NORWAY: NORSK FOLKEMUSEUM

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . .

I need to finish writing up our Scandinavian Trip of 2011 before we head to Prague (YIKES!) five weeks from today.  I think I can do it in three more posts, maybe two.

While in Oslo our tour group visited the Norsk Folkemuseum, an outdoor living history experience that shows typical Norwegian life from 1500 to the present. The open-air museum has over 150 buildings and many costumed workers and exhibitors.

The peaceful, richly-colored old town could have almost been one of the towns we drove through in the bus as we traveled through the country:

  

 My brother Dave would never be able to visit this town.  Too bad, Dave.

 Walking away from the town square was like walking back in time:

 

Notice the almost complete lack of windows on the house below.  When there is snow up to your roofline, a window is not a good thing.

 We did see a few windows, but they were usually up high and not too large:

All the people in costume "doing their thing" significantly enhanced our experience: 

One of the most photographed structures in the Folkemuseum is the Gol Stave Church, built in 1212.  It was saved from destruction in 1880 by the king and relocated to its current site.  There are only a handful of these wooden medieval churches left. Again, notice the lack of windows.  No brilliant stained glass here. 

Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside because just as we got there, guests began to arrive for a wedding.  I was really disappointed not to be able to experience the dark interior, but the seeing the surprisingly comfortable mix of old and new in the wedding party more than compensated for that:

This woman we could see through a window appeared to be the minister:

I recently ran across these words spoken by Kjell Magne Bondevik (a Lutheran minister and former Prime Minister of Norway who was very popular) that I thought were very appropriate for the blend of old and new we saw here:
"We have to find compromises.  That's the way it is in Norway."

On the other hand, Henrik Ibsen, Norway's most famous playwright, said:
"The devil is compromise."

I think in this particular case, I have to vote with the Prime Minister.

NORWAY: AURLANDFJORD

At the end of our ride on the Flam Railway was the beautiful and truly magnificent Aurlandfjord. Our group hopped on a little cruising boat and started on our next adventure.

We had a very friendly escort for much of our journey:

Where the cliffs didn't drop straight down into the water, there were lush green valleys with scattered homes and buildings.  I had to wonder where the residents of these homes shop--no Costco or Target in sight--and what is it like in winter?

But the really spectacular part of this mini-cruise was the waterfalls.  I think we snapped about 500 pictures of one waterfall after another, from long thin streams of water to torrential cataracts.  It was pretty hard not to post them all, but I'm not sure this blog has enough memory, so here is just a sampling:

  Sometimes they even came in triplicate:

It was hard work being surrounded by such a magnificent, glorious landscape, but we found our ways to deal with it:

After three hours or so on the boat, we reluctantly disembarked and climbed onto our bus for the long ride back to Oslo. That vista wasn't too shabby either:

I think in the short time we were there, we really came to love the beautiful mountains and fjords of Norway:

NORWAY: FLAM RAILWAY

I STILL have a three or four posts to go to finish off our trip to Scandinavia last summer.  Yeah, I know that's not relevant to most of you, but since I have stopped scrapbooking, this is the only record I have.

At the end of our cruise we booked an extension that included a trip to the Norwegian fjords.  It began with a train trip, which provided a smooth, relaxing ride through some incredible scenery that I think can pretty much speak for itself:

Train station.  Yeah, they look just like this in California, too.  (Not.)

The suburbs--also like California, right?

These houses gave me a different way of thinking about a rooftop garden.

We started leaving the farmland and pleasant mountain villages behind and gaining what seemed like quite a bit of elevation, although at it's highest point, the railway is only about 3,000 feet above sea level.  However, even though it was June, there was plenty of snow and ice. I guess that's what living "in the North" means.

These people were all part of our group. (Can you see Bob in the back?)  This was a pretty typical scene as we rushed from side to side in the car, trying to capture the gorgeous scenery on our cameras:

 We changed trains at the Myrdal Station and boarded the famous Flam Railway, but not before we spent some time outside oohing and aahing at the pristine beauty all around us.  I was intrigued by the thought of renting one of these bicycles and pedaling up and down mountain roads.

The very THOUGHT of it seems to have exhausted Bob:

That's a lovely swimming hole behind us, don't you think?

To get me to put one toe into this liquid ice lake, there would would have to be a sauna one step away from the water.

All of these wooden snowbreaks indicate that winters up here must involve a LOT of the white stuff, but I wonder how well the wood holds up with tons of snow bearing down on it?

The Flam Railway, one of the world's steepest rail lines, took us on a 20-km long journey through some of Norway's most beautiful scenery. One of the most spectacular sites was the Kjosfossen Waterfall, 738 feet tall:

The train stopped here for a Kodak Moment (Does the younger generation even know what that is?), and we were also treated to a "show" performed by an actress dressed as a seductive forest creature from Scandinavian folklore, trying to lure all the tourists into the water. 

She almost convinced us to go for a swim.