5 . 26 . 25

Today we leave for Norway! I'm in the larger group that has a layover in Amsterdam, but we leave much later than I'm used to ever being at the airport. I did not manage to fall asleep on the first plane, but I did watch four movies. I slept through the entirety of the second flight and some of the bus ride to the hotel. It was a mostly uneventful day, and completely spent travelling.

5 . 27 . 25

Jet lag style. We got into Oslo around 11ish and I was so tired I could barely stay awake. Took a much needed nap and will likely be sleeping the entire night as well. This day sorta just flew by, so there's not much to talk about. Our flight group got in with enough time for lunch in Oslo, but it was cold and rainy and we didn't know where anything was so I was honestly just looking to go to bed. And it was worth it.

I had a three hour nap in the afternoon and then we went to dinner. It was a really nice meal, and it felt very fancy because of the carefully set silverware. For some reason after dinner I was feeling super energized, so some friends and I walked down to the pier and up onto the roof of the Oslo Opera House. The sky was gorgeous, and the weather was much to my liking. The wind is quite intense, though.

5 . 28 . 25

Today started with a bus tour around the area of Oslo we're staying in. We learned that Oslo has been devastated by fire many times, which is why everything looks so new (and IS so new.) We walked around in the Gustav Vigeland sculpture garden, which was very bright and very interesting. He's a prominant Norweigan artist, and there are something like 200 sculptures in that park. Then we walked across and old fortress and headed back to the opera house.

We had a free afternoon, so me and a group of friends got lunch at a shwarma place and then checked out the Intercultural Museum. It was quite small, but free, and the exhibits were thought-provoking. Then we walked to a nearby thrift store and poked around a bit.

This evening we attended a rehearsal of the Oslo Chamber Choir, with whom we will be performing for the next three days. It was really interesting to watch their rehearsal process. Then they taught us a really fun Norweigan folk dance where we walked in a circle (in pairs) and did spins to the beat. I liked it a lot!!

After that they took some of the orchestra out to the bar, but I didn't feel like going to that so some friends and I got convenience store ice cream and then headed back to the hotel.

5 . 29 . 25

We had a free morning today, so my friends and I went to the Munch museum. It was really interesting- I had no idea he made so many works. My favorite part was probably the replica of his home with interactive items. I also liked the small modern exhibits of other artists- there was a particularly abstract one that played creepy ambience the whole time and showed performance art on old CRT TVs.

Tonight was our first concert! I feel like it went quite well, all things considered. The chapel we performed in was gorgeous, although acoustically very difficult to play with.

The downside of a space like this was the fact that it's incredibly boomy. The sound takes forever to die out so we have to play super short, and the back rows face a "zip code issue" that makes us have to play a little bit ahead of the beat to sound on time to the audience. Still, I think it sounded lovely. The last note of Death of Tybalt ringing out into the chapel was incredible.

Tomorrow we leave for Larvik.

5 . 30 . 25

Today brings us to Larvik. It took about two hours by bus, and we first stopped in a very pretty church. This church is a stop on our tour because it's the church at which F. Melius Christiansen learned to play organ, and of course Christiansen was closely tied to Larvik.

Then we headed to the local concert hall for lunch and rehearsal. There was a good amount of time between lunch and rehearsal, so some friends and I went down to the beach by our hotel (a spa hotel?!!?) and collected rocks and sea glass. There is a lot of sea glass, and I found two pieces of ceramic- a painted tile and a blue and white cup or plate of some kind. I did end up going to rehearsal rather damp, but it was well worth it.

The concert was a hit! Something I've learned about Norweigan audiences is that they will applaud all at the same time if they really liked it- it actually makes the applause sound quieter because everyone is clapping their hands at the same time. We did an impromptu encore, where the director asked the audience if they wanted to hear one more and they said yes so we played a piece that was not on our program for the night (II/iv.) The tour guide said that audiences in Larvik are usually quite reserved, and the reception we were greeted with was quite special and unusual.

Tried to go back to the beach after the concert but my swimsuit does not meet spa regulations and it was cold and hurt my feet so I didn't really stay long.

5 . 31 . 25

We had an early start today to get going to Hamar. It was a pretty long drive, but nothing compared to the drives we're gonna face later.

Our venue for today was very unique- the ruins of a medieval cathedral, enclosed by a giant glass structure. It was honestly stunning, although we had to set up quite strangely. We started by touring the bishop's palace and learning about the old medieval town in the area, and then we rehearsed after lunch.

