By now getting all of our junk loaded in the van was easy - we knew how it all fit and just did it. Suitcases are now fatter, though, it seems...must be the shopping we've done. But I can't give any of that away - surprises from Norway are coming home to Seattle, for sure. Today's agenda -- to see the famous stave church at Urnes, then to cross the Sognfjord by ferry, cross the mountains, and drop into Voss. From there we go to Bergen to the hotel.
We were concerned about the ferry that would take us to Urnes. It's very small! So, we busted chops to be there early, and had breakfast in the van. Now, Sue had been collecting license plates, trying to get as many as possible. She had gotten more than half of the EU countries as a matter of fact, plus several non EUs. As we pulled in, there was a motorcyclist in front of us. He had Swiss plates! Huzzah!
Now remember, that ferry is really small. I know from the last time I did the ferry crossing that they cram vehicles in. It's a little like car Tetris. So, we're sitting there minding our own business, when a tour bus, like a FULL SIZE BUS backs into the lane next to us (you have to back onto the boat). Uh oh. We didn't think it would fit on the boat. Sue skillfully backed us on, with Martha quickly pulilng in a side mirror so that it didn't get taken off, and a little motorhome from Finland backed in next to us, with their Sharpei popping up in the passenger seat every so often. And what do you think happened next? !!! Check this video, taken by Sue:
DANG! Can you see how close he is to the wall? Mere inches!!
It's a short but scenic ride across the fjord to Urnes then you offload. You drive up a very skinny road uphill that is filled with silly pedestrians who don't pay any attention to the fact that they are walking on a one-lane road with two-way vehicle traffic including gigantic tour buses!!
 |
| Urnes Stave Church (Maren's photo) |
We got our tickets, it started to rain, and then we had to wait outside the church for our guide. OK, that was funny too. Our guide was probably a native French speaker. He (seriously!) sounded just like Inspector Clouseau. I had to stifle a giggle. But, starting with the panels on the outside of the church, he gave a lot of interesting details.
The church is not very large, and is really not used much anymore, though the burial ground is. However, it's not allowed to have a funeral there, so you do that on the other side of the fjord, and then the body is brought over for burial. Only locals are allowed to be buried here.
These panels on the side of the church are very, very old, from the Viking Age. The symbols in them are from that time period as well, and they show how the Vikings adapted and absorbed from other places. The two panels closest in the photo are a portal, a door that used to be in actual use. It was moved here at some point when the church was having a reconstruction phase, historically speaking.
 |
| Church door (Itsani's photo) |
The location of the church is not the same as the oldest ruins found. Those are up the hill just a little on a knoll. It's unclear why the church was moved, but it was also done with more modern construction this time - a stone foundation helped to keep the wood dry which is a large part of why we can see the church today!
You might have noticed that the door looks like it has been painted, and some come off. That is correct! It's painted with a kind of tar which is excellent in creating water resistance. But, it is highly flammable, so you can image what the problem is there. They still use this method today, and it is repainted about every five years. The church is due for a new coat next year. You can smell it too! It has a kind of smoky smell.
The front door to the church has beautiful ironwork. It's a little difficult to see the detail, but it's pretty amazing. The bottom of the door has a beam across it, worn smooth by time and travelers, no doubt. These small details are really incredible.
 |
| Staves and carvings. (Itsani's photo) |
Inside are more details. Here you see the tops of several of the staves (those are the posts that hold the thing up). Each one is carved differently but with symbols that were appropriate at the time. Above them do you see the three small squares? These were holes to let in light. You can imagine it must have been pretty dark in there!
Everywhere you look there is something to see.
The pulpit is rather ornate, and is colorful too. If you look closely at the pews, you can see some in front that appear to be boxed in. That is correct. These were purchased by wealthy families, so they had a sort of "private pew."
Also in this photo you can just see a couple of boards adjoining the left most stave. The church was not structurally sound, and these are braces to keep it from falling in. I think at at 1000 a little help is ok, don't you?
I'll finish this part of the day with a little more history. In the heyday of stave churches, there were more than 1300 in Norway. Only 28 remain, some number of these are in the Valdres and Hallingdal valleys. We saw them out windows as we drove. The stave churches disappeared for many reasons. Top thoughts on the matter are that communities grew, and needed bigger spaces as more and more people became Christian. In addition, once they spent all the money building bigger churches, there was no money to maintain the old stave churches. So, they were either burned down or left to fall into disrepair and disappear.
Here's a comparison - this is the much larger Hoppersand stave church, which we saw a couple of hours later after our third ferry crossing of the day. This one is huge, but it's largely a reconstruction; the original dates from 1130.
We took the ferry back across Lustrefjord to Solvorn, where we had seen the motorcyclist, and then drove along the Sognfjord's northern edge to get to Hella, where we got on the big ferry. This took us over to Vangsnes, and then we drove over yet another mountain pass. It was lovely, but by and large, the kids were asleep.
 |
| Sendefossen (Lilah's photo) |
 |
| Sendefossen at the bottom (Itsani's photo) |
We continued down, and here is another photo of the falls, where you can see the whole thing.
From here we drove back into Voss, completing a very large circle around Norway. We stopped at the Akademiet so that I could drop off my instruments and some things that Arne would keep for me until I returned from Sweden in August. (SAS is notoriously stinky about instruments, and I didn't want to risk not being able to fly...) And then we were back in Bergen, checking into our hotel on the Fisherman's Wharf, just across from the Hanseatic Houses.
We did a little organizing, and then went to a delicious Indian restaurant for dinner. It was just down the street from the hotel, and oh boy, the food was delicious! The beetroot pakoras were extraordinary and were something I had never seen before. Yummy chutneys, delicious curries, and papadoms. OH YES!
There was a gathering in the kids' room to have our last circle, play cards, and just hang out together. Then it was bedtime. I would be leaving first, on an 8:55AM bus bound for Telemark. Sue and the kids would fly home to Seattle later in the day. It was time.
Now, there are to be two more blog posts. There will be one for the last day, but then there will be a rather special one if Blogger cooperates. You'll want to check it out - it's the Funny Videos page.
- Martha
No comments:
Post a Comment