"When I see birches bend to left and right..."

...Robert Frost said, "I like to think some boy's been swinging them..." But, when I see birches, I'll think of the millions of white birches that dominate the Norwegian landscape, the Jostedal glacier, the rural Flam area, the tiny roads snaking up, across, and down the snow road, the cities of Oslo and Kristiansand, and the hospitality of my hosts Howard and Becky... and not the least...Ruth, my life saver!

As I put some thoughts in order on this final night before my flight tomorrow, I am thinking of topics I'd like to take more time to explore when I get home and have more time to think--the food, the housing styles, the friendliness of the people are just a few.

I will spend time on the flight home capturing moments that flitter onto the paper as I track back through the 8 days past that have kept us so busy that I didn't have time to ride that bicycle. Today was just too cold. It is around 10C unlike the previous 15-17 degree days we have enjoyed. I think our fast tracking caught up with us as none of us wanted to move too far, too fast today.

Tomorrow, it's on again as I land in Amsterdam around 1 p.m. with time to spare before my flight out at 8 a.m. Tuesday. I hope to take a canal tour, hit the Van Gogh and Rembrandt museums and Anne Frank house and look at shoes (no I haven't forgotten about shoes--although in the interest of bringing home "stuff", I'm leaving a pair of boots here! But that just gives me room to buy some new ones later.

So hope to see all of you soon on US turf. Crowder call me Wed. morning for brunch. I have 5 cd's of photos I'll be bringing--after hearing that you may decide not to call.

I've truly had a wonderful time and am now looking forward to Gabe's 3rd birthday party and my Arizona trip in November. Wonder how many birches I'll see there?

After the walk

We drove into Oslo today about a 4 hour drive from Flam. We visited a Viking museum to see ships that had been salvaged in the early 1900's and then we moved into our hotel room here in Oslo. We are in a chain of Scandinavian hotels called Scandic. Interesting setup--twin beds, same sparse scandinavian design as in modern homes. Breakfast is included in the $300 per night price tag. I'll be eating my money's worth come tomorrow.

Speaking of food, our dinner this evening cost us $100 each. I had french onion soup, salmon coated with a tomato mushroom topping on a bed of pasta and a panna cotta with strawberry rhubarb sauce. A cup of coffee cost $6.

Before dinner, we toured the home of Henrik Ibsen, a noted Norwegian writer whose work I had studied in college and taught in AP English. Very interesting. I won't bore you with the educational stuff, but I enjoyed being able to visit the home of a writer I was familiar with.

In the morning we are shopping for Nordic stuff and then heading south to Kristiansand.

Before leaving Flam, we did a boat tour of the Aurland fjord. What a magnificent landscape. We are on the water at sea level looking straight up over 1000 feet on both sides into huge mountains. And yes, we saw some seals and porpoises in and near the water.

Yet along the base of these mountains little communities stood and sometimes individual houses along the water. For some of them, water was their only travel mode. We stopped at a small village of 85 residents who made cheese for specialty shops in Norway. We had a small lecture on cheesemaking and then a tasting of a couple of the cheeses they make along with some cloudberry jam on toast with sour cream. That was better, to me, than the cheese. We were, of course, encouraged to buy some samples to take with us. I have a jar of cloud berry jam to bring home, if I don't break it before I get it there.

Riding the train up the mountain above the fjord offered some magnificent views too. The small farms and churches that dotted the landscape made you feel you had stepped back in time. As if riding a train to the top of those mountains wasn't enough, Becky insisted we drive up the "snow road" so called because it is covered with as much as 3 meters of snow each winter. Needless to say, it is closed during this time. There are posts extending many feet in the air to mark the edge of the road. So over the two days we were in Flam we went from the base of the mountains in the fjord to the highest peaks of the mountain. We were above the tree line and saw miles and miles of moss which the reindeer eat. We did not see any reindeer, but we were definitely at an altitude where they live.

So from the low levels of the fjord, the highest peaks of the snow road, and the surface of a glacier, I am ready for some city slicking tomorrow. As it is nearing midnight, I think it's time to rest for another adventure in Norway.

The Glacier Walk

Dear God, if you get me out of this one..

