And suddenly it’s March! This is an exciting month for Norway, because it marks the shift from us having shorter days than the rest of our hemisphere to having much longer days. Midnight sun, here we come!
Though I think this is also the month where spring starts to spring everywhere but Rauland. I mean, you guys aren’t sick of all my wintry photos yet are you? Oh.
The Home
So I know I’ve been all “I never want winter to end ever ever ever,” but I’m starting to get really excited for summer at this cabin. There’s a lake right down the hill and the prettiest mountain hike starting just behind the outhouse, and it’s going to be much quieter here without the ski tourists. Really, I just can’t wait. Lots of camping, hiking, road trips to the west coast – ahh this summer is going to be magical!
last summer in Rauland
But maybe I shouldn’t be quite so impatient for summer to arrive, because everyone is telling me that this next month here is basically going to be winter at its best, as there will still be tons of snow for skiing, but the weather will be milder and the days longer. Plus for such a secular country, Easter is an incredibly big deal here.
I haven’t spent Easter in Norway since I was about seven, but judging from photos, it looks like it will be a glorious week of skiing in swimsuits because it’s so warm plus, hello, the reflection from the snow doubles your tan! I’m actually only sort of joking – Norwegians are insane.
The Language
I’m happy to report that my Danish is coming along quite nicely now.
No but seriously, there are so many Danes here. And while I can’t speak a word of Danish, it is becoming much easier to understand now. Though it still baffles me how written Danish and Norwegian can look almost identical, while spoken they are so completely different. Really, Danes, what on earth are you doing with your mouths?
The Driving
Besides finally managing to sled all the way down the hill from the cabin without jumping off prematurely in fear, my biggest accomplishment of the month was buying a car and like, totally learning how to drive it! It was pretty embarrassing to have to admit to you guys that I could only drive an automatic, but all the advice people gave me in the comments on this post was so incredibly helpful. I do still occasionally forget to use the clutch when I want to start in reverse (shhh don’t tell Dan!), but at least now I can drive places on my own, high five!
The Blog
Blogging this month consisted of me posting an obnoxious amount of photos of Rauland covered in snow and a love letter that for some reason a lot of people thought was written to Dan. Fair enough, I probably wouldn’t have read such mushy nonsense to the end either. But for those of you who thought I could have chosen a more romantic Valentine, I hate to say it, but it sounds like my toilet is better than yours.
And I’m not entirely sure what sparked this, but I had a bunch of new students sign up for my Pinterest ecourse, which means that I’ve once again fallen down the Pinterest hole. It’s just so pretty and inspiring down there! I also finally got Visit Rauland’s Pinterest up and running, so if you like winter, mountains, Norway, and/or me you should maybe check it out.
The Instagram
My most liked Instagram photo this month was taken on probably the prettiest day in Rauland this winter. I loved that even the locals who have seen a million gorgeous winter days were all talking about how beautiful the fog was on this day. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but guys, it was pretty spectacular.
The Blogs I ❤
I added two new blogs to my Bloglovin’ this month!
Having never been to Central America (yet!), I cannot get enough of The Traveling Anthropologist‘s posts about the region. Seriously, she makes me want to go to Mexico so badly! I also love how Pippa shares so many cheap, healthy, and easy hostel meal recipes because I think just about every backpacker ever has struggled with hostel eating while on the road, am I right? I only wish I had discovered Pippa’s recipes sooner.
Anshula of Passport to Eden won me over with the opening words of her very first blog post: “When I was little, I wanted to visit all the places I read about in books.” I think we might just be kindred spirits. I love how her posts have me itching to explore an unlikely destination: the US! Sometimes I forget how absolutely gorgeous it is, but there really is so much more I want to see there (plus Dan is dying for an American road trip).
If you’re a blogger interested in being featured just head over here!
How was your February?
Enjoy recaps? You can also read about my first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth months in Norway.
Melanie Fontaine says
Ha, spring has definitely not sprung in my neck of the world, but I’m oh so ready for it! I would probably be fine with winter if it looked as gorgeous as it does in Rauland, but we really only have rain and grey skies and it’s starting to get a tad bit annoying! 😉 And Danish really is a strange language – when I was in Copenhagen, I spent a good few hours wondering if something was wrong with my ears because it seemed that so many people were speaking German, though I couldn’t understand a word of it. It can as kind of a relief that it was actually Danish and my ears were fine after all! 😉 Happy March!
Silvia says
That often happens to me with slavic languages – I’ll think people are speaking Russian but can’t understand it and I get super worried, ha.
Caroline L. says
You take THE prettiest pictures of Rauland! It’s been such a treat getting to follow you along in your Norway journey 🙂 Absolutely canNOT believe Norwegians tan in the snow though… so out of the ordinary, but hilariously and charmingly so!
Silvia says
Haha Norwegians are pretty obsessed with getting tan and since it’s always snowy…
Joella says
Well done on the automatic! Well I’m still learning to drive full stop haha! But I’m getting more confident now. I mean- I can drive now, I just can’t park. At all. And I am so bad with directions I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to drive by myself anyway haha…
Silvia says
Haha yeah Dan was pretty horrified one day when I had to parallel park somewhere and couldn’t really do it. In my defense, I never had to in the places I lived before! I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it eventually though (or just learn to avoid it like me).
Lily La says
All of your winter pictures are amazing! Winter is my favourite month, and not something I’m ever going to experience now that I live in Myanmar. Keep sharing! 🙂
Silvia says
Not much winter in Myanmar! Though just reading that I got an intense craving for Shan noodles, mmmmm.
Georgia says
Hi Silvia,
I’ve been a long-time lurker on Heart My Backpack, so here goes my very first comment!
Your pictures are so pretty! They actually pushed me into booking a cheeky little trip to Bergen in August, I’m looking forward to seeing all the Norwegians getting their tan on in a non-snowy month.
Also DANISH. My boyfriend is Danish, so I’m currently trying to work my way through the language, and I agree, what in the world do they do to their mouths when they speak?! I’m pretty sure that as a native English speaker I’m physically incapable of making those crazy throat growls or the Æ, Ø, and Å ‘sounds’. Good luck on continuing to grapple with Europe’s most… beautiful language.
Anyway, I hope the rest of your March is lovely, and I’ll try to comment more now I’ve lost my comment virginity.
Georgia x
Silvia says
So happy to hear from you! And happy to hear that I am not the only one who thinks Danish is plain bizarre. Seriously, so weird! And I hope you like Bergen! You will definitely get to see a LOT of Norwegians getting their tan on in August haha – as long as the sun is out!