The coldest, but most beautiful island

Today we had a late start because most everybody went out. We took a boat ferry to Branno Vardshus (an island). The ride over there was beautiful—it looked like we were in Alaska…the rocks were snow covered and there were houses tucked away in the hills. This town has a population of about 800 people; there are no cars here, instead they walk, ride a bicycle, or drive a bicycle that is motorized. The houses all along the snowy roads were like out of a book—quaint, colorful, beautiful lawn and garden areas, and cozy decorations.

While we were walking down the roads we stopped to take lots of pictures of all the beautiful and miscellaneous things we would see. For instance, we saw lots of houses with colorful shutters. We got to one of the only restaurants on the island. It was a small place, but the meal great because it was laid back and relaxing. The food was great!!! The presentation of the food was fancy for such a small local restaurant. I had toast with a paste made of mini shrimp, mayonnaise, and dill for an appetizer. Then I had cod with potatoes for my main course and let me tell you, it was phenomenal! You couldn’t find a fresh caught cod like that in the states. Then for dessert I had a flourless chocolate cake—yummy!

Then our group walked back to the boat dock and waited for the ferry for 30-45 minutes—it was FREEZING cold standing along the water. We were told to dress for the cold weather so I wore two layers of pants, four layers of shirts, two pairs of socks, a winter coat, hat, and gloves and I was still cold!


Once we got back to our hostel Megan, Alycia, Tyler, Paddy, Joe, and I went to try out the sauna at our hostel. We paid 90 Krona (roughly $13 USD) to use it. We had to walk across the street to the lobby building where it was located. Once we got to the sauna it was like a mini spa; it was amazing! There were chairs and benches in a seating area, the sauna, and showers. We turned up some music and enjoyed a relaxing and WARM time in the sauna. We are definitely planning to go back and use it a lot more!