A Day in Voss

Friday was another lovely day. We slept in, then went to a lesson with Arne. We reviewed tunes that we had learned, and invited Arne over for supper. He kindly agreed to come! We thought that would be the end of it, but as seems to happen this trip, things turned out differently.

After our lesson, Arne took us over the the Felemakeriet, the fiddle-making shop. The girls learned a little about making hardingfele, and then were treated to seeing some amazing marionettes. The resident fiddle maker is not only a fine instrument builder, but she also designs complete puppet shows. She does everything from the writing, to the stage building, to the making of the puppets and their clothes. It was pretty awesome! 

At lunch.
(Martha's photo)

Then it was home for lunch. Lunch for us is typically open faced sandwiches with various things on them. Goat cheese is popular! And there is always a selection of raw veggies and fruit. We eat pretty well, even on a budget. The strong dollar is really helpful - we can get things we want that before were a little pricey. 

We headed up to the Voss Museum and checked out the exhibits. Now, many readers may know that I plan to move to Voss. I found a writing posted in the Museum that I really like. Here's a picture of it. 

I find this to be very powerful. 

We went outside to have a guided tour of the old houses that make up a huge portion of the Museum. The story begins in the Viking Age, when it is know that there were farms on this plot of land. But later, much later, there were two farms up for sale, and two guys decided to buy them both because all the land around Voss was being parceled out. This was a long time ago. So, they put the buildings together, and ran the two farms together. The earliest buildings are from the 1700s, and another set are from the 1800s. 

Inside the 1700s house. 
(Martha's photo)

 The first house we went into with our guide was a house from the 1700s. Here, the family lived in this small space. They had a fire going 24/7, and the smoke hole in the roof was covered with some internal part of a pig...I can't remember now! Everything happened in this one room, which I think is a common story in many cultures. The max of people living on these two farms at one time was about 30.  But that is getting ahead of myself. 

Of course, at that time one thing that every family did was brew beer (ale).   Here you can see a giant (and yes, it's really huge!) spoon that was used to mix the mash that was in the barrels. You can see two barrels here, one behind our guide, and one next to him. 

Big spoon.
(Lilah's photo)

From here we went into the "more modern" house from the mid 1800s.  That one is attached to this one, so they became continuous, but the early one became a storehouse. The other one actually had a kitchen, and then one large room that was used for eating, sleeping and hanging around (if they really had time for that!). One thing that I don't have a photo of was an unusual object in that house. It's a candlestick that stands on a tripod of legs. The candle was pushed down into it, and there was a wooden key that sat in a hole at the bottom of that portion. As the candle burned down, the key was used to push the candle up from the bottom, and that in turn was a method of telling time. Very ingenious! It took two hours for the candle to burn out completely. I wish I had a photo! 

Between the old buildings.
(Martha's photo)

The last folks to live on this farm were there until about 1927, just after the Museum was founded. The Museum preserves these houses as an excellent inroad into history. This is a view between some of the other outbuildings. Behind in the distance you can see the lake, called Vangsvatnet, that is in the heart of Voss, and you can just see part of the top of Gråsiden, my favorite mountain, of which I take a lot of pictures! 

I'm not kidding. Here's one of Voss and the lake and Gråsiden that I took from just at the corner of the Museum building. You can see the town of Voss, the lake, Gråsiden (of course) and the wires of the gondola. In some ways you might think that spoils the picture, but I think that's part of what Voss is these days, so I did not edit it out. 

Time to head down from the Museum...

The place Martha most wants to live.

The day was far from over though. We decided to make chili for dinner. Grocery shopipng! Then suddenly I got a text. It was from Sigvald Rorlien, the master hardingfele maker, answering an earlier text from me saying that he was home and he would love for us to come over. OH GOODNESS! Arne was called, and yes, he wanted to go along as well. Good thing we had made a portable dessert. While there is no photo of it, I can tell you it was delicious - GF brownie with Norwegian grown strawberries and whipped cream on top. YUM!  

Living room dance hall. 
(Sue's photo)

We told Sigvald we would love to come and would bring dessert. Arne came to us for dinner. And the kids brought up that Arne had promised to show them how to dance Vestlandsspringar. Well, that was that. Up went Arne, who danced first with Maren, and then grabbed Itsani, and finally Lilah. That is what was going on in our tiny, tiny living room dance hall! 

Group hug.
(Sue's photo)

After dancing came the group hug! 

And then we were off to see Sigvald, glad we had those two extra seats that we could pop up in our van...we took Arne along with us. 

Sigvald Rorlien is just a wonderful human being. At age 80 he is still making amazizng hardingfele. He was an electrician, but somehow got interested in making instruments. Over time, he became the person in the shop in Voss, and he started training other makers. These were not just Norwegians - he has worked with Karen Rebholz in Wisconsin, and with Wiebke, who is German, and now runs the shop. And yes, he trained Ottar Kåsa too! Sigvald has a medal from the King for his work in keeping the tradition of making alive. His instruments are wonderful! What I learned on this special evening was that he hasn't had so many visitors because he just had a heart valve replaced. He was really happy to have some musical company! 

What about the kids? They got to jamming with Arne, and Sigvald sat and listened. He was very complimentary, and I have to say, the kids were pretty much on it! We played several tunes with Arne, and some without him, and then we had dessert. Sigvald couldn't get over the kids and their tunes. He thought they were fantastic.

After dessert out came a special fiddle. This is one that Sigvald just put together. It did not have any finish of any kind, no rosing, no varnish, but it is one HOT instrument. It sounds fabulous! The kids asked some questions about fiddle making, and then it was time, alas, to go home. 

Sigvald stopped me at the door. He said the kids were amazing, and he was really delighted that we had come. It is these times, like the one in the gift shop at the Museum in Hardanger (see previous day) and this evening that keep me doing what I do. It's all about those personal connections, and the joy that a little music can bring. 

-Martha

P.S. We hope you will see more photos in the coming days that the kids have taken. We are working with them on capturing images that are good for blogging and why they are. Stay tuned!