Scandinavian Shangri-la

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/04/2002 (8554 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Norway is so ruggedly scenic that each new vista, often literally just around the next bend, simply eclipses the one that occurred moments before.

Snow-capped mountains, sheer granite cliffs, deep fjords, alpine forests, glassy lakes, rushing waterfalls, and picturesque ancient villages all conspire to steal away the breath from travellers, especially prairie folks.

Our family’s introduction to this Scandinavian Shangri-la began at Gardemoen Airport, which is nestled in a wide valley ringed by high green hills, about 48 km north of the capital city, Oslo.

Our Air France flight from Paris had just landed, and after perfunctory passport checks, we walked through the modern facility and spotted an on-site 7-Eleven.

Being from Manitoba, the slurpee capital of the world, our two pre-teen daughters made a beeline to the kiosk where a mouth-watering array of chocolate bars made up for the sad (and shocking) lack of slurpees. We parents, meanwhile, checked on convenient transport options into the city. Soon, with train tickets in our chocolate-smeared hands, we hopped aboard the Airport Express, a high-tech electric train that whispered through several quick stops before depositing us in central Oslo, some 20 minutes — and the equivalent of $20 Cdn — later. (An SAS airlines shuttle-bus is about $16 one-way; taxis, about $70.)

Even though our goal was to visit the countryside, we couldn’t ignore Oslo, a sophisticated yet charming waterfront city of 500,000, which traces its roots to a Viking settlement.

Oslo, like the whole country, has a well-deserved reputation for being an expensive place, mainly due to the national value added tax of up to 24 per cent. (Current exchange rate is 5.5 Norwegian kroner to $1 Cdn).

Visitors can lessen sticker shock by pre-purchasing hotel discount plans with amenities like gargantuan breakfast smorgasbords that could suffice as the day’s main meal. As well, penny-pinchers should avoid pricey full-service restaurants – never mind the expensive liquor – in favour of grazing at cafeterias, at hot dog vendors or at self-styled picnics.

Oslo also has several International Hostels that offer attractive rates (about $32 per adult; children ages 3-15 pay half-price) and big breakfasts.

Hotel reservations are strongly recommended during the summer in main cities like Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim. The safe Scandinavian countries, including Norway, have always been popular destinations, and may be even more so after the events of Sept. 11.

We secured rooms on-line through Minneapolis travel agency Borton Overseas (www.bortonoverseas.com) which specializes in Nordic travel. We chose the Oslo Package for its competitive rates (about $200 Cdn per night; kids under 16 stay free) and its Oslo Card, a four-day pass good for public transportation and major attractions.

Long summer days in this land of the midnight sun can mean lots of sight-seeing. Oslo, at 60 degrees north, is also surprisingly warm.

Each morning we tanked up at our downtown Hotel Stefan’s buffet-breakfast, featuring such delicacies as brown goat cheese and pickled herring. Then we hit the cobblestone streets. The main boulevard, Karl Johans Gate, runs from the park-like grounds of the royal palace to the central train station. Along its lively blocks you can find department stores selling hand-crafted items such as knitted sweaters and woven textiles, as well as objects in porcelain, pewter, or crystal. Tourists should ask about the tax-free refund program on such purchases; sales clerks here, as everywhere, seem to speak several foreign languages, including English, in addition to their native Norwegian.

When farther-flung attractions beckoned, we relied on the handy Visitor’s Map-Oslo to navigate by bus, tram, ferry or underground train.

Oslo brims with museums. Its Bygdy peninsula houses several: The open-air Norsk Folkemuseum highlights cultural history; the Kon-Tiki Museum showcases Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions; and the Viking Ship Museum displays authentic 1,000-year-old Viking ships and related archeological finds.

At Holmenkollen, Oslo’s famous ski jump on the city’s north edge, you find the Ski Museum and a ski simulator.

The Edvard Munch Museum features works by the painter (1863-1944) of The Scream, although this well-known piece hangs in the National Gallery; Frogner Park contains 200 bronze and granite sculptures of human forms by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) and the National Gallery also showcases a period of national romanticism.

National pride gets stoked further at Norway’s Resistance Museum, found at the medieval Akerhus Fortress, that depicts events from the German occupation during the Second World War. Its inspiring message may help to explain why Norwegians, usually a taciturn people, are such patriotic flag wavers.

The sight of red-white-and-blue standards at tidy farmsteads greeted us often on the sunny June afternoon we left Oslo by car. Our destination was my distant cousin’s dairy farm, 200 km away in Vang, a small community in the Valdres area of the Oppland region.

Although bus and train travel are excellent in Norway, we had pre-booked a rented car to give us quick-start options to shun-pike and to play tourist in the western fjord country with cousin, Ivar, wife Randi and family.

Our pint-sized VW Polo from Europcar sipped the $2-a-litre gasoline and hugged the winding roads.

Heading out of Oslo, through rolling green hills, our first stop was at Jevnaker, home of the 240-year-old Hadeland Glass Works. This popular site allows a self-tour of the glass-blowing factory and further tantalizes glass lovers with shops full of sumptuous wares.

Leaving Jevnaker, our route followed a narrow paved road that led up and over one steep pass and into the next valley — a recurring theme — and through a peaceful forest, which on this hot and still day, smelled like a sauna.

By early evening, after several hours of pleasant touring, we were — to our surprise — behind schedule. As we sat munching a snack at 7 p.m., still 50 kilometres away from the farm, the light bulb finally went on: Unlike on the flat prairies, kilometres click off at a glacial rate when tight curves and uphill climbs enforce speeds far below the posted 80 kilometres an hour, when small flocks of sheep carelessly cross the pavement, and when photo-ops pop-up non-stop.

