" Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength." Betty Friedan, one of the founders of the feminist movement.
All of a sudden it is here, I turn seventy - a milestone. I see flashes of my life dangling in front of my eyes. Falling in love for the first time. My first slow dance. Being rejected. My father taking me to the movies to see "Love me Tender" with Elvis Presley. Sunsets on the sea from my bedroom window and swimming in the warm Mediterranean sea. Decades later, getting married and moving to the US to fulfill my dream to work as a film editor in Hollywood. Another decade goes by and I get established in the business, buy a house, have kids. Then, my father passes and almost a decade later my mom, and without a pause, our kids graduate from college. Chapters in my history, layers of the book documenting my lifelong journey. I loved, I laughed, I cried and I messed up here and there along the way. I've walked in foreign lands, I explored, I tasted, I smelled, I grew more open to the world around me. My contract for the next decade is to age gracefully, to continue to love, to explore, to grow, to be curious and to travel to destinations that will take my breath away one more time.
Stockholm
As the last rays of sun slowly descend, in this chilly late autumn’s afternoon, I find myself wandering around the labyrinth cobblestone streets and the narrowest alleys of Gama Stan, Stockholm’s old city. We just landed a couple of hours ago and while admiring the fall colors, I already feel like I am being transported to Medieval times. Antique shops housed in fine 15th and 16th century buildings, former merchant palaces, gabled houses adorned with ornate portals and just around the corner, what used to be the house of the city executioner. Here, in Stortorget, the charming and picturesque main square of today, was the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath of November 1520. Denmark’s King Christian II defeated the Swedish Regent and hosted a party to celebrate his win. Towards the end of the festivities, the partygoers were suddenly bolted in. The following day, more than 80 Swedish noblemen were guillotined in the square and a pyramid of their heads was displayed in the square. The blood kept streaming down the square. A bloodbath.
To my surprise, I haven’t used cash even once while here - It’s a cashless society. We are going down the stairs to the Stockholm subway, but our destination is right here below, in the platform, where it is said to be the longest public art exhibit - 110 kilometers long. Stockholm has covered their subway stations with art. Some are uniquely designed to reflect something of the history of the area that the station is in - what a treat! Following the locals tradition, we stop for fee-kuh ( A ritual of taking a break) with coffee and a cinnamon bun to slow down, relax and watch the world go by.
The Vasa museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged. The Vasa was the Titanic of its day - larger than anything else and it sank about 25 minutes after launch into Stockholm Harbor: What a disaster!
Taking a small break from the many museums of the city, we hop on a ferry to go to Drottningholm Palace. This hour long boat ride, gives us an opportunity for a glimpse of some of the towns and the islands along the way. The palace, a world heritage site, is the most well-preserved royal castle built in the 1600s in Sweden. The combination of the exotic Chinese Pavilion pleasure palace, the palace theatre - the oldest theatre that is still in use and the magnificent manicured gardens are extraordinary. The Baroque garden is laid out in a French manner and is embellished with statues, topiaries and waterfalls. A beautiful oasis!
It is still dark when we leave our Bergen hotel, on the west coast of Norway, in the heart of the fjords, to go to our “Norway in a nutshell” tour which is a train ride to a bus to a cruise. We start in Gudvangen, an old Viking village at the head of the narrowest fjords, Nærøyfjord, with its steep mountains and narrow inlets. Villages are scattered along the river, houses are painted red and yellow, touching the shore. Waterfalls penetrate through the granite cliffs and rush down with a vengeance into the fjord. The rivers looks dark, rough and full of angry white caps. All of this is a big contrast with the small white wooly dots of sheep balancing along the mountainside. Fog covers the top of the cliffs with snow capped peaks showing here and there. It is so very picturesque. Then the sun comes out for a few seconds and it becomes absolutely magnificent with the trees shading their yellow leaves- I love fall colors.
