Mooching Around

Hello again, I know 2 posts in two days, it’s almost indecent!

So I’m now on the farm with Ingeborg and Tormod as I told you before. Although its been nearly 3 weeks here I’ve actually only spent about 2 full weeks here. This is because Ingeborg and Tormod have turned out to be a really cool couple and have been fine with me taking time out to do a bit more traveling. In fact next week I’ll be heading northish for a while to hang out with Tormod’s sister and possibly his mum and dad. I’m pretty excited about it, the area around their home looks really lovely! Anyway back to here... so err...what was I waffling on about? Oh yup traveling! Again.

Ok so first off, the lovely I & T lent me their car to go to an island called Tautra, about an hours journey north from Trondheim. Luckily for me both I & T are fans of architecture and apparently there was a really cool new monastery that I had to check out.

First off, driving on the right (wrong) side of the road is pretty interesting. I’ve only driven this way a little but it seems to be fine as long as I lean on my left arm a bit to stop me automatically trying to use it to change gear! Secondly, driving! Oh my, I’d forgotten how much I miss it. I mean really, really miss it. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like hitchhiking in a weird kind of way (once I get over the embarrassment of what is essentially roadside begging). And I love watching the world go by from a train or bus window. There’s just something about driving a car that makes me (and probably a lot of people) feel free. The knowledge that if I spot something that looks interesting I can just turn around and go and look. It’s very intoxicating when you’ve not been able to do that for a while!

Sorry, I was updating you on the traveling wasn’t I. Right, err, Tautra. Awesome little island that’s currently joined to the mainland by a causeway. It seems a bit strange when you get there initially as you can’t get onto the causeway until some prison style automated gates let you through. Seriously it looks like you should be entering Alcatraz.  However I’ve been reliably informed that its not to keep anyone out (or the nuns in). It’s to stop foxes getting over to the island and reducing the bird population to nil. Something that they nearly did a few years ago. Not a problem usually I guess, but Tautra had (and still does) an excellent range of birds that nest on the island, mainly due to it’s remoteness from the mainland. Whilst I didn’t take a picture of the gates I did grab one of the causeway...

Ooo very atmospheric! I’d say I was getting better with my camera but really I think it’s just luck sometimes. So, on this island, there’s a few houses, an old ruin of a monastery and yet another lovely little cafe to break your fast on waffles and coffee. See...

Ok, I know its the outside of it, but the colours are so pretty! Anyway, the other lovely part of the island is the new monastery for a group of cistercian nuns. Yup, that’s right nuns, but  its still called a monastery. It completely ruined my Macbeth moment! Luckily for me, the same guys that did Mortensrud church. Yes that’s the one I got over excited about a couple of posts ago. Also did Tautra Monastery. Check it out...

It’s a really lovely space and has a truly awesome glass ceiling...

I really love this! So much so I’ve already filed it away as something I’d like to do in my own house, when I eventually get round to doing it (dreamland is only so far away). I also stayed to listen to a service there and it seems to fit perfectly with the simple ceremonies the nuns hold. Top marks to Jensen & Skodvin again.

I also found this graveyard just as you get into Tautra too...

and these at the little shop next to the original ruins...

Hehehe, love the wrappings. The only thing shocking about them though was how truly bland and average the chocolate turned out to be. So with the architecture love in over with, it was back to Amdal and the farm. Well, with a little pitstop at this mound with a stone circle on the way back.

Apparently this was a sort of council/pre government meeting place for this part of Norway up until about 1000AD. Pretty cool.

A day or two later Tormod kindly took me out to Kristiansund on the coast. Even though its only a few inches on the map, it still took 4 hours driving to get there. I would have taken tonnes of photos on the way as we passed some really cool scenery but the weather had decided to go to the boring side of ok and was raining for almost the entire journey. It’s also the reason I didn’t hang around in Kristiansund that long or take any photos. Instead I caught a bus to Ålesund which is a bit further south. It’s a long old journey on the bus and includes a ferry crossing too. Luckily when I woke up the following morning it wasn’t raining, just a bit overcast, with the occasional ray of sunshine.

Ålesund (say ‘O’lesund) is an interesting town, based around another harbour. It actually burnt to the ground in 1904 and has been rebuilt in an Art Nouveau style. If you’re not sure what the means, think turrets, spires little bits of ornamentation and lots of gables. You can’t really see it from this picture but...

it does show how crap the weather was behaving! Still I think that the harbour area still looks good, even in poor weather. It does something weird to the water and makes it look like some kind of molten glass/metal mixture...

