Fjords, wooden houses and friendships

This is going to be a long one...

Last spring, my friends and I talked about wanting to see the fjords and Western Norway. The more we talked about it the more excited we got. This was a trip we knew we needed to make. So we made plans to meet again at the end of the summer and camp our way through Norway. I looked forward to this trip all summer and was not disappointed to say the least. In many ways it reminded me of parts of rugged America and Canada. It's a magical place. I felt such peace and contentment being in nature with good friends.

We laughed at ourselves, a lot. We bought all our food and alcohol in Sweden and used our suitcase space to transport it to Norway since we couldn't afford Norwegian prices. We tried to catch fish but ended up eating tuna from a can. We had a leaky tent so duct tapped a rain coat to the outside. We failed at finding dry firewood in the forest so bought scraps from a lumber yard. We tried to really rough it and find a nice clearing in a forest to set up camp but ended up alongside a road in a ditch. We made many good memories. I wouldn't change anything about our trip, expect making it longer. It was too short.

And as before, pictures cannot capture the amazingness of what I saw and experienced. But here's an attempt anyway:

Hardanger Fjord area:

Just us and the fjord

I was usually the first up. This was the perfect place to make the morning coffee.

While it was a bit chilly, the summer sun was still long giving us light until 10 pm.

Someone (not pictured here) bought ice-fishing poles, not so affective...
Notice the duct tapped rain coat on the tent?

Hotdogs Norwegian style - wrapped in Lumpe (similar to lefse)

Bergen: Once the 2nd largest city in Europe (just after Paris) during the Hanseatic times, I found this a very charming city full of wooden houses, beautiful fjord views and fresh sea food. I even tried whale for the first time. Norway is one of 3 countries that eat whale (Japan and Iceland are the other two). While I want to "save the whales" only slightly less than PITA members, I didn't have too big of a conscious problem trying this meat. It reminded me of a tuna steak.

Bergen (and the West Coast) are famous for being very rainy. It was. But I still loved it.

Whale burgers

I have my own clothing store in Norway

Former leprosy hospital

Bergen fortress

Norway has many troll stories and you are never far from a troll

Sognefjord and Geiranger Fjord areas:

We hiked many beautiful places and saw waterfalls, wild river, glaciers and breathtaking fjords

Cooking what I grew up calling "Swedish Pancakes"

Norwegian country side - idyllic 

Such blue waters ahead

Glacier

Still waters

Eating the famous pancake made on ferries only stuffed with brown Norwegian cheese

7 Sister's waterfalls beyond me

We laughed at these big cruise ships that people paid good money to be on as we saw the same sights but from our little local ferry

Waterfalls at every turn

We often had to go through tunnels, over bridges or the road would simply end and we'd board a ferry to cross the fjord.

The world's current longest tunnel! Over 15 miles. It was too long for me.

Drove our car onto the ferry and crossed the fjord

Trollsigen (Troll's Path)

Yes, we eventually weaved our way down that curvy road

We passed more sheep than people

Stave churches - we saw several Stave church (named for the pillars that keep the church up) throughout our journey. Most were built in the 1100's and were a mix of Christian and Norse mythology, heavily influenced by the Vikings. Today, there are only 28 remaining Stave churches.

Alter on left and window from the outside for those with leprosy or other sicknesses to view the service from (on the right)

Original intricate wood work

Red dots are the remaining Stave churches

Newer Stave - from 1700's

The Atlantic Ocean Road from Molde to Kristiansund

So many buildings and homes have grass growing on their roofs

I was determined to climb to the top of this for a perfect picture - but then I got too scared, that's as far as I made it

First time touching an ocean!

Trondheim

Viking statue with a resting bird

Monk Island in the Trondheim Fjord - former execution site for the Vikings, prison during Danish rule, monastery and WWII German air station

Remaining stone building famous Europeans were imprisoned in back in the times of Danish rule on Monk Island

Northernmost cathedral

St. Olaf, Norway's king (and patron saint) in the 11th Century was said to be buried here

Trondheim's old fortress

Trondheim with Monk's Island in the fjord

Log rolling down someone's backyard. Yes, we had a lot of fun together!

Røros - former copper mining town

Rodane National Park

Our trusty steed always a welcome site after a long hike

Tried so hard to see moose, wolverines and bear but only ever saw sheep

Of course there is a Viking ship parked outside the gas station in Norway

This claims to have the best buns in the world. They were good, but I don't quite buy into being "the best"

It was a wonderful trip through Norway. We underestimated the time it would take us (we'd hoped to reach the arctic circle) so I guess I'll just have to go back some other time. How can you resist a place that has the perfect picnic place every single stop?