The one place to see before you die

Noway

As we speed along on a city bus, across the fjord Holland America’s SS Veendam appears to dwarf the village of Ålesund.

Norway

ANITA ALAN Contributor- Carmel, CA - Sept. 28, 2007

Norway Frigg? Most passengers had never heard of them; but we were Frigg fans by evening’s end. This sparkling, young comedic and musically gifted group of performers from Finland set a casual tone and lit up the stage as we set sail for Ålesund. We had plenty to do along the way, including an evening Songwriter’s Workshop with Robin and Linda Williams, Rich Dworsky and Pat Donohue, and a chance to see or re-see “A Prairie Home Companion – The Movie” (rated PG-13), plus eight other activities, mostly musical, that followed the Garrison Keillor and Companions stage show.

Norway At 4:18, the sun rose and by 8 AM most passengers began disembarking for shore excursions in and around picturesque Ålesund, some of us having been up for hours to join naturalists on the Navigation Deck or enjoy coffee and conversation with Keillor. Holland America Line provided five organized tours, but sometimes city buses and trams offer a better chance to talk with local residents. This day, we opted to blend two tours, and make the day our own. We could have taken a drive through Ålesund’s underground sea tunnel to the islands of Godøya and Giske, or by causeway and bridge to nearby Valderøya and Vigra, home of the regional airport. We might have taken the full day to tour Romsdal and the Troll Path. Instead, we took city buses, first to stunning Sunnmøre Museum, an outdoor cultural park. One of the university student guides kept us from feeling lost among orway centuries-old buildings on the massive acreage. She first showed us a replica of the 10th Century Borgundknarren sailing vessel, the kind that Leiv Eiriksson used to sail the North Atlantic to America. The Vikings used specialized ships, the knarr or hafskip, for long distance trade as well as exploduring the early middle ages.

From the boat displays, she took us through a collection of beautifully preserved homes and out-buildings—a storehouse, millhouse, boathouse, workshops and livestock sheds—spread over the pastoral property. Pathways led to the Borgund Stone Church (St. Peter’s), part of which dates to 1250, and to the Borgundkaupangen, The Medieval Museum. In just over an hour, she had walked us through centuries of Norwegian maritime, religious, and cultural history. The next path was to the museum store for postcards, then to our city bus and a beautiful route around the sound. We traveled through Ålesund on our way to Atlanterhavsparken – The Atlantic Sea-Park. Ålesund falls about halfway between Sunnmøre and Atlanterhavsparken, which is situated on the coast at Tueneset. Start early and you can see all three easily.

TO BE CONTINUED …

Norwegian American Weekly

Travel 2007