The one place to see before you die

NAW Contributor, Anita Alan, takes us on the adventure of a lifetime, aboard a 2007 Prairie Home Companion Norway Cruise

ANITA ALAN Contributor- Carmel, CA

Part Two

Norway Cruise One full day of cruising, of being pampered by the staff of 618, and we were rested and ready for a day’s adventure at Flåm, a small village on a branch of Sognefjord called Aurlandsfjord. More decisions. Fjord Village, Stalheim and Tvinde Waterfalls, the Snow Road to Laerdal? The Flåm Railway to Voss and coach to Vik won. After boarding the Flamsbana, the famous Flam Railway, the steep climb took us to earth-shaking waterfalls, including Kjosfossen with it’s free fall of over 300 feet. At this station summer passengers may disembark to have a closer, misty look at not only the thundering fall, but the forest nymph, the huldra of Norwegian folklore, who dances and beckons seductively to visitors.

Norway church Our next stop, the town of Voss, sustained severe damage in World War II and nearly all its structures are post war construction. Bombers spared two main buildings—Vangskyrkja, the famous stone church built in 1271, and Fleischer’s Hotel, where we enjoyed a lavish buffet luncheon. We had little time to explore Voss before boarding a coach for the picturesque, sometimes pastoral two-lane mountain road to Vik. Between steep twisting stretches of road, came patches of grazing land, sod-roofed cabins and friendly sheep that appeared to roam free during summer months. We soon found ourselves overlooking the town of Vik, nestled on the Sognefjord—and in the distance, looking smaller than a row boat, the SS Veendam seeking anchorage.

Our coach carried us on to Vik and its ornately carved Hopperstad stave church, restored by Peter Blix, one of Norway’s most accomplished architects between 1883 and 1888. This Blix did at his own expense. At the same time and in the same town, he restored the Hove Church, the pre-reformation stone church where Blix is buried. He used the Borgund stave church as a model when restoring Hopperstad. The structure likely dates to 1100, and photos show it to have been in serious disrepair at the beginning of restoration. Today it stands as one of Norway’s most striking stave churches. Just 28 of perhaps 1000 such structures remain today, cared for by The Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments. Membership is open to all who wish to help preserve these treasures.

Norway Our extraordinary shore excursion came to an end as we boarded the tender in rain parkas and made our way to the Veendam, ready for the early dinner seating and the cruise through scenic Sognefjord toward Ålesund. A delicious full course meal, A Prairie Home Companion evening of laughter and music, and long bright night of near midnight sun still awaited us.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Norwegian American Weekly

Travel 2007