It was quite boomy again, even moreso than the church. I was feeling pretty bad during our two rehearsals because the glass ceiling means the sunlight can come right on in, and it acts like a greenhouse. It was hot and I could barely see because I was squinting against the sun. I honestly feel like I got mildly sunburnt during rehearsal, which is not something I have ever experienced before. Despite feeling a little bit desolate about it during rehearsal, the concert went very well. It was a little bit cooler, and there were these two little birds flying around the ruins and chirping while we were performing, which was kinda magical. It was our very last concert with the Oslo Chamber Choir as well.

Tomorrow is our most monstrous drive- 8 entire hours to Bergen.

6 . 01 . 25

Long, long drive today.

Our journey takes us to Bergen. During the 8 hour drive we saw some stunning views of the mountains of Norway.

On the way there we stopped at a really cute restaurant in the mountains, where we had a lunch of reindeer meatballs and mashed potato. It was honestly really good. Then we continued on to Bergen, with a short stop in Voss. Our evening here is free, and so is tomorrow!

6 . 02 . 25

Today was our free day in Bergen!

We started the morning with a walk around the nearby shops, which are more touristy. Of course our only free day was the day it rained a ton! I had my umbrella and my scarf though, so it wasn't too big a deal. We considered taking the cable car up the mountain and then walking down, but the weather was pretty bad at that time and the cable car station was over two miles away and we don't really have any other way to get there but walking. Then my group split up and I went to get lunch at a hot dog stand. I got a reindeer sausage with mustard, fried onions, and lingonberry sauce. It was really good, but the birds were circling us the whole time.

Then we went to some vintage stores! I bought a CD at a vinyl shop and some really cool sneakers at a different store. They were priced better than I thought they would be honestly. One of the vintage stores had a really creepy basement that gave off vague murder vibes but we did escape successfully so no harm no foul.

6 . 03 . 25

It has been a long and busy day.

We started the day with a bus tour of Bergen on the way to Edvard Grieg's house. We then visited his home and the surrounding buildings- the whole thing is a small museum campus. It was quite lovely, even if there wasn't much to see, and it reminded me a lot of Northern Minnesota. We saw his house, his grave, his composer's hut, and the surrounding area.

Then we went to an old church, or rather a replica of an old church that burnt down in the 70s when some Satanists were having a ritual nearby. This part was strange, and while the church looked cool, our tour guide was really adamant that we sit according to the traditional rules (women on the left, men on the right, since the devil comes from the North) and seemed agitated when we did not do this. There isn't much room inside, since it was only meant to be for about 40 people.

We ate lunch at the largest mall in Norway, then headed to our venue in Os. It was a nice concert hall, but super super dry in contrast to all the spaces we've played in so far. It was actually much harder to play artistically in that space than in places that echo a lot. It just ate up all the sound. Today we played Program II- the full set. It takes a lot longer! Then we hustled back to Bergen, since we can't make the bus drivers work too many hours and we have quite an early day tomorrow, plus a 6 hour drive and two ferry rides to get to Nordfjordeid.

6 . 04 . 25

Another exhausting one for the books.

We had another long transit day today. We drove for about 6 and a half hours, and took two ferries in our bus. Those were a welcome respite where I got to stand up and get some fresh air. Other than that, I actually think this drive was worse than the 8 hour drive for some reason. It was super windy and I get motionsick if I read so the only thing I could do was stare out the window and listen to music.

We also had a concert today! It was alright, all things considered. I was totally wiped from how much travel we've been doing and I kinda had a ripping headache through the whole concert, but dinner was better today than it has been other nights. It was also a little bit silly... our conductor forgot his baton offstage after intermission and when someone ran to get one of their own, he disappeared to go get his, which meant that we were all just sitting on the stage trying not to giggle for probably almost a full minute. We performed the full program again in Nordfjordeid and then headed back to our hotels. The group is split between two hotels because there is not enough room in one hotel for a 90 piece orchestra.

We have... even more driving tomorrow. I'm getting really tired of those busses.

6 . 05 . 25

Another travel day, but more bearable.

We loaded up the busses after breakfast and got on our way to Ålesund. Along the way, we had two ferry rides again. One of them was much longer, and we had lunch on the boat and then watched the mountains and waterfalls go by. It was exceedingly windy, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Then we arrived in Ålesund and got settled into our hotels. I got dinner at a fish and chips place, and then got ice cream from a local shop with the other sophomores for Sophomore Night. I got seabuckthorn sorbet, which was tangy and sour and incredibly good.

After that was No Talent Night. We witnessed a variety of things, like a competition to eat an apple in the fewest number of bites, a free-style rap, and some yoyo tricks, as well as a reading of the orchestra confessions that were submitted through the form all week. Pretty fun!

6 . 06 . 25

Finally- the last long bus ride of the tour. It was 6 and a half hours, with two ferry rides in the middle. Ough.

