RAMBLING IN THE STOCKHOLM AREA

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2012—Stockholm

Mari-Anne and I headed out for one of the premier areas to visit in the Stockholm area—Djurgården, which is an island close to the central city.  The island has been royal land since the 15^th century and has a lot of green space, walking paths, museums, etc.  We had but part of a day to spend there, but I believe one could easily spend most of a week there!  Skansen, located on the island, is the world’s oldest open-air museum.  About 150 buildings from throughout Sweden have been moved here in an effort to depict how people lived and worked in the 19th and early 20th century—or earlier.  We went into “shops” such as a glass blowing shop, a furniture maker’s shop, grocery, hardware store, bakery, etc., where people (many in period dress) showed us how they made their products or showed off their wares that were for sale at the time.  The docents were always ready to explain what they were doing and answer our questions. 

Skansen Glass Blowing Shop

Some interesting farm buildings were located outside the “village” proper.  The photo shows a farm building from southern Sweden from the beginning of the 19^th century.  The information sign stated that similar homes existed

 in Sweden from early Medieval times.  The central, low-ridged cottage was used for eating, sleeping and working.  To the left was a storehouse that was also used as sleeping quarters in the summer.  A weaving room was to the right of the central cottage.  The upper floors were used for storage. 



19th Century Farm Home

Another interesting exhibit were the two “allotment huts” that came from Stockholm’s southern island.  During World War I middle-class people were allotted small plots of land to use for growing vegetables to help alleviate the serious food shortages in the cities.  Small shelters were initially built on the plots to provide shelter from rain but these were later replaced by more elaborate huts.  

Alottment Hut

The Stockholm Zoo featuring animals found in Scandinavia was adjacent to the open-air museum and, since people were finishing their summer holidays, this area attracted a great many children.  The Seglora kyrka (Seglora Church) was erected in 1730 and moved to Skansen in 1916.  The walls are timbered and both the roof and the walls are lined with oak shingles on the outside.  The shingles are painted with a mixture of tar and traditional red paint.  The tower was built in the 1780’s.  Inside, the church is whitewashed and the barrel-vaulted ceiling was painted in 1735.  This is one of Sweden’s most popular churches for weddings.

Seglora Kyrka

We took a short stroll down a tree-covered path to a botanical garden that specialized in plants native to Sweden.  This was a large colorful garden and visitors were encouraged to pick flowers to take with them.  Mari-Anne, guide extraordinaire, knew of a place to eat in the garden and we enjoyed delicious sandwiches and tea under the shade of an umbrella.  

Botanical Garden on Djurgården

Following lunch, we took a bus and the subway back to downtown Stockholm.  Along the way we passed buildings with exclusive condos in central Stockholm that are priced at around $1 million USD or more for a small 1,000 square foot unit.  We walked around the central Stockholm shopping district and Mari-Anne pointed out several areas of interest that I would not have seen without her.  We also visited the Stockholm Concert Hall, a large blue neoclassical architectural-style building with gray columns at the front, which is home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.  It is also the location in Stockholm where the Nobel Prizes (except the Nobel Peace Prize) are awarded.  (The City Hall hosts the banquet for awardees.)  Close by was the City Conference Centre with a beautiful fountain in the plaza.  I decided this was the perfect fountain to have a picture taken nearby to complete the geocache challenge “Fountains of the World”. 


Mari-Anne and I by the City
Conference Centre Plaza
Fountain



 

Soon it was time to catch a bus and head southeast to meet Gunnar for dinner at Fåfängan, a quiet restaurant high on a hill with breathtaking views of Stockholm and the harbor.  The evening was beautiful, the company was wonderful, the food was very good, and we were constantly entertained by views of the city and the busy harbor with cruise ships coming and going, ferries sailing to and fro, and other smaller sea vessels moving along the waterways.  After dinner, we walked down the hillside to catch a bus, then the subway, and finally the train back to Jakobsberg.  It had been another long and wonderful day in Stockholm! 

