Day 1 - Reykjavik

One of the reasons we chose to fly Iceland Air was to take a long layover in Reykjavik. Iceland Air lets travelers stay over for a few days (or weeks, if you want) without an increase in flight cost. It was well worth it. I'm hoping that we can make it back to Iceland sometime in the not too distant future and see more of the island. Reykjavik itself is beautiful, and the pictures I saw of the rest of the island are stunning. As it was, we only had 24 hours, so our options were limited. Initially, I had hoped to do a horse tour for a half day so we could at least see some of the countryside. A few days before we left, however, I decided that since the weather was uncertain and the known fact that we would be exhausted, it might be best to not have any concrete plans for the day. The flight was smooth and easy, aside from the baby that only seemed to start screaming right as I was starting to get to sleep. The airport is outside the city so we had to take a bus to town. Which was convenient as it dropped us off just a couple blocks from the guest house where we were staying.

Our host was generous enough to let us have breakfast right when we arrived. Fish for breakfast is still strange to me, but the salmon was delicious and impossible to pass up. It's smoked, and very thinly sliced, and it's excellent with cheese and a nice cracker. After breakfast, we headed out into town. The Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik's enormous Lutheran cathedral, was just a block away, so it was our first stop.



I wasn't terribly impressed with it, but Todd liked it. (Which, when it comes to architecture is almost always the case, actually.) I'm used to the Catholic cathedrals of France and Ireland with lots of decoration. This, being Lutheran (and built in the 20th century), was, shall we say, a bit light on interior decoration.

In front of the cathedral is a large statue of Leif Ericsson. Somewhat surprisingly, the statue was donated to Reykjavik by the United States, in recognition of Ericsson being the first European to land in America. Which I find odd, since we don't actually teach that to our students. I guess the Italians have a better PR team than Icelanders do. The church is on top of a hill, so we had a great view of the town and the surrounding area. The main part of town was just down the hill.



Some time later, after wandering around in town, we came across an odd sort of protest. Not being able to read Icelandic, I have no idea what was going on, but the protesters seemed inclined to draw as many sea gulls to this small building as they could. They even had slices of bread stuck under the windshield wipers of the cars parked out front. (Which I would assume belonged to people that worked there, and thus were fair targets.)



We spent a good bit of the day simply walking around the city. It's a pretty small town, really. The whole "metro" area only has about 200,000 people. Which is actually pretty impressive, considering that only just over another 100,000 live on the entire rest of the island. Anyway, it's a great city for walking. The streets are cobbled and are most definitely not laid out on a grid. Anyone who likes to joke about the streets in St Paul should go to Reykjavik sometime. As the streets wound around each other, you would catch a glimpse of a house placed back in a corner.

In the center of town there is a large park with a pond. We walked down to the park, passing the city hall building on the way, which was very interesting. The back side of the building had a fountain and the water went all the way up to the wall of the building. The weather was nice, and we were both pretty tired, so we sat on a bench in the park for a while, watching a couple kids race around on bikes.




From the park, we ended up walking along a large road and across a bridge. We were hoping to go to the Pearl, a large building up on the hill with an excellent view and a Viking wax museum. But we ended up deciding we didn't really have time for that and a puffin tour, so we just walked over to the Nordic House. We didn't know what the Nordic House was (it's a cultural center, with rotating exhibits and a goal to foster the arts and relations between the Nordic countries), but it was a very interesting looking building, and there was a nice walk through some grasslands. Next to the building, there is a sort of water project - various experiments and areas focusing on water. Especially hard to describe since I never really figured it out myself.




One of the things I really wanted to see on the trip was a puffin, so we headed from the Nordic House down to the harbor to catch a puffin tour. (Similar to whale tours, only a bit less majestic.) The walk to the harbor was scenic in itself.




It was really the end of the season for the small birds, but the tour guide was still running trips. And I figured I didn't really need to see thousands of them. Even just one would suit me fine. And, even if we hadn't seen a single puffin, the boat ride would have been worth it.




We did actually see several puffins. I'm not posting pictures of them, because I was more concerned with looking at them than taking pictures, so the handful I do have really just look like a small black bird with a lot of water.