We made our way to our final stop- Trondheim. The bus ride was kinda awful!!! But at least we won't have to do any moe of those. I can't even read on the bus or I'll get motion sick :[

We ate all our meals at hotels today, just because that's what's around. Lunch was in the middle of the drive, and dinner today was very special- we ate dinner at a 5 star hotel hosted by one of the vice presidents of our school. It was set up very fancily and the meal was quite nice. I probably overdid it on the desserts but they were all very good.

Not much else to report today. Tomorrow is our final concert and the Nidaros Cathedral- a very special location. We actually have to work around another wedding, but it'll be beautiful inside. Maybe I'll do some of the viewing activities in the morning since we won't actually get to tour the location as a group. One of my relatives may or may not show up to this concert!

6 . 07 . 25

A full day in Trondheim- and a busy one.

Our morning was totally free, so after breakfast I headed to a small comic store to take a look around. While I was waiting for it to open, a small group conglomorated outside of other nerds also waiting for it to open. It was really cute and had some cool stuff, but I didn't find any old Vampire books unfortunately. Then some friends and I went to a used bookstore. The music section was mostly things that did not interest me, but there was a book about ABBA! To my dismay, it was entirely in Norweigan.

Then we went on the very brief free guided tour of the cathedral. It was STUNNING.

It's going to be a moderately difficult place to perform, but man is it beautiful. I bought several postcards and a few magnets after realizing that I really haven't bought that many souvenirs for myself yet.

After a speedy lunch, I went to the 30 minute organ meditation/service. It was free, and also I wanted to hear the organ play. It was really cool, particularly when the organ pipes switched around so that it would sound from a totally different part of the cathedral. It was like a call and response from each end of the long side of the cross shape. Then we trucked everything into the cathedral, which surprisingly took only half an hour. We had to clear out by 3, because there's a wedding happening in there right before our rehearsal!

The very last concert went very well. The cathedral is beautiful, although the audience had to sit sideways because you're not allowed to set up chairs facing away from the central altar. A lot of people cried during devos and some cried during the concert. For some reason our director made us play I/iv as an encore again??? Even though it was actually a part of the program tonight so we had already played it??? Whatever, I suppose.

(Also, side note- we weren't allowed to linger too long around the basement restrooms because the cathedral is currently trying to fix a radon problem?? And they don't want us to get radiation poisoning. Fascinating.)

After trucking I headed right back to the hotel. Tomorrow is completely free, so I'm gonna sleep in for sure. Plus, tomorrow is part of Pentacost, so nothing will be open anyway.

6 . 08 . 25

It's our free day in Trondheim!

There's not much to do, if I'm being honest. Everything is closed for Pentacost. I slept in a bit, and then some friends and I wandered around the river for a little while and browsed a pop-up thrift market. We got caught in a rather lengthy conversation at one booth where they asked us about our concerts and what we played in the orchestra. It was really interesting, because multiple times now someone will recognize that we were the ensemble that played in the cathedral, but then will ask if we're in the choir, not the orchestra.

Lunch today was a short affair- I just got some stuff at a grocery store, and then my friends and I played some cards. I dealt blackjack for them and we bet with pennies. Then I realized that maybe I was feeling unwell because I had barely eaten anything of substance today and we went to get dinner at a food truck zone. I got a burger and it was honestly really tasty.

The activity of the evening was BOWLING! I haven't been bowling in a while so this was super fun. I did not win, but I also did not lose!

Tomorrow we have our final group lunch of the trip at the Viking longhouse.

6 . 09 . 25

The very last day.

Today we had an early start to drive to Stikkelstad, the place where King Olav was killed in battle. The whole place is essentially an open-air museum. We got to play Viking games and intsruments, shoot arrows, throw axes, light fires with flint and steel, carve runes, and a few other fun activities. We also looked around the church and talked about the religious history of the Vikings in Norway. It was really cool!

We had Viking lunch in the longhouse- meat stew, bread, assorted vegetables, and lingonberry mousse with cream. I really did enjoy it, and the experience was certainly fun. Then the main guy (who by the way, BUILT THE ENTIRE LONGHOUSE???? AND DID MOST OF THE CARVINGS AND WOODWORK FOR IT????) explained some Viking history and misconceptions. We left almost 30 minutes earlier than planned, which our manager claimed was for "an unexpected scheduling reason" but was almost 100% just because she was bored and thought we were too, which made me sad because I was not bored. It's a beautiful building and I was honestly listening. Also, the statue of Frej behind our table had some frankly ridiculous features, and I spent most of the lecture trying not to laugh.

The drive was pretty long, so it was already dinner time when we got back. I just got grocery store dinner again- it's cheap and it's simple. I have to pack everything up before I go to bed because we're loading busses for the airport at 3 am tomorrow... I'm sad to be leaving, but I'm also ready to go home. It's been a lot of fun.