility and variations to match the requirements of travellers from across the world.

In this blog I will add information about Scandinavia as a tourist destination, as well as new and exciting travel itineraries.

Working with incoming tourism to Scandinavia

I decided on an education within tourism because I love to travel and wanted to have a job where I could create dream vacations for other people as well! This meant that I could travel in my thoughts even while sitting in an office.

While working as an incoming tour operator to Scandinavia I've discovered my own country, as well as my neighboring countries, in a new way. I get to travel to places I've never been before, including Lapland, Lofoten Islands, the North Cape and many other places. I've also re-discovered many places I've been before (i.e. the fjord region, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki).

After several years in the business, fist working with group travel and then with individual travel, I got the opportunity to help creating a booking portal for package tours to Scandinavia. A website where people could easily find their dream vacation to Scandinavia. This was the start of Authentic Scandinavia.

Living in the US

The family I stayed with as an au pair lived in Petaluma in Sonoma county, California. It was a great adventure to arrive at the SF airport, cross the Golden Gate Bridge and head north through Marin county to Petaluma, where I would be staying for a year.

One of the first things that surprised me when I arrived in the US was that everything was so much larger than at home. Everything from the roads and cars to the size of the apples and tomatoes. I also encountered a number of new temptations, like donuts, muffins, bagles with cream cheese, taco bell, yoghurt ice crem, reeses chocolate and much more. Not a very healthy diet after a while :-)

Another thing that I found intriguing was how easily people tended to start a conversation with strangers. It started on my flight from London to the US. The man sitting next to me started chatting with me, and at the end of the journey he handed over his business card and said that if we ever were to visit St Louise we should give him and his wife a call. I encountered further proof of American hospitality throughout my stay. With their outgoing ways I would not be too surprised if Americans would consider Norwegians a bit shy or even, under some circumstances, a bit rude. A Norwegian might not necessarily greet you if you meet in your apartment building (even if you are neighbors for quite some time) and on public transport we avoid eye contact as much as we can. In most cases this is our way of trying not to intrude on people, even when it might be misplaced politeness.

I experienced a lot during my stay in the US; from Napa Valley and Yosemite to the different parts of San Francisco (which continues to be one of my favourite cities). I also bought a Greyhound bus-pass and travelled together with a friend across the states. We visited LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, New Orleans, Washington DC and New York. It was an incredibly eventful journey that I will never forget!

The Island of Stord

The Island of Stord, where I grew up, is located approximately 2 hours south of the Hanseatic city of Bergen. It is a rather large island with about 20.000 inhabitants.
I have always though of Stord as Norway in a miniature; we have the sea and the rugged coastline, the forests and the mountains. In addition we are very close to the Hardangerfjord.

For me growing up on Stord was great! We lived in a neighbourhood with lots of young families, where the mothers were mostly home with their children. Consequently we always had someone to play with close by. We also did a lot of sports, and personally I played soccer and was swimming. My favourite during summer time was when I was invited to join one of my friends' family for a boat trip (my family did not have a boat). To cruise along the coast, to anchore up by a beautiful beach and go swimming in the clear sea.

I moved away from the island when I was 19, just after finishing high school. I could not wait to get away and see the world! To travel, meet new people and to experience new cultures.
My destination was Petaluma, California, where I would stay for one year as an au pair.

When I come back to visit my family these days I am constantly surprised by how much everything has changed! There are still no traffic lights on the island, but when I was a child we did not even have a roundabout. Shops and houses are poping up everywhere and there is actually something that might resemble traffic jam around 3pm :-)

The picture above was taken by my sister in law Elise, a quite a good hobby photographer. The picture shows Storavatnet Lake, just 5 minutes from my parents' house.

Discovering Norway

As a Norwegian growing up on the west coast of Norway, and with close relatives living in the fjord region, I must say that I am embarrassed to admit that I was more that 25 years old before I discovered how truly spectacular the Norwegian nature is.
I think the only possible explanation why I did not realise this earlier is that I took it for granted; first after staying abroad for a period, as well as working with incoming tourism to Scandinavia, I could see my country with fresh eyes. The spectacular fjords, the majestic mountains, the rugged coastline and the charming coastal towns.