The past few weeks haven't been the best for me, it seems like everything is going wrong! But I think it's important to remember there's still things to happy about.

1. It's getting noticeably lighter.

It feels like the winter solstice was forever ago but it finally seems like it is starting to get a bit lighter. Like most people I leave for work when it's dark and don't get home until it's properly dark again. It can get very depressing and I get quite frustrated that I spend all my daylight hours in an office. But I've noticed that it's no longer completely pitch black when I leave work.

Summer is creeping a bit closer every day!

2. Cadbury's hot chocolate.

I had forgotten how amazing this is with real milk. I've had a few mugs of this in the evening recently when it's been cold and miserable outside. I haven't had it for years and it always cheers me up. It's so much richer and creamier than the stuff you make with boiling water. A swirl of salted caramel added to it makes it even nicer ;)

3. Our cat.

Every morning when I get up she's waiting outside my door ready to come and get into bed with me for cuddles. I look forward to it every day.

She wasn't very well before Christmas and it made me so sad to see her looking so unhappy and ill. I'm so glad she seems to have recovered and is back to her old self.

4. My part time studying is going well.

I'm currently studying part time alongside working and it's been going well this week. I'm nearly halfway through the course. I'm actually ahead of schedule at the moment which is nice because it makes me feel like I have enough time to take things at the pace I need to. 

Going back to studying after a break is tricky, particularly as I've never studied this sort of material before. 

Now I need to keep the momentum going!

5. Cookie dough.

Over Christmas I made two batches of chocolate orange cookies and froze them ready for when I had a cookie craving. 

I was feeling a little low and craving something sweet so I dug these out of the freezer.

They were so so good and they were ready in 15 minutes. I'm glad I've still got the other batch ready for when I need another cookie hit...

Is there anything that has made you happy this week? It's always good to try and appreciate the little things!

2018 Goals

As I mentioned in my previous post, 2017 has been an amazing year and I've achieved so much more than I thought I could when I made my 2017 goals.

I didn't manage all of them, but some of them I smashed out of the park so that makes up for it ;)

Money Goals

1. Replenish our savings

As I'm sure you can imagine buying our house has taken its toll on our savings so this year I want to try and help them recover a bit so we have a more adequate rainy day fund. 

2. Repay Kiera

My sister very kindly lent me some money to buy my new carriage when I had none. I have paid her back more than half now but this year I want the debt to be finally wiped out. 

3. Save enough for some sort of mini break

We might manage this or we might not as we have other priorities for our money but it would be good if we could manage a weekend away somewhere this year. 

Travel

4. Visit Rome

This was actually one of my 2016 goals and this year we are definitely making it happen because it's all already booked! 

Jared and I are going to Rome in late April for our five year anniversary. 

I've always wanted to go back and explore more and I'm really excited about it. Jared's Mum very kindly bought me a guide book for Christmas so looking forward to putting that to good use.

5.  Visit more local attractions on our doorstep

We made a good start on this in 2017 but there are lots more places to see in the immediate area that we live in. I want to make an effort to visit these before we head further afield. 

Development

6. Pass my first financial exam

This is a big one for me this year as I am back to studying. I am officially a student again and have a NUS card to prove it. 

I am sitting my first CII qualification and have started studying for the first module. I am aiming to pass this as soon as possible so hopefully I can get back to studying in the New Year.

Blogging

7. Sort out my domain name

I have actually owned the domain name for this blog for years but because I'm not very good with computers I haven't managed to successfully set it up.

This year I want to get this sorted as I think it will make my blog a little nicer, plus I am currently paying for something I'm not using which is daft.

8. Create some categories

I want to change the layout of my blog a little and make it easier to navigate. As I'm not the most tech savvy person in the world I'm not sure if I'll be able to manage this but I want to give it a go!

Home and Lifestyle

9. Spruce up the outside of the house

Now that we have redecorated the inside of our house, I want to give a bit of attention to the exterior. 

Our windows and fascias need repainting and I'd like to improve the garden a bit.

I've thought of a few small and easily achievable ideas that I'd like to try, more on that at a later date!

