Riding the Norwegian Rails

Okay, I’m not actually in Norway riding the rails but you can pretend on YouTube. One night I was trying to see what was being put out in YouTube to get a sense of what people were feeling and how they were reacting to this crisis when I briefly saw something about riding the rails in Norway. I ignored it, moved on and then stopped and thought, “Wait a minute. Norway. That might be interesting.”

Norway is totally different world from where I live. Half way around the world with real winter and seemingly a better lifestyle, so I’ve read. So, I backtracked and clicked on the video and entered a world of riding the Bergen rails in Norway during the wintertime. This video was not a live video because it is illegal to have live streaming from a train but the chat was live. The viewpoint is the driver’s viewpoint and the countryside flows by, mile after mile. Seeing the landscape covered in snow, admiring the distant mountains, and passing through occasionally clusters of Norwegian buildings. The passing landscape is hypnotic, mesmerizing and awe-inspiring. I try to imagine the lifestyle of living in such an environment. It is a totally different world.

The first time I entered this world, I must have watched it for at least an hour and half. So, I have to be careful.

After that, I explored other webcams to see what is going on in the world. The ones I like the most are the Norway rails in the winter, the rolling cams of Venice and the aurora webcams. The rolling cams of Venice shows different viewpoints of Venice from different hotels. The scenes are beautiful with the sparkling waters and the Italian architecture – the red tiles and the sundrenched walls. An interesting feature is that most of the buildings seem to be about four stories tall – nothing over four stories, as far as I can tell. The scenes are also sad because there is practically no one outside. Very few people venture outside.

I’m seeing the same denuded scenes in the US webcams, although not as severe. I can still see a few cars going by but I’m pretty sure that usually there are more cars and people.

The aurora webcam is the attempt to see an aurora. So far, it has been a bust; I think the show comes on after I turn off the videos to go to bed. The first time I clicked on the video the screen was pitch black. I was wondering if the camera was working but then I saw faint little quivering specks which turned out to be twinkling stars that had been covered up by clouds. The next night I tried again and saw the stars more clearly but no aurora was on display. I’m going to have to try again.

These videos are really a neat way of seeing other parts of the world. I just have to make sure I don’t get addicted to them.