It’s also in a really pretty area of Norway, just before it starts breaking into serious fjord land. So here instead of huge mountains (which aren’t that far away) you get reasonably high hills. Ok, maybe they’re mountains. Just more of a UK scale of mountain maybe? It kind of reminds me of the Beacons, although thankfully not of Myrthr Tydfll! See...

I also found a couple of interesting boutique style shops and a really cool glassworks which was in an old harbour building. You could watch them make the stuff whilst you were  in there. A little more hitech though than my Blue Peter memories! There was also a secondhand store that was set over a couple of floors. Completely rammed with old furniture, plates etc. It made me want to come back with a van and an empty house!

So after a day in Ålesund, I thought I’d take a trip out to see one of the fjords and headed off to Geiranger (say Geer Anger). Now I’m pretty sure that Geiranger is one of those official ‘Amazing sights of Norway’ and it certainly looks impressive even when the weather is being impressively average...

this rather drab picture was taken off the bus at one of the main view points for the fjord. I think it looks even more impressive when you actually down in the town though...

How cool is that? This is actually the view from my tent! Love it!

The only thing that wasn’t quite so impressive though was a) the temperature drop at 3am, and b) the morphing off the fjord from majestic, to auditioning for a part in a Stephen King novel! Sound a bit weird? Well next time you get all dewy eye’d over the view, imagine waking up at 3am, hearing a lot of wind, rain and some suspiciously close water lapping over rocks. Then, reach out of your barely warm sleeping bag, open the wet door to your tent and take a glance at the pitch black void in front of you! That’s right pitch black,  populated by some tiny distant lights and black, oily, eager looking water right near the door! It’s amazing how quick you can pack up and move your tent to the opposite end of the campsite (correct side into the wind this time) when your head is full of the creepy bits of books (oh and The Grudge - Japanese version, thanks Kat)!

Still as usual, in the morning it didn’t seem all that bad, and the sun managed to make a brief appearance as well. Everything seems better with a little sunshine. Then as per usual I checked the bus timetable... Why, oh why do I not have a car? Yup, its the imaginary bus system again. This time the buses out of Geiranger on a daily basis, stopped in August. Probably because the entire town shuts down apart from one shop in the off season. I really should know better by now.

Anyway it did give me the opportunity to really appreciate the beauty of Geiranger on the walk back to the ferry, which is approximately 8km’s from Geiranger and a vertical climb of 650 meters (as an old man so helpfully pointed out at the bottom of the climb). Luckily it wasn’t a proper mountain climb and I could follow the road as it zigzagged its way out of the fjord. The picture below shows the road I followed, basically I had to walk up as far as the top ridge line....

After that it was a good 2 hour walk along some very empty roads...

before I got picked up by the 9th car to pass me and dropped off, 5 minutes later at the ferry. The ferry also did some really lovely hot thick folded fluffy pancakes which made up for skipping breakfast before I started walking.

Once I was on the other side I couldn’t decide where to go. As the following day I was going to have to be back in Trondheim for a lift back to the farm. I really wanted to go to Andalsnes through one of the mountain roads as its meant to have fantastic views, however after 2 hours without a single car going by me on the road out there, I figured it was best to  catch the bus and head to Molde, which is back on the coast again. I really like Molde, however for some reason I wondered around appreciatively for an hour or so without taking any photos whatsoever. At least I remembered to take some in the morning though...

It really is in a lovely area.

So the last day was basically a 'quick' hitch back to Trondheim, which took about 8 hours and 5 different hitches. I have to stop thinking that things are close in Norway, the maps are very deceiving!  The scenery was awesome though, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing mountains. At one point I was dropped off by a lovely retired farmer right in the middle of them where I saw this cool broken down barn...

its not an uncommon sight in Norway.

Still I made it back to Trondheim safely and ended up staying in the city over the weekend with Tormod’s sister which was really nice. Then after a day back at the farm winter finally decided to make an appearance...

How cool is that! Its so great, I’m ridiculously excited about it. Not so excited about the freezing toes, but the 3 layer system seems to be working out just fine.

So that’s it, all updated and ready to go! I’ll be off up north I think next week with Tormod’s sister and then on up to Trømso on the 1st November. I’ll post again once I’m there as I’m not sure what I’ll be doing up there yet.

