Summer in Norway

Summer in Norway. Now there is a phrase that asks as many questions as it answers. What exactly does summer look like at 61 degrees north? The answer is that it looks a bit like this:



We hiked up from the cabin to above the tree line this morning, and it only rained a couple of times. Funnily enough, that enhanced the experience. The view out across the region was fascinating. The tree line is a concept that always intrigues me, because it is just so definitive. There are trees, and then there are no trees. It is hard to imagine what the combination of conditions are that is so dichotomous.


We could see trails leading across the various high points, and a series of lakes, each lower than the next, and joined by fairly obvious water courses. Below us, when you looked closely, the pattern of grassy roofs of the cabins are evident, but they blend effortlessly into the landscape. It makes me wonder why we don't use them in Australia - they aren't supposed to be manicured lawn, they are just natural insulation.


There was no single part of the view that was sufficiently representative of the whole scene to do it justice. Like the Australian landscape, it is much more than the sum of the individual parts, and to put a frame around any part of it lessens the effect to a wildly disappointing extent.



The highlight of the rest of the day was post-dinner, when I simultaneously had a glass of red, a glass of a dessert White, French nougat, fresh strawberries, chocolate mints, and a coffee. Under these conditions careful sequencing becomes critical. Start with the dessert White, but go easy - just enough to stimulate the palate. Then the strawberry, with the sweetness giving way to a tangy after-taste. Here, the bitterness of coffee changes the mood, and immediately moving to the chocolate takes advantage of the warmth to melt the dark chocolate, releasing its full smoothness and richness. As always, melting dark chocolate must be followed by red wine. The nougat then adds texture and lingers for a few moments, before the cycle inevitably repeats.

Gluttony, torpor, repose. Words to live by.

Location:Valdres