Stockholm Harbor

BACK TO SWEDEN

MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2012--Oslo to Stockholm



Oslo Railway Station Band

I was up early to complete packing, get breakfast, and walk to the central train station about a block from the hotel, where I arrived 2 hours before departure time.  A band began playing shortly after I arrived and we were given about a 45-minute concert by the "railway station band" in celebration of the opening of a tunnel.  The music was good and railway workers handed out free coffee while the band played.  I even knew most of the songs!  The tunnel opening meant the end of a long bus ride over part of the route to a destination town.  I decided against using the toilet before leaving the station since a charge was imposed for the use of it--and I had already exchanged my Norwegian money for Swedish money.  Should have checked this situation out before changing out my money.  Oh, well...Fortunately, a "free" toilet was on the train.  Our tour guide had warned us that some places charged for use of the "facility"; however, I only encountered it once on the actual tour. 

Train from Oslo



The train out of Oslo had two cars and was a fast electric train.  The route took us northeast before turning southeast towards Karlstad, Sweden.  We passed along wide quiet flowing rivers, long lakes, and a lot of farms with green oats and wheat as well as some potatoes in the fields.  We went past the typical red barns and white houses that we had seen enroute to Lillehammer a week ago, but there was more forested area as we approached the Norway/Sweden border.

  

Train from Karlstad



I changed trains in Karlstad (western Sweden) without a problem and got on a longer train that had nice cars.  It is sure easy to see why the Scandinavian people like to use their rail systems.  The trains I have seen so far are clean, fast, run on time, and are relatively cheap to ride.  People routinely bring their pets aboard for the ride—one car is dedicated to the pets.  In fact, I was impressed by how people take their dogs nearly everywhere it seems.

 

I was entertained on this leg of the trip by a young woman and her two daughters, ages 4 and 7, who sat with me.  The older girl wanted to show me her knowledge of English by counting to 10 and telling me the names of colors that she knew (quite a few).  She also drew piano keys on a paper and pretended to play a piano while singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in English.  The younger girl joined in singing the song in English and did a commendable job.  They were a very nice family and made the time pass rapidly.  Mari-Anne was at the Stockholm Central train station to meet me and we traveled on to Jakobsberg on the commuter train.  Travel time from Oslo to Stockholm Central was 5:40 and the cost was about $70 USD.  And, I got to see some more very pretty countryside!

NORWAY TOUR ENDS

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012 (Oslo, Norway)

We were up early for the Oslo (Population 1.4 million in the metro area) city tour with a local guide. The city was founded in 1,049 A.D. and was named Oslo at that time. In 1624, the whole city burned to the ground; however, a king resurrected it and renamed the city Christiania—the name it retained until 1925. Norway was controlled by Denmark and Sweden for several centuries until finally gaining its independence from Sweden in 1905. I was quite surprised to find that it has been an independent country for such a short time. A constitutional monarchy is the form of Norway’s government and the people are quite satisfied with it as evidenced by votes on the issue.

There is a lot of construction going on in downtown Oslo with major projects everywhere. The waterfront area, in particular, is the scene of a lot of redevelopment that is scheduled to continue until 2020. In 2008, a new opera house, costing $750 million USD, was opened and is the centerpiece of the waterfront. The structure is designed to look like a glacier floating in the waters off Oslo. We toured the city’s modern City Hall with its elegant reception rooms, a fantastic view of the harbor and surrounding islands, and large murals depicting Norway’s history in the large hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in December each year.

Oslo Harbor with City Hall Twin Towers in Background



Oslo Opera House

Oslo City Hall Great Room where Nobel Peace Prize is awarded

Oslo City Hall Mural (portion)

Oslo City Hall

Oslo City Hall Harbor View

We strolled through Frogner Park with sculptor Gustav Vigeland’s over 200 extraordinary bronze and concrete sculptures.  Vigeland was contracted to prepare and place sculptures in the park and he worked at this task for 40 years until he died.  He did all the decorative artwork in the park, including the gates, and it is truly an amazing place.  His work ranged from entwined lovers to thoughtful and calm elderly couples to a hotheaded boy caught in a bad mood--all of which are nude.

Frogner Park

We drove through numerous neighborhoods, several of which had buildings containing condominiums, which we were told, sell for $1 to $3 million USD.  Home ownership is important in Norway and we were told 80% of Norwegians own their homes.  Homes in Norway are expensive, and with average take-home pay approaching $40,000 USD per worker, I never did completely figure out how they afford to own their homes.  Most women work outside the home so a couple would likely have around $80,000 USD after taxes.  The government has generous tax incentives for home ownership and interest rates are about the same as in the U.S.  In addition, their health care and education through college are paid through their tax system.