After the puffin tour, we were getting pretty beat. We found a nice little place for dinner that wasn't too outrageous. (At least in comparison with the food in general, which is all outrageously expensive.) The food was spectacular and would have been worth even more than what we paid for it. Pickled herring with apples and beets for an appetizer, and a fish gratin with all sorts of different fish (and lobster!). After that, it was essentially home to bed. We had both been up for about 36 hours, and we had to be up around 5 to catch a bus back to the airport.

Day 2 - Oslo

Our flight from Reykjavik to Oslo was smooth and easy. We landed around noon, and were in town by around 1:00. We had a bit of a scare trying to find the room I had reserved for the next couple nights. Apparently I had somehow got the wrong address for the place and we ended up at the empty old gallery rather than at the actual house. After an hour or so of frustration and the help of a very friendly lady at the tourist office, we got in touch with the proprietor of the place and the correct address. It was a small studio with a little kitchenette, in a very nice part of town, and right across the street from Vigeland Park. It was also right next to the tram stop, which was very convenient.

We spent most of the afternoon simply walking around town and discussing our plans for the trip. We knew we wanted to book a fjord tour, but we weren't sure which one. It's a pretty handy ticket to get: you get all the necessary transportation all in one. We had initially planned on taking a route along the southern coast, ultimately to Bergen. However, we ended up deciding on a tour of the Sognefjord via Flam, then to Bergen and back to Oslo. We figured we could take a side trip out of Bergen before heading back to Oslo. The only two parts of the ticket that had to be specifically booked were the train ride to Flam and the return from Bergen.

Once we had our travel planned out, we had dinner at a small place across the street from our studio. We then took an evening stroll through Vigeland Park. It's a shame it was cloudy, evening would have provided excellent light for pictures. As it turned out, it was nice to be able to just stroll along, not worried about capturing the moment. The park is stunning. Even aside from the spectacular collection of sculptures, it is a lovely place for a walk, or a picnic, or a game of frisbee. The park is deceptively large, with many tree lined avenues and small partitions of grassy space. A bridge lined with statues leads across the small river into the rose garden, behind which you see the fountain, which is dwarfed by the towering monolith above and behind. I planned to come back in the morning to take some pictures. Todd was planning on going for a run, which seemed an ideal time for me to lose myself through the lens.

Bed time came early, it had been a busy day, and we were still getting used to the time change and the concept of being in Europe. A first for Todd, and a first for me in some years.

Day 3 - Oslo - Part 1: Vigeland Park

Impressively, Todd did get up early and go for a run. I have a hard enough time doing this at home, there was no way I would have managed it while traveling. I was out the door not too far behind him and off to the park for an hour or so of picture taking. Unfortunately, the weather was still cloudy, so the light wasn't ideal. Which may have actually been just as well, since I still managed to take a couple hundred photos. Had the light been better I may have gotten way out of control!




Vigeland not only created the sculptures, he also designed the layout of the park. Over a period of about 40 years. It's unfortunate that cities today don't have the interest in giving an artist essentially free reign to design and lay out a park. Especially here in the States. It would be wonderful to see that sort of gem added to a city.




It's hard to describe the sculptures. They and the park were both completed in the early/mid 1940s, so I imagine that the war had an influence. I've been trying to read up a bit on Vigeland and what message he may have been presenting. Information is a bit sparse outside of Norway (I knew I should have bought a book there!) and some of it is contradictory. All explanations seem to agree on an interpretation of the cycle of life. And to me, many of the sculptures seem to show the fear and despair of adults that have lived through a war contrasted with the spritely innocence of children who have not seen the horrors of war.




The fountain is surrounded by smaller images, some touching, some disturbing. A large brick plaza surrounds the fountain, and the rest of the park seems to radiate out from there. Up several flights of steps, each level with small fountains and flowers, the final raised plaza contains the possibly more famous granite statues and the towering monolith.



The plaza from which the tower arises is accessed by four different gates, each ornately designed. Especially looking at the gates, I felt like someone reading a story that was only able to get short snatches of meaning. Just enough to realize there was a much larger story there, but not enough to quite grasp it.





The granite statues are perhaps even more intriguing than the cast bronze ones on the bridge. All the bodies are slightly larger than life size. The women are curvy, with very little definition. Many of the men have some muscle definition, but what definition is given speaks of strength. Again, the adults have a vaguely haunted look behind their eyes, while the children frolic. It being early in the morning, I had the chance to be almost alone for some time. Which was wonderful. I feel like all my descriptions fall far short of the mark, so I'll just let the photos speak.

