Bergen and Barbecue

 Saturday dawned beautiful and sunny. Our agenda was to visit friends on the way to Bergen, then to see Bryggen (the Hanseatic houses), and then to go to Hardanger for a party. Long day! 

For once, we had an on-time departure, and the kids slept in the van. We had a true Norwegian experience - a kolonnade - on the way. That's when there is construction or weather, only one lane is open, and a pace car takes a set number of cars one way, then returns with a group traveling the other way. There was construction on E16, and so we had to wait just a few minutes for our turn. 

About half an hour later we arrived in Osterøy at the new home of Reidun Horvei. Reidun and I first met in Voss, in 2016, when I was looking at setting up a tour for 2017. (Of course, that turned into the Denmark tour...) She later did a show in Seattle with pianist Inger-Kristine Riber, and the Lilla was part of that show. We have been fast friends ever since. We drove up a steep hillside, and near the top sat Reidun's beautiful new home. Our job? Fill it with music, of course! 

The table set for cake! 
(Reidun's photo)

When we arrived, we had a warm welcome, then Reidun took the kids on a house tour. I hung out with Inger-Kristine, who was also there and had a chat. Then it was time for a coffee pause, of course! 

There were two gluten-free cakes, one with almond flour and custard, and the other a sort of flourless chocolate torte. Most of us tried both - delicious! It was lovely to sit on the deck, with friends of all ages, and look at the view over the fjord. Reidun had always said that she wanted a place where she could see the water, and this has fantastic views! 

Then there was music. Reidun captured this video. 

Alas, it was time to say goodbye and head down to Bergen. We found our parking garage, but our phones would not let us download the garage's app. What a pain! We had to ask someone what to do, and learned that there was a machine in the garage where we could pay, our license plate had been photographed and time stamped when we drove in. Great! We turned the kids loose to explore Byrggen.

Bryggen
(Itsani's photo)

Bryggen is often photographed because it is so lovely.  These houses were built by members of the Hanseatic League. Their trading ships plied the waters between Bergen and other ports in Europe and Asia from the early 1400s to the mid 1600s. The Hanseatic League, which was made up of Germans, also controlled the fishing industry. The 62 remaining buildings are a UNESCO World Heritage site, and so are now protected. 

The kids spent about an hour and a half exploring, with regular check ins. Sue went to the Hanseatic Museum, and I sat in a cafe trying to catch up on blogging, checking plans for various things, and so on. It was fine - I had seen the houses on an earlier trip. 

Lilah had been asking about Indian food, which she loves. On the way to the cafe, I found an Indian restaurant that looked like it would be perfect for our final dinner. Yes! 

Back in the van, we followed a route that Reidun had suggested, a scenic way to Hardanger that would allow us to miss the construction and thus save some time. It turned out to be very picturesque, with views of glaciers at some points, and curvy roads through the mountains. Oh yes - and there was one famous waterfall, Steindalsfossen. Usually, folks walk up to the falls and then you can walk behind it, but we did not have time to do all of that as we were due at a party. We had a look, then drove on. 

Nils Tjoflot.

Now the road got really tricky. It was a very narrow one lane road on the edge of a fjord - yes, a straight down drop off the right side of our vehicle. Sue was driving, and we did have some issues with people wanting to pass us, and speeding oncoming cars. We made it to our turnoff in one piece, even if our hair was a little standing on end-ish. Whew! Our turnouff was on Tjoflotvegen (Tjoflot Road). Can you recall the earlier tale of the ill-fated Tjoflot? Wait - there is yet one more sad story - poor guy! But that comes a little later. 

We were invited to the farm belonging to Rannveig Djønno's family. I met Rannveig in Voss through Arne. She is the person who coordinates all the summer concerts, several hundred of them, all over Voss and Hardanger. She arranged all of our popup concerts! She had been away on vacation in Denmark with her precocious 8 year old son, Knut. They had just returned, and were hosting a community barbecue on the "beach" at the edge of the Hardanger fjord. 

Hardanger fjord and the farm.
(Itsani's photo)

When we arrived, this was the view. There were little farms along the fjord, mountains in the distance, and apple trees everywhere. We later learned that the farm has been in the Djønne family since the 1300s. That is amazing! Rannveig's father, who is in his 70s, still runs the farm. Initially, her brother inherited it, but he passed away young, and so her father is farming, and has brought in some laborers to help him. The main crop is apples, there are more than 20,000 (yes, that is not a typo) trees on the farm. 