$1-3 million USD condos

Oslo has to deal with street people, particularly from Romania, for the first time.  We were told that Eastern Europeans and Russians are leaving their countries in large numbers and traveling to cities in western and northern Europe.  In Oslo, the immigrants do not have jobs and crime rates involving them are rising quite rapidly.  We were warned about several areas to avoid around the downtown area if we decided to go exploring from the hotel.

We visited three museums featuring Norway’s long seafaring tradition in the afternoon.  The Viking Ship Museum with its ships and artifacts from the Viking era on display was particularly interesting to me.  Viking nobility was buried in their boats when they died along with possessions and everything that it was believed would be needed in the hereafter, including items such as jewels, furniture, servants, food, intricately carved carriages and sleighs, tapestries, etc.  The sleek dark longboats on display are the best preserved that have been found and are quite large.  In the case of one boat on display that belonged to a queen, the queen’s maid was killed and buried next to her.  All three boats in the museum were made of oak in the 9^th century and were buried about the same time.  The boats had been buried in clay on beaches in the Oslofjord region and the clay served to hermetically seal and preserve the boats and their contents.  The boats and contents on display were very interesting to examine and provided insight into the Viking traditions and culture.

Viking Long Boat

Carriage found in Long Boat

We next visited the Polarship Fram Museum that featured the ship of the same name.  The ship was launched in 1892 and was the strongest one afloat at the time.  It carried several polar explorers, including Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen, and Otto Sverdrup on journeys to the North and South Pole regions as well as on other polar explorations.  We were able to explore the ship fully and the museum had excellent exhibits on polar exploration.

Fram Polarship

The final museum we visited was the Kon-Tiki Museum featuring Thor Heyerdahl’s “Kon-Tiki”, a balsa raft that he sailed from Peru to Polynesia in 1947.  A reed boat, the “Ra II” used by Heyerdahl to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1970 is also on display.  The success of both trips in these boats seems even more amazing after looking at the boats!  However, Heyerdahl was able to show that people could travel long distances on water long ago.

"RA II"

"Kon-Tiki"

This concluded our fast tour of central and southern Norway.  The area really is a land of contrasts and immense beauty!

Fast Facts:  The Viking era lasted about 250 years from approximately 790 to 1040.  Vikings traveled widely to the Black Sea, throughout the Mediterranean, and to the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland, and the North American continent.  Although they were famous for plundering lands abroad, the fruit of their fighting served to raise the standard of living at home.  The Vikings are credited with bringing Christianity to their Homeland, which resulted in the demise of their way of living.

North Sea Oil profits have helped transform Norway from one of Europe’s poorest nations to one of Europe’s wealthiest nations.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2012

After a fast-paced two weeks (yes, it was two weeks ago today that I left Sioux Falls), I felt the need to slow down some today.  I took a walk around the downtown area after breakfast and picked up another geocache in the process--my last in Norway.  I also checked out the train station to get a feel for where to go in the morning when I get ready to leave.  The station is less than a block from the hotel (Clarion Hotel Royal Christiania) so is very convenient.  The rest of the day was spent working on the blog, repacking the bags, reading and relaxing.  It felt good not to be on a schedule!

Telemark, Norway

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012 (Telemark to Oslo)

We were up early and headed to Rjukan, a town in a very steep and beautiful mountain gorge, for a tour of the Vemork power plant which was the world's largest when completed in 1911 with a capacity of 145,000 hp. The power plant is cast in concrete and clad with chiseled granite; it now serves as a museum. The hall where the turbines are situated is about 50’ high, very long (maybe 500’), and narrow. A hydrogen (fertilizer) factory was built in front of the station and the factory was taken over by the Germans in WWII to produce "heavy water". Heavy water had been discovered in 1933 in the U.S.A. and it is so named because .02% of water molecules are actually deuterium, an isotope that contains an extra neutron. Heavy water weighs 10% more than normal water, boils at 1.4° C higher and freezes at 4° C higher than normal water. These properties make heavy water able to stabilize nuclear fission reactions, thus making it invaluable in the production of the atomic bomb. All available stock of heavy water in the world (including that used by the U.S.) was produced at Rjukan.


