All Good Things.........

Unfortunately our time in Scandinavia has come to a close.  It's our final morning before heading to the airport for our flight home.  We've had a fabulous two weeks celebrating our 25th anniversary.  We've been blessed with great weather, great food, and wonderful hospitality.  Copenhagen has been a fun place to finish our trip.  We climbed the spiral steeple at the Church of Our Savior and spent time with the free spirits of Christiana. We experienced the local food scene at Reffen, the outdoor food court in the industrial section of Copenhagen right on the water.  We had fun at Tivoli, the City's amusement park which first opened in 1843.

But probably one of the single biggest memories of Copenhagen will be this view.  This is Nyhavn, or New Harbor, perhaps the most photographed site in the City and for good reason.  Our hotel was one block over.   Between the boats and all of the cafes and restaurants, Nyhavn was always hopping.  We ate dinner at 41 Nyhavn on our last night, sitting by the water, hearing a myriad of languages spoken, and soaking up the view one last time.

Reunited and it Feels So Good

We love being able to travel and are blessed to be able to do so.  We've had lots of incredible experiences, but everything is not always perfect.  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is how the old saying goes.  We've certainly made our fair share of lemonade.

Over the years we've had bad weather, travel delays, late arriving baggage, ailments, unexpected closures, and the like.  I don't write about them as I want to focus on the positives.  This year's trip got off to a rocky start, but I told Mona if it got resolved, I would write about it.

What happened?  I left my jacket on the plane when we changed planes in Copenhagen on the way to Sweden.

Leaving a jacket is not that big a deal.  It's an inconvenience for sure, but not insurmountable.  My issue?  My jacket is a special travel jacket I bought that has an interior liner with lots of pockets so you can pack clothes and other items to minimize the size and number of bags that you bring.  I basically left half my clothes for our two week trip on the plane.

Unlike your suitcase with a bag tag or other identifying information, my jacket had none of this.  The airline couldn't just put it on the next flight to Stockholm.  They had no idea whose it was.  I learned from the airline that it should go to the Copenhagen Airport's lost and found.  A faint glimmer of hope.

Once we got to our hotel, I looked up the information for the airport lost and found and saw they only keep and track things such as wallets, cell phones, and computers.  They don't track or keep clothes and other similar items.  Those are turned over to the Copenhagen police.

I emailed the Police Department's lost and found and provided all of my information.  I found pictures from the company's website to show what my jacket would look like.  I had to buy a few shirts since the only short sleeve shirt I had was the one I was wearing on the flight over.  I couldn't have two weeks of pictures in the same shirt- not to mention the aroma. 

Mona was confident everything would work out.  Me, not so much.  I had moved on and bought new shirts.  There were too many steps for my jacket to reach the police department.  There was no identification in the jacket.  It was a nice jacket with other clothes inside.  It will be too hard to find the owner.   Etc., Etc., Etc.

The glorious email came on July 9.  "We are pleased to inform you we have received your jacket."

Hallelujah!!  Praise the Lord!!  Happy Dance!!!  We are finishing our trip in Copenhagen so I can pick up my jacket.  We arrive late on the 10th.  We're at the main police station at 9am on the 11th when they open to claim my jacket.   Everything's still inside.  Another Happy Dance!!!

I told Mona it was all of her positivity that helped make it happen.  I'm grateful to everyone who had a hand in reuniting me with my jacket.  Thank You!

P.S. -- Mona got hives, but she's fine now.

It's not easy being green.....or is it?

Urban ski slope at the waste-to-energy plant

Denmark is a leader in environmental sustainability, renewable energy, and overall green living.  The country has a goal to be carbon-neutral by 2050.  The City of Copenhagen's goal is to get there by 2025.  Green roofs -- roofs with vegetation -- are now mandatory.  Bicycles are ubiquitous.  We remember Amsterdam having a lot of bikes.  Copenhagen may have them beat.  We learned that 35,000 people commute to work each day in Copenhagen by bicycle.  The city has bicycle counters on the main bridge into the city center so this number is very accurate.

One of the more novel ideas we saw was the City's new waste-to-energy plant.  Waste-to-energy plants themselves are not new technology.  What Copenhagen did was to make their's dual purpose.  The city is at sea level and very flat.  Because of the necessary building height of 85 meters, they created a ski slope so resident's can ski in the winter.  They put an artificial surface on it so it can be used year round.

