Fretheim

Waterfalls, waterfalls, waterfalls ... tunnels, tunnels, tunnels! We have a lot of kilometres to travel today from Geiranger to Flåm and ride the coach and one fjord crossing ferry to get there. We attempt to disengrumpify our driver, Gregorius the grumpy Lithuanian, and he may even have started to grin at one point. 😉 It's an exhilarating drive as we wind up the mountain via hairpin bends above the 1000m treeline and into the snowy Alps. At this altitude, the snow is a permanent feature on the north faces, even in summer. We see houses that have no foundations and that are chained to the bedrock. This means they can be moved if necessary! We see gorgeous fjords, spectacular waterfalls, cute-as-a-button villages, low lying clouds and a bit of rain. We pass through the mountains via impressive road tunnels that are 6 and 8 kilometres long and, again, I'm impressed by the engineering minds that created them. The weather is different on either side of the tunnels and we move from one valley with misty rain to the next that is clear and calm. It is known to be sunny on one side and snowy on another at times. We don't see any snow but talk about microclimates! These early tunnels are small fry though because the afternoon brings us to and through the world's longest road tunnel. The Laerdal Tunnel is almost 25kms long (yep, you read that right!) and takes us over 21 minutes to drive through. I'm amazed! Samara plays solitaire... This tunnel has special "caves" every 6kms where the lights change to blue in order to keep the drivers alert. It's very, very cool !!
We spend some time at the Kaupanger Stave Church along the way. Built in 1140 (can you believe that?) this is interesting, not only because of its age, but because it's the oldest wooden church in Europe that's still in use. It has 29 wooden columns (or stays) hardened from local pine and ... get this ... the ceiling is fashioned in the size and shape of the floor of a Viking ship!! That's because that was really the only shape they knew how to make without nails or screws or whatnot. Even Samara was impressed! We see a woman in the graveyard planting new flowers and deadheading old ones. I'm impressed by the upkeep of graveyards all over Norway (and you know how much I love a good graveyard!)
I have discovered my Achilles Heel in Scandinavian pastries. We have another tasty delicacy at morning tea ... I will say no more about them (or my waistline)!Read more