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Today was one of the absolute top highlights of this trip, and besides that, a pretty good day of blood sugars. Until the end, anyway.
Today we drove along a tiny dirt road in for northeastern Norway that hugs the border with Russia. The road leads to a small, barely-there community called Grense Jakobselv on the Barents Sea. It’s quite a feeling, to look ahead to the Arctic Ocean a few feet away, look left and see impassable Norwegian mountains, and look right and be gazing into the Murmansk region of Russia.
Breakfast at Scandic Hotel, Kirkenes
It was the last full day in Norway, too. For breakfast at Scandic Hotel in Kirkenes, we had the usual breakfast buffet; my BG was a cool 157. Which means the pizza and nachos from last night had been handled quite well.
We set out in the rental car, first along paved roads, then a rugged dirt road, to Grense Jakobselv. After stopping to look into (but not dare cross into!) Russia, we passed by the famous Oscar II Chapel, and found ourselves at the sunny and freezing cold wind of the Arctic Ocean.
Norway’s oldest mountain, on the way to Grense Jakobselv
In the car, watching a seal bob in the frigid, choppy waters in front of the car, we had leftover pizza from last night. My BG was by now 163 – staying steady. The pizza was easy to dose for; it was fairly thin, which helps.
Us at the border. Russia is across that river
Enthused and drained from the day’s activities, we drove back along the same rural roads and back to Kirkenes and the hotel. There, I checked to see what was up and my blood sugar was 71. For me, on the low side of acceptable.
Beside the Arctic Ocean
For dinner we had reservations at a place called Aurora. We got tapas: several plates of interesting, delicious, and expensive little dishes. (This being our last night in Norway, we splurged.) This was particularly tough to dose for; you never know what dishes unexpectedly have sugar dumped into them.
I didn’t do a great job – shortly before 11 pm I was up to 245. Oh well. Could certainly have been worse. And to be honest, the memories of seeing one of Norway’s most inhospitable and difficult-to-reach places was a far stronger sensation than anything diabetes-related.
What a trip.
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