Vemork Power Plant

 



Rjukan Valley

During the War, the Norwegian Resistance in concert with the Allies mounted a sabotage effort against the plant. Specially trained British saboteurs sent to assist the four Norwegian advance team members were killed when one glider and its tow plane crashed into a mountainside, while the other glider crashed on landing and survivors were shot by Germans. The four Norwegians waited during a cold winter on the Hardanger Plateau for more assistance. Another group of British saboteurs was sent but they parachuted into a blizzard on Hardanger Plateau and had a long march to their intended landing site. Eventually, all met up and made the trek to the plant after descending the very steep mountainside and crossing a steep narrow gorge in front of the plant. The team was successful in largely destroying the plant the night of February 27-28, 1943. They skied back to Hardangervidda after which some went to neutral Sweden, with the rest staying and evading capture on the Plateau. The plant was quickly rebuilt by the Germans; however, after a bombing raid by 140 U.S. planes on November 16, 1943, during which 20 Norwegians were killed, the Germans decided they could not continue producing heavy water in Norway. A decision was made to move the heavy water by rail cars on a ferry to Germany. However, the Norwegian saboteurs got wind of the plan and planted a time bomb on the ferry, which blew up in the middle of Lake Tinnsjø, sinking in 1420’ of water. This effectively ended Germany's ability to produce the atom bomb before the U.S. did. After leaving Vemork, we drove through the village of Rjukan and along Lake Tinnsjø where we saw a “sister” ferry to the one that was blown up and the area of the lake where the ferry sank in 1944.

We continued our drive towards Oslo, stopping to see the Heddal Stave Church (Heddal Stavkyrkje), the largest of Norway's remaining medieval wooden churches. It is believed the church dates from 1242, but parts of the chancel date from 1147. The church was heavily restored in the 1950’s and is truly a beautiful structure. The walls had “rose” paintings dating from 1668 and a “Bishop’s Chair” dating from the 17^th century was placed near the alter which dates from 1667. Those of you who have seen the stave church replica near Rapid City, SD and believe it is large, think much bigger to get the perspective of the Heddal church.
NOTE:  After the trip, I learned that my great, great grandparents on my Grandmother Rayburn's side were married in the Heddal church in the early 1800's.

Heddal Stavkyrkje

Heddal Stavkyrkje





The countryside changed quite a lot the past two days as we left the rugged mountains with their gushing waterfalls and high meadows to lower hills that are more rolling and many lakes. We began seeing more tillable farmland, large barns, and, as we drew closer to the coast once again, more people.

Telemark to Oslo

The day ended in Oslo with a drive up mount Holmenkollen to see the large modern ski jump and for dinner at a restaurant with a panoramic view of Oslo and Oslofjord.  The restaurant has dedicated itself to remembering the assistance given by Sweden to the Norwegians during WWII—a nice gesture, I thought.

 During the ride to the restaurant, our guide shared a bit of her favorite Norwegian drink called “Linne Aquavit” with us at a pull-off with a beautiful view of Oslo. It was “okay” but certainly not my “drink” of choice. The tour is definitely beginning to come to a close.

Our Guide--Adelheid Smitt

  FAST FACTS: You can camp wherever you want in Scandinavian countries because they have the “law of public accessibility”. You can hike on a farmer’s land but not through, for instance, the middle of a wheat field or other areas where a farmer’s crop would be damaged or destroyed. It is legal to camp on a farm without “permission”, but you cannot be in sight of the home. Because of these laws, they do not have “No Trespassing” signs in Scandinavia.

Municipalities have to provide homeschooling to children age six and under in Norway. School is free through university level and stipends are provided for transportation and books. Students have the same teacher in grades one through seven and English classes begin when children are age 10. (In Sweden, children have the same teacher in grades one through three and they change to another teacher for grades four through six.) They must go to school to age 16 and homeschooling is quite common in smaller communities.







