Back to the Roots: Norwegian Edition
June 2014
As an American from
the northern Midwest, whose blood is over half Norwegian, and who still has
living relatives in Norway, I had always known I would pay the country of my
origins a visit. I know about as much Norwegian as fits on the table prayer
wall hanging we have at Christmastime, and I have way too many freckles (thanks
Irish ancestors), but I’m also six feet tall, have a Minnesotan accent, and say
“ooffda” on occasion.
Dead giveaway. They are my people.
Dead giveaway. They are my people.
Growing up in
Minnesota and retaining the traditions my mom grew up with exposed me to a little
bit of Norwegian culture. We make lefse for holidays, my mom goes to every
lutefisk dinner she can find at pretty much all the Lutheran churches in
Southern Minnesota, and like every good Minnesotan, I have an arsenal of Ole
and Lena jokes up my sleeve. So, I was very much looking forward to visiting
the land where it all came from.
3:05 PM. I still have
the time marked in my journal when I officially cross from Sweden to Norway.
The landscape didn’t change at all, but I’d like to think everything became a
little greener, the air became a little crisper, and the feeling of heritage
intensified a little more. I was finally in Norway.
Oslo
I arrived at the main
train station, which is where I had to leave from that evening, so with most of
my things in a storage locker in the train station (which always makes me
nervous, but I’ve never had a problem yet), I headed off to explore. I must
admit, I was surprised at Oslo. Coming from Stockholm and anticipating another
city built up on the water, my expectations were high for some picturesque
views, but the city I was greeted with instead was on a different level. Where
Stockholm had charm and dramatic beauty, Oslo was more elusive with what it had
to offer, yet it did offer it own charm, in a more sophisticated way. As I look
back to my journal for more memories, I’ll write my description from that day: “It’s
definitely not as aesthetically pleasing as Stockholm, but it’s still got a classy
kind of ‘badassery’ to it – it knows it’s not the best looking, but it’s going
to be awesome anyway.”
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| Oslo Opera House |
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| View from the Opera House |
Directly across from
the train station is the Oslo Opera House, a magnificent, curious structure that
is said to resemble a glacier, or a ship, and has interconnecting flat panels
to make up the roof, on which walking is encouraged. Turns out napping on the
roof is allowed also, which I took advantage of later in the day. But first, I
had a whole city to explore.
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| Fortress |
From the Opera House I walked through
some of the downtown district and discovered delightful little cafes and
restaurants hidden among the stark buildings. I reached the edge of the water
on the other side of the Opera House, upon which a large, old, fortress was
built. I was so sure I would have to pay an entrance fee, but I was able to
wander around to my heart’s desire. I climbed up on the old, stone walls for
the views and looked at the harbor not too far away from me. There was a cute
little visitors center I was able to enter where I learned that the Danish
monarch had ruled Norway for a good 2-300 years, and King Christian had visited
Oslo often, and was actually fairly benevolent for the people of Norway. After
the Norwegians became independent the fortress was also used as a prison and
used during WWII.
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| Royal Palace |
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| Nobel Peace Center |
Next was walking to
the harbor area – home to the Nobel Peace Center (which cost about 40 dollars
to enter, so I skipped that…) and the large government buildings and plaza
center. I could have wandered around there for some time, but I had only one
goal and destination in mind for Oslo: The Viking Ship Museum. Now, most people
would probably have chosen to find some sort of transportation for themselves
to get to the museum, and looking back I really should have too, but I was set
and determined to walk my way over there – Google Maps has just revealed to me
that it was a 3 mile walk there and back. No wonder I was in so much pain by
the end. However, the route I chose was worth it to walk through some more of
the trendy neighborhoods and by the Royal Park and the beautiful Royal Palace.
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| Viking Ship Museum |
Finally, I reached my
destination: The Viking Ship Museum. It was very well done, and I learned quite
a bit about the ships that had been very impressively fully excavated. I didn’t
know they used to use ships for burials, but some of the artifacts they had
uncovered were wonderful to look at. It was worth the walk to see the real Viking ships, that my heritage really and truly is connected to the Vikings. (Not that I want to be related to brutal pillagers, but I'd rather know they were real than a fabrication or myth.)
