ON THE VIKING TRAIL (PART 2 of 2) - SCANDINAVIAN MUSEUMS Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in June and July 2025. 

Roskilde (R), Denmark (D). Stockholm (St), Sweden (S). Oslo (O), Norway (N).

This second and last post on Viking history is about visiting three relevant museums, in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Part 1 appeared last week.

THE VIKING SHIP MUSEUM IN DENMARK

Less than an hour drive or ride in public transportation from Copenhagen, what is left of five ships, after a thousand years under seawater, is expertly displayed at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. The website tells the impressive story of the excavation, and provides details about each original ship and its present-day replica.

Ship.

Archeologists believe that local Vikings intentionally sunk decrepit ships in a fjord channel to form a barrier, to protect their town, Roskilde, from enemy attacks. Piles of debris embedded in the sea floor contained the remains of a fishing boat, a small coastal trader (above photo) that could carry up to four tons of cargo, a large ocean-going cargo ship, and two speedy longships to carry warriors into battle, up to 70 armed men in the larger vessel.

Scientists determined not only what kind of wood the ships were made of (pine, oak…), but where they were made (the location in Norway or Ireland…), where else the big cargo ship stopped for repairs, and that two of the ships were sunk 20 years after the first three. In the museum, the original wooden planks are mounted on the appropriate boat skeletons, made of metal strips.

Model of above ship.

Tabletop models show what the ship once looked like.

We didn’t ride, row, or sail in the replicas floating in the harbor, or watch boatbuilders, sailmakers, ropemakers, or the blacksmith at work. But seeing the museum ships on a tour guided by a costumed archeologist gave us insights into Viking society.

The different specialized ships hint at the fact that not all Vikings were warriors. Most Vikings were farmers. Some were traders, others fearless explorers. They relied on genius shipbuilders and specialized craftspersons. Warriors were a minority and they went on raids only part of the year.  But even farmers used boats to move cows between pastures, and to bring goods to and from markets, because it was easier to travel over water, including by sled when it was frozen solid, than land.

Over time, better ships carried more load, faster and farther: warriors, for swifter, deadlier raids and conquests. Explorers searching for new lands and resources. Traders seeking greater wealth and larger networks. From their Nordic homelands, Vikings spread east, west, and south. It is easy to imagine Vikings enamored with their ships, often referred to as “sea-steeds” or “wave-horses” in Norse poems.

THE VIKING WORLD IN SWEDEN

In Stockholm, the Swedish History Museum’s Viking World is the world’s largest Viking exhibition. The website offers online exploration of this exhibition, with hi-res photos better than the one below, articles, old Norse myths, and stories of Viking age people, including children. The best webpage for a virtual visit has buttons by theme, such as “Family and hierarchy,” leading to sub-themes, leading to more info and hi-res photos of many objects.

On site, in the courtyard, a staff blacksmith had visiting children pumping the bellows. Some visitors shot arrows, others played a Viking board game. Staff bakers made flatbread on a griddle for us to taste with butter, honey, and cumin or fennel seeds. The Vikings made rye or spelt flatbread, but only on special occasions or perhaps as grave gifts. Their daily meals included porridge, meat, fish, and vegetables.

Inside, we followed a stellar tour guide, an archeologist, before wandering independently through the exhibition for hours.

Keys.

I love Viking keys. They unlocked chests or cupboards containing valuables, and hung like pendants on necklaces around the neck of the woman who was the head of the household. They symbolized her authority and power. She ran and controlled the place. Today, replicas are widely available and hugely popular in Scandinavian museum shops.

THE VIKING AGE EXHIBITION IN NORWAY

The Oslo Norwegian Historical Museum’s Viking Age Exhibition webpage links to a 17-minute video Guided Tour with Closed Caption available in English. Displayed in 19 glass cases were some of the finest Viking objects found in Norway. This exhibition was smaller than the Viking World in Stockholm, Sweden, yet just as interesting.

Treasure.