NORWAY: July 29-August 2, 2012

SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2012 (Oslo-Lillehammer)



I woke up with a migraine headache this morning which was definitely not in my plans. However, I managed to shake it by late morning so the day wasn't a total mental washout. We had wonderful sunshine (albeit not good for my head) all day for the trip through eastern Norway which was generally good farmland. We followed Lake Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake, for much of the way making this a very scenic drive with the lake on one side and farmsteads with large red barns with outbuildings and white homes on the other. Barns are typically made wholly, or in large part, of stone on the bottom with wood above. I saw mostly small grain (oats, wheat, barley, rye, etc.), potatoes, and hay being grown and we were told an effort is under way to try to adapt corn to the climate here. Hay is typically baled in round bales covered with white plastic. The hay ferments while in the plastic creating silage which is fed to cattle. Hay to be fed to horses is typically hung to dry in the traditional manner over horizontal poles raised off the ground.

Lake Mjøsa

Typical farms along the route

We arrived in Lillehammer mid-day where we visited Maihaugen Open Air Museum after lunch. This was a very interesting collection of many old buildings, including a stav church dating from about 1200 A.D. (originally a Catholic church, now a Protestant church), and people in period dress who described the conditions at the time they depicted.


Lillehammer

Below:  Maihaugen Open-Air Museum

Stave Church

 



 From Maihaugen we went on to Olympic Park, the site of the 1994 Winter Olympic games, where we toured the ice hockey rink and the Olympic museum. Then we went to the top of the ski jump (the taller of the two) and rode the chair lift back to the bottom. Trust me, the landing area for jumpers looks like a very long ways down from on top of the ski jump! I always enjoy watching that sport, but have NEVER had a desire to try it. Guess I'm too scared of heights. <G>

Lillehammer Ski Jump

Lillehammer was the center of the Olympic games; however, other venues were some distance away up and down the valley. The Norwegian government saw to it that the infrastructure that was built to support the games was not wasted. Existing facilities were used when possible and the housing that was built was later moved to other areas in need of housing around the country. By the time we arrived in this area, we started observing a change in the color schemes used for buildings with more brown buildings seen.

Building adjacent to the top of the ski jump

FAST FACTS: Norway's size is between California and Montana and its population is approximately 4.7 million people. The country is the least densely populated country on the European mainland. Only about 3% of the land is suitable for farming. The Viking Age lasted from approximately 800 to 1050 A.D. The introduction of christianity marks the end of the Viking Age.

MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 (Lillehammer to Loen)

This morning we drove the E6 highway up the Gudbrandsdalen Valley, following the Lagen River for many miles through forest and farm land. This is truly a beautiful valley! About an hour north of Lillehammer we left behind the white houses/red barns and began seeing mostly dark wood-colored farm houses and outbuildings. We also began seeing quite a few grass roofs.

Gudbrandsdalen Valley



A stop for coffee was made in Kvam which has quite a history. In 1612 local farmers stopped Scottish invaders nearby when they were signalled by a girl, posted on a mountain across the river, to begin rolling logs down the hillside. Any surviving Scots were then killed by the locals. During WWII British soldiers had ferocious fighting against the Germans in this area and Kvam was destroyed during the battle. I picked up a fascinating booklet about the WWII battle here. I am sure there must also be information about the battle on the internet--it is really quite a story.

We turned west at Otta and followed the Otta River and Vaga Lake for many miles. Another beautiful drive! We saw more sheep as we drove further into northern Norway. The sheep are allowed to roam free in the mountains during the summer and are shorn in the spring and fall. They are kept in barns during winter.



Driving west of Otta

A stop was made at Lom to take pictures of the Stavkirke which was built in 1240. Only 28-30 stav churches remain in Norway of the 900+ at the height of their numbers.

Lom Stavkirke

The lunch stop was at Grotli where most of us tried the soup with lamb sausage and root vegetables. It was mostly sausage and didn't pass the "good taste" test for most of us on the tour! Norwegians eat less vegetables than any other Europeans, so I guess it was no wonder we could hardly find them in the soup. <G>

Grotli

There were interesting photos and stories about an aerial fight near here in 1940 during which a German Heinkel was shot down by a British SKUA. One of the three SKUA developed engine failure and also went down in the area. The two British airmen found a cabin for shelter and later on the three surviving Germans that had just been shot down found the same cabin for shelter. It was said the two crews entered a silent truce. The story continues on but the Germans were sent out as POWs to England and Canada. The British airmen were sent on to Trondheim where they were shot down.