Sue on the ATV.
(Martha's photo)

We had to walk down a steep hill (this IS Norway after all) to get to the pier and the "beach." Sue didn't think she could make it having bad knees, so she got a ride on an ATV. If you click on the picture, it will get larger, and you can see her laughing, but really, it didn't sound so happy - a little more toward the freaked out side. She later told me she wished she had had a helmet. By the way, she came back up the same way! 

Music on the dock
(Sue's photo)

The rest of us walked down to a series of small barns that sit above the high water line. There really isn't a beach, it's mostly just rocks. There was one little girl swimming, but we had said no swimming because it was cold, and the water would be cold, and the rocks in the water slippery. It was fine with the girls. Someone had donated a pig, and that had been roasted all day on a spit, over a fire. YUM! And then it was potluck. YUM! 

Here we are, in the photo at the left, on the dock. You can see the barn on the left. That is where, in the old days before the road came in 1981 (!!) all the apples were packed and sent on barges to be sold. There used to be dances after in the hayloft, Rannveig told us, but they stopped because of worries about the strength of the structural beams. 

You can also see all the people on the shore, and on the dock closer to the barn. We sat fairly close to the end. It was really lovely to be out on the pier playing music. There was enough breeze that the bugs were not horrific, and Rannveig joined right in. She also played us another Tjoflot tune. 

Tjoflot really had some sadness in his life.  He was hired to play for a wedding. When he got there, the girl that he loved, and he thought loved him, was marrying someone else. He went home and wrote her a tune, her name was Gina, and the waltz is Gina's Waltz. It's a very melancholy tune, with quick changes between minor and major keys. And then he died shortly thereafter when the boat capsized, per earlier blog.

Here's a clip of us playing on the pier, the tune is Swedish, Reinlneder från Mangskog.

It stays light very late here in Norway. When we checked the time it was already 9:30PM, and we knew we had about a 40 minute drive once we got up the hill, packed the van, and hit the road. It was, sadly, time to leave. I got this photo on the drive home, a little dusky, it's about 10:15PM. 

Goodbye Hardanger! 

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! 

Voss and Hardanger

On Thursday we got up and had breakfast, then headed out to the Academy. The Ole Bull Academy is an institution that trains professional folk musicians. It offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees, and serves as a hub for folk music and dance in the Voss area.  Because I am connected to Arne, and he works for the Academy, we have been able to use it as a rehearsal and practice space at no cost. Can you imagine being handed a set of keys to a university building in the US, when you are not an employee or a bigwig? Yep. That's how we roll here! 

Our class on this morning was with Silje Solberg. She is a lovely fiddler from Østerøy. We reviewed our tunes from the day before, and then learned a lovely march. Here are Lilah, Maren and Itsani in class with Silje. (Martha's Video)

Itsani, Lilah, Maren.
(Martha's Photo)

We loaded up the van and headed for the Hardanger Fjord and Utne.  There is always something to see or do on the road in Norway. This time it was to stop at a very famous waterfall, Skjervsfossen. Here, the water cascades nearly 500' down. 

But, parking was terrible, so the girls sat and waited to go down for the first view while Sue parked the van and I assisted. In the end, the view from the top wasn't so great. But the view from the bottom? 

We drove down to check it out! It was, in fact, spectacular. 

Skjervsfossen.
(Itsani's Photo)

 It is quite difficult to get parking down at the bottom because so many people are trying to look at the falls. This was, in fact, a second attempt. :)  

On the ferry.
(Martha's photo)

From the falls we drove down the west side of the Hardanger fjord, on a skinny road with two way traffic. Often one has to stop to let a vehicle going the other way come through. Sometimes one of you has to back up, and sometimes there is someone behind you who also has to back up... It can be a little hair raising, but on this day it was a smooth trip. 

We arrived at the right time to walk right onto the ferry. It's a very short ride, time enough for some snacks, which we had brought along. 

Sue and I looked for the place to buy tickets. There was a window, but no one was staffing it. We tried to pay when we got off, but learned that the ferry is free if you walk on!  Then it is a short walk along the edge of the fjord in the village of Utne to get to the Museum. 

