We LOVED Norway. What a beautiful country. Though the weather didn’t completely cooperate with us, we found both towns to be charming and the people very nice. Scenery was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Reminded me a lot of Colorado, without the fjords, obviously.
Norway’s population is about 5.2 million and it is the size of California. The most interesting thing I learned about Norway is how they treat mental health. Since the winters are so long there is a lot of depression. Apparently, they have therapy centers for said depression but it’s in the Canary Islands. Sometimes your partner can also be sent there with you. So, I think I’ll move to Norway, get depressed, then get sent to the Canary Islands. 🙂
First stop was Alesund. Though it sprinkled a bit we were able to see everything we wanted. The town was rebuilt after the 1904 fire in art nouveau architectural style. So, it’s very pretty and colorful.
The Vikings were tough people. They sailed across the ocean in little boats (literally a boat, and hot a ship) with no cover. They even carried goats and sheep in the boat for food. We visited the Sunmore museum where they had replicas of viking ships and old style Norweigian homes. Many of the homes have grass roof to keep warm.
Then, we went above the town to Fjellstua to get the best scenery! Jevyn then found a troll (they were everywhere in Norway) and saw an antique…a phone booth!
Then we were off to Eidfjord. This little town is at the end of the Hadangerfjord and was so cute. This is a wealthy little region due to the Sysendam which produces a lot of hydroelectric power. All kids between the age of 2-5 are in kindergarten and 70% of kids between 1-2 are in kindergarten. These are all private schools so families need to be able to afford to send the kids. The area also wants to attract more people so it will give you land and 200,000 kroners to build a house. Hydro power in Norway can run 90% of the country. Norwegians use 3X the electric than other Europeans. The dam is made with no concrete, only rocks. Our tour guide’s father worked on the dam and wanted her to make sure we all knew that no concrete was used! Hadangerfjord is the 2nd largest fjord and the longest fjord in Norway. This area also has northern Europe’s highest mountain plateau and hosts about 10,000 reindeer. We didn’t take a lot of pictures because it was rainy and foggy but it was beautiful. Interesting fact: Norway is a “right to roam” country. That means, you can camp anywhere there’s open space but must be 150 meters away from any house or cabin. Everyone is expected to be thoughtful and considerate. Of course, there are other rules but it’s pretty cool that you can just pitch a tent somewhere in the wilderness.
We also took a trip to the Voringsfossen waterfall. It’s the most famous waterfall in Norway and has a free fall of 145 meters and total fall of 182 meters. Here was our view.
Here’s what we should have seen.
We visited the Norsk Natursenter. Really amazing displays of now Norway was formed. There was a panoramic movie taking us through the area and we finally got to see the fall! The highlight was seeing the goats on the roof. Since the roof is made of grass it grows in the summer. So they put goats up there to “mow” the grass. They even built little houses for them up there.
We then went to have lunch in a really cute restaurant. The owner is from the area and her husband’s grandparents lived just a few houses over. The structure was built in the traditional norsk way using only pegs so no nails. It also had a grass roof. The meal was reindeer! Kids absolutely loved it. Jevyn and Justyne both had seconds. I don’t eat game animals but even I have to admit it was really delicious.
Higman Travels 