Hallo (Hello), Norway

On Monday, May 14, we drove north to Norway. Although we could have taken the big E6 highway, which runs from southern Sweden to the north of Norway, we opted for a slower and more scenic route. This decision was aided by a miles-long closure of the E6 that detoured us onto an alternate route we had considered anyway.

We crossed into Norway with no fanfare and only knew when it occurred by watching a change of route number on our navigation screen. About 10 minutes later, we knew it, too, when we were pulled over by a car with flashing blue lights. It was a Norwegian customs officer, checking to see if we were bringing in any alcohol or tobacco. The pleasant young woman quizzed us awhile about our past and future travels in Norway. She dutifully looked in our trunk and then sent us on our merry way.

We traveled only as far north as Moss, south of Oslo, where we stayed overnight (at a historic hotel, of course) near a ferry we would take across the Oslo Fjord the next morning.

The ferry was very Puget Sound-esque. It was smaller than many of the Puget Sound ferries, but similar. It was just a 30-minute crossing, with surrounding terrain that felt familiar.

We drove north and west into Telemark country. We were quickly in hills and forest, with distant views to snow-covered mountains and lots of farms dotting the hills.

Every home and farm has one of these stabburs, used for storage of household items and food.

We stopped to visit Heddal Stavkirke, the largest “preserved medieval church” in Norway. Erected in 1242, it was quite a sight, with its dragons on the rooflines and its 17th century wall paintings. When you see a picture representing Norway’s wooden stave churches, you are most likely seeing a picture of Heddal.

We were headed to Dalen for 3 nights. It is at the end of the Telemark Canal and has a storybook old hotel, the combination of which was the reason we were visiting this part of Norway. We had not had a sense of Dalen being in the mountains. I was thinking of canals, which I do not associate with mountains. As it turns out, I guess one should think mountains when one thinks of Telemark. We drove through areas of patchy snow, a clear indicator of how recently spring had arrived in these parts.

And then, suddenly, we were in switchbacks. Lots of switchbacks and a 12% grade, taking us down to Lake Bandak and Dalen. I had carefully—or so I thought—planned our route to avoid some of the more legendary switchbacks. So imagine my chagrin at finding ourselves on this route. (Note to self: Get a more detailed map next time!) Before we left Telemark, we would experience five of these lovelies. Good thing Jerry is relatively sanguine about driving them. Still….

Here’s a partial view of the switchbacks from our navigation screen as we headed down the mountain.

The Dalen Hotel is quite a sight in itself. Built in what is called the dragon style, it is quirky and has been lovingly preserved. Of course it meant trekking upstairs with the bags, but it had all the atmosphere one could hope for in a historic hotel.