Trondheim Roadtrip

Home sweet home. Safely arrived at my new Trondheim domicile, it's worth taking a look back at the journey.

After loading the car, we were able to start around 9 o'clock. Since I chose the shorter route, the estimated travel time was originally 8 hours. In reality, it took about 10 hours. However, there are several good reasons for this. First of all, I can confirm that Norway (who would have thought) offers beautiful landscapes. So beautiful, in fact, that the driving speed sometimes suffered. Another reason is the not to be underestimated aspect of safety, but more on that later.

Before departure, I was greeted by an ice crust on the windshield, illuminated by the first rays of sunshine. And not the typical "ice crust" that you could boast about to your colleagues in Germany because you had to put so much effort into breaking it with pure determination and muscle strength. No, I'm talking about a real ice crust that has formed from the sea, wind, sun, and changing conditions. Some of it was 2 centimeters thick. And modestly I add that after some time (and several gallons of de-icer), I managed to break this ice crust with pure determination and muscle strength. With the first rays of sunshine, the first heroic feat accomplished, there was nothing left to prevent the departure.

From Sandefjord, we started slowly heading towards Oslo. The rising sun cast long shadows, illuminating the inside of the tunnels that the Norwegians build very well and frequently (Too bad for the drivers in the opposite direction who probably had the sun in their faces). Unfortunately, it was not possible to admire Oslo itself on the E18 and later E6. The tunnels within the city made visibility difficult. So we passed through the capital of Norway relatively unspectacularly.

However, the initial disappointment of the lack of impressions could quickly be made up during the rest of the journey. The Norwegian highways in winter look the same as the German ones, except that here the highways are equipped with lighting throughout instead of reflective posts every 50 meters.

The lighting may be surprising to a stranger, as the logic behind it seems to shout "Pff - who needs reflected, in other words, recycled, old light". For the Norwegians, only the finest photons freshly produced on-site in thousands of street lamps are good enough. The initial wonder about this is clear when you consider that almost all the electrical energy is generated from renewable hydropower plants. At least this fact and the assumption that only the highest quality mercury-free energy-saving lamps were installed soothe my energy engineer's heart about this literal flood of energy.

However, the highways were not the exciting part of the journey. This part begins when you dare to leave the highway and take a country road. I'm still puzzled about why Google suggested this route to me and why I didn't question that decision. And yet, this "digital naivety" led me to experience one of the most beautiful drives imaginable.

In the Norwegian winter, remote country roads deserve the label of "snow tracks," which is inevitable given the size of the country. "Fv607" stood out during the drive. On this road, various factors combine to create an impressive landscape. The snowy road, the long shadows of the low sun, the snow-covered avenue of conifers, the lake on one side, and the mountains on the horizon. All of this blends into an overwhelming impression that pictures cannot capture (for completeness, some are attached🤷‍♂️).

At the beginning of the snow tracks, I drove cautiously at a speed of 40 km/h, which was met with decisive overtaking maneuvers by some (all) locals. However, you quickly get used to pushing the limits, and towards the end, you can almost keep up with the locals and their 90 km/h.

That's enough, as words can hardly do justice to the overall impression. All in all, it can be summarized that it, whether willingly or unwillingly, reflected the stereotypical Norwegian nature in its diverse facets in winter. However, with the disappearance of the sun and turning onto a slightly busy road, these impressions gradually faded into darkness.

The remaining 2 hours to Trondheim meant showing a resilient attitude and persevering, as one might still want to reach the destination at a reasonable time. And suddenly, it's right there in front of you. Finding the address of my student dormitory was also easier than expected. Only the 2-lane roundabouts drive me crazy. I just can't figure them out. For safety reasons, I always take the outermost lane. The Norwegians change from the inside to the outside with such sovereignty that it makes you wonder - probably a matter of habit. Arriving at the "Voll Studentby" dormitory, I quickly found the room key deposited in a key box. After some (long...) time of gathering myself, I also managed to enter the apartment. It turns out, I have 5 Norwegians as roommates. I already got to know one of them that evening, and he gave me a rough introduction.

Since my bed was scheduled to be delivered 3 days later, I had to improvise with a sleeping pad as a makeshift bed for the next night. This led to me wandering through IKEA the next day (Saturday) in a more or less sleep-deprived state, trying to at least secure a proper desk and chair (which were also not yet in the room). The product descriptions at IKEA shattered my euphoria about my Norwegian language skills up to now, and due to my mental confusion, I wandered through beautifully furnished living rooms, professional kitchens, and cozy bedrooms without finding an exit - let alone what I actually needed. At some point, IKEA spat me back out at the entrance, 160 euros lighter, with a shopping cart containing all the products I needed. However, I was simply glad about the situation and relieved to finally be done. Then I remembered that you don't normally eat IKEA furniture and that a visit to a local discount store was inevitable. Translating product labels, converting prices from Norwegian Kroner to Euros, and actually thinking about what I might need was quite a challenging task for that day, considering the circumstances so far. In any case, I got some bananas that day. Cheap ones. So at least survival was secured. I'll probably write a separate post about the prices.

That should give you a rough overview of what the North has in store for me. Thank you for reading, and greetings to everyone down South!

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