Grotli: Mock-up of Heinkel used in a movie

 We continued on westward and drove up to "Dalsnibba", a UNESCO site. The road up the mountain was awesome with one hairpin turn after another and drop-offs descending for several thousand feet over the side of the narrow road. (The faint-of-heart in the group did not appreciate the drive up Norway's highest road at all.) Guard rails were just installed last year!


Climbing up to Dalsnibba

Yes, there is a road waaay down there!

 However, the view of the head of Geiranger Fjord was incredible from this vantage point! Interestingly, two of my favorite songs came to mind on this drive: "Climb Every Mountain" and "Wind Beneath My Wings". Two very different songs, but somehow they seemed to fit the mood of the moment.


Geirangerfjord from Dalsnibba



Geiranger

After descending from the heights (5,000 feet), we boarded a ferry for the cruise down Geiranger Fjord, described as the "King of Norwegian fjords". This was an absolutely incredible trip on an absolutely beautiful afternoon!  The steep forested canyons drop right into the water and the whole scene is as beautiful as one can imagine.


Geiranger Fjord



Geiranger Fjord:  "Seven Sisters" cascade





After docking at Hellesyit, we continued to drive west passing by Lake Hornindal which, at 540 meters deep, is the deepest lake in Europe. We crossed the head of Nordfjord and continued to our hotel in Loen. 

On the road to Loen



Lovatnet Lake from my hotel room



Loen

After dinner I walked to the Loen Church (Kirke) where I found my first geocache in Norway: GC28ZM2, Loen Kirke. Although there has been a church here since 1360, the current church was built in 1837. It is octagonal and has a 1,000 year old celtic cross in front of it. The cross is one of the oldest Christian monuments in the country. This brought to end a very full day of sightseeing which began early and ended late in the evening.

Loen Kirke

Celtic Cross

Geocache:  GC28ZM2, Loen Kirke 

FAST FACTS: Our tour guide has visited 43 of the U.S. states and will come to visit more this fall. She is from Holland and continues to live there when not travelling--she has visited 70 countries. She and her husband have a cabin near Lillehammer which they visit as they can. Her love of Norway was clearly evident during the tour.

Norway's mountains are very old and the treeline is at 3,000' MSL. One-half of the European continent's glaciers are in Norway. They tunnel THROUGH mountains instead of going over them. The main trees in northern Norway are the Norway spruce, birch, and Scotch pine.

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012 (Loen to Stalheim Hotel)

Our guide said the buffets at the Alexandra Hoel in Loen would be the best of the trip--and they were spectacular. If anyone went away hungry, it was strictly their fault! Breakfasts and dinners are included on most days of the trip and the food so far has been excellent with a good variety. The coffee in Norway isn't as strong as it is served in Sweden, but is excellent none the less. Coca-Cola and Sprite are readily available in both countries but, if you only like Pepsi, you will really have to hunt for it. A cheese specialty in Norway is Norwegian brown cheese which is made with goat milk. It is quite sweet, but good.

In the morning we drove past an arm of Nordfjord for some distance before turning into Vatedalen Valley and past Lake Jolster, both of which can only be described as serene. Along the way we passed quite a few goats and a few cattle grazing in the mountain meadows or crossing the road in front of us. (It is open range here.) Low goat milking sheds were frequently seen above the road.

Nordfjord



Vatedalen Valley

 

 

Lake Jolster

We continued on to the Jostedalsbreen Glacier, the largest glacier in Europe. As with glaciers in the U.S. and elsewhere, this glacier is receding at a very fast pace. We visited a glacier museum in this location which was very interesting as they showed how earlier people traveled using cross-country skiis on the glacier from village to village before roads were built.

 

 Jostedalsbreen Glacier

Our guide shared with us some history about the early religions in Scandinavia. Specifically, after the Reformation in 1537, both the Norwegian and Swedish kings decreed that Protestantism would be the only recognized church. This was a way to confiscate the Catholic Church holdings in the countries. Currently in Norway the Lutheran Church is the "State Religion" and Lutheran ministers are paid by the State. Only about 3% of the people regularly attend church in Norway and in Sweden. They do not embalm the deceased here or elsewhere in Europe and simple pine wood coffins are used. Gravesites are leased for 30-50 years and if the lease is not renewed or the site is not kept up, the site is then leased to a different family for the purposes of future burial of their loved ones.