Lady of the Fjord
(Itsani's photo)

We had brought food with us for lunch, and decided to picnic at the edge of the fjord. The kids spotted a sculpture in the rocks. This is The Lady of the Fjord, and she is part of the collection belonging to the Museum. Can you spot her on the rock? 

Looking at belts. 
(Martha's photo)

The museum has, among other things, a fantastic collection of folk costumes, bunad, and their accessories.  In this photo, you can see in the left side a peek at a costume, locally made furniture in the back, and the kids are looking at a display of belts. 

They recognized that some are merely embroidered, and they guessed that might be because those belonged to less wealthy women. Others had different levels of beadwork, up until the most fancy, completely beaded with no stitching visible. 

Here is a closer shot, taken by Itsani. They are exquisite!

Belts
(Itsani's photo)

Tjoflot's Fiddle
(Itsani's photo)

Another fun thing to see is the collection of fiddles. One of the tunes that many of my students play is a reinlender after a guy named  Nils Tjoflot (say TCHOO flut). He was a fiddler from Hardanger who lived from 1865 to 1898. You might note that he died quite young. What happened? He went to play in Granvin at a barn dance. He also had a special sailboat, and when sailing it home, a wind came up. The boat tipped and was taking on water, and it sank quickly. People saw it from the shore, and rowed out, but all that remained were Tjoflot's hat and his fiddle, floating on the water. 

This is the same fiddle, which now hangs in the Museum. It has been restored a bit, and it was super fun for the kids to see. 

The next thing was to go up to the cafe for a nosh. Yes! They had gluten-free products!! 

Once in the cafe, we noticed a poster...OH HOLY COWS! It was of us and was advertising our little concert later in the afternoon. These two took the news with style! 

These two...not so much. It's really pretty shocking to see yourself posted in some public place!

Yum yums on the deck.
(Martha's photo)

The kids went to go check the gift shop for goodies, and one of the ladies came out. She asked me if I knew Alexander Røynstrand. I answered quite honestly that I knew who he was, but that I had never met him. Well, it turned out that he was playing a concert that evening at 6PM. YES! We were going to check that out. The deck seemed a good place to have yum yums. The sun was out, and it was a beautiful day.  On the left is a gluten free chocolate cake, and on the right an almond cake with custard through the middle. 

Now come a couple of videos I took from the deck, one of the ferry coming in, and one just of the scenery because it was so lovely! 

We did play a short concert at the museum, and had a whole two-member audience! They stayed for the whole concert, which was nice. Then we decided to pop down to the gift shop with our fiddles. The two women working there do all of the arrangements but never get to see a show. We thought that was something that we could fix! Off we went, down to the first floor with our instruments. We played, and the ladies, plus the two gentlemen at the concert and their partners, all danced. It was one of the best moments of the day for sure. 

Alexandre Røynstrand
(Martha's photo)

Yes, it was a little silly, but I WAS really excited. He has been on the top of my list of people to see/hear/meet for a couple of years. 

The concert was in an old house at the Museum in Granvin. That meant catching the 5:30P boat back to Kvanndal, then driving up to the show in Granvin. We would be a few minutes late, but that was ok by me! 

The little house was stuffed; there were probably 40 people there. I was lucky to be the last of our group in, and got a front row seat in the corner. 

The concert was so wonderful! And afterward, we had a chance to talk to Alexander.  (Arne had asked him to teach the kids in February, but he had had to decline because it was a week he was with his own kiddos...) But now it seemed that there might be an opportunity to work with him at the end of Strunkeveko. We shall see! 

We were really late getting back to Voss, but what an amazing day! 

-Martha

Music abounds!

The weather has been terrible. Last night before bed I captured this video, mostly to give you the sound bite. 

But this morning dawned nearly clear, bright and sunny, warm enough to go out in short sleeves. We all took turns standing by the window and looking at the glorious view either before or after breakfast. 

The first priority for today was to try to rehearse in the Voss Church in preparation for our concert tomorrow. The church is built on a site that is believed to have a stave church built in 1100, but then was torn down in the 13th century, and the current stone church was completed in 1277. 

Voss Church
(Martha's older photo)

The interior of this lovely old church is quiet, calm, and somewhat dark, even when the lights are on. It has a certain timelessness, yet feels relevant in the present time. 

