Well, I have finally made it to another part of Norway. I arrived in the small town of Ulvik late last night. Ulvik is located near the west coast of Norway, right on the end of a fjord. I would recommend Googling it. Be sure to find some pictures of what it looks like in summertime!
The ride to Ulvik was beautiful, though May says that the way back is sooo much better. We had to take the longer way because the way they usually travel was supposed to be stormy. Hopefully we will be able to go over the mountain plateau on the way back. Once we were out of Oslo it was mostly windy roads through the mountains, in valleys, and around lakes. I thought the views were some of the most amazing I had ever seen. We passed a lot of cabins and cute little houses along the way. All the houses seem to be some color-yellow, red, warm brown, blue. Lots of farmsteads, too. We also passed a stave church (look it up)-one of the very old churches Norway is famous for. We drove through the longest tunnel-25 km! It took maybe 20 minutes to get through.
Photos from the way to Ulvik:
We arrived at Tobba's house late last night. I stayed awake for most of the ride in the daylight-didn't want to miss anything! But I had a nice nap after dark. Tobba lives in a cabin-like house on a mountain above the town. Everything inside is a light-colored wood paneling. She has a porch looking out onto the mountain behind her house, but that's nothing because she has a mountain on all sides of her house! It's very cozy inside the house. Last night we sat in the kitchen and played a dice game after dinner (chili-mmmmm). The women here are great-very hospitable and seem like they are lots of fun! We stayed up late and slept in this morning.
Tobba's House:
Today we had a "Norwegian" breakfast. It consisted of buttered bread with a variety of spreads and toppings. I tried shrimp salad with ham and tomato, mackerel with mayo, some sort of pepperoni type meat, kaviar mix, all with this creamy type of cheese. I liked everything that I tried.
We drove down to town afterwards. Basically from Tobba's you drive down in circles for about 5-10 minutes until you reach the town.Where Tobba lives there is a lot of snow still, but in town there is hardly any. Tobba says there is not supposed to be this much snow in April. The town is small, but touristy so there are about five hotels, a number of cafes and cruise ships coming in and out during the summer. We walked around a bit this morning. We stopped at a beautifully simple white church. Many of the gravestones were very old-1800's. The town is right on the fjord so it has mountains all around it. It's nice to look up and see the cute houses dotting the mountain, and you can't look away from the fjord for long. I will have pictures up soon, but they will never do it justice. The fjord nestled into the mountains is something everyone should see. I feel as though I am raving a bit, but it's that breath-taking. I wish I could be here during the summer. I have seen pictures and it sounds amazing. On our way back to Tobba's we stopped at her father's house. He is 90 and lives by himself part-way up the mountain. He has an incredible view. He actually lives right next to the house where Tobba grew up. No one could afford to maintain it so it's falling apart now but it's an awesome looking house. Her brother lives right next to it too. Her father seems to be doing great for his age. He seemed very kind and happy. When we were there he brought out photo albums from when Tobba was a child and some with pictures of him and his wife when they were young. Tobba's father is a well-known artist. He has many of his works around his house and so does Tobba.
Tobba's father's house above and the view from his house below
The ladies speak mostly Norwegian to each other. They of course speak English to me, and they do explain things on occasion, but I do an okay job following. Some people might think it is rude of them to speak Norwegian when they all know English pretty well, but they only get to see each other so often and it only makes sense for them to speak in a way that is easiest for them. Plus I am already picking up more words and phrases. I thoroughly enjoy listening to Norwegian, even if at the moment I am not straining to understand what is being said.
Tonight we are supposed to be going to a hotel in town that has live music and dancing! Can't wait!
More to come. Stay tuned...
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