…I’ll never do this again. So many times, I’ve sworn that would be my last time for stupidity, but I did it one more time. And, I am so glad I did. What a view. What a fantastic experience, standing on an ages old glacier that is melting at 4 meters per year. Looking at the picture, just imagine that only 200 plus years ago that the entire valley was covered in ice 300 meters deep and extending one kilometer further than what is showing. The snow covers the area in winter and rebuilds the glacier, but the summer melting and global warming is exceeding any growth.

From a distance it looks like a painting rather than a real substance. As I looked closer, I could see lines of little dots strung together—other climbers connected with safety ropes. I would soon be one of them.

When we got to the parking area, we had to put our warm clothes on in the car because this late in the season the dressing rooms were closed. So, I’m wallowing around in the back of the car trying to pull off my cargo pants, putting on my Goretex weatherproof pants, then pulling on my boots I bought especially for this trip. One girl was over by the dressing room with her back to us naked as a jaybird on top as about 15 other people were standing around in various forms of undress. Ruth (Becky’s former exchange student) said that was nothing unusual here in Norway. Go figure!

Then, I found out that Becky is sending me, alone, up that glacier while she lags behind reading a book!!! I nearly died. She said her leg hurt! But, she had arranged for Ruth to go with me. I still don’t know how long she was plotting that one. So, Ruth and I hit the trail in spite of my wishing to drop dead in the parking lot. But, Ruth proved to be a lifesaver. Had it not been for her, I truly might have died, had she not had a good hold on the rope when I tumbled forward at a height of about 300 meters up the side of that ice mountain.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Because it was so late in the season, after we dressed, we had to trek our way to the glacier instead of taking the ferry—a one hour hike over rocky coastline along the fjord. In the first 5 minutes I’m puffing and blowing and stopping every 5 minutes to catch my breath and we are not even to the glacier.

Once we got to the base of the glacier we had to put on our spikes and tie them tightly around our ankles and feet and have a lesson on how to walk in them. “Always walk flat footed and put all the spikes into the ice. Coming downhill walk in cowboy style (slew-footed) with short quick steps into the ice.” So up the hill we begin—the guide in front, followed by Grandma Jane with Ruth bringing up the rear. We were tethered by a rope and we each had an ice pick in hand. All I could think at that point was how long it was going to take me to plow that pick into my thigh!

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! My steps echoed across the ice, my heart began to beat faster from the anxiety and it was a struggle to keep my limbs moving. The guide said we would stop several times as often as we needed and we could eat our snacks near the top. I think I may have counted 20 steps between stops. When we would stop, I would look around, and wait for the dizzy spell that would send us all tumbling to the bottom. Look up the glacier, don’t look down. We crunched on. I kept waiting for the level spots the guide said we would come to near the top. But, every time I thought we were near the top, another top came into view.

Repeating the same 15 or 20 step pattern, then stopping to breathe, I would look around at the most spectacular view I had ever seen. Blue ice speckled with black compost from leaves blowing across the ice spreading for over 400 meters square along the skyline, down both sides of the mountain and along the fjord, water trickling from the melting ice and running into the ominous looking crevasses that the guide said had not been there last week. I wanted to see more, but in order to not lose my mind at knowing where I was, I could only look at the ice in front of my feet as I placed them as closely to where the guide had been as possible. I wasn’t going to chance falling into a crevass. I have a birthday party to go to on the 26th. But, after about an hour zigzagging up the glacier, stopping to breathe every ten minutes the guide stopped for our snack break.

She began to spread canned cheese on her little slices of bread for herself while I’m gasping for breathing and cursing the fact that I’d hogged down my peanut butter and banana sandwich before we even left the parking lot! My mouth was dry and I was shaking inside—hunger or fear, I’m not sure. I ate a plum (by the way, these were the sweetest plums I had ever eaten. Right off a tree in Ruth’s parents yard.) and drank some water. I noticed my ½ litre bottle was nearly ¾ of the way empty and we weren’t even to the top. What was I going to do for the trip down? When were we going to begin the trip down? How in heaven’s name were we going to get down? How do they rescue someone from the ice? Where are the flat spots? As I stood there with these questions swirling around me, other walkers crunched by us on their way down just like they were strolling along the beach. Please, someone, hold my hand. GET ME OFF THIS MOUNTAIN! my mind screamed.