Can you spot the phone? 
(Martha's photo)

As we rehearsed, groups of tourists came through to take tours, and learn about the building. At one point, we watched them disappear through  a 1m x 1m hole in the floor. I have no idea what they were looking at down there! 

Maren found a creative place to put her phone. We got a lot done, and the kids asked for some private practice time, which will happen tomorrow morning, I hope. We worked collectively to cut the setlist down to size, and got it down to the seven tunes we can fit in our set. The church has amazing acoustics, and we caught a little sound bite for you (Sue Yule took the movie):

When finished in the church we went shopping. We got a note from the organizer of Strunkeveko that we needed to have the kids, who all three now want to play hardingfele at camp, in green t-shirts for the final concert. We found some very, uh, "cost-effective" shirts at about $9 each. We know how to shop! Next stop, home for lunch and naps because all five of us were dragging. Three of five hit the sack without lunch; the other two of us ate and then crashed. I slept for more than two hours - I needed it! 

Second lesson with Arne.
(Martha's photo)

When I woke up at 4:40PM there was a text from Arne asking if we could meet him at 4:45PM. Uh...Wake the kids! Feed those that had no lunch! Text Arne and say 5:00PM or shortly after. Jump in the van. Drive down to the Academy (that would be the Ole Bull Academy). Tune instruments. Move chairs. Finished just as Arne walked out to the terrace. We just had to play outside - it was so lovely out! 

Lilah, Maren, Itsani at the statue.
(Martha's photo)

We reviewed the springar we learned yesterday, and finished learning the rull. That rull is from a very famous figure in Voss, the fiddler Ola Mosafinn. Mosafinn lived from 1828 to 1912, traveled to perform in the US twice, and was the person who

taught the next generation of important fiddlers in Voss. There are many tunes extant that come from Mosafinn, including the one we learned today. 

Statue close-up. 
(Martha's photo)

It happens that there is now a new statue in Voss, involving Mosafinn, that just had its unveiling in early June. It is a panorama, and though I am not certain, I believe it depicts when the King came to Voss and wanted to see a traditional Voss wedding. The inscription on the stone translates loosely as "Traveling to the memory of fiddler Ola Mosafinn and the horseback Voss wedding. "

The tune that is inscribed is Bølleslåtten, a very famous tune that many still play today. 

It was so beautiful out that I decided to have some fun with the kids. I wanted to have a picture of them in front of the lake. I asked them to jump to see if I could catch them in the air. It took about ten tries, but I did get one fantastic shot. We call this photo "We 💜 Voss!"

It was time to go home and have supper, which Sue kindly cooked for us. It's been fun to try and plan meals to accommodate all the food needs. This evening it was what we called "Taco Salad." Maren is eager for tomorrow evening, when we will have her beloved Norwegian Tomatsuppen (tomato soup) and we'll use up leftover taco supplies by making nachos to go with. Yum! 

Here's a humor shot with a puzzle for you, Dear Reader. How many instruments are in the fiddle corral in the back of the van? It's a little sneaky... You'll find the answer below my signature. 😎

And more fun stuff since the tour isn't all work! We did MadLibs in the car, and I have to say that some were so funny we were laughing so hard we were crying. But here's one that turned out rather apropos!

We open and close every day with a circle. The morning questions are 1) how am I feeling today and 2) what am I looking forward to today? Then we handle any issues, like the LOUD clomping on the steps. This was a problem because my bed is oriented in such a way that my head is under those...And we talk about the plan for the day. 

The evening circle starts with similar questions, 1) how am I feeling this evening and 2) what was my best moment of the day, and adds one more 3) what am I grateful for today? Once those are answered, then we go over the bedtime plan and the wake-up plan and details for the next day like what to pack. This is a shot of Sue and Hugh doing the "what's up for tomorrow" process. 

At this evening's circle Sue and I were surprised that the kids no longer feel unreasonably tired. Jet lag seems to be diminishing as we find our "Norway legs." But most impressive, without assigning who said what, was the list of things for which we are grateful:

• grateful to be together in a beautiful place
• grateful for leaders doing lots of stuff for us
• grateful for everyone working together to do chores
• grateful for improving teamwork and working smoothly as a group
• grateful for Arne's teaching, patience, and sense of humor. 
  

