Brown cheese may not seem like a glamorous food to be famous for, but it really is delicious! Upon learning about how it is made it becomes even less glamorous – after producing goat cheese, the remaining by-product is made into the much-loved brown cheese. Just try not to think too much about that. It's still delicious…
Bergen market, whale (Jenny Johnston)
One may not think of Norway as a culinary destination, but this self-proclaimed “foodie” begs to differ! I ate a variety of unique foods such as minke whale, reindeer, lingonberry, cloudberry, apple cider champagne, and Norwegian waffles. I also consumed ghastly amounts of salmon…in every form imaginable…
Fish soup at Fish Market in Stavanger (Jenny Johnston)
The seafood is truly not to be missed, as it is extremely fresh and the Norwegians are innovative in their preparations of it. Our first meal of the trip, eaten at a fish market on the Stavanger shore, remains one of my favorite. Rich, creamy fish soup with puddles of green olive oil floating on the surface, grilled red fish with potatoes and local vegetables, hot bread with fresh butter, and tart apple juice.
Red fish at Fish Market in Stavanger (Jenny Johnston) Local venison of Urnes at Walaker Hotell, the oldest hotel in Norway (Jenny Johnston)
I loved the vast array of culinary delights I experienced while in Norway. A single day would behold traditional open-faced sandwiches, crisp apples picked along a hiking trail, and a four course gourmet dinner enjoyed by a roaring fireplace. We saw the origin of food at Hanasand Farm in Rennesoy, witnessed a passion for tradition at Balestrand’s Ciderhuset, and got a glimpse of how community and cuisine are strongly intertwined at the Salmon Festival of Hjelmland.
Ciderhuset, Balestrand (Jenny Johnston)
I will leave you with the menu of the most memorable meal of the trip. This was enjoyed in Bergen, (over the course of four hours!), at the neofjordic restaurant, Lysverket. All ingredients were local and recently foraged. Expect to be hungry after reading this…
- Pumpkin soup with crème fraiche
- Charcuterie of thinly-sliced cured meats
- Radishes with clams
- Squid and octopus with marinated cherry tomatoes
- Hake fish perfectly prepared – crisp outer crust but moist and flaky inside – with local green beans, tiny potatoes, a white sauce made of bone marrow that had been slow-cooked for two days!
- Bread basket: sourdough, nut and grain, hard square biscuits, sweet butter rolls
- Butters: smoked cod butter, churned sweet cream butter, homemade ricotta from a single local cow
- Buttermilk lime ice cream with shortbread cookies, sweet marinated plums, butterscotch sauce, and basil
- Aquavit jellies, miniature berry cakes, Dutch pancakes
- Wine pairings throughout the meal: bubbly white, Italian white, syrupy sweet dessert wine, apple cider
Breakfast waffles at Walaker Hotell, the oldest hotel in Norway (Jenny Johnston)
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
1 day ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
1 day ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
6 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.