Chilly stroll around the town of Bodø, Norway in winter

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Today was an easy day in Bodø, Norway: it snowed some, but Masayo and I strolled around a little bit, and I bought some Lantus. We mostly stayed in and enjoyed the food at the Clarion Collection Hotel Grand Bodø restaurant, all free (well, included in the room price).

My BGs were a little high, but not too terrible, all day. In the morning I was 164, and Masayo and I eagerly went downstairs to enjoy the breakfast buffet. It was excellent, as good as the dinner had been last night (and as good as the Comfort Hotel Park in Trondheim). We ate our fill of fruit, pastries, eggs, sausages, yogurt, and bottomless coffee. Snow was falling outside, and this great meal in the warm, old hotel made it a really atmospheric morning.

Then we went out to find the tourist info office, which turned out to be next door. The lady there gave me a tourist map of Bodø, but told the same story when I asked if she had a map of Norway: yes, but not for free. I didn’t want to spend $25 on a map (one that’s been free in every other country).

She also advised us about places we could try to catch the Northern Lights, but said it didn’t seem likely since it was cloudy. One spot, the best, was a hill about 4 km outside of town; a bus could take us most of the way there. The other, easier but not as dark spot, was at the end of the pier in town. (Away from city lights is the best way to see the aurora.)

 

We walked a little bit along the water’s edge, looking at the boats and the absorbing view across the dark, cold waters to the bit of land beyond with its snow-dusted mountains.

Bodø Cathedral

We walked up a hill to the center of town and found the cathedral, which has a nice spire and an open door: we went in and watched a guy practice songs on the pipe organ, while we and a few other people admired the stained glass and took photos of the cavernous interior.

I walked by a pharmacy and decided to stop in and see if they could sell me Lantus, after the place in Trondheim told me I’d have to go get a prescription from a doctor.

This time, my pharmacist was a younger lady who was from Stockholm, and had come to live in Bodø just for fun. She said they had Lantus pens that were about $13 each, and although I didn’t have a prescription, she could sell them to me as a tourist under a special “emergency” rule. But it would cost me about $12.

That sounded like a good deal to me, and it took a big weight off my mind. Now I have enough Lantus and Humalog to last a while.

After that it was back to the hotel, where it was waffle time. I checked and was disappointed to find I was 256, and must have been so since breakfast several hours earlier. But Masayo and I made our waffles, and topped them with either Norwegian brown cheese or cream and marmalade. I took a big shot and thought the waffles were simple but really good.

Around 8 pm it was dinner time, and my BG was now 182 — better, anyway. The dinner buffet at the restaurant tonight was tacos, and they were really good. I actually had tortilla chips with the cheese and meat mix on top, with salsa and olives. It was so good, I had a second full plate, which is unusual for me. In my experience tortilla chips don’t have many carbs so I thought I might be ok. The fruit and salad and desserts were delicious too, of course.

Despite the large dinner, my BG finally settled down after dinner: I was 132 at 11 pm. It’s been almost a month since I fixed my nighttime BGs. No more 300 every night!

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