Above, Norway’s largest Viking gold treasure, the Hon Hoard. It was found in 1834 by a farmer digging a ditch. Dating from the 800s, it includes more than 2.5 kilograms (over 2.5 lbs) of gold. With gold necklaces, Frankish jewelry, Arabian coins, North African beads, a Roman gemstone, and an English ring, “The hoard is a reflection of Viking journeys and contacts.” At its greatest, the world of the Vikings stretched from today’s Iran to today’s Canada, and from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean and North Africa.

The photo at the top of this post shows the best preserved Viking helmet ever found anywhere, the Gjermundbu Helmet. It was found on a farm, in the grave of an elite equestrian warrior surrounded by numerous weapons and abundant gear. Note the absence of horns on the helmet. Horns on Viking helmets exist only in popular culture.

 This temporary exhibition ends in December 2026. The objects will move permanently to the new Museum of the Viking Age when it opens in 2027.

Across the different places we visited, our expert guides agreed that Víkingr, the Old Norse word for Viking, was what people called themselves—but not all Norse people--only seafaring warriors and travelers. ”Vik” meant “bay” and a Viking went about his business in a bay, sailing or crewing a boat. “Viking” was an occupation, like “farmer” or “archeologist.” Now, the word Viking refers to anyone of Norse origin who lived during the Viking Age (~750-1050).

 

 

ON THE VIKING TRAIL (PART 1 of 2) - SCANDINAVIAN SITES Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Model of Birka, Sweden, town and ramparts.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in June and July 2025.

Lofotr (L), Norway (N). Birka (B), Stockholm (St), Sweden (S), Denmark (D).

My husband and I visited Scandinavia in 2025. Targeting natural wonders and the Viking Age of over a thousand years ago led us to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. We spent a month seeing and doing what we wanted most, to make the most out of our roundtrip flights overseas, because I try to minimize non-essential flying and its eco-damage.

I wrote earlier posts about the natural wonders we saw. About the Vikings, this post, Part 1, is about visiting two former Viking sites, Lofotr in Norway and Birka in Sweden. Part 2 will appear next week.

In Scandinavia, like in any land where earlier cultures once thrived, layers of dirt are layers of history. Modern farmers working in their fields have literally struck gold—in buried Viking treasures. In museums that display such artifacts, every single staff guide we met was a young, passionate archeologist.

LOFOTR, NORWAY

As described in an earlier blog post about Norway’s far north Lofoten Islands, the Lofotr Viking Museum is the archeological site where the longest Viking longhouse ever found once stood. A replica of it, a museum, and the historic harbor site form the Lofotr Viking Museum.  

Our costumed guide for a tour of the longhouse said that such a big farmstead would have been the seat of power of a mighty chieftain. His name might have been Ulv, also referred to as Olaf in different texts. Ulv and Olaf do sound similar to me, especially if I imagine speaking with my mouth full of hearty Viking porridge.

More importantly, I learned that he might have been the same man as in the Icelandic saga that begins with, “There was a man named Ulv…” No way! I had just read this saga, Egil’s Saga, in which Ulv was Egil’s grandfather. Was I standing where he once did, where the story started? Something shifted in the reality around me. Ulv, and therefore his son, and grandson Egil, were part Sami, the local native people. Ulv’s son left Norway for Iceland, where Egil was born.

Longhouse, diagram and model.

The above diagram of the enormous 83-meter (~270-feet) longhouse stone foundation and post holes shows five main rooms: from left to right, the living area, entrance room with the front door at the bottom and the back door at the top, banquet hall, storage room, and livestock barn. In the above model, the doors and cows give an idea of the scale.

The barn space in the longhouse replica.

In the above photo of the barn portion of the replica, the emergency exit door, added to meet modern safety requirements, helps to picture how imposingly tall the longhouse was. In the banquet room, costumed staff cooked stew on the central hearth fire and served it with mead to wash it down. In the living area, craftspersons made period shoes and wove cloth.

The inside of a longhouse might have smelled like food, such as simmering herbs and meat, and hearth fire smoke mixed with the body odor of numerous people and the scents emanating from horses, cows, and sheep.

Chieftain and wife.