Catch you again soon
x

Trondheim

Hello again! Time for another little update. So the last time I wrote, I was just leaving Arstun Farm. Right.... I really must do these updates more often!

So anyway. I’m now at the Amdal smallholding just outside of Trondheim, which is about half way up Norway (definitely further north than Bergen) and on the coast again. I really like Trondheim. It’s a lovely little town (OK city) that’s got a good solid ‘old world’ feel in the centre but it still manages to comfortably incorporate modern shops and life. Fancy a peek? Here you go...

See pretty isn’t it? This is probably a really good way to show you how norwegian cities tend to sprawl across the landscape, rather than huddle around one main part. Limited high rises, just the ability to regularly build on sloping ground. Oh incidentally, Trondheim was Norway’s first capital and is still the coronation city for Norway’s Kings. Yup, that’s me, Cathi ‘swallowed the tourist guide’ Reynolds.

See the big green topped cathedral in the trees? That’s Niadros Cathedral. Built over the grave of King Olav Haraldsson in the 11th Century it’s a dominating feature of Trondheim, and inside it looks like it should be used for the dark wizards version of Hogwarts!  I’d show you with some (as per usual) stunning and informative photos but there were more ‘NO Photography’ signs and ‘helpful’ guides lurking in the cathedral than you can shake a compact at. Plus it's so dimly lit I’d need my tripod to make sure you could make out more than a dark blur! Anyway, take it from me, tonnes of beautiful dark stone, an excellent wooden ceiling in the nave and a remarkably restrained attempt to cover a third of it in gold/decorative carvings. Which is more than they managed on the front of it...

Looks like a mini Notre Dame doesn’t it? I’m a bit sketchy on this bit, but I’m pretty positive that the front was rebuilt in the 16th Century. Or maybe later. I did wander around the attached museum that has some really cool original stone carvings and statues but I honestly can’t remember the date that well. Still, Notre Dame look-a-like or not, I quite like it.

The first few days in Trondheim were spent walking as much as possible and hanging out with another Couchsurfing host called Miguel. He’s Portuguese and has only been in Trondheim for 6 months. Lovely guy, he’s an excellent cook and one the first of many people to actually get me playing Guitar Hero. I am, without a doubt, the WORST player of Guitar Hero ever. I do however become an acceptable beginner after sharing two bottles of wine. Strange that.

One of the great things about his place was the location. He lives in an area called Bakklandet, which is on the east side of the river that runs around the centre of Trondheim. It’s absolutely lovely. Lots of little wooden houses near the river, some cool cafes (serving acceptable hot chocolate, but great coffee flavoured cream toppings) and a few great little shops. You know the usual secondhand/vintage clothing and furniture ones that make me walk slowly whilst going ‘Ooooo’.

It’s also where there are two key tourist spots for Trondheim. The first is the Old Bridge (Gamle Bybro), which used to raise for passing boats...

It looks a little Eastern to me. Just off this is the main tourist shot that you’ll see if you look up Trondheim on the web...

Lovely isn’t it? I really like this shot, It makes the point about painted wooden buildings in Norway being really attractive pretty well I think.

Oh and if you find yourself in the area at any time I can highly recommend going to Baklandet Skydsstation. They do really good food (the Bacalou was great), and it happens to be one of the cutest places I’ve ever eaten. They even have a little outdoor/indoor area that would be great on a summer evening...

Completely love it.

I also managed to take a walk around the city from the fjord side and got to see some lovely views as I wandered down the paths to another cute little cafe called the Sponhusset. Ok hot chocolate but great waffles! Take a look! At the scenery not the waffles...

That’s the one of the things I love about Norway (and Iceland too) you’re never far away from proper countryside views and air that brings a smile to your face when you take a deep breath full.

There are also lots of little gems to stumble upon whilst you wander around Trondheim. Have a peek...

Got to love a bit of firepower in a city. These ones obviously don’t get used anymore, but they do have some working ones, locked under a bit of army green tarpaulin behind the bush! This was taken at the fort that’s above Bakklandet, it gives you a great view out over the city and would be a great place to chill out on a warm, sunny day. Even though all the interesting bits were locked up, it was still a cool place to explore...

So after a couple of days exploring Trondheim I met up with Ingeborg, her husband Tormod and their baby girl Elinor at the airport. Ingeborg is studying geography at the local university and Tormod is doing his Masters in Archeology. Elinor is studying how to be adorable, she’s remarkable adept! They bought a farm about 40 minutes from Trondheim a few years ago and have been slowly doing up the house. It’s in a lovely area, although its a good 20 minutes to get onto a ‘main’ road. The trees were a stunning mix of evergreen, copper, ochre and yellow leaves. I wish I’d gotten a proper picture before it snowed!