10. Grow more stuff

I've always loved growing things and I spend many happy hours in the garden with my mum and grandmothers as a child. 

As I've got older I always try and grow something at home, but I'm always a bit half hearted with it. 

Now that Jared and I have our own house I want to try and grow a few new things I haven't tried before. Thanks to Cider With Rosie for sharing her veg growing excitement and inspiring me to continue with my old lady hobbies ;)

Bonfire Night Party

So last Sunday was Bonfire Night, which is personally one of my favourite things about the nights drawing in.

My family live on the outskirts of our village so we don’t have close neighbours so we had our own Bonfire Party.

My Dad built the bonfire and one of my sisters made our Guy Fawkes (complete with very historical curly wig and baseball cap).

One of my other sisters made us homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate flakes and hot salted caramel. This was quite possibly one of the best things I’ve ever had and it doesn’t matter what Costa or Starbucks have got on their Christmas menu, they won’t be able to make something as good as that.

Standing around in the freezing cold, wrapped up in warm hats and gloves while sipping a cup of this magical hot chocolate is what Bonfire Night is all about.

We lit the bonfire at 6pm and watched our Guy Fawkes go up in flames before having some fireworks.

Mum, Jared and I had been hard at work preparing Bonfire Party food to warm us up. We had baked potatoes with mango chutney curry, butternut squash and chorizo pizza, vegetable crisps, honey mustard sausage rolls and cheese straws. We made mulled cider to drink along with plenty of wine and beer. For pudding we made toffee apple crumble with salted caramel sauce and chocolate and marshmallow roasted bananas. 

I sadly didn't get a chance to take any pictures of the food as everyone was too busy scoffing it, but I'm sure you can imagine it.  

Some of the recipes we just made up, such as the crumble which I never use a recipe for and just do it by eye (and taste). However I've linked any recipes that I did use, or was inspired by in case you fancy making some of them yourself.

Everything was quick, easy and filling and crucially we prepped almost all of it the day before to make life easier.

It was a great evening spent with family, enjoying each others company and tasty food.

Did you celebrate Bonfire Night? Or make yourself some seasonal treats? Let me know!

Life Update - We bought a house!

So I know this is a random time of night to write a blog post, but it has been one heck of a day!

I think this might be the biggest news I've ever been able to share... Jared and I have just bought our first house together!

I'm so proud of our achievement and that we managed it all by ourselves. It's taken a lot of saving and dedication but it was worth it in the end!

We first found out about the house back in March and went to view it in April, so it's been over six months from the first steps to getting the keys. It's been a long and a difficult road that at times has seemed impossible.

I'll write details in further posts but for now I just wanted to share our exciting news!

Buying a home has been top of my goals for a long time and I can't believe that we have actually done it.

Right now life is a bit hectic and we are frantically sorting things out, so I'll keep this post short and sweet.

Once things are more settled I'll share more info, but for now I've got packing to do!

Exploring Wiltshire - Visiting Old Sarum

The August bank holiday weekend already feels like it was years ago rather than just a few weekends back. The Friday before the bank holiday was such a great day. First off, it was payday, which is always a great start to any Friday. The forecast for the weekend was fab and it was already sunny on Friday. My work treated us to bacon sandwiches and let us go home at 4pm! To top it all I had the whole following week off work. I was practically skipping by the end of the day.

We spent the Sunday of the bank holiday visiting Old Sarum to watch the medieval joust. For those who aren't familiar with Wiltshire, Old Sarum is the earliest settlement in Salisbury and lies about 2 miles north of the current city. The site itself has been settled since prehistoric times and the fort dates from the Iron Age. 

It was later controlled by the Romans and the Saxons where it was used as a stronghold against the Vikings. The Normans built the Motte and Bailey castle and the cathedral, the remains of which can still be seen today.

When construction began for the new (and current) cathedral in Salisbury during the 13th century Old Sarum began to decline and many of the buildings were used to provide stone for the newer buildings. 