Norway is considered one of the wealthiest countries. Throughout our visit, we haven't encountered any homeless people anywhere. Only 80% of the people are ethnic Norwegians even though it felt more diverse than 20% would indicate. Norway's main source of income is its petroleum industry that helps finance Norway's welfare state - one lucky nation! Driving on a steep and narrow, windy road up to the lookout platform of Stegastein. The views are stunning and on a clear day, you can see the panoramic view of the Aurlandsfjord but my nerves run scared with each curve - and this is not a clear day! The Stegastein viewpoint is 650-meters above sea level, 30-meters long and 4-meter wide and is constructed to give you an illusion of floating above the fjord. It is quite spectacular, if you have the courage to come near the edge. Rain is pouring down, winds are so fierce that I refuse to walk even near the edge. But our driver has a different idea of what I need to see, and he pulls me forward to my horror. The wind pushes me the other direction and I find myself in limbo in a comic situation, crying and laughing at the same time. Then without hesitation he climbs up on the rails to take a photo of us. Needless to say, my legs were shaking just looking at him standing there.
Lofoten Islands.
We slowly make our way up north. In stages. Twenty minute long small plane flights, hopping from one island to the next. Lofoten is one of the world's most beautiful archipelagos - mountain peaks, arctic fjords, black rocks, white snow and azure water between the gushing white caps - a dramatic landscape. I am changing into my arctic safari pants. It is tedious and time consuming getting dressed - so many layers. By the time I am all wrapped and bundled up, I need to go to the bathroom again… The islands feel incredibly remote and lie above the Arctic Circle. It was a home to the biggest Viking house that has ever been found. We are staying in one of the original Rorbuer, (row boat house) a well preserved fisherman’s hut. These cabins were built in the 18th century to house the seasonal workers who came to fish for cod. The buildings are constructed on land, but with one end on poles over the water, making for easy access to the vessels. Our cabin is charming, toasty and quaint but in the olden days it housed up to 18 people. The red paint on the exterior of the cabins are a reference to the original use of cod-liver oil and blood for the pigment red, as paint itself, was expensive.
Winds are blowing 100 miles per hour and it is pouring rain, our southern tour of the beautiful Archipelago is canceled due to safety measures and bridges between islands closing. In desperation and not willing to let the day go, I contacted a local guide to show us around here in Svolver, anticipating a boring day. So how delightfully surprised I am when the day turns into a fantastic exploration of the island and its history. Standing here, between the mountains and the Norwegian sea, in the storm, my hair blowing in the howling wind and I look across to the first settlement in Lofoten, which dates back to the Viking age. The Vikings, originally Scandinavians, raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout Europe from late 8th to late 11th century. A common myth shows the Vikings wearing a horned helmet. In fact, this image is primarily due to 19th century work of the iconic costume design for Wagner's Der Ring, an epic tale of the Norse. For his work, the costume designers depicted Viking characters wearing horned helmets, solidifying this image in popular culture. Immersed in heroic legends and folktales, with the bold and dramatic, sudden and surprising raging waves crashing against the rocky coastline, It cast a spell on me. The different shades of gray, from pitch black ashen sky to dark grayish clouds with white foamy waves and in between sections of turquoise water - magnificent!
To top it all off, we have a private floating sauna with a fantastic view of the harbor. Sweating out the cold weather, we relax and get a sense of comfort and rejuvenation. After shedding a good amount of sweat, we jump out to cool off and dip in the frozen fjord, then immediately take an outdoor hot shower and hop right back inside to sweat it all over again. On our third journey out, the door snapped close on us and we found ourselves outside in the freaking cold naked. We yell for help. Nothing. Nothing. The wind that carries our pleas for a rescue falls on no ears - it is too cold for anyone to be outside. Reluctantly, Jason sprints out barefoot and naked up the stairs towards the nearby restaurant, knocking on windows like a madman to grab someone's attention. It is 5.55 pm, five minutes before dinnertime, so there are no customers but some waiters setting the tables. He grabs one guy's attention, the door gets unlocked and we go back inside, get warm again and grab our clothes to go back to our room. Luckily for us, the whole incident didn't happen five minutes later when people would already be sitting down to dine. Otherwise, we would have been the laughingstock of the place. Phew!
