FINDING FAMILY - STAVANGER, NORWAY - DAY 1

From LAX to SVG, it took me 14.5 hours in the air from four flights, and one bus to finally make it.

It was long day, with a lot of transportation, but absolutely worth it. The moment we touched down in Oslo to connect to Stavanger, I was enthralled with the beauty of the landscape. It truly is lovely, but if I’m being completely honest, it’s a tad underwhelming. Not that I was expecting different, but I guessed it would look very much like Sweden, and... It does. Everything is farmland, and admittedly, Stavanger has a mild scent of horse and cow dung- Not in a repulsive way, but once again, in a fresh farm way- like Gotland. The only visual difference is that I see more black barns than red ones, but I’m just guessing that has to do with Norway’s black metal music history.

Regardless, when I arrived in Stavanger, my day was unfortunately not finished. I showered and had some coffee, but with the time change, all I wanted to do was lie down. I went to the front desk and asked all of my questions about bus fares and so forth, and then went into the city to pick up groceries. I should have enough sandwiches for the next three days. (I also have one roommate named Choi. She’s Korean and very nice... She just got in today as well). I went to the grocery store to load up supplies, and came back to meal prep.

Once I finished prepping everything, I finally lay down, ready to pass out at 8:13PM...It still looks like noon outside though. I forget that Scandinavia is so far north of the equator, that during the summer, it's nearly daylight 24/7. The sun barely dips, but never sets. I love it. However, that means it stays abysmally dark throughout the winters...They're brutal.

Between us four, I’m actually not feeling well. I think it was something I ate on the plane, but I’m hoping I’ll feel right as rain in the morning.

Tomorrow, the real adventure begins. Pulpit Rock / Preikestolen.

-eM