If you have any interest in history this is well worth a visit and isn't as packed as some of Wiltshire's more popular sites (and by that I mean Stonehenge). It's really cool to walk around it and imagine what it must have been like to live there. 

My parents used to take me to visit when I was little as it's a great day out for small children, plenty of room to run around safely and history that is actually tangible enough for even little kids to understand.

Jared has never been and what better day to go then when the fort is playing host to a medieval joust? The sunshine was glorious, we packed a picnic and spent a day enjoying the sunshine.

There was plenty to watch with the falconry display and the knights displaying their skill at arms.

Finally at the end of the day there was the joust itself, which was action packed and great to watch!

If you're ever in Wiltshire and you're looking for things to do that showcase the history of the area, then Old Sarum is a must see.

We have so much history right on our doorstep here in the UK, that sometimes I think we don't make enough of an effort to get out there and actually see it. 

Plus the view from the top, overlooking the modern city is pretty cool as well.

Have you ever visited? Or do you have something awesome near your home town worth seeing? Let me know! I'm always looking for new things to see and do!

20 Reasons to be excited for Autumn

Like every blogger in the world I am super excited that Autumn is just round the corner now we're in September. Without wanting to sound like a dick, I liked Autumn before it was cool and all about chunky knitwear and berry toned lipsticks. 

It's been my favourite season since childhood and people used to tell me I was weird for liking it better than summer. I suspect it's because I've always associated it with going back to school and the fresh start that it brings.  Like the true goody two shoes I am I've always loved school and got excited about going back to learn new things.

In some ways Autumn is sad because it's the end of the summer, but to me I've always seen it as more than just pretty coloured leaves. It represents wiping the slate clean, ready for a fresh start to be born come spring. I also secretly love the stark barren landscape of Wiltshire in the winter. It has it's own unique beauty to it that is masked by all the growth of the summer. 

So because blogger cliches are cliches for a reason here is why I am excited for Autumn to arrive!

1. Layers. All the layers. You're not really that British unless you have got more than one jumper on. You can whip out your chunky jumpers. Your fine knit ones. The oversized sweatshirts. And the fun doesn't stop at jumpers, your extensive cosy scarf collection comes out of hiding. Time to wear all. of. it. 

2. Being able to wear ankle boots with every outfit. Doesn't matter what the outfit is, a sassy black ankle boot with a mid heel will instantly improve it. 

3. No more shaving your legs. Or painting your toenails for that matter. Your razors can gather dust because those babies are not seeing the sun again until mid June at best. Let's face it, it's way too much effort anyway. 

4. Picking blackberries and making the world's sexiest blackberry and apple crumble with enough custard for the crumble to do laps in.

5. Making homemade jam, or going pumpkin picking, or whatever other wholesome venture your heart desires that can only be done properly at this time of year. 

6. Feeling no guilt whatsoever about spending your evening snuggled up watching Harry Potter because there is zero point in doing anything productive when it's already dark and raining.

7. Your extensive blanket, candle and fairy light collection is finally dusted off and put to good use again. 

8. Baking gingerbread to make your house smell warm and cosy. And because baking is a million times more fun with a hot cup of tea and a soothing cooking programme on while you wait for it to come out of the oven. 

9. Getting up early, making yourself a flask of steaming hot chocolate and taking yourself for a walk in the crisp air. 

10. Knowing that every Friday brings you not only the weekend, but that little bit closer to Christmas and all of the magic that December holds. 

11. Forget PSL (gross) it's all about the Spiced Apple tea. If you've never tried this then you need to, it's the most warming and comforting thing ever.

12. Sitting inside on a Sunday with a good book, listening to the rain outside.

13. Making the incredibly difficult decision of which one of your 487895521 winter coats you're going to wear to work today. 

14. Your biggest, fluffiest dressing gown can become your favourite item of clothing again.

15. Treating yourself to a new, fluffy pair of slippers because a girl has got to have warm tootsies at all times. 

16. Shepherd's pie, lasagna, toad in the hole, roast potatoes, gravy... you can stick your fancy summer salads and get back to the old school hearty basics.