The guide called an end to the break and we headed on—up! On we went, the same pattern, me taking 20 steps and calling for a breathing break, sipping at my water, the guide and Ruth patiently waiting for the old woman to get another surge. After another half hour, I decided that my legs just might not have enough strength to get back down the mountain so I asked if we could begin our descent. Sure, the guide was ready to go as high or not as I wanted. So at 300 of the 400 meters of the glacier we could see, we began to head for the bottom.

Dear Lord, I thought my front thigh muscles would snap away from the bone. My feet were in the tips of my shoes as I began to crunch cowboy style into that ice as I looked at the bottom of the mountain so very far way. There was nothing but down, no flat until the rocky beach between the glacier and the fjord.

When I looked 20 feet ahead, the glacier looked slick as glass. I wanted to scream I can’t do this, I’ll slide, but I would force my eyes back on the ice immediately in front of my feet and trust my spikes. When I was “trusting my spikes” I had good balance and could feel my feet cling to the ice. I felt safe. But that feeling lasted only nanoseconds at a time as my mind reverted to a natural resistance to walking on ice, expecting to slip and, worse yet, slide. And then I did—I tripped, slid, I don’t know what, but my head was going forward and I was screaming, “I’m falling.” Just before my head reached knee level headed into a somersault down the mountain, I was flat on my back with my head pointing up the mountain 300 meters from the bottom. Ruth had a hold on that rope that would have brought down a reindeer (which, by the way, she had been hunting just the day before.) So here I was, on my back on the glacier. How in God’s name was I going to get up? The guide said to just lie still until the adrenalin settled (until I got my mind back or totally lost it one.) I’m thinking, “I can’t get up, if I pull my feet out of the ice, I’ll slide.

But, no. Ruth held tight and the guide held out her hand. She pulled me upright and asked if I was ready to go. I knew I had to move. No one was going to helicopter me out of there. I had to walk. No other way. No option. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, although I would have given $million kroner to have blinked myself to the bottom. But cowboy crunching we went. Zigzagging our way to the bottom.

We plodded on to our next break. Ruth asked if I wanted to refill my water bottle with glacier water. Aaahhhh, I had wondered if I would be dehydrated by the time we finally got to the bottom since I had drunk all my water on the way up! So she filled my bottle with some of the cleanest water in the world from one of the trickling streams on the glacier surface. It was cold and refreshing as it bathed my dry mouth. After the water break, we moved on.

All of this zigzagging 20 steps to a break, took us about 2 ½ hours up and back down to the base. We passed several climbers on the ice learning safety rescues. We paused at an ice cave that had formed and was slowly melting. Ruth who had been up the mountain two weeks before, said the daylight showing through the roof was new. Probably before winter that cave would be a huge ditch. We continued slowly plodding toward the bottom. I was feeling better with each crunching cowboy step toward the rocks at the end of the ice. As we reached the bottom, I collapsed onto the first rock I came to and began to unbuckle the spikes and unharness myself from the ropes.

By the time we unbridled from the climbing gear and trekked back over the rocky coastline, we had used the better part of 4 hours. About 15 minutes before we reached the car, it began to drizzle. We walked on, the drizzle fell. I didn’t care. I was off the ice, I could take a little rain. When we reached the parking lot, I sat on a bench just letting the rain hit my face. I was exhausted, exhilarated, jibbering like a madwoman, giggling like a schoolgirl. What had I just done? Would I do it again. #@#$e NO. That is one bargain with God I’ll keep.

Ten Hours and Fifteen Tunnels Later...

...we arrived in Aurland near where we will ride out into the fjord and then walk on the glacier. We are nestled on the edge of the Aurlandfjord between two huge mountains. What a site!

We left Kristiansand around 9 a.m. heading north on roads that were like driving Route 3 to Beckley over and over for ten hours. Part of the drive was like driving on Summers County secondary roads, but these are the main roads here. No interstate systems in Norway. Sometimes I was reminded of Route 52 through McDowell County, from right to left: a huge straight up mountain, a road, a house, and water and another mountain right behind. But what scenery. I'll add photos as soon as I can download them.

