Sjusjøen, Xmas Break, Dec 22-23 2021

Christmas break, day 1 & 2

Dec 22 – Transport day

As the Christmas break was approaching, I was a wreck. I had been sick for a month – not from Covid or the Flu (5 different Flu tests + Covid negative) but most likely from the mother of all Colds. I guess I was quite a receptive host for these virus(es), having worked way too much in 2021.

As such, I was not the least keen on taking on the 524km drive from Sunnmøre, via Sogndal and to the cabin at Sjusjøen that we had borrowed from good friends. It’s not the distance that bothered me, just the driving conditions which could range from trivial to plain terrible. One never knows at this time of the year.

This time, we were lucky. Sure, the roads were icy but at least it wasn’t snowing. When we arrived at the cabin in the evening on the 22nd, a metric ton of weight was lifted off my shoulders. I had the rest of the year off and I didn’t have to drive anywhere for at least a week.

The cabin was just fine. Our friends had owned this cabin for less than a month and barely had a chance to visit it. They would join us a few days after Christmas Eve. We’re always good at feeling at home everywhere we go and this place was no exception.

The traditional arriving-at-our-destination dinner was Rakfisk –  Norwegian fish dish made from trout or char, salted and autolyzed for two to three months, or even up to a year. Rakfisk is then eaten without cooking and has a strong smell and a pungent salty flavor (source: Wikipedia)

I slept like a log that night, hoping that the shape and form would continue to improve, as it had been for the 2 past days.

Dec 23 – Checking out the tracks

Dec 23 was a stunning weather day and we looked forward to checking out the tracks. But first things first – and we drove down to the sports outlet and I bought myself a new pair of skating skis. The old ones were no longer fit for purpose.

Back at the cabin, it was time for the base picture for the traditional Christmas card.

We then got our gear on and skied down to the prepared tracks. Due to the cold weather – below -10 deg. C., the new skis didn’t sail as smooth as I had hoped. Still fun, though.

We ended up on a cross-country track where skis without wax wasn’t a good idea at all…

After a 13,3km round, we returned to the cabin as we had things to do. I’m happy to say that this Christmas offered a LOT of nice cross-country and back-country skiing!

The last thing on today’s agenda was to decorate the Christmas tree that I had brought all the way from my backyard – another annual tradition for the past 6-7 years.

I slept like a log this night too, feeling life as I know it slightly returning to normal…

Continued on day 3…