Sogndal

Last week, we had a wonderful four night stay off Sila. We visited one of Daddy's Norwegian friends, Paul. They met when Paul was an assistant instructor while Daddy was a student at the Voss Folk High School. They also spent time together when Daddy returned to Norway, and when Paul visited us in Leadville. I remembered him vaguely as the troll-guy, as he brought troll books and t-shirts for us. We stayed with Paul, his wife Agnes, and their daughter, Sofie, who is a senior in high school.

 Paul, Agnes, and the three red head Barneses.

Our visit was fun from Saturday all the way to the end on Wednesday morning. Throughout the four days, there were many highlights, five of which jump readily to mind.

#5: The Urnes Stave Church

On Monday, the four of us drove around to visit some local points of interest while Paul and Agnes went to work and Sofie went to school. The first place we stopped was to visit the Oldest preserved Stave Church. It was a seriously old church, built in 1130, that had been preserved by outstanding craftsmanship, good luck, and excellent care. Built and destroyed three times before the final one was built, ornaments inside dated from the 1060's.

The definition of a stave church is one that has planks that form the walls and the structure, like a barrel or ship. The church is effectively some 2,000 pre-made pieces that were nailed together. There are about twenty of these churches scattered throughout Norway. They are built with planking similar to that of Viking ships. This is probably because local carpenters were skilled in the art of barrel and ship making.

Here is a model of the frames.

The result of it being a personal church until 1600, when it was extended, is it is very expensively decorated. The benches, walls, and ceiling have eloquent carvings. There was very little paint, but where it was, the best had been used. On some wooden statues, the paint is so good that it was still clearly visible even though it was painted 900 years ago. I was amazed to find that the coating was still mostly complete, not just a few flakes. The church was made almost entirely out of wood coated in pine tar, two of the most readily accessible resources in the area.

The tar wears off on the sunnier parts of the buildings, as this picture shows.

Most of what you can see is carved, but there is some wall paper. You can also see the Viking ship candle holder on the table.

The steeple and the two pieces were added in the early seventeenth century when it was extended and became a public church.

The church is famous for a Northern wall with very elaborate carvings. The decorated pieces of the wall give the appearance of vines twined randomly among each other. Even carved randomly, it looked like a ton of work, but apparently it was planned out before it was carved. The tour guide pointed out what historians believe to be animals hidden in the vines. There was a lion, which looked to me like a skinny horse, and a snake fighting each other. There was also a dragon, the most convincing image of them all.

Here the guide explains the carvings on the north wall.

This is a straight view of the wall. In the bottom left, along the left side is the lion's hind leg. If you trace the body up you can find the head, that looks like it is biting onto something. That is the snake. If you trace your finger down, you can find the snake's head clamped onto the lion's neck. The dragon is not on this piece of the wall. I never would have seen the animals without the guide's help, even if I had known they were there.

#4: Hiking Molden

On Sunday, we went for a fantastic walk near Songdal. We hiked a mountain called Molden. It was a perfect, blue sky day, and there was a stunning view of the fjord, Sognefjorden, below us. The hike was the perfect way to learn about Norway's history and culture from two interesting Norwegians. At least the exercise made sure we slept well that night!

Molden Summit

#3: Eating Berries

During the multiple walks around Sogndal, Jack and I could not help noticing that it was both blueberry and raspberry season. With blueberries, we would run ahead to a large patch to pick a handful. We picked as fast as possible, letting the adults get almost out of sight before racing after them. We determined that a mouthful of blueberries was far better than one at a time. With raspberries, this was different. They were best one at a time, being larger than blueberries. The also grew on taller bushes, so we had only to slow for a moment to grab one or two as we walked by.

During a hike with Paul and Agnes, Mama found a large patch of blueberries. To make dessert, Jack, Mama and I went back to pick a few cups. Only through an impressive amount of self control did we manage to bring back a reasonable number of berries. With yogurt and a bit of sugar, they were delicious!

This is me picking berries.

#2: Norwegian Waffles

A classic Norwegian dessert is flower shaped waffles in the evening. They were served warm with brunost (a typical Norwegian cheese that is slightly sweet and made from the whey of goat's or cow's milk) yogurt and homemade strawberry jam. Those and ginger cookies made for a delicious desert on Paul and Agnes's porch. It was wonderful eating the waffles and listening to Paul talk about some of Norway's history.

We have no picture of the waffles, but here we are eating lunch on the porch.

#1: Public Trampolines

The most exciting part of our visit was the discovery of two public trampolines in the Sogndal park. Some people could easily do flip after flip, landing every single one of them. Rabbit and I supposed that they must get lots of practice. During the school hours, the trampolines were usually empty, so Rabbit and I could bounce for well over an hour at a time. Occasionally trying tricks, we would spend most of our time jumping exhilaratingly high. 

 Trampolining.

Here I am landing on my knees and hoping to recover smoothly.

We also took a swim in the fjord near where Paul and Agnes live. This is Jack contemplating the cold water and the benefits of just jumping in.

All five highlights made our visit to Sogndal fabulous. But beyond them, it was nice to meet some of Daddy's old friends again and have a deeper insight into Norwegian culture. All things included, it was a great visit. -Porter