| Ambrosia cafè @ Alfheimr - Mabon 2 day tribal gathering in the Norwegian forest! | PART 2 |

Its been relatively silent on our little corner here on Steemit for a while, but that does not mean the Ambrosia Cafe has been on hold. As you might have noticed, we've been serving at both Alfheimr's "Mabon Tribal Gathering" and a gathering with "Art of Flow". The forces of nature have really shown us its true powers, and given us both tests of patience and beautiful wonders. We've got to cook in the heart of the forest, and serve so many awesome people, and we are humbled by the experience.

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!

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Getting to Mabon - The hours leading up to the event

We had already spent weeks in advance drying herbs, planning the menu and getting the practical things in order before the show started for real early Thursday morning. That was when we got the team together to prep everything that could be made beforehand, in Emilys beautiful cabin next to Tyrifjorden in Norway (just look at this!). The perfect place to get some space from the city, and cook with the most beautiful scenery one could wish for. I had spent 18hours on diverse buses from Aarhus, Denmark and over the seas to Norway when we got together, but time was in the essence, so we got right to it as soon as I arrived; Baking baguettes, focaccia, cakes and rolling energy balls like there were (literally) no tomorrow. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of root veggies that needed to be chopped and boxed up, so everything would be ready for the beautiful Autumn Stew that was on the menu.

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!

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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!

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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!

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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 :

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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.

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As always; We have laughed a lot, shed a few tears, learned incredibly much, and had heaps of fun in the process. We cant wait to take the experience and memories with us to new events and locations. Make sure to check out the VA album Mabon from Alfheimr records if you want the soundtrack of our weekend!

Love and light, Ada - Ambrosia crew.

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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. ~

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