The Conquest Of Scandinavia

By Inge on 2005-09-25

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3. Frøde (Trondheim)

After a very nice journey from Ostersund (Sweden) to Trondheim (Norway), I was awaited by PyroZane. I managed to meet something close to the ideal girl in the train (some strings attached; travelling from the Netherlands to Norway on a regular base isn't that appealing, and two hours of interaction isn't the most solid proof of concept for making final verdicts about whether or not a certain person and I should live together the following 80 years), and was a bit blown out of my shoes due to that. PyroZane - snuff using, coke drinking, always laughing - didn't mind, even lend me his mobile phone to send pre-fabbed text messages to her ("Dear {fill out her name here}, I saw you {enter location}, and now I want to {choose preferable physical action}. My {enter type of location where you live} or yours?"), and shared his beer with me as a bonus. Much can be said, but not that PyroZane is inhospitable or unfriendly.
Trondheim is the most beautiful city I've ever seen. Period. Its variation in heights makes it absolutely gorgeous to overview it from different angles. The multitude of colours from buildings and nature, especially in combination with a nice evening sun, will turn even the most concrete-transformed authist into a warm, friendly and emotional dramatist. Especially the old city almost forces one to simply sit down at the river, gaze into nothingness for an hour or two, smoke a spliff or two think about anything that comes to mind, and return as a new person. I did, and if a half ADHD-patient can do and appreciate it, then everyone can.
It gets even better once you've witnessed the overwhelming exterior and interior of the Nidarosdomen. They charge you money to enter it (which makes it the only church out of the tens that I've visited that put a fee on the entrance!), but it's worth it atleast tenfold. The Nidarosdomen is as impressive and overwhelming as the sensation of getting a fragmentation bomb smashed into your head while you sleep. It's large, dark, gloomy, atmospheric, and very Warcraft 2. As a cherry on the pie, an opera choir was practising a work by Wagner while we strolled around the ancient walls, which sounded crisp clear and very impressive. Bury me there, I'd say.

Front and right side of Nidarosdomen

Interior of the Nidarosdomen in Trondheim

View from the top of the Nidarosdomen in Trondheim

The last location of interest where we went was the old fortress at the harbour. It's high above Trondheim, and no matter where you look, the view is beautiful. If the graveyard of the Nidarosdomen would accidently be overbooked, then I would happily accept any offer to lay my body in the ground of this fortress.

PyroZane and Inge on the wall of the fortress of Trondheim.

View over Tronheim from the walls of its fortress.

PyroZane - probably informed by SoulEye - also went for the give-the-boy-beer-and-wodka-and-he'll-be-fine-approach, which resulted in an Inge happily text-messaging the almost-random Norwegian girl from the train, sharing pizza with PyroZane, and sleeping in Frøde's living room like a brick on the bottom of the sea during an ice age. But, as the proverb says, there's a price you have to pay for everything. I personally was more than fine the following day, but PyroZane got dreadfully fed up with me ill and had to let me explore Trondheim further on my own. After some more and less interesting musea and visits to buildings of interest, I got onto my train towards my last MadTracker meet and greet for this interrailing adventure: Binärpilot in Oslo. The omen predicted nothing less than absolute chaos and physical damage, so with a big smile and a family package of anti-depressiva I got on the nighttrain to Oslo.

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