North. [Roadtrip around Norway #6]

“We are now in the Arctic circle,” I write my mum. She sends me an emoji filled text message back.

“💖 Congratulations 🌟🎉🎊🎈🔔🎶🐧 Probably you will stay the only ones in the family 😄.”

We keep heading north, two days of just driving with no fjords but gas station burgers.

We stop for the Marmorslottet and stretch our legs during a morning hike to the roaring river which carved out the beautiful marble stone. And we stop at the Arctic Circle Center to take a picture and soak in the air.

Does it feel like the temperature dropped 5 degrees? Yes.

It’s cold. Very cold. I keep wearing shorts. Sometimes with long johns underneath, sometimes with an additional pair of down shorts on top. But it’s still calendrical summer so I am stubborn and keep on doing it.

Also, I didn’t bring long pants.

We can’t shake off the feeling of Alaska when we pull into a secluded overnight spot by a stony river bed. Alaska and the American north-west have been our plans for the summer.

Now it is Norway and I am grateful for it.

I look at my phone. I can’t unsee the penguin my mum sent. There are no penguins in the Arctic.

I guess there was no polar bear emoji.