A 17th of May in Tromsø : The Russ Invasion!
Almost 200 years ago, on may 17th 1814, the Norwegian constitution has been signed granting Norway its independence towards the Swedish crown. Since then, every year Norwegians celebrate this day as the Norway’s national day.
Something very interesting about it is its very non-military nature. Most of the parade is made by children, students and associations. And the result is a really happy and positive day.
As you can expect from me, I was not able to wake up for the first half of the parade, which was mostly dedicated to children. But I was really curious about one thing : the russ parade!
The russ are the participants of the traditional Norwegian high school graduation ceremony called Russfeiring. They are easily recognizable with their overalls and caps that they have to wear, without washing them, during the whole Russfeiring.
The overall and caps can have different colors:
- Red for students having courses geared towards higher education
- Black for engineering students
- Blue for business students
- Green for agriculture students.
The Russfeiring can last up to one month, with the culmination of the celebration on the 17th of may. During this period, they have to perform stupid tasks to earn russeknuter (russ knots). Of course, the more knots you have, the better! ;)
I couldn’t resist to copy paste Wikipedia for some examples:
Here are some excerpts from the list of the russe knots (and the items you receive):
- Answering every question the teacher asks by reading out loud from a porn magazine (pornographic picture)
- Speak a language other than Norwegian for an entire day (a piece of a dictionary)
- Drink a beer while having two tampons in your mouth (a tampon)
- Order a meal from McDonalds or Burger King without using vowels (a letter from the alphabet)
- Have safe sex outdoors (a pinecone)
- Ask for sex tips from the mother of one of your fellow russ (a safety-pin)
And effectively, those last days I have had the chance to see (and hear) a good number of russ in the streets of Tromsø. Some in their van listening to music loudly, some drinking all night long on the beach, some fishing in the sewers … All wearing this iconic overall with the Norwegian flag.
Their parade is also really interesting. All are in a more or less intoxicated state, but all very enthusiastic.
Their vans are slowly moving through the cheerful crowd. We can hear loud music coming from the back of the vans, soon followed by singing and whistling russ. They are giving “business cards” to the crowd. Children are rushing to get the most cards possible to be able to exchange them afterwards. This is a pure moment of happiness shared between all generations. There is almost no police surveillance but yet no incident. I can feel that everybody here wants everything to go well. And everything went well : no provocations, no arguments nor fights, no negativity…
Another interesting aspect was that most of the crowd was wearing ceremony clothes (I was definitely looking like a hobo that day :s). Some of them wore traditional Norwegian suits, others were more classical and a couple of them were definitely original. The most interesting here was the number of different traditional Norwegian and Sami dresses. Blue, Green, Black, … with different embroideries This was a really wonderful mix of traditions and colors and I could not resist asking people to take pictures of them… And that’s the exact moment in my “photography career” I start to take pictures of unknown people and make portraits. And I must admit that I love that!
Of course, it’s a bit frightening at the beginning. I am quite a shy person, so the first step has been a bit difficult. But once you start, you quickly figure out that most people are surprised and really happy to see that you have some interest in them and have their moment of fame. Of course sometimes you might look like some kind of weirdo wanting to take pictures of nice girls … that actually happened to me once :). But most people are really happy to be photographed.
After a couple of portraits and group photographies, another parade is about to start: the military parade! Well, it’s not really military: they don’t wear any weapon and everybody is smiling. It’s more some kind of military teddy bear’s parade … :). It is quickly followed by musicians and associations: from the karate club, to the association of the small cute dogs looking like hair balls (yes, it exists!), every association of Tromsø is showing in this parade.
We can hear “Hurra! Hurra!” among the crowd and the parade. Once again, everybody is cheerful and happy and everything happens without any incident!
I usually don’t like those kind of events and tend to run away from the crowds but I am really happy that for once I found motivation go there. Despite the crowd, we could easily feel a sense of respect and joy among people. And that’s something which simply makes you feel good at the end of the day. If I had the opportunity to see that again, I would definitely take this chance!