During the afternoon we drove along Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway, and in the world, at 120 miles. It is also the deepest at over 4,200 feet. Russian submarines have been seen on occasion in the fjord.  A two-hour ferry ride on the fjord was very enjoyable with more incredible scenery along the way.



Sognefjord

We continued on to Flam where we rode the famed Flam Railway through incredibly wild and magnificent mountain countryside with steep canyon walls, waterfalls, and small farms dotting the area. The train went through many tunnels and even made a 180 degree turn INSIDE one mountain tunnel. We stopped at one large waterfall and a lady "troll" danced and sang on a ledge overlooking the falls.

 

Flam Train Ride

We arrived at the Stalheim Hotel which is on a high perch overlooking a valley. The hotel has a garden that attracts visitors not staying at the hotel to come and enjoy the view. Stalheim was a stopping-off place for travelers on the Royal Mail route between Copenhagen, Oslo, and Bergen between 1647 and 1909. A road for horses and carriages was built in 1780. Prior to the Nazis overtaking the hotel in WWII, antiques dating back to the 1600s were removed beforehand and saved. Many of the antiques are displayed in the hotel now. One of the uses of the hotel by the Nazis was as a maternity ward. I won't go into too much detail about their program of encouraging Nazi officers to date and/or marry Norwegian girls as a means of further establishing their (Nazi) idea of the ideal race because it is quite a long and involved story with many sordid endings. ("Lebensborn" Program) Anyone wanting to know more can contact me and I will send a link to a website that explains a lot of the program and the ramifications on the women who dated/married Nazis and their children. From my perspective, it is a sad chapter in Norway's history.



Stalheim Hotel

FAST FACTS: I did not see any traditional costumes on the trip other than those worn by docents at an open air museum. We were told that traditional dressy costumes are widely worn in the country to weddings by attendees.

In spite of very high subsidies, many farms are abandoned when the sons choose not to take over the farms when fathers retire. The land then reverts back to the government.

Norway has many long tunnels. We drove through several that were 4-6 miles long. The longest is about 15 miles.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012 (Stalheim to Bergen)

We drove to Bergen in the morning with a brief stop in Voss, the scene of many sporting activities, earning it the reputation of being Norway's adventure capital. It is a scenic little town, situated on a lake, that has largely been rebuilt after being heavily bombed by the Nazis in WWII. I visited an old stone church dating from the mid-13th century, that sits where an ancient pagan temple used to be. The church escaped the Nazi bombing. Many original artifacts were removed during the Lutheran Reformation in 1536; however, the original stone alter and unique wooden spire remain.



Voss Kirke (Church) circa 1270

We arrived in Bergen (founded in 1017) around noon and, after checking into the hotel, I went down to the fish market which is a very busy place. There were many vendors selling fish of every description (including whale meat and a kind of dried fish that I don't have a clue what it is but I saw a lot of it). Many other vendors were set up around the main fish market and they sold a wide variety of goods only tourists would buy. And there were many tourists since a couple of large ships were docked in the harbor.

 

Bergen Fish Market

After a very good lunch of fish and chips, it was time to set off to explore Bryggen (Old Bergen) which has very narrow streets, buildings that are tipped in different directions, and which dates from ancient times. I went to the Hanseatiic League Museum first since I wanted to have plenty of time to see it and to learn (and relearn) about the fascinating trade network these people established. The German office was established in Bryggen in 1360 and closed in 1754. At one time, there may have been 2,000 Germans working at that establishment. This office closed much later than other Hanseatic League offices which ceased to operate in the 15th and 16th centuries.


Hanseatic League Trade Routes

 

Above Photos:  Hanseatic League Office

Below: Bryggen (Old Bergen) Scenes

Buildings tilt as a result of a Dutch munitions ship explosion in 1944

There were many roses in Bergen and throughout Norway

I finished my exploring by finding four geocaches in the historic area. At one of the caches near the Bergen Castle (aka Rosenkrantz),  I was met by a young gentleman from the Netherlands who was looking for the same geocache. We then searched together, found it, signed the logbook, and exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes. By now it was time to find some dinner and call it a day since the hour was getting late.


