A Surrounding Sadness

I didn't think it had been a difficult day until I took a nap in the car coming home from a funeral and when I woke up my husband was driving into Sam's parking lot.  I pulled my groggy self out of the car because I thought maybe I would buy some flowers.

I walked slowly as if my mind and body were not one. My husband had a short list of things he wanted to get but since we hadn't discussed stopping I hadn't really thought about anything I might need except for flowers.

I looked at the bouquets of chrysanthemums and their dark fall colors.  They were so much like the flowers at the funeral we had just attended that I changed my mind about buying any.  I walked by the cakes and cupcakes and thought about how much I love that stuff, but I passed it all by.

My husband picked up cheese and took a sample of something a lady was handing out.  I didn't want any of that either.  I was starting to feel a depression creeping through my body.  I headed toward the magazines, an obsession of mine, but nothing there caught my interest.  Then I saw an Eddie Bauer display of long sleeved shirts and I chose a red one and a purple one, not thinking too much about what I needed.

We checked out and I suddenly felt like crying.  My husband talked to me but I could not find any words worth speaking.  We unloaded the car when we got home and I went upstairs to put my pajamas on.  I felt totally exhausted so I crawled into the bed in our spare bedroom and pulled the covers up around me.  The sheets were clean and I had put a down comforter on the bed for the weather I knew was coming.  A cozy quilt rested on top of that.

The covers made me feel safe and secure and then I saw Pat's face in the coffin.  Pat had been a friend since childhood of my husband and his siblings.  She grew up down the road from them and attended the one room school house and church that they did.  She had spent her career teaching elementary school and had married later in life.  Her husband had died several years ago and she was approaching her 76th birthday when the pneumonia she had not gotten treated turned into a death sentence.  Her lively spirit was what I remembered of her.  Seeing her look like her illness never really happened, as her face was calm and beautiful, made me think she might still be breathing and just sleeping.  It was a child's thought.

Beyond that I felt a sadness for friends and family who are dealing with difficulties in their lives.  The covers were a comfort, but I knew it is not possible in life to just go to bed and try to smother out the sadness.  However it is never wrong to cry and experience the sadness of death.  We wouldn't be human if we couldn't feel the pain of others and our own as well.

My husband said little to me about how I was feeling, but soothed me with homemade tomato soup.  The sadness will pass until the next time.  Death is ever present and troubles as well.  But between the dark periods, there must be light and life.  The tomato soup was a beginning. 

    The gravestone of a child in a country church cemetery in Norway.  Ole wasn't quite 
    eight when he died.  His gravestone says Hoyt loved - deeply missed.  Hoyt, from what I
    could research, was probably his nickname. 









 

Final Thoughts On Norway

We came out of a grocery store and I started toward a small tent that was set up by people with some pamphlets.  A man approached me and I asked him what they were doing.  He hesitated with his English, but told us that they were there to hand out their information about the Democratic party in Norway.  He said there was an election the next day, a Sunday, when people in the party were elected.  He said that if the Democrats got a majority, they would put in a man who was a friend of Barack Obama. 

I asked him what the chances were and he said not good because the conservatives had a coalition and it was stronger.  Before we left he gave me two roses and had us try some moose salami.  I took a pamphlet and wished them well.  I found it interesting that the Norwegian government is like the British where they elect their representatives and then that group puts in the man they want.

In Bergen, a picturesque city on the western coast, I talked to a woman in a shop who explained to me that even though the prices in their country were too high for the tourist, for the Norwegian things come out even.  She explained that they have a free health care system.  Also if a woman is working and has  a baby, she gets a year off with full pay to take care of her child.  A new law had been passed that gave a man 15 weeks off with full pay for child care.  She said they wanted to encourage men to be good fathers and do their part in the family. 

As far as education is concerned, every child starts learning English when they start school.  When they are in high school they can choose from French, Spanish or German.  Those who want to go on to the university can borrow money from the government and if they pass their final exams, 40% of their loan is forgiven.  She said that even if parents have the money to send their children to college, the student often borrows the money because they want to be independent from their parents.