-julien
Påske i Lofoten, dag IV : Of Water and Snow…
Call to arms! We are under attack! The vikings are here to loot, burn and rape! Ho, wait a minute … I am dreaming. Well, not really. After a first part of the night hearing the confessions of a drunk man through the slim walls of the rorbu and another part of great sleep, hidden under thick fog and snow, a really nice viking ship is making it’s apparition. This is a pretty good surprise, the perfect cliché for someone visiting Norway! Unfortunately no viking in it, actually no viking with the traditional viking suit, but who knows if the guy on the boat isn’t? :)
After a moment enjoying the snowfall in this tiny little wooden harbour in Ballstad we decide to continue our trip. Our first step for today is a harbor often referred as the “Venice of Lofoten” : Henningsvær. It seems that one like to give names of famous cities to Norwegian places. But as for the “Paris of the North” (Tromsø), there is not much things in common between Henningsvær and Venice. Well yes, this town is partly built on water, but that’s it. Unfortunately, this city is filled with restaurants and hotels (which are of course closed during this time of the year). Anyways, a short walk along the water under the sun is always welcome and we enjoy it pretty much :)
Clouds are back today, and the sun is again playing hide and seek. And currently … he hides! Though we come back to our old habits and go back to the car for the next destination! We drive through Kabelvåg, a city which can be interesting in the touristic season for its aquarium, museums and galleries. Then Svolvær, the capital of Lofoten. We then take a coffee, book a cabin in an open camping (yes, one can find open campings during spring!) and run away (who said Svolvær isn’t beautiful? :P). Now we are driving up north again. The road tends to lose it’s interest, but it is just a question of time. After a moment, the landscapes tend to be quiet different. The rough mountains and the sea are replaced by less impressive mountains (I would not dare saying hills) and infinite white fields. Are these fields or lakes under this perfect layer of snow? I guess both. When suddenly, something catches our attention: A tiny little harbor among the mountains in the middle of nowhere. It is called Sildpollnes. We stop here for a good moment. The sun is back, reflecting on the white summits, giving this surreal vision of “fishing boats in the Alps”. This place is really fantastic and it is difficult to leave. But we have to.
Our last destination for today is Laukvik. It’s actually not a really interesting town in itself. But it has its reputation during summer to be a really nice place to see the midnight sun. So we decide to have a walk to the sea wall, which is probably the place people use to go to when wanting to see it. We quickly understand now. It’s like we are at the end of the earth. The only thing we can see behind the water is more water. We are facing the Norwegian sea in its entirety and the dramatic grey and heavy sky above gives us this oppressing atmosphere of a storm to come.
This day is going to an end. We are getting tired and take the way to the camping where we booked our cabin for the night. But the light on the sky is so interesting … what do I do? I am really exhausted … yes, but it’s so beautiful … Arrrgh!
We only have one life: I have to take pictures this evening. This is our last evening in Lofoten for God knows how long! I drop Celine off to the cabin and go back to the car, turn up the volume and drive randomly to find a nice place for photos. I fell like a teen with it’s first car listening to music loudly with open windows, at the only difference that my windows are definitely closed. ;)
The more I drive, the more the lights become intense. If I find a nice spot, it will definitely be interesting. And… there we are! A perfect place: Mountains, low tide, sand and an orange cloud reflecting on quiet waters. I park the car on the side of the road, take my camera stuff and run into the snow to the beach. The snow enters my shoes. It’s cold and uncomfortable but I don’t care. I walk into sea water puddles. Water enters into my shoes. It is also cold and uncomfortable. But damn it! I DON’T CARE. The only thing I have currently in mind is : “how can I take the best photo out of that?” — and also: “ho crap, I hope I won’t walk into quicksands!” ;). And a few clicks later, after the excitement went down a bit, I finally take time to focus and compose correctly to get what I want.
I am pretty happy and go back to the car after around an hour of shooting (or more? I don’t really remember, lights are so different up north). But on the way back to the camping, despite my freezing foots and my tiredness, I can’t stop parking the car here and there to walk again into the snow, to put some more snow into my shoes, to get even colder and of course to take pictures of those magnificent lights of the already set sun. Until my body and my stomach tells me together with authority : “NOW YOU STOP!”. Yes sir … :(
This is the end of the Påske i Lofoten saga (no, it’s not pretentious to call that saga :P). I hope you liked it as much as I loved writing it. If you have any questions or any remarks about it, about the pictures, the places or whatever, feel free to ask. Even if I’m not a specialist of Lofoten, I would be glad to help you as much as I can.
Cheers!
-julien
Påske i Lofoten, dag III : Sun is shining!
