I was supposed to stay with Gunnar for 4 nights, but due to some work commitments he couldn’t host me for the first two nights. Instead of ditching me and letting me find another host on my own, he made agreements for his son to host me in the north island. His son, Kristoffer and his girlfriend Frida were really kind. They decided to move away from the city and build their own home in the countryside, about 40min drive from Tromsø city. I liked the simple wooden design typical of Scandinavian houses and it was surrounded by mountains and the sea. This made it a convenient place to go hiking during the day, the main reason that I came to Tromsø. I had visited so many cities on this trip, so now I just want to escape to nature. Although the weather was not to my liking due to the cloudy days, I managed to hike up the mountain behind our house together with Kris and the dog Bella. We had an amazing view of the surroundings from the top of the mountain. From there I wandered to other mountains to see the different sides of the lake. Other than hiking, I basically just lazed around in the house with Kris and the dog. It was better than going to the city and spending money. Frida was really kind as she cooked dinner for us on the second night. I tried whale meat for the first time and contrary to what I thought, it does not taste fishy at all, but more like beef. As Kris explained, the whale is a mammal so its meat will taste more like an animal. We also had salad, garlic bread and mushrooms for dinner.

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For the last two nights in Tromsø, I went over to Gunnar’s place which is in the south island. He had a nice view of the nearby fjord, with the dining room facing the mountains. Desire his busy schedule, he still spent time with me. He cooked fried fish pudding which is typical Norwegian for dinner on the first night and introduced me to brown cheese. It is supposedly made from the leftover liquid from cheese, so this liquid contains carbohydrates only as the proteins went to the cheese. The brown cheese had a slight caramel flavour and I liked it.

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I am glad to have received such warm hospitality while in Tromsø and I hope to return again someday in winter to see the northern lights and meet my Norwegian family again.