Sidestory: Northern Lightning ~ Oslo to Stjørdal

27-Feb-2025

Today marks the day of our final northbound travel segment. Originally it was planned as a nice and simple "take the direct train route to Trondheim, and then the bus from there to Stjørdal". However, due to a critical case of BRIDGE OUT, it instead devolved into "take the train to Kvam, then the replacement bus to Dombås, then the train again to Trondheim, and then the bus from there to Stjørdal". Oh well, as long  as we arrive at the end of the day.

Again, we start the day with some Rugbrød and Brunost.

Then we pack up and leave another empty room behind.

We leave house around 7:30 and head for the Oslo Sentralstasjon via what is maybe not the most pedestrian-friendly route, but oh well...

Along the way we come across this spot where the tram tracks have been aggressively paved over to create a pedestrians' crossing. I mean... I guess you can do that... Sure minimizes the risk of pedestrians getting hit by a tram.

We arrive at the station with time to spare, and such can  take our time to admire the modern dynamic departure table as we figure out which track  our train departs from.

We head over to our track, and our train arrives soon thereafter.

As we enter the train, this advertisement catches my eye. Poor fox is missing his tail though.

Here's the inside of the train.

And off we go! At first, there's not a lot of snow around.

However, that soon changes as the train quickly takes us inland and uphill.

The main event of this ride is clearly Mjøsa, which is Norway's largest and longest lake. Stretching from Minnesund in the north up to Lillehammer in the north, this beast is almost 100km in length (but only about 8km  across at its widest).

 

As we head further north, the lake eventually becomes frozen.

 

And here's a typical Norwegian country town that we pass through.

By now we're also deep within ski resort territory.

Oh yeah, and we still haven't  seen the last of that long lake yet!

However, before we should meet the end of that lake, we see the sun for the first time since Malmö.

One thing that  surprises me, but which makes sense if you think about it, are the mountains. They look notably different from the jagged peaks  of the Alps and other mountain ranges that I've seen, and the reason for that is quite simple: Since all of this was completely covered by glaciers in the last ice age, all the sharp peaks and corners have been whittled away  by sheets of ice, leaving huge but round mountains that look like massively oversized hills.

And then, we arrive at Kvam, where the replacement buses are exceptionally well organized: Four buses stand at the ready to take all the passengers over to Dombås.

It's a 45 minute ride through a landscape that seems to grow only more idyllic the further north we go. Sadly, the windows of the bus are not  exactly clean (in contrast to the windows of the train, which were remarkably pristine).

I think this here in the very background might be the bridge that is currently undergoing repairs.

Anyway, back to beautiful Norwegian landscapes.

And then we're at Dombås, where we switch over into the train again. I also find it commendable that they actually have on-site personnel directing the people towards the right trains. This is actually relevant because this is also where the very scenic Raumabanen forks off the main line towards Åndalsnes, which would put us quite a bit off track.

Now, Robert and I had originally planned to stay over in Trondheim, but we failed to get a room there and had no idea why. This might have been the reason: It's the Nordic World Ski Championships, and they are currently being held in Trondheim.

Anyway, this next train is of a bit older design.

Once we made ourselves comfortable in the train, we have our lunch. I have some leftover bread with Brunost, while Robert nibbles on some tørrfisk ("fish jerky"), I  also try one, but it is not to my liking.

This next part of the ride takes us through the heart of the mountains. We go up to over 800m, and pass through white wastes with no hint of human civilization apart from the roads.

Eventually, we return from there into more temperate and civilized areas.

And here's a half-frozen river.

As we approach Trondheim, population centers start to get more common.

And then, we're in the greater urban area of Trondheim.

Next, we arrive at Trondheim Station.

 

There, we look for the bus that will take us to Stjørdal, and we are in luck: Just as we approach the final bus stop, the bus we need passes us by and stops there.

We get in line and board, purchasing tickets by card from the driver.

This bus has stop buttons overhead, as well as in other places.

Since the bus route takes us up the hillside, we get a great view of the Trondheim Fjord, the third-longest fjord in Norway.

The bus also has a safety hammer that penalizes you if you use it improperly, such as for not hitting the corners emergently enough.

The bus eventually drops us off in Stjørdal, and from there we have to walk a bit through town  to get to our Airbnb.

 

Along the way, we come across a modern and quite bulky church.

And then, we arrive at our Airbnb, which once again is an apartment  in a block. Only this time, the block is wide rather  than tall.

After settling in, we go out for some dinner and shopping. It's only 18:30, and yet it's already quite dark.

Fortunately, we're located in a local hub here, so there's a nice restaurant named Egon right nearby.

There, Robert and I go for the same dish for once: Something that is translated as "Butter-baked Trout", but which actually turns out to be salmon (a  quick check in the Norwegian menu confirms that this was a mistranslation). The "mock trout" is quite tasty, but the sides are not as strong. To drink I have some  Farris Frus Apple & Kiwi, which is an appl & kiwi flavored fizzy drink.

Next, we go shopping in the Rema 1000 7-23 supermarket, which conveniently is also located just nearby.

There  we spot some grandiose heart-shaped pizza, as well as a selection of tasty Brunost, including some themed for children.

After that, we return to our Airbnb... for the moment.

Now, normally this would be the end of the day right here, and I would have spent the rest of the evening getting this frigging chapter out in time, buuuuuut...

Robert and I came this far north for a reason, and that is to see northern lights. Now, as it happens, the weather forecast for these next two days is pretty cloudy, and tonight is the only remote chance that  we get. Of course,  it would have been better if I could have gotten a feel for the lay of the land yet, but oh well. Gotta play it by ear. And so, I put on my heavy gear again, and come 21:45 we head out into the dark streets yet again.

Since Stjørdal is not a big town, we can reach the countryside in a matter of minutes, and so I plot us a course that will hopefully take us through some dark rural areas.

Sure enough, we reach a dark enough place soon enough, and there is something extremely faint in the northern sky, but whether those are northern lights or just glowing clouds, we really can't tell.

 So we keep waling down the road.

But in the end, the most noteworthy aerial  phenomenon that we can actually confirm is the glowing cloud above Skatval to the northeast, which contrasts nicely against the outline of the mountain named Forbordsfjellet. I actually rally wonder where all that light is coming from, because there's nothing that way. Unless maybe there's a venue of the SKI-VM over there.

Also, airplanes  headed for the Trondheim airport - which as the  name suggests is located right here in Stjørdal - occasionally pass overhead.

And so, after walking around and waiting in the middle of dark fields for two hours, we return home again shortly before midnight, cold and disheartened. It looks like we won't be seeing any northern lights during this tour after all. =u,u=

But that doesn't mean we'll mope around for the rest of our tour. We still got two full days left here in Stjørdal, and we intend to enjoy them to the fullest. But  more on that later. Until  then, be of great cheer! =^,^=