After my equally long
walk back to the train station, with grocery store food in tow for my evening
train ride, since buying anything in Norway will cost you at least $5 (like a
bottle of pop), I decided to take a nap. I went back to the Opera House and
stretched out in the setting sun. When I woke up it was a little too late to
start trekking again, and I was quite tired, so I parked myself at a café in
the train station and waited for my night train at 11:30 PM.
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| Midnight Sun |
Naturally, one would
think I would have slept the night away peacefully after all of my walking and
being on a sleeper train. But this was not the case, due to two things. One:
mid-June was just before the summer solstice, which happens to be an all night
sunshine event in Norway, therefore the sun never quite actually set that
night. Two: The train ride from Oslo to Bergen, listed as one of the most
scenic train journeys in the world, was just too beautiful to ignore. So, I
tried to make myself sleep but just kept waking up, shoving on my glasses, and
trying to take pictures as I gazed out at the terrain, which changed from flat
and tall forests to foothills to snowcapped mountains and valleys. I arrived
not rested but satisfied and glad I had been able to see part of such a
terrific route. Next time I’ll have to try it during the day!
Bergen
Bergen was a special
place for me, as I was finally able to meet Gerd, my great-grandma Ida’s
cousin. My mother had visited her when she was traveling in her twenties, and
now, after many years of Christmas cards and e-mail exchanges, our meeting was
finally upon us. She had her niece, Karen, come to meet me at the initial train
station (I’m sure I smelled lovely) and then she took me to the next bus
station and put me on a local bus to Gerd’s. Gerd and I had arranged to meet at
the small bus station in the town of Kvarnik, and when she began walking up to
me I knew it was her. Taller than I had expected, and still speaking English
with a distinct New York accent, Gerd was sharp, snappy, and wonderfully
entertaining. She had lived in New York for nearly twenty years, and still had
that attitude about her, which was quite a different impression than what I had
envisioned about the elderly lady who had knitted us sweaters when we were
young. It was fantastic.
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| Gerd and me getting blown over |
She walked me around her little town and let me rest at
home, as I was running on fumes from my overnight yet not restful train ride.
After a lovely nap, I woke up to, as you might imagine, some lovely food. We
chatted, got acquainted, then went out on some walking errands. That evening we
relaxed, with plans to take the bus the next morning over the series of bridges
that connected the coastal towns to Bergen – she said until recently most
people would just take the ferries into work before they built the bridges. I
learned that in the past, boats were used as a normal part of everyday travel through
much of Norway, thanks to the large coastline and fjords.
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| Downtown Bergen |
As it turns out,
Bergen was the beautiful, picturesque, stunning Norwegian port city I had been
imagining. The colored houses contrasting with the blue water and greenery made
for a delightful view. She took me for a walk around the downtown harbor, and
pointed out places where she used to work, memories from her childhood, and how
things have changed. We rode the funicular to reach the top of a Lookout, also
a popular hiking destination, but the wind was too bad to enjoy a hike.
Instead, we enjoyed the views and looked around at the little shops. She
treated me to a delicious fish stew in Bergen, and said that a large part of
the Norwegian diet revolves around fish. No complaints about that on my end!
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| View of Bergen from Lookout |
The Fjords
The girl who had met
me at the train station, Karen, had told me that they had arranged for me to go
along with her and her French boyfriend Xavier on a trip to buy a horse from
one of the fjord towns about six hours away. They were going to take me along
to show me more of the country, since they had to do the drive anyway, and it turns
out it was probably the highlight of the trip for me.
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| Great Grandma Ida's mother's hometown |
Two days after I
arrived at Gerd’s, Karen and Xavier arrived to pick me up. We left mid- morning
in their vehicle and an empty horse trailer, with a route that would wind us
through the mountains and along the fjord coastline, with a ferry crossing to
reach our final destination. It was about a 5 hour trip, but we made some stops
along the way to eat and stretch our legs. First, we stopped in Evanger, where
Gerd had instructed us to stop, as it was where my great-grandma Ida’s mother
had been born. It was a beautiful, quaint little town in the mountains with a
small lake nearby. We took a picture for posterity.
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| Lunch picnic in Voss, Norway |
Our next stop along
the way was Voss, a popular location for adventure sport enthusiasts, and the
host of many international competitions for winter sports. We had a lovely
picnic and relaxed by the lake. It was June in Norway but still a little chilly
in the mountains, as to be expected. We also stopped by the Sognefjord, the
longest fjord in the world and very popular with tourists, just to see it, before
we continues on our journey in a different direction. By the way, I learned,
and will share for clarification, that the actual definition for a fjord is: “a
long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion.”
