Although Sweden is a relatively secular country, Easter break is a pretty big deal here. Since it’s the first extended weekend of the spring season, many Swedes take this time to visit their holiday or winter cottages. My family went up to the North of Sweden for some skiing and to soak up their last dose of snow.

I used this time with some friends to do the opposite: run away from the snow and to soak up some sun. And so, ironically, we packed up our things and headed for one of the rainiest countries in the world: Norway.

As it turned out, we were truly lucky and only saw rain as we were leaving for the flight back home to Stockholm. Norway must have known we were coming! Nonetheless, our weather luck balanced out in more areas than one:

• Norway and Stockholm function very differently over Easter week. Norway almost entirely shuts down and that means closed shops and funky shifts in public transportation schedules.
• Being unable to hit up grocery stores (given that you’re staying in a place with a full kitchen) can be a big bummer and definitely serves as a roadblock to cheap, homemade meals. Always do your research on availability and hours! *smacks forehead*
• Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world (to give you an idea, a McChicken and a water from McDonald’s totaled to the equivalent of $15) — good thing we are students living on a college budget! *casually wipes away tears*

Despite a some obstacles, we managed to make the best of our days in Norway. Though that involved eating cheap 7-11 taquitos for most meals in a day, I’ll leave some better highlights from the trip below:

My knees felt like complete spaghetti after all of our sharply inclined walks and hikes and I’d do it all over again, again, and again.

utepils

Norwegian (n.) lit. “outdoors lager”

To enjoy a beer outside under the sun.