July 3-4, 2025

Join the Stensaas famly as we travel from Lillehammer to the historic town of Røros.

Leaving Lillehammer in the afternoon, we wound our way north on the 3 ½ hour drive towards Røros. My natural magnetism to stave churches kicked in again as we stumbled upon yet another! The Ringebu Stavkyrkje. The family was not keen on waiting for me to tour it so I had to be satisfied with a photo from the driver’s seat.

But it was here that I became a bit confused. Google was trying to take us down a narrow dirt road as the fastest way to Røros. We stopped at a little roadside shed where a man was selling stave church souvenirs and Coke. He didn’t speak any English but I made out that, yes, we were on the right track. After a few miles the road widened and then was paved. It traversed a mountain plateau that had to be a preserve or park. How did I know that, you ask? Well, there were no hytte! There are cabins (hytte) scattered all over the mountains of Norway, even in the most remote locations. So if this was not a park, there would be hytte all over. Indeed, it turned out that this barren but beautiful landscape was Rondane National Park, Norway’s first national park designated in 1962. Wild Reindeer roam these mountains but we did not see hide nor hoof.

Dropping down into the Glomma River Valley we snaked along the waterway for a long way. The two-land road was excellent but we were stuck behind several vehicles that were stuck behind a very slow local…and no straightaways long enough to pass. That’s okay, it was lovely scenery and we noticed multiple trout fisherman (salmon?) out flyfishing in the river.

Jan met us in the tiny town Glåmos near his and Liv’s cabin, and we followed him up the narrow drive. Originally a tiny hytte, it is now a lovely spacious family retreat. It was so nice to connect with Jan and Liv after so many years! Bridget and I visited them on our honeymoon in July of 2006. Always gracious hosts

After a typical Norwegian buffet-style breakfast, we headed to Røros, and connected with Nora (“Noora” på Norsk), Jan & Liv’s 15-year old granddaughter, who was to be our guide. And, wow, she has a future in tourism (or acting or public relations) as she gave us an impressive running narrative about the historic town and its sites.

Røros is a very old mining town that was founded after a 1644 discovery of copper. The story goes that a hunter shot a deer and as it struggled in its death throes, it scraped the moss away to reveal the gleam of copper. Soon the Røros Copper Works was founded and mining began. Since Norway was ruled by Denmark at the time, 10 percent of all copper had to be given to the Danish king, most of which went to fund war efforts and make armour. [Interestingly, Røros Copper Works thrived and survived for over three centuries, only to go out of business in 1977.]

Though the town of Røros did burn several times, amazingly many log homes still stand, some dating from the 1600s but most from the late 1700s and 1800s. It is one of the oldest wood villages in Europe. In 1980 Old Røros was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nora led us up the quaint curvy streets to the top of the slag heep. Now you don’t normally think of an unsightly pile of rocks as a historic site, but this mound of mine waste is part of the story of the town and it is now a tourist attraction.

I was especially taken by the variety and uniqueness of all the wood doors around town. So much so that I took photos of 20 different doors to turn into a poster/collage (see photo in post).

Prior to the discovery of copper, this remote and cold part of Norway (coldest area in the country due to it being far inland from the sea) was the traditional homerange of nomadic Sami (Lapplanders) Reindeer herders.

And nearby there still are Southern Sami Reindeer herders. Back home, I occasionally tell people that some of my Stensaas relatives run a Reindeer slaughterhouse in Norway…and that is mostly true. The “Stensaas Reindyrslakteri” has been in business just east of Røros since 1890, but the connection to my Melhus/Kvål Stensaas’s (my family) is thin at best.

Still, I thought the boys would get a kick out of visiting there and seeing the Stensaas name on a commercial business, and so we all drove out there to have a look. Stensaas Reindryslakteri produces wholesale and retail reindeer meats for groceries and specialty shops around Norway. Jan found the owner (4^th or 5^th generation?) who came out and chatted with us. And of course we took the mandatory photo of the boys in front of the emblazoned “Stensaas” delivery van 

A wonderful blue-sky day with family in Røros!

Now it was time to head up the road to my ancestral Stensaas/Rofstad homeland near Melhus/Kvål near Trondheim.

NEXT—Norway #7

ANCESTRAL STENSAAS-ROFSTAD FARMS

It was time to leave our cozy cabin on the Sognefjord and head north. I am quite positive that any search for directions in Norway via Google Maps results in a squiggly line that can’t possible be the quickest route…but, alas, due to intervening fjords and mountains, it usually is. This was such the case in our travels to Lillehammer.

But we had all day, so the circuitous route was no problem. We stopped by another stave church (post coming soon), which Birk and I explored. Bridget and Bjorn were “stave-churched-out” by now.

The boathouses of Vik are a colorful lot.