I can however show you the truly weird sunrise I had on my first morning...

I know, freaky isn’t it!

There aren’t many animals on this farm, just some chickens to start with. However there is a truly awesome barn that Tormod and Ingeborg are planning on rebuilding, next year I think. It’s a great place for photos though and I got this one the other day...

how cool is that? I can’t tell you how hard it is to resist the urge to just put glass on that side and convert the barn into a house.

Anyway, that’s all for the minute. There’s been a fair bit going on in the past few weeks so I’ll update you on my travels in seperate blog post. Right now, I’m going to have a bite of my porridge cake and a cup of tea.

Catch you soon
x

Time flies...

and all that jazz! Busy times and good times. So in this tardy update Autumn has definitely arrived in Norway. The nights had gotten colder and on Kåre and Erandi’s farm, although the sun was still shining there was a definite bite in the air. So much so that when I was in the greenhouse taking photos of the tomatoes (just call me a wannabe artiste...) I managed to get this really cool shot...

it took a moment to realise it was because my lens had fogged up because of the change in temperature! Still the routine continued as normal, more milking (I’m sooo much better than I used to be), feeding, jam making and generally trying to get the farm ready for winter. I also finally managed to get a decent picture of our milk cow and her calf...

The Autumn weather also meant that we were getting clear night skies, which let me grab this picture of our garden kitchen by moonlight...

Yes moonlight! I knew there was a reason that I brought my tripod with me!

One of the unfortunate, but also sometimes inevitable, parts of farm life is the occasional loss of an animal. Nothing too dramatic in our case, just the loss of a couple of mother ducks to the local fox. One lot of ducklings were quite well grown and were put in the barn. The others were only a day old at most and I became surrogate mum to all 12 of them...

How cute are they? They’re small enough to fit in your sleeve too...

hehehe, I am such a child.

Anyway, moving on swiftly one of the highlights in the final weeks at Arstun Farm was totally non farm related and involved yet another trip to Oslo. This time with Paulina and taking in Mortensrud Church...

Yes, that’s a church. Its another example of really, really good modern architecture. I know that not everyone likes this kind of stuff but I think it rocks. For a couple of reasons really. I could go into them but... no actually I will go into them! Well, a little at least. It’s just an excuse to put up more photos.

Reason 1. It doesn’t dominate the landscape. Yes its pretty obvious there’s a building there, but it doesn’t scream “LOOK AT ME” like most old churches. It blends in. See?

Reason2. They’ve built around the landscape. I read that they didn’t actually do anything to the land other than take the top layer of soil off in places. I like that minimal impact. Besides it leaves things like this

 and this...

within the church to tie it more firmly to the landscape (yes that’s bedrock on the floor of the church).

Reason 3. They’ve unashamedly used modern and natural materials in a simple and elegant way

I love the way they’ve used the stone above the windows but not used any mortar, so you get the extra pinpoints of light coming through. Plus the huge windows don’t just bring in light, they let you see the surrounding nature. What could be more peaceful than that?

Argh! Actually I think I’m quite poor at describing this kind of thing so instead I’m going to just put up some more photos!

I loved the twisted window/wall bracing...


I loved the contrast in materials and light, you’d be surprised at the sense of serenity you get when sitting in there.


 and what other place of worship do you know that encourages you to sit, drink and chat afterwards?

I’m tempted to go back in Winter just to take more photos, I bet its beautiful in the snow! Oh and for those that are interested it was done by Jensen & Skodvin. They also did another really cool church which I’ll show you later and the Sinsen Metro station that I took a picture of way, way, back when I first came to Oslo.

Erm, anyway architecture waffle over with, we did a bit more sightseeing in Oslo and I found this little gem of graffiti whilst we were walking about...

Oh, quick mini diversion back to architecture, I saw this cool building which is some student housing...

before heading over to Blå for another evening of excellent jazz.

unfortunately in all too short a time though my stay at Arstun Farm was up. I had an excellent experience though, more chilled out than I could have expected, lovely people and some amazing countryside. I guess I going to leave this overly long post with some pictures from the last couple of days there...

Oh and they made me the most delicious cake when I left, Thanks Kåre! I will definitely be going back soon. Next up Trondheim!