10.-12. 09. '10: Weekend Trip to Geiranger

As I was one of the many unlucky students who didn't get a place on the ESN-trip to Geiranger, Lina (a fellow erasmus medical student from Aachen) and I organised a trip to Geiranger ourselves.
First a little introduction to the fjord: It is about 15km long, a branch of the "Storfjord" (engl. "large fjord"), and Geiranger - the town it is named after - is right at its end, about 100km away from the actual coastline of Norway. And not only is it a Unesco World Heritage Site together with the surrounding area; it is also said to be one of Norway's most beautiful fjords.
We were a group of 9 people - 4 French students (Mathilde, Julie, Clémentine, Antoine), 3 Germans (Lina, Nicole, Valentin) and 2 Austrians (Günther and me) and we rented two cars in Trondheim and two cabins in Geiranger. It was such a nice weekend that I am really happy we didn't get the opportunity to take part in the ESN trip!
On our way to Geiranger we took the beautiful coastal road down to Ålesund and boarded 3 or 4 ferries (I can't remember exactly) to cross various fjords.

As it was more or less on our way and also said to be one of Norway's most beautiful cities, we stopped in Ålesund to have a good look at the Jugendstil architecture and buy food and drinks for the weekend. It is really a beautiful place and worth a visit!

Quite late in the evening we finally arrived in Geiranger in our cabins and cooked a meal together.

On Saturday we took part in a boat trip on the Geirangerfjord and made a long (and maybe also slightly dangerous) hiking trip from the middle of the fjord home to Geiranger. We disembarked from the boat at the foot of a huge cliff and climbed all the way to the top on a rather thin and steep path. Our way also took us through woods and some mountain pastures to a hight of 550m over the fjord, gifting us with breathtaking views and giving me good opportunities to overcome my vertigo (Imagine standing on a 50cm path - only holding on to a steel wire cable and seeing the fjord 200 - 300m directly beneath you!).

In the evening we cooked tasty french crêpes in a collaborative effort and Günther and me were able to improve our cooking skills under supervision of our three beautiful french girls. ;)
On Sunday we went on two other short trips (a big waterfall and a viewing point) after having packed the car again and after having lunch there we finally hit the road again back to Trondheim. For this way we chose another route which took us over the Trollstigen and then through the countryside, altogether a 6 - 7 hours ride.
All in all it was an unforgettable weekend - a big THANK YOU to the wonderful people who accompanied me!