After 6 hours we turned to Northwest and travelled across a Fjord on a ferry that led us to Voss. Curving around to the east we ended up in Aurland. Along the way, we stopped for picture taking (to be posted later.) Small houses nestled close to the water, sheep pasturing on the mountain sides. Pine trees extending high with mountain peaks rising beyond the tree line two times as high. Although the mountains in Norway are really no higher than many of the ones in WV, but you are seeing them from sea level up rather than being 3 or 4 hundred feet up and then seeing the rest of the mountain. You are seeing the entire 1000 feet all at once. Hence the amazing sight.

As we drove, we counted at least 15 tunnels and there are probaly ten more we passed through before we began to count. Some of the tunnels were over ten kilometers long. Some of them were like driving down White Oak mountain only in a tunnel. Whew! I was glad to see daylight then.

But, I haven't talked about the zoo yet, so let me digress. The zoo was a nice small zoo with an amusement park attached. We saw your typical zoo animals: tigers, apes, llamas, moose, snakes, etc. We had lunch there. I estimated that I paid 15 dollars for two slices of pizza, two sweet rolls, and a small carton of chocolate milk.

Food is expensive. A hot dog and chocolate milk on the trip today cost 8 dollars. I've been here two days and not eaten a Norwegian meal yet. I have eaten Arabic, Southern US, Italian, plain old American but no Norwegian, except for bread. I can say that I have not had any "bad" bread. It has all been delicious. The pastries at the zoo were very good. One was made out of puff pastry stuffed with a vanilla custard and one was a cinnamon roll. The sandwich bread is rich with nuts and a variety of flours. It makes delicious grilled cheese and toast.

One of the sites that amazed me most on the way up was the apple orchards. We passed through an area that has orchard after orchard. But the interesting thing about them is that the rows are planted vertically up the hillside and not horizontally as we are accustomed to seeing. The trees are bred to stay small so they can be reached on the hillsides. The hillsides are as steep as Sandstone Mountain interstate. The trees are planted about 6 feet apart up the hill. They grow not over 6 or 7 feet tall. They were staked and loaded with ripe apples. I was told that they are kept small because apple picking machines can't operate on the steep hillsides, so they have to be able to be picked by hand.

Imagine this: Fill bags with fruit, place them on a stand by the road, leave a moneybox and return in the evening for your money for the fruit that passersby bought! That's right. We saw stand after stand with a few bags of apples or peaches for sale. No attendant, just a money box. And yes, Becky's friend told us folks are typically honest about taking and paying for their purchase! Can you imagine that happening at home?

We we begain our drive the temperature was 15 degrees C. I watched the temperature drop a few degrees every hour or so. By the time we made a photo stop at the top of a mountain we were digging in the trunk for ear muffs and gloves. It was down to 9 degrees C. with a 15 or 20 mph wind. After the upper teens in Kristiansand, we thought it was pretty chilly. As we came down the other side and ended here by the Fjord the temperature had risen back to 15. Can't imagine what the windchill was. Okay, Mrs. Buckland's class. If the temperature was an average of 15 degrees C. what was it in Farenheit?

We are staying with one of the exchange students that Becky and Howard hosted several years ago. She is a very gracious hostess offering us information and being our guide while we are here.
It's time for some sleep since tomorrow will be busy.

I'm here...

...and I've been shopping already! I'm sure you're not surprised. The flight was uneventful--a typical 7 hour trip in a two by two space. At least I had an aisle seat. A sat with a nice lady headed to South Africa from Chicago. She said they came for a two week visit and that was 21 years ago. She was very helpful about the airport in Amsterdam since she had been through there several times. She still had another 9 hour flight to South Africa though.

Becky and Howard met me at Kristiansand Airport which is not as large as Raleigh County Airport. They had scheduled rest time for me, but I wasn't sleepy at first. I did take a one and half hour nap in the afternoon and made myself get up. We had a nice Appalachian dinner of soup and cornbread and fresh plum jam they had made. I did get a good's night's sleep from about 10 last night to 9 a.m.