This morning, my alarm clock did not ring … as usual. I guess I really have a problem with those! However, I woke up around 6:30. A quick look through the window and here am I, running to the car. I remember that place I saw yesterday from which I could easily make a nice panoramic picture of the village of Å. Lucky am I : this morning is wonderful. The few remaining clouds have the nice orange color of the morning sun and the village, protected by its mountain, benefits of this same warm light. Useless to say that to complete this ambiance, the sound of the happy seagulls and the smell of the drying fish are also invited to the party!
Back to the room, we take a quick breakfast and leave this wonderful wooden shelter. The first place we visit is called Reine. Our guide describes it as the most beautiful village in Lofoten. I have a different opinion. For me nothing is really interesting here but the place it is situated in: surrounded by mountains and along the sea. This is of course something you should see if you go to Lofoten but if you missed it, don’t panic. There are lots of nicest places! ;)
Today is not really a good day for photographing. The sun is too bright and we can barely see some lonely uninteresting clouds. But it’s definitely a nice day to simply enjoy the sun.
We then make our way to Sund, a tiny little fishing village lost between the mountains, where we have a quick lunch along the sea. No, I’m not lying! Between the mountains AND along the sea. Hey, we are in Lofoten! ;). And with such a nice day, we just want to do nothing more than enjoy the warmth of the shining sun!
Anyway, after a moment we decide to leave to Unstad and Eggun. The road is quite long. Unstad is not really interesting, but once we arrive in Eggun, old memories come back to our mind. 5 years ago, we camped on this exact place under the 11:00 PM sun … and were awaken early in the morning by a stupid — do I really have to precise? :) — lamb calling his mother for hours. Needless to say that she was just a few meters away, behind the hill…
After this little hike full of memories, we head back to the south. For tonight we booked a rorbu in Ballstad, another small fishing village with lots of red rorbuer. But this is a story for the next time! :)
To be continued…
-julien
Påske i Lofoten, dag II : Sea, Fish & Snow
My alarm clock has been set to 5 AM … and did not ring. But I went to bed so excited about the sunrise’s lights that I wanted to exploit for my photographs, that I naturally woke up around eight (ok, it’s not 5, but it is pretty unusual for me to wake up naturally so early!). However, a quick overview through the window of our wooden sleeping room convinces me to immediately go back to bed for another 2 hours of sleep.
10 o’clock: we wake up and have a quick breakfast and a little conversation with our German fellows. The sun is showing, then hiding. Then showing again … Seems like we will also have a very unstable weather today (yay!). After a last goodbye to our host, we take the road to Leknes in order to find an open tourist office… but everything is closed. Everything! This is something you have to know when you go to Lofoten: almost everything is closed out of the touristic season. And this is even worse during the easter holidays: everything is closed in Norway during those days!
Back to the main road, we enjoy the gorgeous landscapes along the way. We are surrounded by rough and snowy mountains falling into the ocean. A few rorbuer (fisher cabins, remember?) here and there let us imagine how life could have been here before, when cars and electricity were not discovered yet; when people lived out of their catch and enjoyed a hard but simple life. When suddenly, a memory comes back to my mind. I have already seen this place before. This road, this valley, those mountains and farms … Yes, I’m pretty sure we went there during our first Norwegian trip back in 2007. A few kilometers further, I am comforted in my thought. We already went there! This place is called Vikten. This is a small village with a museum of glass objects. The village in itself is not really interesting, but the place is breathtaking: big stormy clouds are enveloping high peaks and the sun makes its best to enlighten a strong winter sea. Rough seashores, sandy beaches, stormy clouds, fighting sun, high peaks … This is a perfect place for some pictures, don’t you think? ;)
I must admit that this photo shoot has been pretty harsh. After having sinked down to my knees in snow, sand is also planning to make fun of me today. This trickster is mixed with good old sleet. I can’t see it, but I can definitely feel it: my shoes are drenched … Anyway, this place is so awesome that I just don’t care and continue. I need to go further to take better pictures. But further means risks … Risk of being drenched by the strong waves crushing all around, but also risk of being taken away by the sea. I take this risk but stay reasonable. Excitement can lead us (as photographers) to do pretty dangerous things and the ocean does not seem to be in the mood of tolerating any mistake today. Though, after a big breath, I take position for a few shots. Then, when the wave approaches, I run away. I keep on repeating this parade a couple of times, then go to another place … and do the same again and again. But at the end, I am pretty happy with the result!