In the museum building, mannequins were dressed like the chieftain and his wife might have been. Also on display were artifacts found in the excavation of the former longhouse foundation, its refuse heap outside the back wall, and nearby graves and other sites: for example, tools and weapons, glass and pottery shards, and jewelry, locally made or imported. Powerful, wealthy Vikings were buried with their possessions.

When done indoors, we started walking downhill toward the harbor to see Viking ship replicas and get a feel for the former farm. But we gave up because even though the hours-long lashing rain has stopped, the wind was so cold it felt like it was slicing my eyeballs, and so strong it nearly knocked me off my feet. Would a Viking woman have toughed it out?

BIRKA, SWEDEN

From a boat dock in Stockholm, a 2-hour boat ride into vast Lake Mälaren took us to Birka, the site of Sweden’s “first city” or town. Founded on a small island during the 750s, within 100 years it had become the most important Swedish Viking trading post for northern Europe and a base for raids to the east.

During our boat ride, a costumed archeologist told Viking history tales as we sailed past their setting.

With only three and a half hours on the island before boarding the boat back, we decided to catch the earliest guided, outdoor walking tour.

Reconstructed villagers' boat.

This gave us time before the tour to stroll through the reconstructed Viking village that existed at the same time as the town of Birka, chat with resident goats and chickens, and watch docents lead kids craft activities.  

On the hour-long guided tour in steady, light rain, we walked through some of the 1,600+ Viking Age burial mounds, past an ancient fortress and adjacent garrison site, and in sight of Black Earth, the black soil from the former town fireplaces.

Over 1,000 people lived in Birka, many of them craftspersons and traders, either freemen or slaves. The craftsmen—bronze casters, weavers, comb and shoe makers…—lived with their family in houses near the docks. Many were immigrants from other parts of Europe, based on the materials and designs they used. The traders got rich, importing Arabic silver, beads from India, Yemen, Byzantium, and the Caucasus, ceramics, silk, spices, glass… in exchange for iron, horns, fur, skins, cloth, birds of prey, and slaves.

Comb.

The above comb is intact, which is rare. It was made from different antlers.

Smoothing stone and board.

To “iron” their clothes, the Vikings rubbed the above green glass “smoothing stone” over fabric laid on the whalebone “smoothing board.” The resulting heat would make the fabric shiny and smooth. The above stone, board, and comb, found at Birka, are now displayed in the Viking World exhibition in Stockholm.

 In the Birka museum rooms, we saw portraits in images and words of two men and two women who were buried at Birka in the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th century, some artifacts found during grave or Black Earth excavations, and some replicas.

Birka was part of a northern European trade network. Traveling was easier on water than land, so people, goods, and ideas came together in harbors. Many different languages would have been spoken on the docks. Different cultures and religions were represented in Birka, a cosmopolitan Viking town.

Note: Part 2  of On the Viking Trail will post next week.

 

 

BONSAI AND SUISEKI IN THE GARDENS AT LAKE MERRITT, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Bonsai Maple in the Gardens at Lake Merritt, Oakland CA.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in March 2026, unless otherwise credited.

The Gardens at Lake Merritt, Northwest Gate.

During a visit to The Gardens at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, my favorite of the many themed gardens* within was the Bonsai Garden, especially because I learned about suiseki, a formal Japanese art new to me.

Bonsai Garden gate.

The Bonsai Garden entrance gate was designed and built by Hiroshi Sakaguchi, a craftsman in the ancient Japanese art of joinery woodworking, which uses no glue, nails or screws. Men in Sakaguchi’s family have practiced this tradition for over 600 years.

Bonsai.

Inside the walled garden, some regular-size trees provided leafy shade and others were in full bloom. The bonsai trees included diverse examples such as cedar, filbert, redwood, and several different maple species.

Bonsai maple.

But given the sun angle, my two favorite photos happen to be of Japanese mountain maple (Acer palmatum, above and at the top of this post).

Flowering plants in bonsai pots were on display. In the above photo, a metal sculpture of an ant of monstrous proportions is on guard duty.

A small, open shelter housed examples of suiseki, natural stones evocative of landscapes or other images. I have seen such in Japanese, Chinese or Korean art displays, but I didn’t know how widespread and sophisticated the Japanese art of stone appreciation is. In the following days, I read about the many esthetic criteria that guide the selection of stones: not only their shape, but also picky aspects of their surface, color, and other characteristics. More preferences include minimizing alterations and keeping wooden bases simple.