17. Halloween and Bonfire night are just around the corner.

18. It's no longer so hot and sweaty that showers are all you can stand. A good long soak in the bath after a long day is just what you need. Preferably with candles, a good book and your favourite bubble bath.

19. Putting your wellies and a coat on and getting out of the house for a good walk to clear your head. Even if it's raining. 

20. The magic of the first proper frost. The cool crisp air, the way everything is really still early in the morning. How the landscape seems so unfamiliar. 

Are you sad the summer is over? Or are you secretly like me and prefer the subtle charm of Autumn and Winter? Let me know what you're looking forward to!

Visiting Bath

One of my goals for the year was to take a day trip to explore Bath. While it isn't that far away from home for me it is a bit awkward to get to and takes a while to drive there, so I've never really bothered.

To celebrate our 4 year anniversary Jared and I caught the train to Bath for a day of exploring and eating.

First stop was to see the Roman Baths which is obviously the focus for most tourists who take a trip here. We weren't even there on a particularly busy weekend but it was packed and quite expensive to get into (like £15 per person!). I wouldn't mind but there was so many people I couldn't actually look at any of the artifacts and I kept getting separated from Jared by the sheer amount of people. 

That said it was really interesting and pretty incredible at how much of it has survived. I particularly enjoyed looking at the curses people had written on pieces of lead and then folded up and thrown into the spring, hoping the Goddess would bring the perpetrators to justice on their behalf. They were mostly complaints about petty crimes, such as someone stealing their cloak but its fascinating to see proof that human nature has changed very little since Roman times! 

Afterwards we went to look round Bath Abby which was pretty awe inspiring. Some of their stained glass windows were particularly interesting with one showing multiple different parts of Jesus' life. In addition the incredible ceiling with its fan patterns makes it well worth a look.

Lunch was the high point of the day and we really went to town to celebrate our anniversary with a full three course meal and multiple cocktails at Turtle Bay. One of the best things about living in Southampton was having a branch on our doorstep and I haven't been since I lived there. Turtle Bay please can we get one in Salisbury?!

Not going to lie it was a pretty extravagant meal but I adore their jerk glazed steak and I live for sweet potato fries <3

We had a look around some of Bath's lovely shops (hello Anthropologie) but I was very good and didn't buy anything so we wandered back to the station to catch the train home.

After all the food and day drinking we both fell asleep on the way home so we were lucky we didn't miss our stop to be honest! It was a lovely day out and a wonderful way to celebrate together. 

Hopefully we will be back soon!

How to make your student room feel cosy

Ok so your student room isn't quite the cool and happening Pinterest worthy space you daydreamed about when you were applying to uni.

Chances are there's some curtains with a questionable pattern, a dodgy looking stain on the floor and walls that are covered with generations of students worth of blue tack. And it really doesn't matter if you're in halls or are renting privately. Unless you've got shed loads of cash to spend on rent, which lets face it isn't most of us then your room is likely to be a bit of a craphole. Chances are its probably a tiny craphole as well.

During my four years at uni I lived in a tiny room in halls, a disgusting student house and spent my final two years in a pretty nice terrace with an absolute gem of a private landlord (hence why I stayed).

But it need not be a grim and depressing place. With a bit of ingenuity and some inspiration you can spruce things up and put your stamp on the place in ways that won't lose you your deposit.

1. Throws. Get several in nice fluffy textures. An absolute must is to use one to cover the grotty chair that sits with your desk. Of the three different houses I lived in, one had a sticky brown stain, one had ancient chewing gum glued to it and one had cigarette burns. The same throw covered all of them and made it somewhere nice to sit at the same time. Easy to do and makes a massive impact. Put another one over the bottom of your bed, instantly makes the whole room feel cosier. You'll probably need it to survive the sub zero temperatures of the average student house.

2. Fairy lights. A classic but so useful. Primark does a range of absolute bargain ones that are not only pretty but importantly are battery operated so you can have them in your room without your landlord/student housing nazis losing their shit over them. Wind them round your headboard, drape them over your mirror, display them over your noticeboard or desk... Just be liberal with the fairy lights! Try and get ones that are natural light rather than white light as they give a softer effect.