Our lodging for the night was adjacent to the downtown railroad station (in fact it was called the Stasjon Hotel), and this was my worst lodging decision of the trip. Not that it was noisy, it was not, but that it was basically a youth hostel with some marginally nicer private rooms. Tiny and spartan.

I had been to Lillehammer on two occasions before…both in winter. Once was for the 1994 Winter Olympics; a joyous and enthusiastic gathering. I don’t think the world has ever seen so many Norwegian flags and hand-knit sweaters in one spot! I was mesmerized by the whole spectacle, and took in ski jumping (Espen Bredeson!), the 4x10k Nordic Relay (Norwegian men losing by a hair to Italy…You’ve never heard such a loud silence), the downhill (Åmodt), speed skating (American Dan Jansen). Okay, enough reminiscing…back to 2025.

To celebrate that Olympic history we decided to try the Olympic bobsled run in nearby Hunderfoss. I guess we got to the site early as no one was around. The place looked abandoned. Finally some workers drifted in and we signed our lives away with waivers. A short van ride to the top I found out that our Bobsled driver was not actually a bobsledder himself. Okaaay.

After putting on heavy duty helmets, we were given instruction on how to enjoy the 65km per hour ride down a curvy track while pulling 3Gs of force! “Keep your chin up” was basically the only instructions.

I’m not going to lie…I did not enjoy the ride. It was 90 seconds of unpleasantness for me.  My helmeted head banging off the roll cage with every turn. Bridget and Birk really loved the experience though.

Later, while chatting with my relatives in Trondheim, Jan related that a couple of his work colleagues had done the same ride and both had gotten injured, resulting in a few months of chiropractic work. Yikes!

We made our way back to the outskirts of Lillehammer to visit Maihaugen, possibly Norway’s best outdoor folk museum. But first we had to take a spin through the Olympic Museum that is housed in the Maihaugen interpretive center. Being Olympic nerds and a skiing family, it was quite cool to see familiar names from past Olympics.

Maihaugen was the brainchild of Anders Sandvig a Lillehammer dentist who started buying up and preserving old farm buildings in the late 1800s. He was not a wealthy man, so he eventually gifted the buildings to the town.

Over 200 buildings dot the expansive and hilly site. Maihaugen is especially blessed with many early log farm buildings (1600s to 1800s). Laced with walking paths, you wander between a mountain farm to a fishing village to a blacksmith shop, even to a 1950s suburb. They have two historic “crown jewels” on the grounds: the 1200s Garmo stave church and Queen Sonia’s childhood home; both moved to the site from their original spots.

Bridget and the boys went off on their own as they knew I would linger far too long at the log barns.

We reconvened after a couple hours and all agreed it was well worth a half-day visit. I think we could have made a full day of Maihaugen! I even bought the book that contains details on most of the buildings because I didn’t have time to read all the signage.

NEXT—Norway #6

My Norwegian Family; Røros to Trondheim

July 1

You can only sit on the porch of your idyllic cabin and stare at amazing fjord scenery for so long. Time to get out and experience the surrounding villages!

But getting anywhere in Norway’s fjord country is a circuitous experience; no direct routes here! We first had to drive around our little arm of the fjord to Dragsvik and then catch a car ferry across the fjord to Vangsnes via Hella. You just learn to go slow and enjoy the journey because you won’t get anywhere fast. And the scenery is postcard perfect everywhere you go here so the time goes quickly.

In Vik I wanted us to experience a couple medieval churches: the wooden Hopperstad stavkirkke (stave church) from 1130 AD and the stone Hove church (1170 AD). [I will combine all our stave church experiences into one post so won’t get into detail on Hopperstad here].

From the website of the National Trust of Norway (who has owned the church since 2019:

Hove is one of the oldest stone churches in Norway. The church was erected on land owned by the large farm Hove. It is small, but its exquisite forms show that it was built for a wealthy owner. [After the “modern” Vik Lutheran Church was built in 1877, the stone Hove] church was at risk of being torn down. Architect Peter Andreas Blix (1831–1901) bought it with his own money in 1880 and started extensive restoration work. This church is a monument to the man who saved it.

When architect Blix was in charge of the restoration of Håkon’s Hall in Bergen, he was offered soapstone from Hove church, which was to be (demolished). Blix bought the church to prevent it being torn down, and he restored it according to his own plans and funded the work himself. The church interior is characterized by Blix’s choices, and the decor and furnishings reflect how he imagined the church may have looked in the Middle Ages. The church walls are covered in colorful decoration, and the nave has a dado painted in imitation ashlar. The chancel is lavishly decorated. The altar area is framed by a painted ashlar pattern, and the ceiling of the dome above the altar is painted in a vivid blue like the sky with sun and moon. The medieval stone altar is preserved, and the altar stone contains a reliquary covered by a slab of marble. Blix owned the church at the time of his death in 1901 and is buried beneath the church floor.

