Lunde Turiststasjon (or our apartment here in Norway)

Lunde is the beautiful farm where we are staying at here in Norway and it is run by the super friendly Linda. It smells of cows but when we took a walk around the property they were no where to be found. Apparently they bring their cows in for the entire winter and they won't be let back out to pasture until around March. Its not a hotel or even a motel, but instead a small collection of cabins and a larger farm house that the entire upper level has been renovated to accommodate three rooms and two full apartments. Originally when I made our reservation through Booking.com we were supposed to be staying in one of the smaller red cabins with grass growing on the roof, but since we were her only patrons she upgraded us for free to one of the full size apartments. After being here a few days I can honestly say that was a blessing as having our own kitchen and bathroom are much preferable to having to walk up to one of the larger buildings to cook dinner or use the toilet. The grounds are large and very green. Beyond the main housing area with the farm house, barn and cabins there is a hobbit house sauna with a hot tub along side the river that is fed directly from the melting snow and ice from the Jostedalsbreen Glacier. We explored the grounds and discovered that there is an archery area and even an outdoor dining room complete with lanterns and animal furs to keep warm on cold nights. Beyond the fields is the river which feeds the lake in the center of the valley. And yes the water is ice cold funny enough haha. The views are just stunning and I am sure that during the summer this area is just filled with people hiking the mountains and swimming in the lake. According to Linda during one of our many conversations, they had such an unusually warm year that the lake reached up to 33 degrees Celsius. Thats about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Imagine swimming in that crystal clear water at that temperature. I think I would spend my entire vacation in the water. But alas its too cold for us to swim this late into the season.