Connections

Last summer I had the opportunity to be Norway with one of our travelers, M, and her mom. We went together to a concert in Hallingdal featuring fiddlers Arne Anderdal and John Ole Morken. It took some planning and help from friends and family to get it all to happen, but it did. We had a great time. Little did I know how that evening would impact two important parts of our tour a year later.  This is a post about that, the connections made, how they developed, and how they impact the tour. 

You see, John Ole has family that immigrated to the US and settled in Sylvana, a little hamlet in the Skagit Valley not far from Stanwood, Washington. (For non-locals, about an hour and a half north of Seattle.) With the help of several other people, I helped him to find information about his family. That included finding their homestead, graves, photos, and other information. But that wasn't the end of it. 

In looking for that information, I met the Gards, a family on Camano Island who had a hardingfele. It turned out that once in playable condition, that hardingfele came into my possession. Why does that matter? It matters because having that hardingfele to play allowed me to loan my hardingfele to I and L, who along with M, are the three kids going on the tour. This means that all three girls will have at least some experience on that instrument, which allows them to study in Voss. Amazing!

But then M's mom said that she thought our tour might make a story that Norwegians would be interested in hearing, and we won a large Sons of Norway grant to go to music camp in Norway. So I circled back to John Ole. He happens to be the host of the Folkemusikktimen, the weekly folk music program on NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Company. Just last week I heard back from him that yes, we could perhaps meet in Valdres to do something for the show. Now THAT is COOL! And it's all about connections. :) 

Now, if you want to hear some great music, check out past programs here: 

https://radio.nrk.no/serie/folkemusikktimen/sesong/202305

Departure in 34 days! 

Martha

The Itinerary

I was greeted today at work by Lilah cheerfully announcing that it's Day Number 40 before departure. We talked about trying to do something special on Day Number 30 because, well, that's just one month! :) 

But, really, what is the plan? It's always good to know what you are doing. With a nod to Pat Pi, this is the nearly set in stone version of our plan.  A couple of things you will want to know about. For example, what is a pop-up concert? That's a concert of 15-20 minutes that we do in exchange for something we want to see or do. What is the hardanger fiddle? Well, it's the Norwegian national instrument, different from a regular violin/fiddle because of its ringing sympathetic strings (among other things). Who are the Sami? They are the indigenous people living in the northern regions of the Nordic countries, known for a special kind of singing called yoik, interesting leather work, and reindeer herding. I think everything else will be obvious. 

The map version, with a key below:

MAP KEY:

Red: Oslo airport to Voss

Blue: Voss to Fagernes

Yellow: Fagernes to Røros

Orange: Røros to Hafslo

Purple: Haflso to Bergen

Of course, there are many things happening. We will drive five National Scenic Routes, see five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, play two different instruments, ride one gondola and one funicular, and cross two fjords (one of them multiple times). The tour is a wonderful mix of culture and music, sightseeing and fun times. Here's the updated day to day (edited as of June 23): 

And with that, I leave you to contemplate. 

- Martha