I'll take all of that to dreamland as a very grateful person. How grateful I am to have this time with this group of people. It's the BEST. 

-Martha

PS The answer is 8. 

Voss Church Concert

 Our first big show! So exciting! 

Parasails tethered. 
(Sue)

Near the church is the church office - Sue caught this shot of anchored parasails. We liked how they almost look like hats on the trees. Voss is very famous for extreme sports. People come from all over the world to do them here. The only other place with as much or more in the world is in New Zealand. Go figure.  It is big business - and growing. 

Now, before the concert there was some preparation. We had new polo shirts, and were wearing them with black pants. The girls looked so spiffy. But, they decided they needed to up their game, so it was time for hairdos. 

The hair line. 
(Sue)

Then it was off to the church for the BIG EVENT. Arne arrived with his friend, Margunn, who was going to play together with him.  We tried to practice marching, which I thought I might lead, but Arne took over. The first try was a disaster. He played all kinds of trills and stuff and the kids could not follow him. Time for a second try! It went much better, the beautiful sound echoing and filling the church. We were ready!

We snuck out a back door so that we could march in from behind the seated audience without them seeing us first. We lined up in the narthex. The audience quieted. And then...we went!! The Reiselått from Nes soared out over the audience and we all went in. 

Martha, Lilah, Itsani, Maren, Arne.
(Sue)

The program order was, after marching, that we played for 20 minutes, Arne and Margunn played for 20 minutes, and then we played together just two tunes. Here we are playing together, and I'm going to put a video in as well! 

The video is a clip of Torpovalsen, which if you have been reading the blog you saw in an earlier post in rehearsal. Here is the version with all of us! 

Baptismal font.

After the concert, we chatted with some guests, and then Sue was talking with Astrid, who set up this concert. Sue suddenly realized that there was an angel holding a bowl hanging from the ceiling of the church. But it was up really high. She asked Astrid what it was. AHA! The baptismal font. Not only that it was, but that it also could be lowered and raised for use/storage. How cool is that? It happens this is not usual, and Astrid knew about a handful more. 

Later that evening, we invited our teacher, Silje, over for dessert and a lesson. We played in the small living room in our house. It was fun, and the neighbors poked their heads around the fence dividers to see what was going on. 😲 Not a lot to see, but there they were. We had a lovely evening, and actually got to bed at a reasonable hour. Good thing because Thursday was going to be loooong. 

-Martha

Welcome to Voss!

The view from our AirBnB
(Martha's photo)

 We woke up to a...very rainy day with low clouds.  This was the view this morning from our AirBnB. We are not in Voss proper but around the mountain in Bavallen. This is a ski community, full of little cabins. In the winter, you can walk out your door and ski. The water you see in the middle is a lake, which feeds a river, and that feeds the big lake in Voss. It is very green, in many shades, and the view is captivating. 

While the kids slept in I gave Sue a quick tour of Voss so that she would be able to find her way around. 

Lilah, Maren, Itsani, Sue in gondola car.
(photo by Martha)

Then it was back to the house, wake the kids (at 11:30AM!) and have brunch. Then out to the gondola! The Voss Gondol was completed in 2019, and goes up to Hanguren; Voss proper sits along one side of this same mountain. The gondola station is next to the train station, so it is very easy for travelers, tourists, and skiers to get up the gondola quickly. Voss sits at just 54 feet above sea level. Hanguren is at 2,690 feet above sea level. One gondola. Think about that. :) The ride up is steep, the view normally magnificent...but the cloud cover was very low. It was raining. You really could not see much.

Playing at the Hanguren Restaurant.
(Sue's photo)

When we arrived at the top we went to check in with the manager. He wasn't there, and the waitstaff told us to just go ahead. So, there came our first show in Norway, with three whole listeners other than staff. Well, you've got to start someplace, right? It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We needed to play together and go through a lot of stuff, and this was seriously low stakes, so we were able to go through many of our tunes. We discovered some that need some work, and we will do that on Tuesday. We made a schedule change for Tuesday - keep reading. 

We sent the kids out to walk, which they wanted to do, and Sue and I stayed at the restaurant to do some planning. 

Gråsiden from Hanguren
(Lilah's photo)

While out, the clouds started to lift, and Lilah got this picture of Gråsiden, the mountain that I wrote a tune about. It is my touchstone! They were gone for about 45 minutes and came back with muddy shoes and big smiles. I call that success! 

