Norway 2008

 We traveled the third week of June, 2008, to Norway with Dad.

 In Oslo we saw the National Theater.

 

 

We traveled by train from Oslo to Bergen on the Flam railway. It was all snow at Myrdal and Finse.

Map from Oslo to Bergen

At Finse train station

 

 In Bergen, we saw the fish market and relaxed at a cafe.

 

Bergen was part of the Hanseatic League, so we toured the old part of town where the quays are.

The small alley behind the quays led to old wooden structures. Salted cod was the main export from Bergen in its most prosperous years. 

Houses were so close that a walkway above the street was practical.

 We traveled by the regular postal delivery boat to Sogndal, which is at the end of the second longest fjord in the world, the Sognefjord, so it took a while.  (see red route). This boat is like a local train, with people getting on and off at every stop. 

map from Bergen to Sogndal

view from the boat

 

We stayed in a little cabin on the coast outside of town, so it was very quiet and peaceful. It didn't get dark during the mid-June nights and we saw seals and fish leaping out of the water and splashing back in. 

our cabin

our picnic table

We rented a car in Sogndal, and made day trips to the surrounding areas. The

Our goal was to find evidence of our ancestors, so one day to drove to Hafslo, where the Grove family farm was located.

Hafslo city limits

Hafslo church

Hafslo cemetery marker

We didn't find any graves marked Grove or Thomson, but we found one marked Amble.

We took a ferry across the fjord to a beautiful wooden stave church in Ornes. In medieval times, there were between 1,000 and 2,000 of them all over Norway. Today, only 28 are left standing. The oldest of them is probably the Urnes Stave Church, which experts believe to have been erected in 1140.

The church doesn’t just stand out because of its old age, but for its stately carvings and good condition as well. The staves that carry the structure are lavishly decorated, and the carvings depict motifs such as crucifixes, mythological creatures, and plant-shaped ornaments. 

 

 We continued to the Heibergske museum, one of Norway’s largest and oldest cultural heritage museums. We saw traditional costumes, weaving, and wood carving.

 

The buildings were roofed with grass and other plants, which probably did a good job of keeping the rain out.