Rabbit.

Suiseki artist Hiroshi Suzuki found “Rabbit” in Northern California.

Winter in the High Mountains.

Suiseki artist Brent Meran found “Winter in the High Mountains” on the Eel River in Northern California.

Outside of the Bonsai Garden, some areas were charmingly disheveled. Others looked well maintained.

Alpine Rock Garden.

The tidy Alpine Rock Garden included a landscaped mound in the middle, surrounded by a dozen concrete planters, each one roughly the size of a coffee table. Rocks and plant arrangements suggested miniature mountain or desert views rather successfully.

Lake Merritt. Photo courtesy of A. Do.

From the gardens northwest entrance gate, walking across the gardens and out through the south gate leads to the shore of Lake Merritt, which became the nation's first formally declared wildlife refuge in 1870. A paved path goes 3.4 miles (~5.5 km) around the lake, with views of wild birds and small islands against the urban background. I liked spending half a weekend day visiting the area for the first time!

Footnote:

* Areas within The Gardens at Lake Merritt:

- Alameda County Master Garden

- Alameda County Master Trial Garden

- Air Bee N' Bee

- Alpine Rock Garden

- Bay Friendly Garden

- Bonsai Garden

- Dahlia Garden

- Entry Garden

- Firescape Garden

- Fukuoka Sister City Garden

- General Pollinator Garden

- Japanese Garden

- Lu's Garden

- Mediterranean Garden

- Merritt College Community Garden

- Merritt College Horticulture Community Gardens

- Palmettum

- Rhododendron Garden

- Riparian Garden

- Rose Garden

- Sensory Garden

- Succulent Garden

- Sun Dial Garden

- Toddler Garden

- Understory Garden

- Urban Edible Gardens

- Vireya & Begonia Garden

MASKS AT THE HULT CENTER IN EUGENE, OREGON, Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Mythical Masks by M. Nelson & L. Bowers at the Hult Center in Eugene, Oregon

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in November 2025 when she went to a Eugene Symphony concert. "We arrived early and I love looking at the masks in the performing arts center. So I zipped around snapping pictures! This is a permanent display, so it is available year round as long as the building stands." 

Mask display at the Hult Center.

If you like masks or if you enjoy seeing how differently different artists can respond to the same challenge, you might like the permanent display at the performing arts center in Eugene, Oregon. Rows of masks by many creators line the walls of the stair landings to the mezzanine and balcony.

The Hult Center opened in 1982, the first performing arts center in the United States built without state or federal funding—with community funding only. It is the home of four resident companies (ballet and concert). Its roofline evokes the nearby Cascades Mountains and its beams of Douglas fir, the local forests. Blue stair railings symbolize local rivers. Public art graces interior spaces: statues, paintings, and sculptures, including masks, the focus of this blog post.

Each artist created a series of about six to nine masks, which are variations on a theme under a single title. My photos show only two or three examples of each artist’s works. The above photo shows some of the Masks by Laura Wuori.

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Above: some of the Raku Life Masks by Dan Corbin.

 

Above: some of the Clay Masks by Claire Barr.

Above: some of the Chorus by Anita Griffith, the most hilarious series!

Above: some of the Masks by Eric Gronborg.

Above: some of the Stylized Masks by Susan St. Michael.

Above: some of the Faces by Mike Imes.

Just when I thought I had photographed samples of every mask artist’s work on display, I would come around a corner and discover another series, and another one.

Above is my favorite, one of the Mythical Masks by M. Nelson & L. Bowers, because the mouth is genius: echoing the lines and angles of the overall star design perfectly, and unmistakably shouting for joy, despite its unnatural shape.

ON THE “ROOF OF NORWAY” – IN THE JOTUNHEIMEN MOUNTAINS: Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Kyrkja (north face), Jotunheimen National Park, Norway.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in July 2025.