This woman told me that unemployment is low and salaries are high.  I heard Leo Gerad, the president of the U.S. Steel Workers, say on TV after we got home that collective bargaining is alive and well in Scandinavian countries.  Thus the reason for high salaries.  I was also told that per capita, Norwegians travel more than anyone else in Europe.  They have the money to do so.  In a magazine article I read on the airplane it said that the Scandinavian airline, SAS, almost went under last year, but the Scandinavians would have been devastated to have that happen so it was propped up.  Lufthansa claims that Northern Europe sustains their airlines with their business travelers.

The woman giving me all the information also said that Norway was the happiest country in the world.  I asked her if they were ahead of Denmark who I knew had been given that title a couple of years ago.  She said that they were pretty even although her remark about the Danes made me smile.  She said the Danes were pretty laid back and not much bothered them.  I figured she was telling me that the Norwegians were a little more driven.

Last week the happiness index came out and once again Denmark was leading with Norway as second on the list.  Then came Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Sweden.  The U.S, was 17th.

There are many foreign workers in Norway and someone told us that they can work in Norway, be laid off and collect unemployment back in their native country.  At Nes Gard, the bed and breakfast we stayed at for three days on the Lustrafjord, the cooks were from Slovakia and go back to that country during the winter to work as Nes Gard closes for the season at the end of September.
In Oslo we saw beggars so all is not perfect of course.  However this can be seen in any major city. 

If I could, I would return to this country where the beauty can not really be described nor shown in pictures.  However I am going to show what I saw through my camera lens.  It is just a glimpse of what is there, but a taste of what is awaiting anyone who wants to make the journey.  My only advice is takes lots of money.  We knew it would be expensive, but did not realize it is the most expensive country in Europe in which to travel. Sticker shock, but for us, an experience we'll never forget. 

Random photos of Norway

 

 

 

The picturesque port city of Bergen



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An old treasure in Solvorn, Norway

Colorful shed near the ferry dock in Solvorn, Norway

 

The view from Solvorn of the Lustrafjord.

Solvorn is just a slip of a village on the Lustrafjord, an arm of Europe's longest and deepest fjord, the Sognfjord.  We first discovered the village of 150 inhabitants when we were out on a day trip from the bed and breakfast we were staying at, Nes Gard.  Solvorn was down a side road that led to a ferry crossing.  We were curious about the ferry for the next day so decided to explore.

We saw the Walaker Hotell, but didn't think much of it other than it looked charming.  I took some photos looking out at some boat houses and a couple of the hotel itself.

The next day we were on the other side of the fjord and decided the quickest way back to Nes Gard was to take the ferry to Solvorn.  We did that and saw the hotel again.  This time guests were sitting on the porch.  We had crossed on the ferry with our dinner companions from Nes Gard and they parked their car to look more closely at the hotel.  That night they told us there was an art gallery in the back which was closed on Mondays so they didn't get to see inside.  We learned from them that the hotel dated back to 1640.

 

 

                                                        Crossing on the ferry to Solvorn.


The day we left Nes Gard to head to Bergen, my husband asked if I would like to take another look at the hotel as it was just a short way off the main road.  I was eager to take a closer look.  What we discovered was one of the most idyllic places we had seen in Norway.

There is a beautiful lawn overlooking the fjord and the porch was very welcoming.  As we entered the hotel we met a young man who was cleaning up the breakfast area.  The guests were gone for the day and that was a bonus for us.  He told us we could look wherever we wanted and he said it would be fine to take pictures. 

 

 

                                                   Looking out from the porch at the Walaker Hotell.

                                                     The comfortable looking porch.


In the dining room there was much art work on the walls.  The young man told us that the art gallery in back didn't open until noon and it contained art work from all over Norway.  There were some side sitting rooms on the first floor of the hotel that were filled with antiques and more art work.

A chamber maid allowed us upstairs to peak into rooms in the main part of the hotel.  They were decorated with an old fashioned look yet were comfortable looking, fairly large and beautiful. 

 

               
 We discovered a side building and since no one was around we explored that as well.  There were two large meetings rooms on the main floor, but the bedrooms upstairs were so reminiscent of Carl Larsson that I was beside myself with glee.  Carl Larsson (1853-1919) and his wife Karin (1858-1928) were artists and interior designers from Sweden.  I have long desired to visit their homestead in Sundborn, Sweden, but the annex to the Walaker Hotell was second best.