Day 3 - Oslo - Part 2

After Todd was finished with his run, he met up with me in the park. Before we headed out for the day, we stopped back at the studio for breakfast. Hotels are certainly nice, but having a small place with a kitchenette is very handy. We were able to have a nice breakfast for a fraction of the cost of buying something at a cafe.

Our first stop in town was at the tourist office to buy our fjord tour tickets. Our train would leave early the next morning, so we had the whole day to spend in Oslo. There are a ton of interesting museums in Oslo, so it was a bit tough narrowing things down. We decided to go to the Museum of Architecture first. On the way there, we walked along Karl Johan's Gate, one of the major streets in town. It is a pedestrian street, lined with shops and restaurants.


The Museum of Architecture was very interesting. One of their current exhibits was a collection of the top six finalists for an international competition to design a new building for the National Gallery. Sometimes it can be frustrating to go through a museum with someone who specializes in the field, but Todd is good about not getting entirely engrossed (unlike myself) and can help explain or provide additional insight into things. So I was able to talk about what I did or didn't like about the various proposals, and he could hash it all out in a technical explanation. Rather surprisingly, we agreed on which of the finalists we liked best! The other current exhibit is a look at the Royal Palace which was built in the early part of the 19th Century. I was unsurprisingly fascinated by the original models and drawings for the building. I do find the architecture interesting, but thinking of the architect (or his assistants or drafters) actually sitting down and building the model is the most intriguing for me.

After the Museum of Architecture, we were planning on heading to the History Museum, but as we were walking along, I realized we were right next to Akershus Fortress. Being right there, it seemed just as easy to check it out. I'm very glad we did, it was a fascinating tour. The original castle was built in the late 13th Century, although very little of the original building is left. There are several buildings on the property in addition to the castle itself, with winding cobble streets well worn over the years.



There are self guided tours of the actual castle. I'm not sure if it's a result of multiple renovations and additions over hundreds of years, but there are many interesting aspects of the building. Stairways will start from midway up a wall, with an obvious space for a walkway to be laid which would lead across the room to another door. And the scale of things is certainly much smaller than would suffice for people of today's size. One of the rooms has several hanging tapestries, some of the finest in Norway. During WWII, the Germans occupied the Fortress, and several people were executed here, both by the Germans during occupation and then by the Norwegians following the German surrender. It's hard to imagine any modern army in these buildings, there is such a feel of antiquity.




And while it may be hard to imagine a modern army occupying the fortress, it's not at all hard to imagine why it was never actually captured by an enemy force. (It was surrendered without a fight to the Germans after the Norwegian government evacuated Oslo. I'm certainly interested in learning more about Norway during WWII, the bits of information I picked up on the trip are fascinating.) The fortress is on a hill facing the bay, and with its large collection of cannons, would have been very formidable. Of course, any sense of the imposing history was somewhat lost as we were walking along the wall to the melodious tunes of Toto wafting up from a building in the harbor. But nonetheless, it's a great view from the wall!




From Akershus, we walked to the History Museum. The primary thing I wanted to see was their Viking exhibit, which includes one of the largest collection of Viking artifacts in Norway. It was a surprising museum, for including such an impressive collection, I would have expected it to have more information. However, each case simply had a sheet telling what each object was, in the most cursory fashion. For example, you would check the sheet to get info on an object and would find: iron bar, ca. 9th C. Helpful. Each room had a large guide book with exceptionally detailed information, but that's not the most efficient way to disseminate information. What if there had been other people wanting that same info? At any rate, it was fascinating to see all the objects. I tend to get a bit overly philosophical about very old artifacts. To me, they are more than just evidence of an earlier civilization. That brooch was actually worn by an individual. Some woman who took a fancy to it, or received it as a gift from a suitor. That woman had her own life, hopes, fears. It's just amazing to me to consider the humanity behind all these objects.

From the History Museum, we walked to the Palace, which is actually just right across the street. The palace grounds are surprisingly modest. Apparently, the architect had these grand plans for the grounds and the landscape architect totally screwed them up. Then they were all dug up and redone some years later. In front of the palace is a large statue of Karl Johan. I had commented at the Museum of Architecture that the front of the palace seemed a bit understated, a sentiment I stood by seeing it in person. It's certainly an impressive building, but for a royal residence, it seems to have a very modest feel.