Bergenhus (Bergen) Castle (ca. 1270) & Rosenkrantz Tower (ca. 1560)



Hakonshallen (ca. 1261): Historic ceremonial hall still in use
(Located within Bergenhus)



Dutch Geocacher opening the cache

FAST FACTS: Roads we drove on in Norway were very good. There are over 1,000 road tunnels and the number is growing. Roads and tunnels are constructed rapidly when decisions are made to build. It seems the bureaucracy does not slow things down when it comes to road building.
Oil and gas products are the largest export commodities. New oil reserves are being found all along the Norwegian coast. Money from the oil and gas exports goes to the Government to fund future pensions and for infrastructure such as roads.
All electricity comes from hydroelectric plants--there are no nuclear-generating plants. The country exports to other countries on the "grid". Modern hydro-electric plants are built inside mountains. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany (and possibly Finland--I didn't catch for sure if they are on it) are all connected to one electrical grid.

Guest beds were made up in this manner in Scandinavia

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012 (Bergen to Telemark)

The day began with a tour of composer Edvard Greig's summer home, Troldhaugen or TROLLS HILL. The setting was beautiful on a lake; however, the tour was disappointing since the group was too large and the guide spoke pretty poor English.

 

Troldhaugen Concert Hall

 

Edvard Greig's summer home

We departed Bergen after the tour, driving along Hardanger Fjord which is over 3,000 feet deep. There are numerous orchards along the Sorfjorden, which is an arm of Hardanger Fjord, as well as numerous fish farms in the fjord. A ferry took us across Hardanger Fjord --this was our last of three ferry trips across fjords.

Departing out of Bergen



Single Track road along Hardanger Fjord





Hardanger Fjord Country

A stop was made at Latefoss waterfall--a double waterfall with a 500' drop just above the road and which sounded like thunder as the water rushed down.



Latefoss waterfall

We climbed up on the Hardangervidda (mountain plateau) which is a national park. There are reindeer on the plateau but we did not see any. This area is above tree line and it is desolate, but beautiful, wilderness. An early Norwegian polar explorer, Fridtjof Nansen, prepared for his polar expeditions in this area. The area also has considerable history related to WWII. The plateau, covering 8,000 square miles, is very wild country and is basically unpopulated except in some small villages. A few cabins for people tending sheep during the short summer were seen from the road.


Climbing up onto the Hardangervidda

 

The wild Hardangervidda

We stopped at an inn for a coffee break and a young woman had her "fjord horse" out of the trailer exercising it. She was enroute to a horse show and she was very accommodating by letting us see her horse up close and even let some of the folks ride around on it. We had heard of fjord horses but this was the first we had seen up close. They are quite small, light colored, and well adapted to the fjord areas they live in.

Inn on the Hardangervidda

Fjord Horse

We continued to drive through heavily wooded areas with steep valleys and not many people, into the Telemark region until we reached the Rauland Hogfjellshotell, a mountain lodge, located in the heart of the Telemark area of southern Norway. The setting here was beautiful!

 

Heading down into the Telemark region



There were a lot of areas of the road today that were "single track" where one vehicle would pull to the side at a pullout and allow the opposing vehicle to pass. Tonight we watched the movie "The Heroes of Telemark" filmed in 1965, starring Kirk Douglas. This helped us prepare for tomorrow's visit to VEMORK, the scene of heroic sabotage action by the Norwegian Resistance during WWII to stop German production of "heavy water" used for the production of the atomic bomb. Since there aren't any phones in the rooms, we notified attendants at the desk what time we wanted to wake up tomorrow and were told we could expect a knock on the door at the appointed time.

FAST FACTS: Norwegians typically do not travel out of their country like other Europeans do, preferring instead to visit family or go to their cabin. A few may go to a beach in Denmark where they do not have to speak English.
I noticed very few signs translated in English in Norway. English translations were very common on signs in Sweden.
In general, prices are considerably higher in Norway than in Sweden. Many Norwegians take day trips on ferries to Denmark or Germany to buy goods because of the reduced prices in those countries. The VAT (value added tax) on a typical car in Norway will be about 30% of the purchase price. (No cars are produced in Norway so all are imported.) Gasoline costs $9-12 U.S. per gallon.