Scenes from Copenhagen

Opera House

We've arrived at our final destination for our Anniversary Trip -- Copenhagen.  We'll be here for our final three nights before returning home.  We've returned our rental car so it's walking and public transportation the rest of the way.

Like Stockholm and Oslo, Copenhagen is on the water.  Also like Stockholm, Copenhagen is located on a series of islands.  We took a canal boat tour which gave us a great overview of the City and we got to see her from the vantage point of the water.  The Danes have a strong seafaring heritage.  In fact, many churches have some type of masted sailing ship hanging from the ceiling recognizing and paying tribute to this important history.

Amalienborg Palace

We passed by the Copenhagen Opera House, and like the others we've seen on this trip, is a modern-design performing arts hall located on the water.  It lies directly across the water from Amalienborg Palace, the classically-designed residence of the Danish Royal Family.  Copenhagen has a great blend of new and old.

Rosenborg Castle

The Queen's Crowns

Rosenborg Castle stands in the middle of Copenhagen and features a large garden and public space with which the locals were taking full advantage.  Rosenborg was built by Christian IV and completed in 1633.  Christian IV's great-grandchild Frederik IV stopped using it as a royal residence around 1710 and instead converted it to the home of the royal collections.  This is in large part why the castle is so well preserved.  It is also home the the Danish crown jewels.

There's so much to see and do in Copenhagen.  We've only scratched the surface so I'm glad we'll have more time to explore.

Legoland!

We couldn't pass up the chance to visit the original Legoland while we are in Denmark.  Denmark is home to Legos and I remember spending countless hours as a kid playing with them and seeing what I could create.  The park definitely caters to the little ones, but there's lots for the big ones to enjoy as well.  All throughout the park are mini-versions of famous sites including the Statue of Liberty and Parthenon, as well as recreations of entire places including Copenhagen Harbor and the Billund Airport.  Millions upon millions of Legos were used in recreating all of these icons.

Nyhavn (New Harbor) in Copenhagen

Statue of Liberty

The other interesting observation is that folks can bring in their own food and drinks to have their own picnics instead of purchasing in the park and they can bring their dogs.  I can't imagine being able to do that at Disney World.

On to Denmark

Aalborg Music Hall

Aalborg Music Hall

After our Preikestolen hike, we drove south to Kristiansand for our final night in Norway.  It was up at 0 Dark Thirty -- except it's not dark here at that hour this time of year -- to catch the car ferry over to Denmark.  After a fast two-hour jaunt across the water which included a lot of napping, we've arrived in Denmark for our final few nights of vacation.

We're spending our first day in Denmark exploring areas in the northern part of the country known as Jutland.  First stop is Aalborg to see some modern Scandinavian architecture, especially its Music Hall.  A quick stop, but worth it to see amazing design.

The rest of our day was spent in Denmark's second-largest city Aarhus.  Most folks have heard of Copenhagen and if they visit Denmark, it's probably the one place they visit.  However, Aarhus is a cool city in its own right with great culture, history, and architecture, including:

Aarhus Cathedral -- the largest cathedral in Scandinavia -- dating back to 1350.

Boy -- a 5 meter tall very lifelike sculpture

ARoS Museum -- both a great collection of art as well as innovative modern architecture.   The rainbow panorama at the top of the building is a popular feature providing a "colorful" perspective to your 360 degree views of the city.

Aarhus Court Building -- classic architectural design -- not all Scandinavian architecture is modern.


Aarhus has been a great introduction to Denmark.  We look forward to seeing more.

Preikestolen

One of the activities we designed our vacation around was hiking, actually two specific hikes -- Trolltunga (Troll's Tongue) and Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock).  Trolltunga is the more difficult of the two, and the weather was simply not cooperating.  It rained and snowed there for three days in a row, including our scheduled hiking day.  Mona is still nursing a sore knee, so we changed our plans and spent more time in Flam.  We did a shorter hike there to the Brekkefossen waterfall.

Preikestolen was not to be missed.  It is a very popular hike in Norway and the trail gets very crowded, especially out at the Pulpit Rock plateau at the end.  We stayed at a lodge that's located at the trailhead and were up at 4:30am so we could be on the trail by 5:00am to beat the crowds.  The entire way up we only saw a few people traveling down so it seemed as though we had the whole trail to ourselves.