Got up to a Southern breakfast of biscuits and gravy with grits, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage--and more jam. Off we went to town for some window shopping. I picked up things for Rowan and Gabe but put them down in case I found something better later. But, I do have Rowan a surprise gift ordered. We also looked at shoes--my favorite shopping. Guess, what Becky is as big a shoe hog as I am. So we are disappointed we won't be able to get to Copenhagen for some serious shoe shopping. I showed her my boots that I had bought for the trip and she pulled a pair out of a bag that she had never worn that were the exact shoe in a different color!

We did browse a couple of bookstores. They have children's books about Norway geography and the Norwegian troll legends written in various languages. I suspect Gabe and Rowan will get a book in English and Norwegian so they can compare languages when they learn how to read.

It was raining this morning so we didn't get to/have to ride the bicycles to town. Howard dropped us in town and then met us later for lunch. We then had lunch at an Arabic restaurant. Yes, I know. Here I am in Norway and I haven't eaten any Norwegian meals. But Howard and Becky both agree, not missing much. I will try some pastries I'm sure before the trip is over. I'm sure I'll at least have a salmon meal or two. What I did have was a wrap type sandwich in a better (more like pita) bread with chicken, lettuce, and some spices that was called a Kyllingschwarma. It was served with hummus and some plain old fashioned American french fries. (Kylling means chicken.) I'm not doing too bad a job of reading some of the words. I figured out red onion on the menu!

We did take a tour of the grocery store. It was strange seeing the Jolly Green Giant and that being the only words on the can I could read. They have some Kellogg's cereals, but not the same as in US. I saw some tiny tiny bananas here. They were about 4 inches long. A great idea for Kroger: Pot fresh herbs and sell them growing in the pots as they might be at the nursery. A 4 inch pot of basil was about 5 dollars.

We are getting ready for our little event this evening. The little get together was nice. About 15 people from Howard's work. One was Dutch, on was Iraqi, another from Denmark and several Americans: two from NC and two from Texas. Christin, You would have liked the decor of the hostesses house. Very European--clean lines and a lot of white. The kitchen had a built in coffee,expresso,cappucino machine.

Tomorrow we will go to free day at the zoo if it isn't raining. Monday we head out to central Norway for the outdoor stuff. Wednesday is the glacier walking, I do know that.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go...

What is the rest of that song anyway? And who sang it?

Indeed, I am finally packed after unpacking and repacking. I began with one large and one small bag to check with a carry-on and large purse. Decided I didn't have enough arms to deal with that, nor did I have enough room for boots and a snowsuit. So, regrouped to one large and one medium bag to check. Then have a backpack and a small purse. Plenty of room to spare and am under weight limits for both bags.

I almost had a heart attack this afternoon when I couldn't get my boarding pass to print out. But after two phone calls, I was given the correct confirmation number. I said to the Northwest agent I spoke to, "You aren't hanging up this phone till I print this boarding pass, so hang on. He laughed and stayed right with me. So, I'm all set.

One of the first things I'll be doing (after sleeping) is attending a very casual international cocktail party. Becky said we would be 3 of maybe 4 or 5 Americans at this little PR event for America. Irish, Dutch, English, etc. (At least they speak English).

Sunday is free day at the zoo which usually costs around $100. (Math problem for Mrs. Buckland's class: If one dollar equals 5 kroner (Norwegian money), how much does it cost in Norwegian money to go to the zoo? (Answer should be 500. I hope I phrased that right!)
Use this currency calculator to covert other amounts. My plane ticket cost $900. How many kroner?

I guess the zoo might be as close as I can get to a polar bear. We can't find a seat on planes coming back from Polar Bear Country.

But one place I'm excited about visiting is Flam. Click on the word Flam to read about this tourist attraction. We will ride the train up a huge mountain and plan to walk back down at least part of the way since the whole way is 21km. I'd be rolling down after a while I think. But there are various train stops we can catch a train the rest of the way.

Then the glacier walking is another exciting event we've planned. Although, after I read that glaciers are constantly moving and large crevasses open up, I'm not so sure. They warn in advertisements NOT to attempt a trip alone across a glacier. Soooo...

But, I am so glad so many of you have shown an interest in following my adventures. Two points: I won't feel so "all by myself" (is that another song title?) and your interest will force me to write.
So, I'm going to close now and try to make myself sleepy...See you in Norway!

Norway Jane