End of a Norwegian Saga

stavanger again


And so back to Stavanger for a wander in Gamle Stavanger and around the very interesting Petroleum Museum. Then there was a farewell meal of reindeer steaks and Hilda's very fine chocolate cake and strawberry jam. Interestingly, this jam (made by D and H) was not boiled in the customary way (well for me anyway) but was more of a puree with a gelling agent, and it was stored in the freezer!

Gamle Bergen

bergen 2


The market on the harbour front in Bergen was brilliant - selling all kinds of fish and marine creatures. The old Bergen was fascinating - many overhanging wooden builings crowded into a tiny space, with the old living style brought to life in the Hanseatic Museum.

Seafood on the harbour front

dinner in bergen


The sun came out as we drove from Runde to Bergen, one of the wettest places in Norway! Dinner at Ned's was something else - Mum and Dad had a seafood platter, complete with langostines and crabclaws!

Puffinless on Runde

runde


We drove from Aalesund over to Runde in the hope of seeing puffins, in addition to lots of other birds. But sadly the puffins had left for the Atlantic only a few days before hand, so we saw lots of eagles and gannets and one guillimotte instead!

Jugendstil in Aalesund

aalesund


Aalesund is a unique place in Norway, as it was totally destroyed at the turn of the last century and rebuilt in the Jugendstil (Art Noveau) style. We had a wonderful time wondering through the streets taking photos (of course). Then it was time for cakes - special Aalesund ones, though I never caught the name, which were delicious pastries with raisins, custard and cinnamon. The Jugendstil centre on Apotekergate was brilliant, preserved as it was meant to be.

Trollstiggen

trollstigen


We started by travelling along a fabulous untarred road by Grottli, warming ourselves at the cafe which seems to make up the entirety of this Hamlet. Then we descended to Geiranger before winding our way towards Aalesund passing along the Trollstiggen. Up at the top we found orchids and butterworts!

Glacier ice

jostdalsbreen


We had planned a long walk today but the waether was not so good. Instead we pottered round the Cylindra art gallery and then walked to the edge of the Jostdalsbreen and made ice sculptures in the calving lake.

Glacier Museum and Book town

loen


We took advantage of staying next to the Norwegian Glacier Museum by getting there early. It was a fabulous museum - lots of playing with ice (picks, bicycles...) and an amazing 5 camera cinema with a film about flying over the ice sheet. Coffee was had in Mundal, the Norwegian book town. The lefse were delicious as were the blueberries we picked later on driving to Loen.

Travelling in Laerdal

laerdal


The troll here was our first - in Gudvangen - though none lept out at us on our way over the top of the Aurlandsvegen, the alternative road to the worlds longest tunnel - the Aurlandstunnelen. We zoomed into the Borgund stave church in the evening light (always good for photographers) before getting to our hytte and eating more local raspberries!

Hardanger Fjord

lofthus


Leaving Stavanger, we caught the first boat to Tau and were lucky to fing the glass shop open. Along the way to Lofthus we picked wild raspberries - tiny and very sweet - and bought moreller from the shop at Latefoss.

In Stavanger

stavanger and placido domingo



After a decadent evening it was good to have a wander in Stavanger, eyeing up all the moreller (cherries) from the Hardanger Fjord before going to the Viking Stadium to see Placido Domingo and Sissel.

Chocolate Fondant

dinner at sorenson's, stavanger


This was our first evening in Norway. We all went out to Sorensen's on the harbor front. The ribs defeated me but there's always room for pudding and the chocolate fondant was gooey and filled with cherries. Mmmmmmmm!