3. Lighting. Following on from the previous point good lighting can totally transform the feel of a room. Creating soft pools of light changes the whole feel of a space and its easy to do. A bedside lamp (alongside your fairy lights) is a good start - but if you can possibly stretch to it and have the space a floor lamp is a great idea. My parents gave me their old one and I put it on a timer so that it was always on in the evening. Nothing makes a room look uglier than harsh overhead florescent lighting and having soft low level lighting will make your space much more inviting.

4. Rug. Use it to cover the industrial carpet that seems to feature in every student house. As much as you would love to rip it up its not an option but a rug can be a good compromise. Small ones are actually pretty inexpensive (H&M Home have some great ones at the moment) and a nice neutral tone means it can help tie the room together. Its also nice to step out of bed onto a nice soft rug and helps make the space feel yours. The best part is you can roll it up and take it with you everytime you move which you can't do with an actual carpet.

5. Picture frames. Get a few nice ones (Wilkos and IKEA do excellent ones that only cost a few pounds, TK Maxx and Homesense slightly more elaborate ones that are still good value) and frame your favourite pictures. Or some cute slogan postcards from Paperchase. Or your favourite quote that you hand wrote. Put one on your windowsill, on your bedside table, on your desk. It'll help you feel at home and help get rid of the anonymous feel that most student rooms have.

6. Fake flowers. Good quality ones can actually look pretty nice and they need zero care. IKEA and Homesense would be my recommendation. A few fake flowers in a £2 jug from Sainsburys add a nice feminine touch. Of course a small potted plant on your windowsill or heck, even actual real flowers (Waitrose reduce theirs to a few pence after 8pm) are also excellent. But fake flowers will ALWAYS be there to brighten up your room so they're worth getting.

7. Cushions. Ignore anything any man in your life says about cushions being pointless, the more the better. Its easy to create a nice tiered effect on your bed with just a few cushions that makes your room look more boutique hotel and less student squat. Add in a pretty focal cushion and you're good to go. I also liked to have one on my desk chair to make it a bit comfier. And because my cushion obsession is a bit out of control.

8. Good quality bed linen. I'm going to be straight up here and admit that both of my Grandmothers bought me a nice duvet set when I went to uni which I am very grateful for (and I'm still using them now). The price is less important than how it looks in this case. The bed is likely to be the focal point of your room and taking the time to choose nice linen that compliments the other aspects of your decor will dictate whether the room is a mish mash of styles or not. Choosing two that are different yet enhance different parts of the style you're going for is a good idea because then you can change your room up each time you wash your sheets.

9. Add furniture. Once you leave halls chances are you'll be living in a student house where all the furniture you'll get is a bed, a desk and a wardrobe. Most student landlords don't even think about how a normal person can store all their possessions in one room with nowhere to put anything. Adding a bookshelf, some drawers, or a bedside table, (depending on the amount of space available) can make the world of difference to the amount of storage you have. You needn't blow your entire overdraft on this though.

First off see if any friends or family have anything they want to get rid of. My Nan gave me a chest of drawers and a mirror, my Mum took me on a trip to IKEA to get a £20 set of drawers which doubled up as a bedside table.

If that isn't an option there will be loads of people in your city looking to shift stuff they don't need and a lot will deliver it for you if you ask. Gumtree, Freecycle, eBay, Craigslist, Facebook... the options are almost endless.

Not to mention local car boots and other students. Final year students will often sell their furniture or even give it to the new tenants so its worth keeping an ear out. One of my friends bought two sets of drawers for £30 from someone she knew who was graduating and then sold them onto the next person who was renting her room. Win win because she didn't have to find someone else to get rid of them and the person buying them knew they would fit in the room.

Of course you can also use this to furnish the rest of your house, perhaps with a second hand TV or an extra chair. During my time at uni we acquired everything from an electric organ which we kept in our kitchen at halls for as long as we could get away with (which my flat mates carried up 8 flights of stairs) to an enormous trampoline we got off Freecycle which probably saw a lot of dodgy activity at house parties.

