A Week Vacation in Norway

Norway has been on our list of places to visit for sometime now. We were originally going to go in February hoping to see the northern lights, but then I broke my leg and so we delayed...

We flew into Oslo and spent 2 days exploring the city. It has a population that is about half of what Koln is, so it is not a large city and quite manageable. They have a great tram, bus, and ferry system where you can buy a pass for your stay making it very easy to get around. The waterfront has gone through a massive renovation and is quite modern and a definite draw for tourists. There is still quite a bit of construction going on and many beautiful, high-end condos being built right at the water’s edge. Restaurants, bars, and entertainment are plentiful there.

The National Ballet and Opera House is new on the waterfront and seems to invite tourists to explore. You can walk around, up, and on top of the building. Very cool and unique. After walking around it we went on a cruise on the Oslo Fjord and had a great view of it from the water. There is a structure in the water near the Opera building and we were told that it is suppose to represent an iceberg that has broken off from the main structure, a commentary on global warming.

We took advantage of the warm, sunny weather and spent part of one day in the Vigeland Sculpture Park. It contains over 200 bronze and granite sculptures by Oslo’s most famous artist. The park has fountains, a bridge decorated with 58 of the sculptures and open grassy areas and paths for wandering. Some of the pieces were fascinating; some were funny, and others a bit disturbing. Overall, a very interesting park and nice place to stroll and enjoy a pretty day.

 

 

On the cruise on the fjord we traveled around some of the small islands near Oslo and could see many summer homes spread up in the hills. Along the waterfront these homes had little ‘bath houses’, which were amazingly well maintained, and unique providing owners with a small space to enjoy near the water’s edge. The surrounding islands are idyllic and seem like the perfect getaways yet still just a ferry ride into the city. From what we could gather not many of them are inhabited in the winter months.

 

 

Something we were pleasantly surprised at was the Viking Ship Museum. We took a ferry out to one of the islands right by the city and walked out to the museum. Inside were displayed three of the best-preserved Viking Ships ever found. They were buried over 1000 years ago to carry their royal owners to the ‘other side’. The immense size and some of the detail on the ships was amazing. The displays were so simple and the reconstructed ships, awesome and authentic.

 

 
We rented a car and spent the next five days far from the city exploring the countryside, which was dotted with farms, endless forests, and breathtaking fjords. Some of the scenery was very similar to Switzerland, which we thought was the most beautiful until we witnessed what Norway had to offer. In Norway the scenery is just much more expansive and vast. We also found as we drove that the terrain and backdrop changed often. There was a time we were driving and felt like we were on the moon – we thought film crews would just love it because it was so incredibly desolate. Once you leave the city of Oslo you drive for hours and see villages, but few towns and even fewer hotels and restaurants.

Our favorite stay was three nights in the village of Solvorn on the Lustrafjord. The Walaker Hotel is the oldest hotel in Norway and proved to be the perfect place to relax, hike, cycle, and explore the water by ferry and canoe. No matter which we explored, the views were magnificent! We took a ferry across the fjord to visit the oldest stave church in Norway too. There were over 1000 stave churches at one time and now only 28 exist. The Urnes Stave Church dates from 1129 and we marveled at the fact that it is totally made of timber with lighting that holds candles and it has never burned down! They have very few windows and are very dark inside and out, so different than the cathedrals of Europe. We ended up coming across three other churches as we drove in other parts of the country. Before this trip I had never even heard of a stave church. As always, it has been a real education!

Cottage in the village of Solvorn.

View from our hike

Walaker Hotel - wonderful stay!

Garden at the Walaker

Urnes Stave Church

As you can guess from the pictures, traveling along the fjords was just remarkable. Being that we were there in September there were very few people on the ferries, so you could take as many pictures as you wanted and from where ever you wanted on the deck. It was wonderful! We did ask about the peak time to see the waterfalls and one of the workers said the end of May, so if you are thinking of planning a trip that might be an ideal time to see the waterfalls at their prime!