After a quick lunch in the car we continue our way to Nusfjord, a small village with lots of rorbuer. This place is probably veeery touristic during summer and it seems like all the rorbuer have been recently built (or at least renovated). We find ourselves going from a rorbu to the other using wooden bridges, which is pretty funny considering the thick layer of snow recovering them. And then we find out this typical scandinavian behaviour: the keys of the rorbuer are … on the doors! What? Who said that we could have slept here for free? … Well, I must admit that this has been tempting considering how cosy they are! ;)
After this quick visit, we are happy to find an open cafe in which we meet … our German fellows! It seems like there are not thousand different ways to visit Lofoten! Warmed up, we decide to leave the cafe and go back to the car. It’s snowing more than ever before. It’s quiet. Peaceful. The smell of the sea adds that little extra that makes this exact moment a memorable and magical one.
The sky is white. The road is white. We are literally surrounded by white. Hopefully, red sticks are placed along the road. Otherwise it would be impossible to know if we are driving on or off the road!
We now take the direction of Ramberg where we should find a nice sandy beach. Here, step after step, our foots walk on a snow that is progressively replaced by sand. The only sound we can hear is a soft melody sang along by a slight breeze and by the sea. We can see a distant storm on the horizon. But here, now, we are living a perfect moment of tranquility. We are sharing this beach only with a few sea birds resting on the rocks or playing around. A wonderful experience of loneliness. But as you have probably understood, weather here changes quickly and it only takes a few minutes until we are heading back to the car because of the snow. Again. But that’s fine, we have accepted this condition for experiencing the majesty of this place.
On the way to Å (the last village of Lofoten before the Atlantic ocean) where we have booked a room for tonight, we are once again rewarded. A gorgeous sunset is unveiling in the incredible village of Sakrisøy. A huge rough and snowy mountain is erecting as a Norse giant, protector of this handful of yellow rorbuer. Warm and shining lights are breaking through the thick grey clouds, last remains of a past storm, and are reflecting on the sea under the village. This is a vision from another world. This is Norwegian magic!
A few steps away, a strong smell of fish can be perceived. Of course! Fish is drying here… Hundreds, thousands, … No, even more than that! Maybe hundreds of thousands of cods are drying here on those typical wood dryers. This is an incredible vision. The closer I come, the stronger the smell. But I shall be brave to provide you the best images of Norway! :)
Lofoten represents for Norway an important fishing harbour. Tons of dried cod are sent from there to the rest of the world. The best customers (as I was told, but I did not double checked) are Italy for the cods flesh, and Africa for their heads. The heads are full of proteins and are consumed as a soup or used to make food for the dogs. Also, Norwegians love to eat cod’s tongues and cheeks. I asked a couple of friends here and the answer was : “ït’s excellent!”. Well, seems like we should try one day!
Last step for today, the last village of Lofoten: Å. This is not everyday that we can see a city called by only one letter! But as we say: the shorter, the better ! What? That’s not true? :P This village’s predominant color is red. Red because of all the rorbuer. This and a strong smell of fish makes Å a pretty interesting village. And it does not take long until I find some friends: seagulls are nesting on an abandoned factory. This is quite fun to stop for a moment and observe the way they behave. They are usually in couple and as one of them is moving away to fetch stuff for the nest, the other one is keeping it warm. And when the one that left comes back, the other and all other gulls around scream like crazy!
After this wonderful but exhausting day, we take a moment and relax with the sound of the distant squabbling sea gulls, dreaming of all the beautiful moments we experienced today. Then, we fall asleep.
To be continued…
-julien
Påske i Lofoten, dag I : On the road …
5 years ago, during summer 2007, I made with Céline and Kioki — yes, our car has a name! ;-) — my first road trip through Scandinavia. We were still living in Aix-en-Provence, France, though we drove through France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and then reached this country which has since become our new home: Norway. That was my first contact with this country and since that moment I often use to remember about that place as one of the most beautiful places in Norway, and also probably one of the most beautiful places in the world: the Lofoten islands. And guess what … it’s only 400 kilometers from Tromsø!
This year we had 5 days off for easter holidays, it was though a great occasion to rent a car and go back there… and that’s what we did!
Don't you see the face of a sleeping giant (or dead?) underneath the ice?
