Another early morning rise for a brisk express boat ride to the neighboring, sleepy town of Vik to see the Hopperstad Stave Church. The only option for transport (for us) to and from Vik was to take the 7:50am boat and depart on the 11:30am boat, and since the church didn't open until 10:00am, that left us with a gap of time to fill in a town that was still closed for business. Of course, my needs to pee are so belligerent and numerous that even having just used the toalette onboard, the need became more urgent and my panic started to set in. This whole town is situated on hills that surround itself, so no matter what tree I might find, someone in some window was likely to peer out at me pissing on private property and report me to the authorities and I'd be jailed in a foreign country for peeing in public! At least, that's the scenario that was running through my mind. Finally, we found a little shack that looked public enough, based on the graffiti, it must be where the local teens go to make out, so I relieved myself in the brush behind it, having my rump facing the wooden shack and hoping beyond hope that no one happened to be spying out their picture window with binoculars at that moment!! Oy vey....the adventures with my walnut-sized bladder never cease.
After lots of wandering up and down the paths of Vik, enjoying the romance of a babbling brook and misty mountains surrounding us, we took loads of photos of the outside of the church, and even had a visit from a friendly kitty who rubbed and twisted among our legs. Finally, the church was opened (and descended upon by three busloads of very rude tourists as if they were ants crawling over a piece of tossed aside fruit) and we set our feet in one of the oldest original existing churches of its kind. It was gorgeous, ancient, huge, coated black in pine tar, and had ornate carvings at its entrance, and a very simple interior. There where many ancient symbols for Earth, an equal-armed cross inside a circle, covering the walls of the interior, and all of the Christian symbols seemed out of place, having been added later. Apparently, there are two people buried beneath the floor of the church, one woman and in another area a child who had died of smallpox. As an interpreter was telling us this, several crows or ravens started squawking furiously out in the graveyard, a fitting sign when death is spoken of. There are runes carved into the walls of the exterior of the church, wishes and powers invoked by people calling on assistance of ancient gods. I'm very interested in all manner of symbolism, and I just finished a book on Norse runes, so I was very intrigued by these, and we pondered what the people may have been calling upon when they carved these so long ago in this beautiful and treacherous landscape.
We enjoying a snack at fjord's edge with the sea gulls sailing about, then hopped our express boat (which makes it sound like a small vessel, oh no! This thing is huge, but just spit in a sea compared to some of the ocean liner monstrosities that we've seen) back to Balestrand for a rest and a little coffee and tea. They are having "Market Day" here, which is kind of like an art fair of sorts. There are lots of local artisans showing off their stuff in tents, there were a few musicians playing, kids racing electronic cars, and they even had hands-on cranes and boat lifts for the kids to try. We tried a couple of Thai-style skewered meats, some delicious locally produced apple and currant fruit juice with zero additives, and some tasty free pizza. We enjoyed the scene for a bit until the wind and cold picked up and drove us back to the hotel for some R&R.
An afternoon walk to the Viking burial mounds that are located here turned out to be very relaxing and romantic, despite sitting atop the grave of some fierce plunderer from ages past. There are two giant mounds remaining from what was originally five mounds, one of which was a ship burial. If you get a chance, you should read more about these fascinating burial customs. Unfortunately, because the Vikings believed that they could take their earthly belongings and talents along to the Otherworld, their graves were subject to pilfering. We sat on one of the mounds for a long while talking, laughing, reminiscing, philosophizing, having a wonderful chat together.
We leisurely strolled down the way to visit a small replica of a stave church. It's maroon and gold (SKOL!) and used for summertime church services. It's the kind of structure that John and I would love to make into a house. The high ceilings and lovely carvings on the bench posts and beams on the ceilings were lovely, though not quite so ornate as the carvings of old. It was just as quiet and beautiful as everything else in the sweet little town of Balestrand :)
Leaving Balestrand/Bergen
We slept in a bit on our last day here, then moseyed down for our last delicious breakfast in the common room. We took another mellow stroll to the Viking Mounds to take some photos of the spectacular, overcast fog clinging to the mountain trees. Then we said our goodbyes to Unni Marie, our awesome hostess, and boarded the expressboat heading to Bergen. We assumed we would have to wait until 5:30pm to board the last boat of the day, but as luck would have it, they really don't bother with times, just whether you've paid for the destination ticket, so we were able to catch the 11:30am boat, getting us a much earlier start. The boat ride was amazing. Miles and miles of the Sognefjord whipping by through fog and rain, the waves chopping against the boat, watching little fishing huts and farm houses with herds of sheep grazing on the lush, green grasses.
For days now, both John and I have felt our sea legs on land. We have a perpetual swaying feel, and we'll sometimes walk into walls or lose our balance. I thought this long journey would intensify that since it was so much choppier than the other boat rides, but it hasn't been too bad, though it is definitely still present. I think it may be contributing to John's sinus troubles, which have been fine until yesterday. Hopefully he's not getting a cold :(
After about a three and a half hours, we arrived in Bergen! It is most definitely another city centre, packed with camera-toting tourists. We made our way to the To Sostre Guesthouse, which is super-quaint and very modern. We let Renata finish readying the apartment by visiting the resident white kitty in their communal gardens, then taking a stroll down to a 7-Eleven (which are everywhere here and in Oslo) to pick up a few things to eat. After a lovely chat with Renata, and finding out that her daughter is currently living in Burnsville, MN in a foreign exchange program! We settled in and started our laundry straight away so we could hang it to dry. We had a small dinner of smorbrod (cracker bread with brown geitost cheese and salami) and Ramen noodles that someone had left here. We made it an early night in since we had to monitor the very strange and leaky washer that took us a good 30 minutes to figure out how to use. Seriously, laundry picture icons are not that intuitive! We chillaxed with Cafe Au Lait's and a few episodes of The Flight of the Conchords, then off to bed!
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