The trail has three very steep sections including a long uphill climb that starts at the trailhead.  About 5 years ago, Norway had a team of sherpas from Nepal come to Preikestolen and rehab the trail with fantastic results.   The sherpas built/rebuilt numerous steep sections with large stones, essentially creating staircases, which helped make these steep sections safer and more well-defined.  It didn't necessarily make the hiking any easier.  My watch calculated I climbed the equivalent of 124 flights of stairs on this hike.

The payoff for this hike is the end.  Towering 604 meters above the Lysefjord, Preikestolen is a cliff with a relatively flat top that provides amazing views of the fjord.  The more adventurous will sit on the edge with their legs dangling.  When we reached the plateau, there were only about 10 other people there.  We were able to take some great photos and enjoy the sights and sounds in relative peace.  It was a phenomenal experience and truly one of the best hikes we've ever done.

As we made our descent, a steady stream of hikers were making their way like ants to the top.  Fortunately, we already had our mountaintop experience and were able to avoid the crowd.

Land of Tunnels

One of the unexpected things we've discovered about Norway is the number of tunnels, especially in the fjord region.  We've driven through so many that we've lost count.  Instead of driving up and over mountains, we are driving through them.  The tunnel at Laerdal was over 15 miles long and is the longest road tunnel in the world.  They actually have bright, multi-colored lights in different sections of the tunnel to break up the monotony and make sure folks are staying awake.  For those of you that have driven the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, that is 17.6 miles long, meaning the Laerdal tunnel is very comparable.

There are approximately 1000 road tunnels in Norway currently with more under construction.  The Norwegians have gotten so sophisticated with their tunnels, some even have roundabouts in them.

Flåm

One of the areas I've most looked forward to visiting has been the fjords in Norway.  I'm definitely more of a mountain person than a beach person, especially in the summer. We've made our home in the village of Flåm, located at the end of the Aurlandsfjord which is a small offshoot of Norway's largest and deepest fjord, the Sognefjord. Originally, we were only going to be here for two nights as we were going to a different area and hike Trolltunga, one of Norway's most spectacular hikes.  However, the weather in that area isn't cooperating -- rain and snow for the last three days and more for scheduled hike day on Saturday, so we switched gears and extended our stay in Flåm for a total of four nights.  Our best decision yet on this trip.

Our Cottage -- #1 on the far left

We are staying in a cottage on the fjord with a large picture window that looks directly out onto the water.  It's a view I don't think I would ever get tired of. We're renting directly from the owners, Anders & Sue, who have a farm behind us and four cottages on the water.  I'm not sure how old these cottages are, but they have the typical Norwegian A-frame style of construction with red wood siding.  Inside, it has the feel of a log cabin with knotty pine wood walls and ceilings.

Flåm definitely caters to tourist this time of year.  The fjord is deep enough that cruise ships make it a port of call and we woke up to one in port on our first full day here. The two main things most folks do here is ride the Flåmsbana train into the mountains and take the fjord cruise over to Gudvangen.  We did both today and the views and scenery were incredible.

Cruise ship in port

The Flåmsbana is a 20km train ride to the village of Myrdal, with an elevation gain of about 2,850 feet meaning an average gradient of 1 in 18.  It's the steepest train ride in Norway and has been voted as one of the most beautiful train rides in the world.  We traveled through 20 different tunnels and saw numerous waterfalls, mountains, and valleys.

View from the train

There is a one-day tour that people can take from Oslo to Bergen called Norway in a Nutshell.  This includes the Flåmsbana train and fjord cruise.  There were lots of folks on our train that seemed to be doing this leg of that tour and got off at Myrdal to continue their trip.  We rode the train up and back, and there were probably only 1/4 of the people on the return as on the way up the mountain.

As soon as we got back to Flåm, we headed to the ferry dock for our fjord cruise.  We were on a modern boat that was specifically designed for these fjord cruises.  It's totally electric and emits zero pollution to the fjord.  That also made it a very quiet and smooth ride.  We sailed the length of the Aurlandsfjord and then turned and went down another offshoot of the Sognefjord -- the Nærøyfjord.  Just as the name implies, it's the narrowest fjord in Norway and is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Fjord cruise

The pictures I'm showing here really don't do justice to capturing the incredible views and scenery we saw today.  One of the perks of the cottage we're staying in is that it comes with the use of a small boat with an outboard motor to go out on the fjord.  We enjoyed the cruise so much that Mom wanted to go back out on the water so we did that this evening before dinner.  Our brief boat ride gave yet another perspective as we were basically at water level versus being elevated as we were on the large ferry boat.