(Wikipedia). Basically, it’s a water road in place of a valley. It’s larger
than a river and has steeper sides than a river. They’re another example of how
Norwegians traditionally (and still do) used boats to travel and get around
instead of any other form of transportation. We took a water ferry to cross to
the road we needed to and continued on our way, stopping for dinner in Sogndal
(which we ate while watching one of the World Cup games, a nice accompaniment
to my travels that summer), reaching our destination at dusk. Our hosts, the
horse sellers, spoke English well and chatted with us before putting us to bed.
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| View from breakfast |
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| Karen and her new horse |
We slept soundly that
night, and awoke to one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. After a
delicious fresh breakfast, we sat and enjoyed the view before preparing the
horse for his journey (I can’t remember the horse’s name, or I’d tell you).
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| Lustrafjord, Norway |
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| Historical first stave church in Norway |
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| Coffee and Lefse at the Walaker Hotel |
Our
drive back was just as scenic, though they purposely chose a smoother route for
the horse’s sake and to change the views for me. We stopped to see the views
and to look at the oldest Stave church in Norway, called Urres Church. After
that, we crossed on the ferry and then stopped at a place called Solvorn, which
has beautiful views and is home to the Walaker Hotel, established in 1640. It
was said to have some of the best lefse in Norway, so of course I had to try
it. (Don’t tell anyone – but I think I prefer my grandma’s). We brought the
horse to her home and I am happy to report he fit right in with Karen’s other horses.
I returned to Gerd’s with a camera full of pictures and stories to tell her. It
was one of my last nights in Bergen, and we ended staying up way too late to
watch one of the World Cup games together, which was fun and one of those
evenings I’ll always remember fondly. It was also the evening of the solstice, which proved to be a beautiful sunset, for as much as the sun would set that night, anyway.
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| Summer Solstice in Norway |
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| Isdalsto, Norway |
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| Gerd, Cherstie, and her children at the farm |
The last day in Norway was for
me to visit the other family I had remembered hearing about while growing up:
Gerd’s other niece Cherstie. My mom had remembered her and her sister Karen
when they were small girls, and more recently when she went back to visit a few
years ago. Cherstie has three children now, and they all live on the farm that
used to belong to Gerd’s father in Isdalsto. Gerd’s last name, Isdal,
represents where she came from, and today she doesn’t live very far from where
she grew up. It was special to finally see the place I had grown up wondering
about. We had a lovely lunch with Cherstie’s family, and she showed me around a
little. She is a very talented illustrator, and was kind enough to send me home
with some children’s books she had illustrated. They’re in Norwegian, of
course, but hey, maybe I’ll learn someday. ;-)
And with that, it was time for me to head to the airport. I had an evening flight but with a long layover in Copenhagen, so after an airport sleep I ventured out to explore a taste of Denmark. Here's a short entry from Copenhagen:
Bonus Day:
Copenhagen
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| Morning coffee in Nyhavn. |
I remember in grade school that we had to read the young adult book Number
the Stars by Lois Lowry. The book became one of my favorites and I read it
over and over again. Set in World War II, the story is about a young girl and
her family living in Copenhagen at the time of the German occupation. Her older
siblings are members of the Resistance, and her Jewish best friend and family
must escape for safety. Told from the perspective of a middle school girl, the
story focuses on the brave fishermen who smuggled Jews safely out of Copenhagen
and took them to neutral Sweden.
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| The Little Mermaid |
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| Central downtown |
Though it’s been many
years since I’ve read it, I still remember the details of the book describing
Copenhagen like it was yesterday. I knew I had to see Tivoli Gardens, the
statue of the Little Mermaid, and the coastline in order to get a taste of
Copenhagen, but I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful the city would actually be.
I ended up wandering for hours on end during my ten hour layover, and look
forward to revisiting the city to do it justice. Here are just a few photos to give you a taste of this magical city.
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| Tivoli Gardens |
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| Not sure what this is but it's beautiful! |
Next is the return of my friend Chelsea for the second stage of my European summer adventure:
Eurotrip 2014!
