old tiger's Blog

We took a short train ride from Al to Geilo via Hol..
Geilo is very well known in Norway as a winter ski station..
I bet Norvegians are born on skis..most of them know how...
in summer toursists make a stopover in Geilo sometimes..
well..we did as well..the Youth hostel was quite good..
we washed and dried our clothes..they had a drying room..
Geilo is nothing special in the summer..and it's famous for knives..
http://www.worldknives.com/manufacturers/brusletto-43.html?
I'll try to find a good link..next day..train trip to Myrdal+Flam..
Tiger

Train trip towards Honefoss and Al went O.K..
I was bit nervous to see my girlfriend back..
she came bit late..I almost did not recognize her anymore..
she had curly hair..and looked older of course...yes 23 years..
she took us to her cottage..and served food for us..
first we did some shopping in Al in a small supermarket..
nice place she had really..we got a bed in her guestroom..
she kept a cat called Ravi..we talked about earlier days..
she never got married..but she had a bloke somewhere..
damn..she was a beauty when I knew her..typical Norvegian..
she was very much into alternative healing when we visited..
her sister Gunilla was more a hippie girl..while she was a farm girl..
she was a*budeie*in her glory days..a budeie went into summerfarms..
where the cows were kept and let out to graze...in the evening..
cows back in the stable..and all cows were hand milked...
the milk was then poured into jars..and in the morning..
a truck from the dairy..collected these jars..usually the summerfarm..
was very isolated in plain desolate nature..in this case around Leveld..
in Norvegian these summerfarms are called*seter*
all cows had names..like Bella etc..I tried to milk a cow once there..
all I got was a tail in my face..ahah..
next day..we went to visit Leveld..my friends mother welcomed us..
She was a very friendly lady,took us to their*seter*I recalled that place..
it was a nice day..in the evening we took the train to Geilo..
where we had booked a room in the Youth hostel...
all together..this visit was a bit of pure nostalgia..yip..
Tiger

From Lillehammer by train to Elverum..I recall as a very nice trip..
this part of Norway is not visited much by foreign tourists..
http://www.gonorway.no/norway/counties/hedmark/elverum/76388b45e38544e/index.html
it's called Osterdalen..a river runs through called Glomma..
it's rural Norway..bordering Sweden..lots of woods..true nature..
we went to Elverum for 2 reasons..first one was that we wanted to see
a part of Norway..away from the tourist usual tracks..secondly..
because..there were 2 fine musea worthwhile visiting concerning nature..
we went to see the Norsk skogmuseum=about forests...
it was very educative..to learn about trees,nature..and the use of the forest..
not necessarily for cutting down trees for furniture purpose..
but also the preserving of woods,trees,art=wood carvings..anything..
it's all displayed so well in this museum..
we spent some time in there..it was a sunny day in august..
after that we went to visit another open air museum...which is connected
via a bridge from the Skogsmuseum..they are next to each other..
it's a delight to see the interior houses of the Glomma regio..
we went inside these old houses..it smelled to ancient history...
after all this walking...we went to the railway station again..
and took that train again to Lillehammer...reaching Lillehammer station...
was like our home..nice youth hostel..bit expensive though..
we could see the trains departing from our bedroom window..
next morning..train towards Honefoss..change train direction Bergen...
and in Al(Halingdal)I was gonna see my ex girl friend again..
after 23 bloody years..I recall her in early 70's...damn..I had a crush..
Tiger...

Train trip from Andalsnes to Dombas...luvly Romsdalen regio.
great scenery..quite a few of waterfalls to be seen...
Dombas railways..change towards LIllehammer..
Otta-Ringebu-Vinstra etc...this regio is called Gudbrandsdalen..
what a luvly part of Norway this was..nice places to be seen..
Peer Gynt made his marks here via the book from Hendrik Ibsen..
will tell more later in a special posting about Norvegian folktales etc..
Lillehammer was reached safe..in the railwaystation itself..
was a Youth hostel and tourist office..we booked for 2 nights..
bloody expensive..breakfast included..but compared to Belgian prices..
Norway was expensive in every way..high Scandinavian living standards..
Lillehammer was a nice provincial town..but well worth visiting..
with a very famous open air museum called Maihaugen..
we walked all the way from the railway station..
whole day trip..very interesting museum with lots of activity on sundays..
demonstrations of handicrafts,pottery etc..all done by skilled artist..
in local dresses..this museum was founded by a dentist called Sandvig..
more then 175 buildings.even a church..interior Norvegian homes..
http://www.maihaugen.no/default.aspx?id=250
I would certainly recommend this place for a nice pick nick day out..
Lillehammer is a ski resort in wintertime..in fact in 1994 the winter olympics
were held in this place..result is a ski jump..a Norvegian olympic museum etc..we had food in a local restaurant..a pizza por favore..rather cheap??
next day we were gonna do a train trip to Elverum towards Swedish border
we wanted to visit a forest museum there..and just a day out as well..
Tiger

We reached Geiranger quite early..bus from Andalsnes at 6 morning..
this is such a beautiful place..we went to tourist office..
and booked a fjord excursion trip towards Hellesylt..
there were lots of tourists..since this spot is even a stop for cruise ships..
the ferry trip along the Geiranger fjord takes about 1 hour..and one gives
tourist information in 4 languages..it's absolutlely brilliant scenery..
very famous sights along are a few waterfalls(foss)they are called by names
even on this fjord..like for instance 7 sisters,bridal veil etc...
http://www.webshots.com/search?query=Hellesylt+waterfall
the whole bunch of South Koreans were on the ferry as well..very lively folks..they always seemed to smile...we reached Hellesylt...and we had a break of maybe 1 hour..because we booked return to Geiranger...
Hellesylt is a place in the middle of nowhere...but oh..what a mighty and
very powerful waterfall to be witnessed..we watched the force..believe me
it's quite powerfull to stand in front...listening to the roaring sound of this
mighty waterfall making its way down..we took the ferry back..
everbody seemed to try to send a postcard from this place..the small post
office was cramped with tourists..Geiranger fjord,you know??
same bus driver as in the morning back to Andalsnes..we talked with him..
he told us about autumn and winter time driving this Trollstigenvei..
bit different he said..when the tourists are gone..lots of snow as well..
damn..he could drive a bus..not easy on these narrow mountain hairpins..
so..Andalsnes..last evening..next day..train towards Dombas..
then Lillehammer..I had been there before in my earlier trips...
Tiger