From the quaint coastal towns of the south, to the vast, wintery mountains in the north, I thought I had seen the bulk of the beauty that Norway had to offer. I lived in Mandal, Norway for four years of my life, and have gone to visit family countless times before and after that. The trip that I took this past summer, however, went far beyond my expectations. 

I was only going to have a week in Norway, because my cousin and I were going to take a small trip to Paris. So, my mother and I had planned that we would spend that week at our family's charming summer house on the island of Svinør, right off the southern coast. 

My cousin, however, had to go far up north to Hardanger, for a family reunion - and she wanted me to come with. After a lot of hemming and hawing (our summer house is one my absolute favorite places to spend the summer, and if I left with my cousin, I wouldn't get any time there at all...) I decided to take her up on the adventure, and travel a good eight hours to northern Norway. 

I am so thrilled that I did. Besides seeing snow and magnificent glaciers in the middle of August, I got to check two items off of my bucket list! The first, was to backpack and camp out in the middle of nowhere. Brisk mountain air whipped across our faces as we rushed to set up our tent on the open grasslands. You'd think the wind would deter the oversized mosquitos, but they were persistent as ever. We finally got the tent up, and our sleeping bags rolled out just in time to take in the vibrant, watercolored sunset as it bled out across the sky, draping the distant snow caps. 

The next morning, we woke up to what sounded like wind chimes, twisting in the breeze. As the sound grew louder and louder, we realized it was a herd of grazing sheep, and their bells were the wind chimes! We packed up, and headed into the closest town. There we met with the rest of her family, and were going to stay for the rest of the week. 

My next bucket list item was a nine hour hike to the top of "Trolltunga", a.k.a. The Trolls Tongue. Of course, for more experienced hikers, it doesn't take nine hours, but we weren't exactly experienced. It started off as very steep hike through a dense, muddy forest. My once light grey shoes were now covered in a very wet, very thick layer of muck. We traversed across streams, and small waterfalls, continuing up past the base of the mountain where we were met with an incredible sight. There was snow and ice covered lakes as far as the eye could see! Steam rose from the frozen water, casting an eerie blanket of fog across the icy valley. After what seemed like a never ending trek up, up, up - a few in our group contemplating turning around, when we realized we were minutes from the top!

Our legs were jello, but we pressed on. The excitement seemed to keep us moving. We finally stepped out onto the open plateau and saw the famous "Trolltunga" formation, jutting out from the face of the mountain.  As the fog lifted, you could see a few hundred feet below, a narrow channel of the most stunning, cerulean water creeping in between the mountains.

Never have I experienced such breathtaking beauty in my life. Summersaulting butterflies spread down to my toes and out to my fingertips as we made our way to the edge of the Troll's tongue. I thought to myself how fortunate we were to be there, to experience such awe-inspiring beauty; and I knew in that moment, I would remember that feeling forever.