By the time we pulled our VW into Ivar’s farm, the motoring had us beat. Yet, our spirits revived enormously at Randi’s kind offer of kaffe. Much more than a quick jolt of java, this hospitable tradition features a spread of food set out on — but what else — the coffee table. There were cheeses, meat, bread, jam, cake, pop, strong coffee, and even a little snort of medicinal, home-made elixir. Repeatedly, Randi urged us to dig in.

“Vr s god!” she exhorted each time, using the frequently-heard phrase which essentially means “You’re welcome.” Gratefully, we murmured our “Takks.” And soon, well-fed, excused ourselves for the night, only to be lulled to sleep by the gentle clunking of cow bells from the farm’s 15-head herd.

The subsequent five days settled into a pattern of local exploration.

The Valdres area comprises patches of arable land near the lakes, backed by slopes of birch and high rugged mountains. To the north lies Jotunheimen National Park. Outdoor activities are plenty. Visitors can also check out amenities in the central small city of Fagernes or step back in time at any of the area’s six historic stavkyrkjene, or stave churches.

The medieval-age Stave churches — many with carved dragon heads and steeply pitched roofs — are uniquely Nordic, having been built in styles that are said to bridge Norway’s pagan past and its embrace of Christianity. Constructed in an ancient technique using vertical wooden posts called “staves,” their dark oiled exteriors often belie fascinating decorations within, including ornate carvings and Viking era artifacts. Less than 30 of these heritage structures survive today. A string of arson incidents in the 1990s has restricted inside visits to guided tours with paid admission.

As for outdoor activities, Valdres teems with opportunities, as does all of Norway — an unspoiled country of 4.5 million inhabitants in an area the size of Italy.

Summer visitors can book locally to go trout fishing, mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, horseback riding and golfing.

The Norwegian love of going on a tur, or brisk walk, explains the several hundred kilometres of marked trails. These range from forested paths of the Old King’s Road to those above tree line with access to hytter, or mountain cabins, for hire.

Which brings us to hinterland accommodations. Larger towns, like Fagernes, have several hotels. Most villages have retained at least one, although Vang’s historic Grindahotel now houses African refugees. The countryside affords private and public camping sites, small resorts and cabins; reservations advised. As well, an increasing number of farms offer bed-and-breakfast rooms on a drop-in basis.

Farther to the west, hotel reservations are highly recommended in the stunningly scenic Sogn og Fjordane area, home of a extremely popular day trip — by rail, by road and by water — called Norway in a Nutshell.

A favourite starting point is Flm, a village that operates a renowned mountain railway.

Accessible by land or sea, this scenic hamlet sits at the tip of the gorgeous Aurlandsfjord, which is a branch of the 203-kilometre-long Sognefjord.

We came by car, in caravan with Ivar’s family, covering the 100 kilometres between their farm and the village, along an unforgettable main highway. The narrow road climbed above tree line to Filefjell, a popular winter ski area, only to plunge into the steep, dramatic Lrdal valley. This tortuous — yet scenic — route of unmarked hairpin turns and hurtling transport trucks commanded a driver be on high alert. It was with some relief then when the road diverted into a newly constructed tunnel, which at 24.5 kilometres is the world’s longest and a marvel of Norwegian engineering prowess. Barely aware of the rock overhead, we hummed along the tunnel’s wide, sweeping curves that offered eerie, blue-lit grottos every 10 kilometres to ease the monotony.

Our eventual arrival in Flm coincided with a crush of international tourists from a towering liner. That meant a long wait for our turn to board the electric train for its fifth trip (of 10) that day. But the two-hour ride proved worth it.

The Flmsbana affords dizzying views as it snakes along a 20 kilometre-line of switch-backs, climbing 863-metres up a mountain gorge, to the Myrdal plateau (which is also on the main train line), and then returns. En route, the train makes several brief stops, including one at the thundering Kjosfossen waterfall where — just for tourists — the troll-enchantress Huldra drops by.

Back in town, we made a short side-trip to Undredal, a quaint fjord village with a 12th century stave church, before completing the 26 twisty kilometres to Gudvangen, a port village at the tip of another branch of the Sognefjord.

Expecting the same mob as before, we were pleasantly surprised when only a handful of passengers co-boarded the evening ferry for the final leg of our “nutshell” tour: a three-hour cruise back to Lrdal.

As the small vessel sliced through the twilight-darkened waters of the steep-sided Nroyfjord, my family stood on the blustery deck, compelled to absorb the evolving panorama of village and rock, made even more magical by a coverlet of low clouds. We would be leaving Norway soon, and this was a way of saying good-bye.

Yet, it wasn’t just we prairie-folks who were transfixed. Even Ivar and Randi, whose own farm faces a million-kroner view, seemed equally bewitched by the terrible beauty of the land they call both Norge, and — lucky for them — “home.”

A taste of Norway

A taste of Norway awaits less than 400 kilometres from Winnipeg in Moorhead, Minn. The Hjemkomst Center showcases replicas of a Viking ship and of a 12th century Stave church.

In 1982, a 12-person crew made a 72-day voyage from Duluth, Minn., to Bergen, Norway, aboard the 76-foot-long ship, Hjemkomst (meaning “home coming”), which is now featured at the centre.

The church is a full-scale replica of the 12th century original which is in Vik, Hopperstad, Norway. Dedicated in 1998, the new structure sits on the adjacent Viking Ship Park.

The Hjemkomst Center is open daily. It also houses a permanent Red River Valley exhibit and various travelling displays. For more information call 1-218-299-5511 or go to www.hjemkomst-center.com.

–Martha Helgerson

Visiting Norway

Getting there