Emilie has already posted some awesome pictures from both events, here and here, so I've decided to take you behind the scenes of the cafe at magical Mabon a couple of weeks ago. I get a lot of questions about how it really is doing this kinds of pop-ups, especially in the forest, and its safe to say that it is as wonderful as it is exhausting, and often full of the unexpected.. This is the story of the days and hours leading up to the event. A messy story, with a very happy ending!
Getting to Mabon - The hours leading up to the event
After all, the more time we spend prepping in advance, the more time we have to play and have fun, both in the cafe and on the dance floor!
After 10hours of intense cooking, we got picked up by @xtetrahedron who were going to drive us and the cafe over to the event in the forests around Oslo. It had been a public warning that a storm were heading towards the area, but we were still optimistic and ready to set everything up. It turned out to be a long and wet night, with barely any openings in the pouring rain, and no real chance to set up more simple covers..
When I woke up the following in the morning I was soaking wet, and realized that I would need something dry, and obviously waterproof to wear, so at the first glimpse of some sun I wandered of to find the closest bus stop. I will spare you the details, but its safe to say that I quickly got terribly lost. It became a long and (again) wet walk, as the rain quickly returned. I was starting to lose hope, both for myself and the whole weekend, when I suddenly found a farmer who were kind enough to give me a lift to the closest bus stop. My faith in the project was restored, and I decided for myself that no matter what happens, this is going to be one hell of an awesome gathering!
While I was running around getting lost, the remaining crew had to overcome the hurdles of building the cafe and area around in a mild case of Storm with a big S. On top of this, because of the public warning of the storm, several crew members, including the responsible of Art and Deco, didn't dare to come at all that day (in hindsight, a very reasonable choice). Luckily the remaining crew had been clever enough to bring the appropriate clothes for the occasion and did an absolutely amazing job, despite the rough conditions. I am beyond grateful to be working with such creative and resourceful people!
Down in the city after finding waterproof practically everything, I teamed up with Kaja to get a hold of the last missing pieces. We still needed things that is best completely fresh, like salads, and also huuuge kettle for the chai and cacao. Nothing is better than a warm cup of chai when the night is getting colder on the dance floor, and when we make it, we make a lot!
But on the way back into the forest we managed to get lost, again.
At this point all I could do was laugh(with some desperate tears in between), and so we laughed our way through bushes and branches, and after a while we were walking in complete darkness. Since it was raining so much, it took us a while to realize that we for quite some time actually had been walking in a creek(!!), instead of the path we had been picturing..
When we finally after around 3 - 4 hours found the location (which should be a walk of around 30 minutes), we looked something like this :
We were of course awfully late, but because of the storm very few guests had showed up for the first night, so we had the pleasure of being welcomed with brave smiles, big hugs, and warm tea. After two long days, we were all reunited, and could finally focus on what we really came for. Love, laughter, cooking and awesome music.
Despite all the hurdles on the way, it actually turned out to be a wonderful weekend. The following day the skies cleared up, and the trolls and ferries of the Norwegian forests finally dared to come out of their cosy caves to play with us. And we finally got the pleasure of serving them warming food, energizing cakes and healing home brewed teas in a cozy and dry cafe.
We are 'Ambrosia ~ vegan food and herbal healing.'
A small group of passionate beings with a burning desire to both share and gain more wisdom about nature, our bodies, and how they connect.
With our traveling vegan cafe, we are looking to accomplish many things, you can read more about our vision in our introduction post.
~Here is a link to our Facebook-page. ~
🌱Leave a comment or follow us if you wish to support our vision. 🌱
Woohoooo... what a story behind the scenes @ambrosiacafe😄 interesting and fun to read. So you didn't bring your own vehicle and walk anywhere (or get on the buses)? The wood must be so safe for a night walking.. well for a rainy night walking 😅 so glad that everything went well.. and this is a worth to remember weekend too.
Thank you for sharing this with us😊 I found your post through @audreybits entry post in the pay it forward contest this week.