Meanwhile, Sue and I decided that it was not a good idea to go to Bergen on Tuesday as the kids were too tired, and we really needed rehearsal time.  We swapped our open day, Saturday, with Tuesday. We would stay in Voss on Tuesday, and on Saturday, when the weather would be better as well, we would go to Bergen. 

The view going down on the gondola. 
(Maren's photo)

As we left, the clouds lifted quite a bit. Maren got a great shot from the gondola as we went down. You can see the lake, the left end of Gråsiden, but the town of Voss lies over the edge and down below. Remember, we gained 2000 feet. It is a very steep gondola once you go over that edge you can see. 

On the way down the clouds came away even more from the top of Gråsiden, 

On the way down there was a nifty view of the mountain, whith it and clouds reflected in the lake below. It was so beautiful! 

Gråsiden and clouds reflected. 
(Martha's photo)

We decided that because we were a) very tired and b) changed which day we were going to Bergen and c) we still had a lesson with Arne Anderdal to go, we would go out to dinner. So, we went out to Peppe's for pizza. 

Lilah takes her turn being Farkle-icious. (Martha's photo)

 

 

Peppe's has good pizza, that is for sure, and you can get any pie in a gluten free version. But, the service is always cheerful but very slow. Very. Slow. So what do you do while waiting? Well, we thought the answer was to play Farkle. So out came the dice tray and the dice, and off we went. Here Lilah is taking her turn. But really, the star of the show was Sue. She has incredible luck with dice! 

Dinner finally came, and then we went over to the Academy to meet Arne. As always, it was a joy to see him. I love hearing him play, and watching him teach. I learn a lot from that. 

The kids chose a Vestlandspringar first.  It was peppy, but not too note heavy, easy to grab and to keep. We also played some "Arne tunes" (things I learned from him and taught my students) together, and that was fun. He was really happy to hear them, and that makes me happy! We started on a rull too, and will likely finish that in our next session with Arne. 

Time to head back to the house, brush teeth, wash faces, and hit the sack! We are still all exhausted. 

- Martha

Travel - The Good, the Bad and the Very Ugly

Sue, Lilah, Itsani, Martha, Maren ready to rock!

It was finally time to go. We were all on time to SeaTac, very excited to be on our way. Little did we know it was not going to be the easiest trip ever. No, it wasn't. And it started with the Icelandair staff at SeaTac. 

Icelandair has very strict carry-on policies, apparently, more than we knew about. We checked the suitcases, that was no problem, and they did not hassle us about the isntruments, but then the Manager on duty at the time decided that my backpack, not anyone else's, was not going to go as carry-on luggage, and had to be checked. To that I said, "No, that's not possible." But she argued. And argued, and offered no solution. Thankfully, I have a most excellent travel partner who realized that she was not carrying a violin. (The argument from Icelandair was that I would be taking up more space than I was entitled to if I put my daypack up). Therefore, we could trade backpacks, and mine could go as her luggage. Now, this worked, but please keep in mind, that Icelandair also has a policy that if you are sitting in the exit row, you must put all of your luggage up - nothing can be under the chair in front of you. Plus, I was sitting in an exit row with NO chair in front of me. No, I had the bathroom! So legally, according to Icelandair, I HAD TO PUT MY LUGGAGE OVERHEAD. What *bleep* *bleep* idiots!! That problem solved, we headed to the gate. 

We had reasonable luck getting the wheelchair assistance that Sue had requested. But, there were no announcements from Icelandair that our flight was delayed. That is, I had to use a third-party app to discover that our plane was not only not at the gate on time, but was inbound to SeaTac half an hour late. This meant that it had to be cleaned, stocked, and cleared before we could board. But were there any announcements via the PA from Icelandair? Not a one. Seriously. They eventually did post a tiny notice on their board at the ticket podium. It ended up being wrong. Then we sat on the tarmac. We left 1 hour and fifteen minutes late...guess how much time we had in Reykjavik to change planes? That would be an hour and twenty minutes. And, they block the boarding door 15 minutes before takeoff. Uh-huh. Do you begin, dear reader, to sense a problem here? 

Mustard and Hugh.