So there you have it, 9 quick ways to instantly improve your student room without breaking the bank.

Shop this post:
Lamp - Old from Tesco, similar one here 
Chest of Drawers - IKEA
Clock - Matalan 
Jug - Old from Sainsburys similar one here 
Candle - Amber Noir from Shearer Candles 
Photo frame - Wilkos
Perfume -Flora by Gucci
Slate Heart - Old, I think it was from Home Bargains similar here
Initial Coaster - Aspire Style  

Norway - An epic adventure

Following on from my last post on my experience of cruising I thought I would write a bit more about the places we actually went in Norway.

Norway only has a population of 5 million (that's less than the amount of people who live in London) and of those only 2% live in the Northern regions. I absolutely loved their laid back attitude and how welcoming they were to tourists. Every Norwegian we met told us how happy they were we had chosen to visit their country, and they're right. It’s absolutely incredible. The further North you go the more wild and mountainous the scenery gets. 

Ålesund was our first port of call and reminds me a lot of Prague. This is probably because most of it was burnt down in a disastrous fire in 1904 and then rebuilt in an Art Nouveau style. It’s a really pretty place with its pastel houses along the water. We climbed up to the view point by the observatory in order to look out over the city. There are over 400 steps (plus plenty of steep ramps) to the top and I had a really chesty cough so probably wasn't the best decision I've ever made but the view was worth it. There is a land train that you can take if you don’t fancy the climb which is run by a hilarious Aussie. My Mum, Grandma and 2 of my sisters opted for this and they also went on a bus tour round the city. 

Tromsø is commonly referred to as the Capital of the North but it’s really not that big by UK standards (68,000 people). The city is spread over both sides of the fjord connected by a large bridge that comes out by the Arctic Cathedral. The shopping here is pretty good and we picked up some nice souvenirs. The best part of our trip was it had just snowed and it was our first chance to properly wrap up and experience how people live in this part of the world despite weather conditions that would bring the UK to a halt within an hour. We walked over the bridge and back to have a look at the Arctic Cathedral and just generally have a bit of a wander about. As we were sailing away from Tromsø that evening we saw the best Aurora of the trip from the back of the ship which was an amazing sight. I’m so glad we managed to see them as there’s no guarantee with this kind of thing so we were very lucky. 

Honnigsvag is one of the most northern cities in the world, yet has a relatively mild climate due to the Gulf Stream. Lots of people visit here to see the North Cape but we booked a quad biking safari through the snow that took us up one of the mountains that overlooks the city (again only a few thousand people live here). This was excellent fun (despite some scary driving from my Grandma) and we got the chance to see the incredible scenery as we drove round the fjord and up the mountain. We also went through a 4km tunnel before stopping for a hot drink. We had such good weather for this as it was cold, but very clear and bright so the views were amazing. 

 

Alta was my favourite place we visited. We stayed two days here and packed in a lot of adventure activities. On our first day we went husky sledding, which was unbelievably cold (I thought my face was frozen solid) but so interesting. As fun as the dog sledding was, I almost enjoyed learning about it more. The guides explained to us how they train the dogs and the dynamics involved in dog racing. Our team of dogs took us on a trip through snowy woods and alongside the frozen Alta river. How I stayed on that sled I don't know as there's nothing to hold onto over rough terrain and the dogs are more powerful than you think.

That evening we went on an Aurora chasing trip but although we did see some they were weaker than we had seen from the ship previously. The Northern Lights are tricky to see and a lot of luck is involved, but as we had already seen some fantastic ones in Tromsø nobody was too disappointed. We spent most of the time stargazing and soaking in the enormity of the Arctic night sky. We were lucky in that it wasn't too cold (about -10) and we were quite sheltered from the wind as I don't think it would have been as enjoyable otherwise!

