I told you guys I’d show you how we eat our waffle, so here you go- a recipe for Norwegian waffles!
I decided to make it with a twist and ended up making protein waffles instead. It only ended up with 10 grams of protein pr. waffle, but it can be adjusted by exchanging some of the flour for protein powder. It’s almost as delicious as normal waffles and very quick to make!
So here you go, Norwegian waffles with a twist!
This batch made around 7 waffles, but this depends on the size of your waffle iron.
200 g wheat flour (can be switched for whole wheat flour to make the waffles healthier)
1 scoop of Dymatize iso vanilla flavour
1 scoop of Dymatize casein chocolate flavour
1 tsp cardamom
3 dl 0% fat milk
50 g melted butter
1 tsp honey
1 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add all the dry ingredients together in a bow and slowly pour the milk in, a little by the time. Mix well to avoid lumps! This is always where I go wrong with my baking, hehe.
Mix the eggs into the batch and add the melted butter. Leave the batch to rest for 30 minutes.
For a full info blog post about Norwegian waffles, brown cheese and the regular waffle recipe, check out The Stay at Home Chef.
Romsdalseggen might be rated expert, but I would say that it’s a relatively safe trek, as the ridge is thick enough and have chains for support at the roughest parts. This is why, even with the weather forecast showing us constant rain, that we choose to try to climb the Romsdalseggen Ridge on the one day in the midst of all the rain, where it seemed to be a sunny day! And I am so glad we did!
Mountain mood
From my hometown, Levanger, it was a 5:30 hour/ 379 KM drive to get to Åndalsnes. Åndalsnes is, by some, called the mountain capital of Norway, and it’s not without any reason. It is home to some of the most beautiful mountains and sceneries in Norway.
We started our drive the day before so we could camp out in Åndalsnes the day before, to start fresh for our trek. Unless you live close to Åndalsnes, this is probably the best idea. Because you will need to make the 9:30 AM bus on the day of your trek if you want to experience the full range of Romsdalseggen ridge. And mainly so you don’t have to walk back to the parking lot after the trek. It’s a long 12 km walk and taxi in Norway is not very affordable.
We sat up camp in the middle of the night and couldn’t really see well. I thought we did well until I saw our tent the following morning, hehe.
You see, the trek itself starts at Vengedalen/Venjesdalen at a parking lot in a convenient location in the valley where it’s easy for both cars and busses to reach. The best way to get here is by taking the bus in the morning (there is only one departure time for most part of the season). You can get on the bus right outside Tindesenteret. It’s impossible to miss that building once you get to the centre!
Up up we go!
The trek starts at about 600 meters above sea level and will take you to a rather steep terrain in the first couple of hours. Once you are half way up you are rewarded with a breath-taking view over the mountain range. The most amazing part of this trek is the scenery… wherever you turn you will be seeing something spectacular. Fjords, waterfalls, mountain ranges, and a small peak at Troll latter road. It’s just insane.
Once your about 3 km up, you are almost at the peak. This is where the best photo-op is! A beautiful panoramic view over Rauma river and some of the Romsdal mountain range such as Romsdalshorn, Breitinden og Trollveggen/Trolltindene.
From here onwards you are starting to understand why the trek is called the Romsdalseggen Ridge. The next few kilometers you wll be ascending on a ridge, and once you hit the peak at 1216 MOH at Mjølvafjellet, you will be descending on the ridge as well. So, there is plenty of scenery to explore, on both sides!
I thought I had made it… untill I understood that the descending part must have been why this trek was rated expert! Remember to bring good trekking shoes when going here.
That scenery…
Once you hit the little rock cabin at Neksala, the terrain starts to change and the downhill path in the rubble and forest is harsh. I would say it’s a lot more tiring than on the way up and it’s going to take you several hours to get down unless you run for it. I regret not bringing some knee support as it becomes quite demanding after “Rampestreken” and downwards.
The famous “Rampestreken” a long ledge where you can walk out and take pictures above Åndalsnes city.
The total trek is around 10,5 km, and the average person will spend approximately 7 hours to complete the trek. The trek ends right in Åndalsnes centre. Which is why you should leave your car there and catch the bus up.
To complete the trek you should go have some pizza at Mama Rosa, I got one of the spicy pizzas with garlic sauce and it saved my day!
Wow, it’s been 4 months. And a lot has happened since. But, first, I’ll start with something plain and simple, my annual summer holiday back to my home country- which most of you already know, is good old Norway. When I moved abroad, I never thought that I would ever want to return to Norway, other than for holidays, but the older I get there is a piece of me that gets stuck every time I return.
I ate brunost (brown cheese) almost every day I was there… and I even brought some home. What is wrong with me?! I don’t even eat brown cheese, haha. I also just ordered myself a waffle iron, for heart shape waffled so I’ll show you guys how we eat waffles in Norway. And what brown cheese aka. brunost is!
We started of the trip in Oslo, which was supposed to be one day… but all the flights to Trondheim was fully booked so it turned out to be almost a full week in Oslo. It was nice, to see Oslo more than just for daily trips. And quite frankly during the week, Oslo did grow on me. I’ll show you some of the eating and beer gems we stumbled upon in a later post.
Most of the holiday was spent in Levanger, 10 days to be precise. And during this time, along with some of the days in Oslo, I got to work on my Fortnite skills! It’s crazy looking back to when I first moved here and how my baby siblings who still live at home have grown up. Alex and Christina was just a button and a doll when I left. Now, Alex is all grown up playing soccer, video games and hanging out with his friends without me and Christina a teenager, loving her TV series and Youtube! You can follow her channel here .Time really does fly.