Jotunheimen mountains (J), Norway (N), Oslo (O).*

To see the beauty of Norway, my husband and I targeted three natural wonders: the Lofoten Islands, fjords, and Jotunheimen mountains, the highest in northern Europe. They were named after one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology, the home of the giants. Who knows? Perhaps giants really live up there.

To day hike for a week in and near Jotunheimen National Park, while driving clockwise around it, we picked up a rental car in Åndalsnes after visiting the fjord region. We had reserved lodging for three nights near Bygdin, two nights in Tyinkrysset, and three nights in Lom (Google Maps finds it as Fossbergom), our closest stay to the highest mountains.

Driving to Bygdin on a sunny day, we watched for shiny waterfalls on the Troll’s Wall mountainside, stopped in an evergreen forest for a short walk to the Knight’s Leap, a rocky gorge narrow enough for a knight of legend to have leaped across to save his beloved, and enjoyed going through small towns, villages, and farmland.

We had planned a day hike to “the most beautiful valley in the Jotunheimen,” Svartdalen (Black Valley), to see lush meadows below snowy peaks and glaciers. We would take the earliest boat at one end of Lake Bygdin, get off at the trailhead, hike to the valley, and come back down in time to catch the last return boat.

But three weeks before this highly anticipated day, I received an e‑mail from the boat company apologizing for having to cancel and refund all boat tickets for 2025. The lake level was too low to launch any boat, in part because of insufficient spring precipitation.

Fortunately, there are many other trails around Bygdin. We almost reached the nearest peak for a first glimpse of the Jotunheimen, but we turned around because it was too windy and too steep near the end.

Lake Bygdin.

Instead, we walked on a level trail above and along Lake Bygdin. We learned to speak Norwegian in no time, by echoing the local hikers’ friendly greeting, which sounds like “hey‑hey!” (or “hey‑hey‑hey” for extra cheerfulness).

The next day, our favorite of several walks was in cool misty air, complete solitude, and bucolic loveliness, across hilly pastures toward Leirungsdalen Valley. The only tent we saw faced the best view of lakes and snowy mountains.

Farm.

On the drive to our next lodging in Tyinkrysset were farms straight out of fairy tales. We stopped to hike up to a bench with a lake view on a section of the King’s Road, a 1790s royal-carriage road restored as a hiking trail. We took a break in a kafé where the Dutch barista had no decaf because, he said, “Norwegians don’t drink decaf. They want full power!” On my request, he gladly poured one tablespoon (~15 mL) of strong coffee in a mug and filled it with hot milk.

Øye stave church.

In Øye, we ate grab-and-go sandwiches on a bench above the first of the three stave (vertical wooden boards) churches we would see. In the following days, we would also visit the famous Borgund church and walk around the one in Lom. To compare the three, the Øye church is the smallest, simplest, and plainest, but its setting is the loveliest. The other two churches are larger, have more roofs upon stacked roofs, and crosses and dragon heads adorning roof ridges. The Borgund church is the most authentic stave church in Norway—the least changed since it was built nearly a thousand years ago.

The King’s Road.

From Tyinkrysset, we visited the Borgund church, then walked downhill from there on the most spectacular part of the King’s Road. From the river at the bottom of the hill, we walked back on a trail through woods and farmland.

Lake Tyin.

On the scenic drive from Tyinkrysset to Lom, Lake Tyin is where locals fish for trout. Restaurants offer it baked the traditional Norwegian way, served whole with sour cream sauce, roasted potatoes, and pickled cucumber.

We spent all day driving the ~220 km (~134 mi) that take less than 3 hours nonstop, because we slowed down and stopped and strolled around at every tempting opportunity. After the first hour and a half (which included some narrow switchbacks), we turned uphill onto the second half of Norwegian NationalScenic Route Sognefjellet (Road 55), which goes over the highest mountain pass in northern Europe at 1434 m (~4700‘) to link a fjord to the inland valley where Lom is. The road, open June-October, follows an ancient trade route marked by hundreds of cairns.

In the perfect weather we had, with no storm, rain, fog or wind, our drive was easy in a regular car.

Identifying a peak.