Boat selfie

We've been blessed with great weather while we've been in Flåm, sunny weather and highs in the 60s.  We're so far north that the sun practically never sets.  The official sunset is about 11:00pm and the official sunrise is about 4:30am, but it's basically twilight in between so it never gets fully dark.  It's tempting to not ever go to sleep so we can soak up as much of the views as possible.  

Stave Churches

While in Oslo, we saw a Stave Church that had been moved from Gol and reassembled at the Norwegian Folk Museum.  Now that we've moved west and are in the fjords, there are a number of stave churches that have been preserved and some that are still in use.

What exactly is a stave church?  It is a reference to how it was constructed.  A stave is a vertical wood post or column.  The staves form the framework of the central room and this is why this style of church is referred to as a stave church.  Stave churches are unique to Norway although some have been built in other countries using the Norwegian church as a model.  Where there once used to be about a thousand stave churches in Norway, only 28 are still standing.  Most stave churches were built between 1130 and 1350.

The best preserved stave church is the Borgund Stave Church.  After about a 3.5 hour drive from Oslo, we reached the small village of Borgund in the heart of fjord country.  The timber used in the construction has been dated to 1180 with construction occurring shortly thereafter.  The diagram shown here shows how stave churches are built.  They are completely made of wood and tend to be tall and narrow.  There are only small openings for light and typically no windows, so they tend to be quite dark on the inside.

Altar

Staves, St. Andrew crosses, pulpit and altar

Much like the viking ships we saw in Oslo and the Vasa we saw in Stockholm, I've been amazed at the woodworking skill of the Scandinavians.  Everything we have seen has withstood the test of time, was built during an age when technology and tools were relatively primitive, and has a high degree of ornamentation.

The Burgund Stave Church was replaced by the "new" church built in 1868.

Th "new" church on the left with the freestanding belfry in the middle.

Wrapping up in Oslo

Akerselva River

While in Oslo, we rented an apartment in the Grünerløkka neighborhood just north of the central part of downtown.  This area is known as the hipster part of the city, filled with lots of artists, quirky shops, and the like.  Our apartment was only a block removed from Oslo's National Academy of the Arts which is located in a renovated industrial complex dating back to 1856 that used to house the Christiania Seildugsfabrik -- a canvas factory.  The Akerselva River flows through this part of Oslo, and there is a great shared use path used by walkers, runners, and bicyclists that runs along the river.  We walked a few kilometers along the path and really saw a locals perspective of the City.  The river is very narrow so you could easily drive around Oslo and not know it's there.

Vigeland Park

Vigeland Park

Our final stop before leaving the capital was to see Vigeland Park.  Gustav Vigeland is considered Norway's most prominent sculptor and his work is displayed throughout the park.  In fact, Vigeland convinced the City of Oslo to give him a building to live and have studio space and in return, he would give the City all of his works.  These sculptures are installed in what is called Vigeland Park, which is wholly contained within the larger Frogner Park in Oslo.

We're now off to the fjords. Looking forward to fantastic scenery and cool temperatures.

Peace in Oslo

Main Hall

Murals

Exterior Wood Carving

Oslo also has a connection to Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize.  Of the six Nobel Prizes awarded each year, five are awarded in Stockholm.  The Peace Prize is actually awarded in Oslo.  This is due to the terms of Alfred Nobel's will in establishing the prizes. The Peace Prize is determined by a committee of Norwegians and the other five prizes are determined by a committee of Swedes.  No explanation was given as to why he chose this process.

The Peace Prize ceremony is held in the main hall in Oslo's City Hall.  We took the short tour and learned about the building and the ceremony.  The main hall holds some 300 events a year in addition to the Nobel ceremony and is covered in murals from floor to ceiling.  Numerous Norwegian artists contributed to both the interior and exterior artwork.  A number of detailed wood carvings adorn the exterior walls.

The Nobel Peace Center is a small museum located across the square from City Hall dedicated specifically to the Peace Prize. The Nobel Prize museum in Stockholm is a much better museum, but it was ok for a quick visit.

Museum Alley

Oseberg Viking Ship

One thing we've learned very quickly is that Norwegians are very proud of their culture and history.  Oslo has wonderful museums that capture this history and present it in unique ways.  Some of the museums aren't very large, but they still pack an educational and historical punch.

Several of the museums are clustered together in the Bygdøy peninsula just a short ferry ride away from the center of Oslo.  Because we have a car, we drove over rather than catching the ferry which saved Mom and Pop from too much walking.

