Good morning from Norway! What a perfect scene to wake up to out our veranda. Storybook. No words. Skjolden is on a tip of the Sognefjord.
This excursion travels east from Skjolden, through a valley, up and over the pass then to the town of Lom, then return to ship.
There is a west side of Norway, then a pass through the mountains, then the east side, which has less rain. We traveled the road/path to Lom. There were clouds and fog on the mountain tops, eerie and beautiful at the same time.
Hundreds of rivulets and waterfalls covered the sides of the valley from recent rains, show and glacier melt.
We visited the Norwegian Mountain Center, which had a geologic history as well as animal/human history. The glacial areas surrounding Lom have been found to contain human historic items a fast back as the Iron age and Viking age. There were many examples in the museum for us to see. This is a continuing active archeologic area and project.
The Lom stave church is the second oldest of 28 in Norway; a 29th was moved to Poland. This is the oldest one in continuous use, originating in 1158-1159 (there are underlying layers including pagan use beneath the site). This stave church seats 300.
It was suggested that I read “The Norse Saga” by another traveler. I will do it. Well, I cannot find just one and none with that exact title. If you know it, please comment.
The river runs right through the center of Lom. Today the loud rush of water was quite exciting!
We had a lovely lunch with Isaiah and Ronnie from Atlanta in Lom at the Flossheim Hotell: salmon, diced veggies, boiled white potato, with dessert. (Yes, Hotell is spelled that way.)
After lunch: We turned around and headed West. A statue accompanying the completion of Norway’s constitution, (the artist ended up being pro-German), disliked by Norwegians, was moved from the capital of Oslo to the pass area in the mountains. The “Saga Column” has images from the history of Norway.
Trolls abound here they tell; we failed to spot them today.
The bus ride passed through part of Jotunheimen National Park. No trolls, we did see the direction rocks laid be precious travelers to show the way across the mountain pass many centuries ago.
Near the pass there is a rock window for photos. Imported rock from South Norway was used, which upset locals who objected to that fact, and who made one from local rock on the other side of the highway. I caught a photo that barely shows the edge of it, bus movement and all; it is quite large.
Author Ibsen stayed in region for days and was inspired for some of his works.
At Wittgenstein Falls area, named after philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, there are Scottish Cattle. There is also monument of a small mouth and giant hand created by artists Sebastion Kjolaas, Marianne Bredesen and Siri Hjorth. It supposedly represents that one should think less and work harder. Photos below.
Never having actually seen the highest peaks of Norway since it was too foggy; it was a beautiful day regardless.
Back at port we headed to our nightly group bar visit followed by a lovely dinner. Anne and I topped it off with a visit to a hot tub.