I found a little booklet in the hotel that tells its story.  "Walaker Hotell has been owned by the Nitter family since the end of the 17th century.  The current hosts, eight and ninth generations of the family, wish you welcome to an ambient nostalgic atmosphere at one of Norway's oldest and most traditional hotels."  It is indeed a treasured place.

Scandinavian Style

The view from Nes Gard.

Breakfast didn't start until 8 a.m. at Nes Gard, the bed and breakfast where we were staying for three days on the Sognefjord in Norway.  However coffee was ready at 7:15 so we decided to take some time and sit in a small beautiful room  in the main house where we could read or just look out the window at the fjord and waterfall across the water and sip our coffee.  Mari, who owns Nes Gard along with her husband Asbjorn, came in to chat with us.  She lit a candle on the table where I had my small computer and then disappeared into the kitchen through a side door.  Soon she reappeared with two warm croissants on blue plates and handed them to us.  Later when we thanked her for the unexpected morning treat she said, "It's the simple things." 

The sitting area in the main house at Nes Gard.

I am no expert on Scandinavian style, but only know what I observed in this most beautiful country of Norway.  From what I could take in, less seems to be more.  The photos I am showing are from this marvelous little place that I first read about in National Geographic Traveler.  Asbjorn told me that a journalist came there about three years ago and took pictures.  He was trying to sell his work to various publications.  When he sold the piece to National Geographic Traveler, it put Nes Gard on the map and has brought them extra business.

Nes Gard is translated "farm at the end of the peninsula."  Gard is the word for farm.  They grow apples there and make their own cider.  When I booked this place online I decided we should go for what they call half board which is breakfast and dinner added to the price of the room.  It was the best decision we ever made.  We were told that their main cooks and workers were from Slovakia.  I can never explain the quality and tastiness of the meals we ate.  We sat with a couple from Seattle for three nights and talking, eating and laughing took us two hours.

We stayed in a small house that contained about five rooms that was beside the bigger farm house.  Our room was tucked up under the eaves and even though it was small, it was comfortable.  The bathroom was small as well, but the tile floor was heated which is a cozy thing.  From our two windows we could see the fjord. 

 

 

 Outside our room was a delightful sitting room.  Window sills were deep in both buildings and there was always a simple display on the window sill whether it was a pitcher of flowers or some art piece or both. 







Small vignettes were placed sparingly yet beautifully throughout the rooms and even outdoors there were simple things to catch one's eye.  I was clicking my camera continually.  The view to the fjord with the waterfall may have been enough, but the simplicity of design was just the added touch to make it complete.  And as Mari said, "It's the simple things."


      Nes Gard Through the Lens of my Camera

                                                                     

 

 

 

Click on pictures to enlarge.

 

 

Moods of Norway

We went to Norway in early September to catch the light before the days got too short to see the breathtakingly beautiful scenery.  Norway is a nation of water and mountains.  The Norwegian people have found a way around their streams, rivers, waterfalls, fjords and lakes by outstanding feats of engineering. 

A tunnel can be as long as 12 miles or as short as a couple of car lengths.  Bridges are plentiful, but if the water is too wide, there are ferries.


Farms cling to green meadows above dark water fjords.  Sheep and fruit trees often hug the hillsides.  On one stretch of road there were many tables set up periodically with an umbrella protecting the boxes of fruit for sale. Apples and plums seemed to be the two main crops. 

The architecture of buildings is simple.  It is the colors that make them stand out.  Unless a barn was weathered gray, it was a deep red.  Houses were mainly three basic colors:  white, red or a yellow gold.  However a gold house could be trimmed in dark red and a red house could be trimmed in a lovely shade of green.  Red barns often had white trim.  The eaves of houses might have a scalloped trim near the top.

Small towns along the fjords seemed to sparkle, the edges of cities less so.  My favorite city was Bergen, which is on the Atlantic, but even with all its interesting detail, it couldn't beat the countryside.

We talked to friendly people who with few exceptions, spoke English.  It is their second language and they start their students young.  When my husband asked a teenager in Lillehammer if he spoke English, his response was, "Of course."

There is so much more to share so stayed tuned for Part II. 

                                         The port city of Bergen from the top of a mountain.