Tromso
Our day starts not like any other day, It holds a promise that something big might happen that will make it stand out from all other days and will be etched in my memory forever. But as of now, it is still just a wish. I have traveled to the north of Norway, to Tromsø, nestled above the arctic circle, the world's northernmost city with a population over 50,000, to find the best possible opportunity to see the northern lights dancing. Tonight is the first of three nights that we have to work with.
It so happened that we are here during the solar maximum. During this most active part of the 11 year solar cycle, the sun unleashes immense explosions of light and solar radiation. When this particles from the sun, interact with the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, they produce a display of lights in the polar regions, known as the Northern Lights ( Aurora Borealis ) in the northern Hemisphere and Aurora Australis in the Southern Hemisphere. We board an electric boat to go down the fjord, out of the city lights, to find a gap in the clouds. If we find that gap, our chances to see the aurora borealis are good. My eyes are glued to the clear, starry sky, watching in anticipation- am I going to be lucky tonight? Then, slowly, it starts coming, the northern lights turns the night into a spectacular colorful spectacle. Standing outside in the cold and wind, I watch how it slowly grows stronger and stronger and an exceptional display of colors, with some amazing reds and pale pinks on top of the regular greens with ribbon like patterns and swirls show up above us. Nature's own light show at its best. It is a gift I will always cherish.
This morning we embark on an arctic adventure to go to Lapland, to visit the indigenous people of the North, the Sami people. The Sami, make their living from reindeer herding and fishing. In a traditional lavvo (Sami tent) we are introduced to their daily lives. We test (or some of us do) traditional Sami food ( reindeer stew- not for a vegetarian!), we hear about their winters that can go down to - 51 degrees celsius and look at the clothes they make for that kind of weather. Then we go out to help feed the reindeer. The reindeer are friendly but picky about how they like to be fed. Their antlers, are a bony extension of their skull and they shed them annually, usually after mating season and regrow them at a speed of up to 3/8 of an inch a day at their peak. It was a great experience if not for my boots that smelled of mud and reindeer poop for several days after. Over the course of the 1800s until 1960s the Sami people were a subject of assimilation policies adopted by the Norwegian government. The Sami were considered an alien people and the policy was to assimilate non-Norwegian-speaking native populations into an ethnically and culturally uniform Norwegian population.
It has been challenging few days. I have learned that there are different degrees of cold and different shades of dark. The sun is low on the horizon and there are gusty winds blowing. Sunset is at 2.50pm. I have a nasty red eye inflammation from all the dust particles that fly in the air. It takes a physical and mental adjustment to get used to all of this. Nevertheless, tonight, we are set for another long night of Aurora Borealis chasing. We are bundled up in a van, this time driving couple of hours north east to a remote spot out of the city and wait. If we won't get lucky here, we will have to cross the border to Finland. It takes patience. Some of us are wearing snow gear, in preparation for the long hours and cold. Waiting for the lady in green, to cast her magic spell on us. The term aurora first surfaced in 1619 when Galileo named these fascinating lights according to the Roman Aurora, goddess of the dawn. Conversely, the words borealis and australis are coming from Greek mythology. These names are derived from ancient gods – the north wind (Boreas) and the south wind (Auster). So here we are, up at midnight, watching the naked sky with anticipation and...YES! We are being blessed to encounter the silent dance of the Northern Lights one more time. Surprisingly, right now, in this moment, I don't care how cold it is or how bad my eyes are weeping, the experience takes my breath away and that is all that matters - A perfect Birthday present
"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years" Abraham Lincoln.
Into the next decade!
Photography by Jason McBride and Irit Raz-McBride
Credits:
Created with images by Gatherina - "Magnifying glass showing planet earth on top of laptop keyboard" • Zerophoto - "Location Norway. Red pin on the map."