Norway has had some insane weather this summer, but of course on the day that we arrived, it was starting to turn a bit grey… We were lucky enough to get one day of super sunny weather in Oslo. Also I, was following the weather forecast closely when we came to Levanger so I could plan our hike to Romsdalseggen, which has been my bucket list for quite a while now. Did we make it? I’ll be writing about our post to Åndalsnes and *hopefully* our trip to Romsdaleggen very soon.
For anyone interested for more stuff from Norway or travel tips around Norway, you can start by clicking here to see how to make the perfect roadtrip around Norway in only seven days!
I planned for a little weekend getaway for Tom’s birthday and wanted to go somewhere we had never explored before. I’ve always had Saraburi in the back of my mind after finding the gem Baan Souchada Resort and Spa at the travel fair at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. Saraburi is known for their abundance of sun flowers, so in my mind I was thinking a nice getaway in natural surroundings at their perfect rice field villa overlooking the sunflower fields… though, as I found out, sunflower season is over by the end of January, so for Tom’s birthday on the 9th, they would all have gone away.
Even if there was no sunflowers, I was very impressed with their premises. I love hotels that aren’t mainstream brands. And honestly the pictures of the pool villa upgrade was convincing enough. The villa is gorgeous, still overlooking the rice fields, but with a long pool and a smaller mini pool to relax. There is also an outside Jacuzzi in the back of the villa.
Workout of today could easily be done here!
Nothing more appealing than green surroundings. This is pretty much right in front of the pool villas!
What was equally as good was their food and wine. We did their set menu and Tom was particularly impressed with their salad, which is never Tom’s fave. So much that he had to find out where the chef had studied, which was, exactly as he guessed Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School. Oh and don’t forget to try the spa at least one day, great price, dreamy, and it has an authentic Thai vibe.
On cloud 9 after a Thai massage… 55
So peaceful to sit downstairs at the spa, there’s an area for yoga as well!
All the villas (at least in the area we were staying) were running on solar panels placed on the roof. They also plant their own crops, flowers and are farming animals on the property. You can also spot little birdies everywhere and there’s a bird watch tower for that purpose as well.
Many beautiful temple sites around Saraburi. Wat Phra Phutthabat is probably the one that stands out the most. If you only have time for one temple- this is it!
Pa Sak Jolasid Dam
What’s a dam if not for posing :p
Sooo jelly at Tom here, Monkey is my spirit animal!!! There are monkey’s EVERYWHERE IN LOPBURI. But they are very naughty!
These monkey’s are just living along the streets in Lopuri. How insane.
Around the property there’s the Jolasid dam, markets, honey farm (they might not be farming bees as this is seasonal, but they have some amazing beauty products), temples and with easy access to the vineyards in Muak Lek. We also drove by Lopburi on the way home, which is no more than 20 minutes away. Beware of the monkey’s tho, they stole my ice cream!
Conclusion: if you love nature, exploring, wine…, monkey’s and awesome (pool) villas, you have to go to Saraburi!
I can’t say this enough times. Japan have always been on my bucket list and I can’t believe that I still haven’t been able to go. This year we have decided that we will definitely be crossing Tokyo off the list- so no more dreaming!
From talking to friends, watching movies, or just browsing online we all might resonate Tokyo with a hi tech city filled with lights, unique shopping malls, luxury hotels and endless places to eat. But being able to be part of the Japanese Metropolitan Govt projects I have discovered that it has so much more for us to see.
Japan is such a beautiful country with so much variety, just watching this video you can see all the different sceneries Tokyo has to offer.
I’ve always been in love with the outdoors and exploring as much as possible when staying in one place. Walking around the temples in Asakusa, followed by Japanese markets, cruising in horse carriages around the city…sampling Japanese culture wherever you go.
**Don’t forget to use the 360 view when watching the video
Just a small plane ride to the Chugoku region and we can explore their largest city Hiroshima. Hiroshima might be known to you through history, but it is also a very popular tourist destination. It’s being praised for it’s rural beauty and a stunning scenery, perfect to be explored by bike. While you are there, it’s worth visiting the town Onomichi, to walk up the cosy concrete hills to watch the beautiful viewpoint over the town, or if you want to relax and have as much time as possible for other activities you can go for the cable car which gives you rewarding views all the way up to the top.
So which one is it? Are you going to Tokyo or Chugoku region? Or are you like me and will plan for a two week trip and get to see it all?
*This post has been presented by Tokyo Metropolitan Govt but it’s all my own thoughts and opinions.
I fall deeper in love with my mothers home village every time I go there. Being there, surrounded by fresh air, nature, calmness and positive people just makes your brain go wild and think freely. It’s like a meditation for my brain and I end up somewhere else, but still complete connected to everyone around me. It’s hard to explain! The phone is also less used which honestly, I find to be the best feeling ever. I rarely come upon such easy going, simple and selfless people in my life. They posses a lot less items than us, yet they seem to have everything they need. They probably have fewer years of school than us Bangkokians, yet they seem 100 years wiser than us. It’s true happiness. I’m really glad I’ve had time to go there so often lately to see my grandparents!
Golden sunsets in Isaan!
Super zoom. But I had to show you the level of mutualism and happiness here!
So many doggies around the streets. Normally everyone let their gates open for the doggies to roam around. So cute. Puppies everywhere and they are all being fed and taken care of.
One happy Diego!
My neighbour got this from her tree and came to offer us some. So fresh, sweet and yummy. It wasn’t even refrigerated, but still super nice.
I brought along Diego this time, as the cold season is here and he can roam around in the garden freely and not in any risk of heat stroke. I think it’s the happiest I have ever seen him. He ran around for hours and got cuddles wherever he went. That being said, he was quite the rascal to other dogs, and there was no way he was letting them in to play on his property without ether playing with him or fighting with him… He also encountered his first meeting with a chicken and I have to say he seemed very surprised and curious to what this creature was.