Our first stop was the Viking Ship Museum.  The museum houses three original viking ships that date back over 1000 years.  Because these are wooden ships still intact, scientists can accurately date them using dendrochronology (tree ring dating).  The oldest of the three was built in 820AD.  It was found on a farm in the Oseberg region in 1903.  All three were used as grave ships for prominent vikings.  A burial chamber would be placed in the center of the ship and a myriad of valuable items would be placed with the bodies.  The entire ship would then be buried.

Two of the three ships are in such good condition they're probably still seaworthy.  It's difficult to fathom the quality of construction and durability of these ships considering the available tools and technology from the time period.

Stave Church at Norwegian Folk Museum

After touring the viking ship museum, we walked over to the Norwegian Folk Museum.  Similar to the Skansen museum in Stockholm, the folk museum is an outdoor, open air museum featuring a collection of buildings from around the country representing various periods of Norwegian history.  Probably the most popular building there is the Stave Church that was moved here from Gol.  See my other entry HERE about Stave Churches.  Skansen is larger and has more variety of buildings, but the Norwegian Folk Museum also has more modern buildings including an apartment building that shows different eras of city living over the past 100 years.

Kon-Tiki

Kon-Tiki

Our final two stops were also maritime-related -- the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Fram Museum.  Thor Heyerdahl was a well-known 20th century Norwegian explorer and the Kon-Tiki museum documents his travels.  His most famous expedition was sailing the Pacific Ocean on a balsa wood raft named Kon-Tiki to prove that it was possible for South Americans to have reached and settled in Polynesia.  Using native balsa wood and construction techniques that would have been available centuries ago, Heyerdahl set off for Polynesia in 1947 and successfully completed his voyage in a little more than 100 days.  His expedition was captured on film and would win the 1951 Academy Award for best documentary.

Ra II

Fram

Heyerdahl would later cross the Atlantic Ocean on a boat made from papyrus sailing from the coast of Africa to Barbados on the Ra II to prove once again that it was possible for ancient civilizations to undertake long sea voyages and have contact with other cultures.

The Fram Museum houses the wooden ship Fram which was built specifically for arctic exploration.  Not only that, the mission was to intentionally have the ship freeze in the ice.  The ship was designed so that rather than the frozen ice crushing the hull of the ship, the ice would push the ship upwards so the hull was not damaged.  Besides conducting numerous scientific experiments, the goal was to make it all the way to the north pole.  It made it as far north as 85° 57' N which was the furthest north a wooden ship had ever been.  This was accomplished on October 16, 1895.  The best part of the museum is that you can walk on the ship itself and explore all of the decks below.

Our brief time exploring these museums gave us a glimpse of the illustrious seafaring heritage and engineering skill of the Norwegian people.  As someone who has little to no boating experience, I really have a newfound appreciation as to both the craft of boatbuilding as well as the knowledge and ability needed to undertake such lengthy expeditions.

   

Oslo's Main Drag

Karl Johans Gate is Oslo's main street -- all pedestrian -- that stretches from the Central Train Station all the way to the Royal Palace.  Besides all of the shops and restaurants, you'll also see a number of Oslo's most important buildings including:

Oslo Cathedral

Parliament

National Theater (statue of Ibsen on the left)

Royal Palace

As you can see from the sky, we kept dodging intermittent showers, but it was a great introduction to the capital and its major sites.

Walking on the Roof

We've made our way from Sweden to Norway and our first stop is the capital - Oslo. Like Stockholm, Oslo is also on the water so there are lots of boats and it's also a popular stop for cruise ships.  The major sites are crowded during the middle of the day when all of the cruisers are in port for the day.

Do you see me on the roof?

One of our first places to visit was the Oslo Opera House.  The Sydney Opera House in Australia is probably the most iconic in the world.  Oslo's is likely going to be a close second.  The building seems to disappear into the water.  Since its opening in 2008, the opera house has served as both a performing arts venue and community gathering space.  Featuring sharp angles, the building's thick slab tiles serve as both plaza and roof.

Interior view

We walked all throughout the plaza, and by doing so, we were also walking on the roof.  As you would expect, the building has earned multiple architectural awards.  Scandinavian architecture frequently features modern lines and a striking blend of glass, wood, and concrete or steel.  Even though the designs are markedly different, the Sydney and Oslo opera houses have one thing in common.  They were both designed by Scandinavians.