In the time sitting waiting, we did manage to play cards, have a circle, and introduce Mustard to Hugh. These are a couple of wise old bears, who have traveled to many places! Mustard came to me from a very dear friend in the Netherlands perhaps 20 years ago. Hugh belongs to veteran Lilla lager Isobel, who sent Hugh with Sue. The two are very busy comparing notes on where to and not to travel. :) 

So, we were hanging out being mellow, and Sue looked at our tickets, and discovered that Icelandair had changed our seats for our second flight, and we were no longer all together. Itsani was in the back of the plane, Maren and Lilah were together and Sue was nearby. I was not. Even worse (can this get worse? Oh yes, it can...) our seat reservations for our return flights were deleted. Yes, GONE. And Sue paid for extra legroom. What the heck? Icelandair in Seattle said they could do nothing, so that was another thing to put on the list of things we had to take care of when we got to Voss. But back to the story...

We arrived in Iceland, no wheelchair for Sue, none in sight, and the line for passport control was at least 20 minutes. Never fear - this time it was my turn to step up. I asked a young man who was a sort of airport helper where we could find a wheelchair. I think he could sense our group stress, and he asked if we were about to miss a flight. We said yes. It turns out that this person, whose name is Benedict, was the Hero of the Day. He got on his phone, contacted the gate, told them to hold the flight, had a colleague bring a wheelchair, and zipped us to the front of the passport control line. He took us to the gate, and made sure we got on the flight. We managed to find space for the fiddles, and we were off! Last leg! 

Landing in Oslo, we contemplated whether the luggage would arrive. It did! That was terrific! We went to get our van from Hertz. That was not terrific. We did not know (we booked through a third party) that Hertz has a policy that you have only one hour of grace to pick up your car. So, the time we gave them, which was based on the flight we wanted, and not the one our agent booked for us, was wrong. And the van was gone. They were not terribly helpful. But with a little arguing, and tag teaming with other vendors, (Sue at Hertz, Martha looking elsewhere) they finally said that we could either go into Oslo and pick up a van, or we could wait 4-6 hours and they would deliver one. Well, we weren't going to wait, and I sure as heck was not going into Oslo. The last time I had to drive out of Oslo to Hallingdal I lost two hours in traffic, construction, and so on. That was NOT HAPPENING. Either option would have meant we needed a hotel as well, and in the Oslo area, that would have been a minimum of about $800. Plus, we would lose part of a day in Voss. But I did find us a car. It was a compromise, and it cost us, but it worked! 

The Lilla Bus.

This was the moment that Sue and I thanked God for all of you who donated. Because we knew we had enough money, we could go elsewhere although it had a steep price tag. We managed to get a car from Sixt. They call it a 7-seater, and technically, it can seat 7, but remember those old station wagons with the fold-down back seat? It works like that. With all of our luggage, fiddles, and daypacks, the entire back was STUFFED. We all fit in the interior, and the kids say it's comfortable, but it's a darn good thing we like each other because we are in very close proximity. The groceries we needed for this morning had to go under feet. Eeek. But so it was. It's a diesel, and we actually like that. 

We saw our first troll of many in Flå, got groceries, said hello to my good friend, Sigridmarie, and then it was off to Voss. We drove across Hardangervidda, in the rain, with low, low clouds, and sometimes fog that was pretty darn thick. But, there were moments when the clouds lifted, and we could see some amazing views. We did not have a chance to play in any snow, but that might come next weekend, we'll see. Mostly, it rained. And rained. And rained.

On Hardangervidda, 10PM. Itsani, Martha,
Lilah, Maren, Sue

As we rolled along, we sang tunes we knew from the places we drove through. That was fun. The kids played Go Fish in the back seat, and there was much guffawing. Sue and I used the time to make lists of various things we needed to do. Sue was having a hard time staying awake, and I had taken Dramamine on the long flight to sleep, and I had. So I drove - six hours to Voss. We arrived at 11:35 PM with whacked-out kids and grumpy, tired adults. We sent the kids to bed, but we couldn't find all of the sheets...we made alternate arrangements, then Itsani asked where the towels were. Hmmm. Good question. No towels anywhere. OK, now we are grubby, tired and can't even wash our faces and dry them? We found one. One was enough. The kids went to bed. Grownups stayed up to offload food to the fridge, post various things, and get organized for today. 

Bedtime for grownups was 1AM. So darn tired! 

- Martha