The following day we went Snowmobiling which was so exciting. I've never driven one before but they're very straight forward and no harder than a quad bike. After blasting round their snowy track (and managing to find some bits where we could let loose) we had a chance to look round the Igloo Hotel. The whole place is entirely made from snow and ice and we had a shot of Antifreeze from an ice glass. The whole place is pretty surreal and although you can see these sort of places on TV its nothing like seeing it in real life. If I ever go back to Norway I absolutely want to stay in one of these places as according to the owner it’s not that expensive with rooms starting from £240 including breakfast and dinner. They also have a chapel where people can get married and then stay in the bridal suite which had a bed made entirely from ice.

Kristiansund is an unusual city as its spread out over 4 islands all connected by various bridges and is Norways fifth largest town with around 80,000 people. We went to visit one of Norways Stave churches here combined with a road trip along the Atlantic Ocean Road which connects a whole string of small islands with roads and bridges draped along the coast like spaghetti. The Kvernes church seems small and unremarkable from the outside but inside a lot of the original features remain, with the whole inside painted and one of the biblical paintings from the 1600’s still remains. The pulpit was imported from the Netherlands by a wealthy local who also paid for all of the rest of the interior. A small detail I really liked was the pulpit was designed to feature the four evangelists and Jesus. However because it was built abroad they hadn’t factored in that it wouldn’t fit in the church without the wall obscuring one of the figures. So they took John off and moved him so that he now sits up on the wall overlooking the rest of the church. One of the local women who looks after the church performed some traditional songs for us which was so ethereal it made all the hairs on my neck stand up. When she stood up and said she was going to sing for us I was hoping it wouldn't be too cringey (you never know when people say they can sing) but it was one of the best moments of the whole trip.

Åndalsnes was made even more magical by when we arrived it started snowing. A LOT. It was like being in a Christmas card. Jared and I went on an excursion on our own to see another Stave Church. The Rødven Stave church (built around 1300) is smaller and less ornate but still had the original door which was tall and thin to keep the devil out but allow the angels to still come in. The Crucifix dates from medieval times which was pretty remarkable. Churches in Norway feature a ship, which signifies the journey from the cradle to the grave which I thought was really interesting. Some of the other people on the trip were saying that had seen similar things in Norfolk back in the UK. On our way back we made a stop at the Troll Wall which is the highest vertical cliff face in Europe. However the snow was so bad by this point we couldn't see a thing. This was to become a bit of an ongoing thing as after we returned we had an afternoon trip with the rest of my family on the Rauma railway. This starts at the top of the valley and then travelled all the way back down to Åndalsnes (quite the feat of engineering with the use of turning tunnels inside the mountains) crossing many bridges and waterfalls. So out of three attempts to see the Troll wall we didn't see it once! Not that it mattered because the rest of the journey was incredible. I felt like I was on the Hogwarts Express when they go home for Christmas as it was so snowy and magical. The Romaldasfjord is interesting as well because unlike most fjords it often freezes. This is due to the freshwater input from the river and the runoff from the mountains that surround it. The freshwater is less dense than the saltwater of the fjord so forms a layer on top. As freshwater freezes at higher temperatures than saltwater they often have a frozen layer of ice on the fjord which our guide tells us people skate on and race their snowmobiles. It was just starting to freeze over while were there, not sure if it froze enough for any of that though. 

Bergen was one of the ports I was most excited to visit. This is Norway's second biggest city with a population of around 280,000 people. It’s well known for how often it rains here (on average 200 days of the year) and it managed to be a combination of rain and sleet with a howling wind blowing it horizontally into our faces. Lovely. Jared and I went off to explore on our own here and went souvenir shopping in the historic Bryggen district. We also went and explored the local farmers market and the fish market. I was really impressed with this as its made of glass so you can look out across the harbour. You could choose your fish, watch it being cooked and then eat it in the restaurant. As much as we wanted to try it, everything in Norway is very pricey and main courses were around £35 each which was a bit out of our budget! The weather was so rubbish we didn’t go on the Funicular that takes you to a wonderful view point as we didn’t think we would be able to see anything but if we ever go back that will be on our to do list. 

Out of all the places we visited I think Alta was my favourite. I’d love to go back and do lots of winter activities with more dog sledding and snowmobiling. Maybe a longer stay there would mean lots more chances to see the Northern Lights which was the absolute highlight of the trip.