Early and difficult wake up on thursday –you will often see this sentence on this blog, waking up is ALWAYS difficult for us! ;-) –. Outside, it’s snowing more than ever. The entrance is covered by a thick white coat that we have to get rid of. We get the car, fill it up with our stuff and the trip begins … terribly. It’s snowing so much that we barely see the road in front of us, and it’s like that all way long until Bjerkvik, where we have a short break for lunch in Det Lille Kjokken. I have been told that it is the best burger restaurant in Norway. But I have also been warned that as a French food lovers we might not agree! … and actually their burgers are far from being as good as Céline’s burgers … but not bad either :)
After the 3 hours of driving and the 200 kilometers crossed from Tromsø to Bjerkvik, we now switch to the main road that will lead us to the Lofoten islands (E10). The weather is becoming very unstable. From one place to the other, it’s snowy, then sunny, then snowy again… but I am very happy, as this is the perfect weather for the kind of photographs I love to do. When the sun beams fight to pass through the thick clouds, lights become really interesting and add this extra drama I’m looking for. Those 5 days will definitely be interesting!
200 kilometers later, we finally arrive in Stamsund, a small fishing village (like all villages in Lofoten). It is 19:00 … Yes, in Norway you better plan your trips using time from a place to the other, not kilometers! :-)
There we share a rorbu, a typical Norwegian fishing cabin, with 3 Germans that are cooking a fresh and appetizing cod fished this morning by the landlord … We make our best to find the mariner and get our part of the catch but unfortunately, we do not manage to find him soon enough. Next time maybe!
To be continued…
-julien
A traditional birthday meal : Reindeer stew!
This weekend, for my darling’s birthday, I decided to concoct a typical Norwegian dish: ”A Reindeer stew with a creamy sauce!”
As we explained in the article “Sami’s National Day: Reindeer race!“, and the previous article about the “Sámi people” the reindeer are only raised by them. Production and marketing of the reindeer meat is reserved.
Nevertheless, it is not difficult to find this essential ingredient. Almost all supermarkets sell it.
Let’s check it is the good one:
Obviously, my Norwegian is still very limited. But I know enough to see that the ingredients are made of reindeer meat (Reinkjøtt, kjøtt = meat), water and salt.
It’s OK, I can put this bag in my basket, I have my 400g of reindeer meat, enough to cook a good dish!
After an internet research (thank you Google Translate!), I discover what is written above the ingredients… :
“Reindeer meat into slices.
reindeer meat is cut into thin slices.
Sápmi - Lapland: Here is the reindeer grazing.
The murmur of the plateau, with breathtaking scenery, the smell of fresh and wild vegetation.
Reindeer meat carries the flavor of the trays. ”
Yum, a little introduction that makes me dreaming and makes me hungry …
Back at home, I discover the contents of my bag. Indeed, it is meat cut into thin slices. That’s why the name of this dish is Finnbiff. This comes from the use of cutting thin slices of meat and grill them or eat them raw.
The recipe
It’s a very popular Norwegian recipe and very easy to do. You must cook the meat with mushrooms, cream and eat the meal with potatoes, vegetables and specially not forget the cowberry jam, essential to a number of Norwegian meals!
This jam, rather sour, is better with this dish than bread and butter. Indeed, reindeer meat is rather strong, it tastes like wild game and cowberry jam goes wonderfully with that, this is delicious!
Norwegian name of the jam: ”Tyttebærsyltetøy” (Baer = bay = Tyttebær = cowberry, syltetøy = jam).
Another typically Norwegian ingredient that we must add (but I forgot it, oops …) is the “brunost” (brown cheese). I have not yet had the opportunity to taste some, but on my next Finnbiff I will not forget to add it!
It bears the name of cheese (Ost) but it doest not taste like cheese, it is rather sweet and very soft. Norwegians use it in this kind of dish or on sweet dishes such as waffles.
I gathered all my ingredients, now I’m going to make the recipe…
Reindeer stew with cream sauce:
- 500g of reindeer meat finely cut,
- butter,
- 300g of mushrooms,
- 1 onion,
- 4 or 5 juniper berries (cut into half to bring out the taste).
Sauce:
- 5 spoons of sour cream,
- 2 dl of cream,
- 1 spoon of flour to thicken the sauce.
Preparation:
Cook reindeer meat in a large stove with the mushrooms, onion and butter.
When the meat is cooked, pour the sour cream and liquid cream, salt, pepper, juniper berries and cook for a while.
Add a tablespoon of flour if the sauce is too thin.
Serve with potatoes, broccoli, … and especially don’t forget the cowberry jam!
Here is the result!
Served with a glass of good wine, this dish is delicious! The taste of reindeer meat is hard enough and is pretty similar to game meat. If you do not have reindeer meat available, you can try to do the same with game or beef.
Enjoy your meal ! ;)
-Céline
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