At Nedre Oscarhaug, the first of six formal Rest Areas & Viewpoints, the peak-identification machine, cleverly and beautifully designed by architect Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk, is more fun to use than an app and way bigger than a phone.

To identify a peak, align the vertical wires with its tip and look down at the metal bar pointing at the name of the peak. The official road website at the above link calls the device a “glass telescope,” even though it doesn’t include any lens and doesn’t provide magnification.

Restroom.

At the Oscarshaug Rest Area & Viewpoint, one minute up the road by car, the contemporary restroom was designed by architects, Jensen & Skodvin Arkitektkontor. It was so high-tech, I had to ask the nearest rocket scientist to show me how to operate it.

Stone sculpture.

At the Mefjellet Rest Area and Viewpoint, I bet every visitor takes a snapshot through the stone sculpture by Knut Wold. The sight of snowy mountains and turquoise lakes makes my heart race, so traveling along the road from one pull-out viewpoint to the next took me straight to heaven.

A steep river.

After the pass, Road 55 descends past waterfalls and rivers, down to farmland. But approaching Lom, two spurs go up the adjacent massif. One spur leads to the Leirvassbu Mountain Lodge at 1400 m (~4600‘). The other climbs to the Spiterstulen Tourist Lodge at 1111 m (~3645‘). The two lodges are on an extensive network of trails, including one that links them by following a high valley.

The next day, July 18, we drove 50 minutes from Lom to Leirvassbu and started walking toward Spiterstulen at a good clip. Before long, we slowed way down. There were simply too many lakes and snowy peaks and photo opps, including entertaining encounters with free-ranging sheep with long, intact tails.

We crossed boulder fields on lake shores. Walking over rocks covered by a snow patch was easier for me, a petite hiker, than for heavier people, because I didn’t sink. Stepping on exposed uneven rocks, harder to reach with shorter legs, was the exact opposite. Soon, it was clear that we wouldn’t come close to the halfway point between Leirvassbu and Spiterstulen.

But why keep walking when one has arrived? I took the photo at the top of this post, of a distinctive leaning peak, found a comfortable rock to sit on, and whipped out my grab-and-go sandwich of the day.

Spiterstulen Tourist Lodge.

On July 19, our last day in the mountains before going back to Oslo to fly home, we drove 40 minutes from Lom to Spiterstulen. The trail to Leirvassbu was easy, across meadows along a rushing river, with a couple of high wooden footbridges over silty glacier runoff.

The views of peaks and snow and ice at every step were less sensational than those of the day before. This made the experience less intense and, especially with far fewer hikers around, more peaceful.

Kyrkja (east face).

That is, until the first glimpse of the leaning peak I had reached the day before flooded me with feelings of completion. From that point on, I basked in bliss, even though I never quite made it to that landmark.

 Anyone wishing to hike from one lodge to the other, which may require arranging a ride back, should definitely consider hiking uphill from Spiterstulen to Leirvassbu, from quiet to rousing beauty.

 Footnote:

 * Credit for the globe image: Rob984 - Derived from Germany on the globe (Germany centered).svg, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

TWO NORWEGIAN FJORDS Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Nærøyfjord, Norway.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took the photos in this post in July 2025.

Why Norway? For scenery and Viking history! Under “scenery,” my husband and I targeted three natural wonders: the Lofoten Islands, fjords, and Jotunheimen National Park, home of the highest mountains in Norway. This blog post is about the fjords.

Fjiords (F), Norway (N), Oslo (O).

We decided to visit the two Norwegian fjords listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Nærøyfjord, perhaps the narrowest, most stunning of them all, and the wider Geirangerfjord. We usually prefer to design our own tailored itineraries, and to buy tickets and make reservations ourselves. But to avoid long drives in a rental car, we favored public transportation. And to avoid errors in connecting trains, boats, and buses, I looked for a package deal, for only four of the many days we would spend exploring Scandinavia.

My online research zoomed in on www.FjordTours.com, which I wholeheartedly recommend. The website offers many trip outlines for traveling without a guide. For the “Norway in a Nutshell & Geirangerfjord” tour, I had to try different start dates before the interactive tool could find availability for two people on five trains, three boats, and four buses. Booking the whole package took only one click.