We're very happy it at least turned in to a good story, and in hindsight a very funny one! And as always, everything works out for the better in the end, and as always it had been a great lesson and joy. 😊❤️
Funny thing is that despite us not having our own car yet, we had made all the arrangements to avoid having to carrying and walking too much. But it's not allowed to drive motorized vehicles in the forest area, so the Alfheimr crew got a hold of a ATV to swiftly get all the gear in there, and well, lets just say nothing went as planned with pretty much anything, both because of the storm and the lack of crew members.
Oh, a point worth mentioning.. I actually got lost one final time on my way out of there Monday morning, and... lost my plane back home to Denmark! When I think back I realize I was the only one with THAT much trouble finding directions.. I might have lost my senses living so long i Denmark 😂
buahahahahaha... ROFL, you're such a funny story teller @ambrosiacafe, and you're alone again that time.. that's strange, in this GPS world wide where you can ask direction from the google, but you still got lost too? I even lost in my own home town while you're in the other country. sorry for your lost.. there's always unbelievable out of controlled situation that we can control but deal with it. anyway.. the show went well and glad that you're all right after all.
Hahahah right, I actually happen to have the dumbest smartphone there is, who cannot figure out how to use maps and gps. But I think you're onto something there.. everything happens for a reason, and sometimes you just have to completely let go of control to see what is actually meant to be!
Couldn't agree more, at least I learned something from your post.
I can add more lesson learned from you.. and all of it is so full of adventurous things.
Thanks for sharing your experience. You can manage very well to serve for the two gatherings. Thanks @audreybits for choosing this post in pifc contest. @audreybits I think you should comment something in this post.
Here is the original contest: https://steemit.com/payitforward/@pifc/week-27-pay-it-forward-curation-contest-323180a143e0cest
Please visit to this post if you have time. You may see interesting posts I hope.
Thanks for your comment and the heads up, @mmunited. @Audreybits is awesome! PayItForward is such a great concept, and a cool way to find new things here on Steemit. Looking forward to explore it further in the future.
Excellent post. Another place I must visit one day. (And another Viking, @tryskele.) Lykke til!
I found you today thanks to @audreybits' Pay it Forward curation contest entry. Keep up the great work!
Tusen takk, @viking-ventures. You definitely should if you ever get the chance. It is so fun to see its more than just us around here being a little extra fascinated by the vikings!
@tryskele and I have been having this little contest or something... (more like something)
I have to find her some Vikings - preferably for the pifc contest. She doesn't seem to find me any Celts though...
My great-great grandparents were from the Sogn og Fjordane area. I also have ancestors from Sweden, Denmark and even Finland (1700.)
Amazing adventure and cool concept for the cafe! This is my kind of event!
I’d really like to go vegan land live such a natural life! It seems omlymlike a dream though ! Keep up the irie life! Blessings
Thank you for such motivating words, we aspire to inspire as many as we can on our adventure trough life and happiness! ❤️
And hey, all good things starts with dreaming, right? (Oh and by the way, you'r kids are freaking adorable!!
What an adventure! I'm glad you weren't very lost!!! That could have turned into a Bear Grills Survivalist Episode.
Thanks for your article, which I've found after @audreybits featured you in her entry for the Pay It forward Contest
Hahaha, you are right, to have gotten lost we managed quite well! Though I must admit, I felt strangely close to going all cave woman out there at some point.. 😅😅
Oh and thanks for letting us know, how wonderful!❤️
Love this post @ambrosiacafe! I can imagine the tears with the stress of getting lost ... more than once haha ... but everything seemed to work out well in the end :) I'm so glad!
I found your post because @audreybits featured you in a Pay it Forward Curation Contest Entry. Please feel free to join us next week with an entry of your own :)
Hahah yes, it was some frustrating walks, but the results were wonderful, and every journey is something to learn from! :')
Happy you liked the post, and it is so fun to be mentioned in Pay it Forward. Whenever we get some time off in between the battles, we will definitely consider joining the fun! :D
What that is a a lot of work good job.
Thanks for your article, which I've found after @audreybits featured you in her entry for the Pay It forward Contest
Thank you, we're happy you liked it! 😊