James's semester in Trondheim

Hi there! Between me not posting for the whole semester and the last thing that I did post being that James was there to celebrate my birthday, the surprise has already been spoiled and you know that James made it to Trondheim! To catch up, I’ll tell you what we were up to for the semester.

1. Hiking

First, hiking, we did lots!! You heard about the waterfall hike and after that, we did more!

1. Estenstadmarka

a short, easy hike that I’ve done quite a few times but this time I got to show James the nice view, and the lake and share a cinnamon bun.

2. Redoing the moose hike near Skellbreia, this time without any moose.

but still swamps, lakes, cinnamon buns, views and good times:)

3. Gråkallen in Bymarka

This is one of the peaks of the Bymarka park in Trondheim and has great views of the city down below!

4. Some loop through Bymarka and Sverresborg

really cool rope swing and well-trained goats!

5. Trollabekken

a very rainy and chilly hike but we ran into the one person James knows in Trondheim (from tennis)!

6. St. Olavsspranget

very nice views of the coastline. Very unfortunate bus times though, so we watched some Lost on the side of the highway.

2. Northern lights sightings!!

There was about 2 weeks straight where we could see the Northern lights just outside my apartment!! Then it got very cloudy and it seemed like every time we were out of Trondheim, the Northern lights would only then come back...

3. Playing a lot of tennis.

With both of us in the same city again and having a nice tennis hall just 15 minutes away, we played a lot of tennis. We booked the indoor courts and the outdoor courts, played in my tiny 16m^2 apartment and both of us were attending group sessions. James would attend elite tennis sessions under the name “Katherine Morrison” so you can say that (at least in the online system) my tennis skills improved.

4. Sampling all the Norwegian snacks.

We dangerously found out that the chocolate and candy factory, Nidar, has lots of free samples, bulk bins of candy and ice cream... and it’s on the way home from tennis…. we had to hold ourselves back many times...

We had less self-control at the grocery store with all the different kinds of “cheese puff” snacks but that’s for research to find the best one, and the mango passion fruit ice cream bars are necessary… thankfully, we’re playing lots of tennis.

We did in fact find the best cheese puffs and they are the Coop brand "Cheese Flips". Phenomenal snack.

5. Exploring!

Fifthly, we found some gems in the city! We went to a really fun mini putt bar with a 15-hole course with fun holes like Plinko, video game/electronic, through a mirror maze, etc.! The $16 beers are not so fun but still fun to find spots like that!!

We also found a craft beer bar where the drinks aren't $16 but they're $19 for approximately 300mL...

We also went to the sauna, Bakklandet, the sports store many times, our new favourite pizzeria (Pizzabakeren), etc.

6. Got creative

Sixthly, we started some paint-by-number art projects for something to do in the evenings! It’s a slow process but we’re making progress and maybe in a couple more months (or by the next blog post, whichever comes first)  you’ll be able to tell what they’re supposed to be!!

Update: we did not get even close to finishing them but I gave them to a classmate so maybe, one day, we'll see how they turned out!

Our culinary creativity was also on display this semester! We made our own pizzas, pumpkin pie (which the grocery shopping for was challenging enough), and countless tasty dinners!

7. Explored Northern Norway!

Seventhly, we took a road trip to Northern Norway and the Lofoten Islands. It was stunning!! While the weather was pretty cold and rainy the whole time, we still did many hikes and made the most of it! Despite one love tap between our rental car and a guard rail, we had a great time driving North of the Arctic Circle, listening to shipwreck podcasts, and of course eating lots of snacks.