Star Wars filming location.

From Oslo, a 6:20 a.m. train** took us through farmland into mountains past Finse, the filming location of the ice planet Hoth in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. A second scenic train ride took us steeply down the mountains, including through 20 tunnels, to sea level at the head of a fjord.

There, the supreme highlight of the entire four days was to be a two-hour boat ride. The second half of it would take us into Nærøyfjord. In the 1888 book, Midnight Sunbeams or Bits of Travel Through the Land of the Norseman, author Edwin Coolidge Kimball wrote, “The fjord is winding in its course, and in places the mountains close it in so that it appears to be a small lake, the great headlands of granite forming grand and imposing boundaries. Many waterfalls—some over a thousand feet high appearing like threads of silver as they descend in a broken course from the snow-fields above, others with more volume of water from lesser heights—plunge into the fjord below. Every turn of the steamer unfolds new grandeurs of rock formation and a fresh supply of waterfalls.”

Given the fickle Norwegian summer weather, I couldn’t believe our luck when we lined up to board the boat under bright blue skies. That’s when the captain appeared, unsmiling. “Sorry,” he said. “The boat ride is canceled due to a technical problem. This is not a joke.” No one was laughing. FjordTours immediately sent buses to take stranded customers to the next stop in only 20 minutes… through a lo‑o‑ong tunnel—some sightseeing! I took the postcard-like photo of Nærøyfjord (at the top of this post) from the spot where the indisposed boat would have docked at the end of the cruise.

View from the Stalheim Hotel.

A bus took us as planned to see an incredible view from the Stalheim Hotel, then to a train to Bergen where we arrived at bedtime. Staying there two nights gave us time to visit the excellent Edvard Grieg Museum, the former home of the most famous Norwegian composer.

Medieval alley in Bergen.

We also visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bryggen, including a few narrow medieval alleys with wooden bridges connecting former fishing-trade warehouses. And we ate the best fish ever, fresh, not from medieval times: monkfish and flounder at Fjellskål. At home, I am a near-vegetarian, but on trips, I am willing to taste some of what the locals eat.

A beautiful summer day to go sailing in Norway.

Next, we spent a day traveling north by scenic boat and bus to Ålesund*** (pronounced awl-soon’d) on the Atlantic coast.

Hotel Brosundet in Alesund.

Our yellow Hotel Brosundet on a historic harbor canal was a repurposed fishing industry warehouse. Around town, we spotted pastel colored Art Nouveau buildings with stylized botanical motifs such as daisies and leaves. We tasted more delicious seafood at Anno, crab-encrusted haddock and fish soup.

The next morning, we embarked on a three-hour boat ride headed inland where the waterway would finally narrow down to Geirangerfjord. I ran around the outdoor deck, hunting for photos of shoreline villages in sun patches, charming old boat sheds, and waterfalls, trying to click fast enough to catch the best angle before the boat motored on.

Historic farm.

The most amazing sights were of historic farms perched partway up dizzying slopes, out of reach of potential attackers. In his 1888 book, Kimball wrote about such a farm, “…one wonders how a human being can choose such a place for a habitation, midway between heaven and earth, exposed to falling avalanches from above, and to sliding down the yawning precipices into the fjord below. It is said that the parents here tether their children with ropes, to keep them from the edge of the cliff, and from ‘taking a header far down below’.”

Entering Geirangerfjiord.

Our boat turned into Geirangerfjord for the last half hour of the cruise.

The Seven Sisters.

In the above photo of the Seven Sisters waterfall, a kayak gives an idea of the scale. On the opposite wall of the fjord, our boat approached a rushing waterfall, making passengers squeal and laugh as they got misted.

That afternoon, a scenic bus ride brought us to Åndalsnes. There, instead of taking two trains back to Oslo that night, we dropped out of the tour and picked up a rental car we had reserved from home, to go hiking for a week in Jotunheimen National Park.

Footnotes:

* Credit for the globe image: Rob984 - Derived from Germany on the globe (Germany centered).svg, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

**Read CarolineArnold’s post about Bergen.

***Read CarolineArnold’s post about Ålesund.