We walked back to our studio from the Palace, which took about an hour. It was a very pleasant walk through some of the nicer neighborhoods in central Oslo. For dinner we bought some salmon and tortellini at the grocery near our studio and had a nice dinner in. After dinner, we took a night time stroll through town. The area around our studio reminded me a great deal of parts of Paris, which must sound rather odd. But many of the buildings were similar, lots of large, fancy apartment buildings. Cobbled streets with frequent fruit and vegetable stands or coffee shops. It's a beautiful city, amazing clean even downtown. There must have been some, but I don't recall seeing any graffiti and there was no trash. If it wasn't such a crushingly expensive city, it would be a great place to live.

Day 4 - Oslo to Flam to Balestrand

Our train left Oslo fairly early. The ride was about four hours to Myrdal, where we would switch trains onto the famous Flam Railway. It was an easy ride. When we bought the tickets all the coach seats were sold out so we had to buy comfort class. Which turned out to be totally worth it, especially since it was only about $12 difference. The country side changed frequently as we headed west. For some time, it was just rolling hills, lakes, rivers, and small towns. Then we started to gain altitude and it started to look a lot like Colorado. As we started to get closer to Myrdal, it started to look more like some sort of grassy moon scape. Craggy rocks covered with mosses and grass, broken up by waterfalls and lakes. Not a tree to be seen. The train station is Myrdal is precariously perched on the edge of the mountain, about 900 metres above sea level. Loading onto the train to Flam was hectic, we no longer had assigned seats so everyone was trying to pile on in a hurry. The train itself looks old, exactly what you would choose to carry you through this pristine valley. Flam is at sea level, and is about 25 kilometres away from Myrdal. So it's a pretty steep trip down.





At first I didn't think I got that good of a seat, I would have rather been next to the window with a better view. But once we got moving, I realized it was just fine that I was sitting on the aisle. I had a perfectly good view, and I didn't have to see just how close to the edge we were. The view was amazing all the way down. Sometimes it was rushing waterfalls, sometimes it was tiny little villages nestled into the valley. About a third of the way down, we stopped at a particularly large waterfall and we were able to get off the train for a few minutes to take pictures. After a couple minutes, this music started up and a woman dressed in a flowing gown popped up on the wall of a ruined building and started to dance. I'm guessing it was supposed to be one of the mountain spirits the engineer had told us about, but it was mostly a combination of very odd and gimmicky. At any rate, the waterfall was beautiful!





Flam was a very beautiful town, right on the edge of the fjord. It was bustling with tourists. I'd imagine there is an area where the locals mostly hang out, because I can't imagine them being too excited about going out for dinner in a restaurant swarming with tourists. It's a shame we didn't have more time to explore, but we only had about 30 minutes before our ferry came. We actually talked about staying in Flam for the night. Todd's family comes from a very small town just a few miles away. But we decided to go ahead to Balestrand.



I don't think I can find the words to describe that first sight of the fjord. As the ferry pulled away from the dock, we headed out into scenery that no picture can ever do justice. It's just as well that we were on an express ferry. We may have used up all of our camera batteries otherwise. The water in the fjords looks very different from any other water I've ever seen. This may seem like an odd thing to say, but it's true. Not only are the colors subtle and flowing, the water itself seems to be thicker, smoother. When the water is still, it looks like it would feel like liquid silk, somehow more substantial than normal.






We actually went by the small town of Aurland where some of Todd's family came from. We docked, but only very briefly. The express ferries are very good at rapidly getting people on and off the boat.


The rest of the ride was a blur of beauty. Even now, looking back at the pictures, it's hard to believe I was actually there. And it wasn't even that nice of a day. I can't even begin to imagine what it would look like on a crystal clear sunny day, or in the evening with the sun slanting along the water.







I know that's a lot of photos, but it's actually a very small fraction of the number we took.

We got to Balestrand in the mid afternoon. It's a decent sized town, right at the entry of several arms of the fjord. It has a resort feel to it, decent hotels and great access to the fjords. We ended up spending more for a hotel that we had planned, but I didn't feel like spending an hour hiking around town with 25 pounds on my back. It ended up working out pretty well, as we had a wonderful view out of our room.