I have written about many adventures in Pursuitist, here are some 2014 favorites, and not in any particular order. This has been a most exciting year!
February 2014 – Norway
In Ibsen’s Apartment
It was a dark and stormy day – I wanted to see the Ibsen Museum, as I had always wanted to see his memorabilia and the apartment he worked in. I walked to the museum, went in, and there were only two young women working there, and I was the only one in the museum. After looking at old playbills, and a fan ( see below) where he wrote his name, I was taken to his apartment, and left there. I did not feel his presence, or see anything unusual, but the mood of the apartment – dark, with snow falling outside, was truly Ibsenesque. I could imagine him writing Hedda Gabler, or A Doll’s House right there at that desk. Right in front of me! For many, this would have been an interesting experience, but for an undergrad Euro Lit major like me, this was priceless!
On a King Crab Safari
250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in Kirkenes
We flew from Oslo to Kirkenes – and Kirkenes was a fascinating, distant place: three miles from the Russian border, and 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle. We stayed at the Kirkenes Snow Hotel, went on a King Crab Safari, and on a dogsled ride.
To get to the hole in the ice where the King Crabs were caught, we went on a long sleigh/snowmobile ride out on the fjords. It was bracing, and holding a huge King Crab in my hands was again a priceless experience.
Seeing The Northern Lights on Hurtigruten — The last night on the Hurtigruten steamship journey, from Kirkenes back to Bergen, I did see the Northern Lights. This was such a mind-altering experience; one that is a few steps beyond priceless. In prep for this exceptional journey, on the Midnatsol, one of the many Hurtigruten ships, I did read up on them, hoping I could see what the Chinese saw millennia ago, what Seneca and many Greek philosophers saw, and what so many others have seen and wondered at. It is said there is also vibratory music attached to them, but since it was 2:30AM in the morning before we docked, I heard only the sighs of wonder from the few who shared this experience with me.
April 2014 — Naples, Florida –
Driving a Lamborghini
Getting behind the wheel and driving (a short distance) in a red Lamborghini Aventador with paddle control, something I had never seen or experienced before. I am not an automobile journalist, and I felt they had really picked the wrong person to drive this $397,000 RED machine. But I believe they were looking for cautious (and slightly terrified) drivers, and I was certainly one of those. I survived and so did the Lambo, thankfully.
May 2014 – Logan, Utah
Having second knee replacement surgery — To call this experience an adventure may be a misnomer, but doing this the second time in two years defined a kind of adventurous spirit. I figured if this one was as successful as the last, then I could indeed go snowshoeing, cross countrying and eventually skiing with my friends and family. It is done, thanks Dr. Larson, and I have gone snowshoeing and cross country-ing. Haven’t gone downhill yet. That is for next year, in a couple of days.
October, 2014 – Riviera Maya, Mexico
On a Riviera Maya jungle adventure. We went ziplining across a jungle lagoon, with alligators (they told me this later,) and then went trekking through a jungle rainforest near Coba, an archeological site I had been to before, but wanted to see again. While trekking, I saw something I never thought I would ever see – a Blue Morpho Butterfly. I am not an entomologist, but a friend of my mother’s had a butterfly collection, and her favorite was this iridescent blue Morpho. The butterfly caught a sunbeam, and I saw, just for an instant, the blue light up the tangles of vines and shrubs around it. It was as glorious, in its momentary, transcendent way, as the Northern Lights.
