Tag: Norway

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From Sea Safaris to Northern Lights (Telegraph)

When I was invited on a press trip to the Arctic Circle in February to witness and write about the famous Northern Lights, I didn’t hesitate for a moment. Norway has always been one of my favourite countries. One side of my mother’s family comes from Norway, and we spent many happy holidays there when I was young, visiting relatives and staying at a pretty basic hytte (hut, or chalet) in the mountains north of Oslo where we’d spend long summer evenings collecting bilberries. But I’d never been to the north of the country, to Arctic Circle and the magical Lofoten and Vesterålen Islands. And yes, I did see the Northern Lights, and plenty more besides…

Northern Light hunting. I’m the one in the red coat.
© Oystein Lunde Ingvaldsen
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Letter from Hinnøya (Sunday Telegraph magazine)

One of the most interesting (of many very interesting) characters I met in the Norwegian Arctic Circle in February was a Saami lady, Laila Inga. Along with her husband, Arilde, she ran a reindeer farm and was attempting to carry on her traditional, semi-Nomadic life helped by the technological aids of the modern world (skidoos in stead of dog sleighs, for example). But along with improvements in technology, life in the 21st century also brought her challenges, such as the fear that her kids would not want to carry on with the hard life of an Arctic reindeer herder. A very small part of my interview with her was published in the Sunday Telegraph’s magazine, SEVEN.

Laila Inga and her husband, Arilde
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Bergen, Norway: a cultural city guide (Sunday Telegraph)

After trips to Libya, Tunisia and Palestine this year I decided to escape the Arab uprisings and visit Norway. My grandmother was Norwegian, and we’d enjoyed family holidays there,  but I hadn’t been to Bergen since I was a child. In an age of increasing homogeneity it was good to visit a place that is so distinctly – well – Norwegian. The Telegraph published my cultural guide to the city.