It is naïve of me to think the interior would have survived from the Middle Ages, but knowing the interior was recreated from the mind of an 1800s architect takes a bit of the awe away. But the stone shell itself is original and that is what is really impressive to someone like me, from America, where a building from the early 1800s is considered ancient.

You walk from church to church along a pleasant path bordering a creek and skirting some farms. Friendly cows and cats enjoy some petting from the passerbys.

An hour and a half drive up and over a mountain and back down to sea level brought us to Gudvangen at the tip of the world famous Nærøyfjord, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s actually hard to drive the last 10km to town since your are trying to take in the magnificent scenery in this steep-sided and very narrow valley. Many people enjoy the boat leg of the Norway in a Nutshell tour down this fjord.

We were also here to visit “Viking Valley,” a pseudo Viking village populated by reenactors. It is a bit cheesy, but overall a fun experience. It is NOT a historic site. I wish we would have taken the guided tour from one of the costumed interpreters. We eavesdropped on one guide and his tale of the incredible importance of a sword to a Viking, and the difficulty in making one. The day-to-day existence of a Viking family is what is portrayed here.

The gift shop has really high quality merch and is worth a visit…no “rubber swords” here.

It was now late afternoon, but since it is basically light until 11pm we decided to push on to the tiny and remote town of Undredal. It is famous for its locally produced goat cheese (gjetost) but we just wanted dinner.

Winding your way down to the fjord through town you can stop at the adorable white and red Undredal Stave Church, the smallest in Norway (more about this in a future post).

We ate down by the harbor and enjoyed the view of the old fishing boat shacks along the fjord. An ultramodern passenger ferry appeared at the docks but only a couple people got off. Next to the kafe was a sauna; two younger guys made the dash from the sauna and plunged into the chilly fjord water. I couldn’t tell if they were exhilarated or about to have a heart attack!

NEXT—Norway #5 LILLEHAMMER—OLD NORWAY, OLYMPIC NORWAY

June 30-July 2

If you want to take the world-famous train from Oslo to Bergen you should book your seats as early as possible. Tickets open up on vy.no (the official Norwegian rail site) about 3 to 4 months before departing. I stayed up until midnight on the day the ticketing opened and was probably the second person to book seats in Car 1 preferred seating (bigger seats, free coffee…probably not worth the extra cost).

The railroad is the highest mainline in northern Europe crossing the Hardangervidda plateau at 1,237 metres (4,058 ft) above sea level. Leaving Oslo the weather was a pleasant sunny 65 degrees, but at Finse, the highest point in the bare mountains, there was still a ton of snow, a cold rain was falling, and it looked absolutely miserable. We were a little shocked when the lovey-dovey young American couple next to us got off here; she seemed to be 8-months pregnant and dressed more for a day of mall-shopping than stepping off into this desolate spot on a miserable day. There is no town here, only a few lodges that cater to hardcore hikers and skiers.

Planet Hoth

 This otherworldly location was, in fact, used as a filming location for an otherworldly planet. The Empire Strikes Back filmed in this area atop the Hardangerjøkulen glacier near this stop at Finse.

Norway in a Nutshell

The reason this train ride is so hard to get tickets for, is that it is a crucial part of the “Norway in a Nutshell” loop. Tourists can do this extremely popular train-ferry-bus tour in a day, or make it an overnight. Several companies offer tickets, which are really just packages of tickets that you can book yourself for cheaper. Starting in Oslo the loop takes the train to Myrdal (2/3 of the way to Bergen?), then a different train to Flåm. Folks then get on a modern ferry to go up the Aurlandsfjord and return via the world’s narrowest fjord, the spectacular Naeroyfjord to Gudvangen where they transfer to a bus, and then back to Oslo (or continue west to Bergen). Norway in a Nutshell!

We wanted to spend a few days in the Sognefjord, purported to be Norway’s most beautiful, so we got off in Myrdal and took an older train that drops 2,800 feet precipitously down a mountain valley and through 20 tunnels to Flåm. We then took a different ferry than the “Nutshellers” over to the remote town of Balestrand.

Shout out to Rick Steves!

Okay, I must admit that I am a big Rick Steves nerd. He had recommended Balestrand, and I listened! Rick Steves is a travel guru, author, YouTuber, podcaster, publisher from Seattle. He is a Norwegian-American (like myself) and for many years I watched his Travels with Rick Steves show on PBS, I continue to buy his European guidebooks (the most detailed out there), and ingest many of his YouTube videos. We also bought each of the boys one of “his” travel carry-on backpacks for the trip. Oh, and now I listen to his weekly podcast. Yeah…a real Rick Steves nerd. I really love his “travel as a political act” philosophy, and share his basic belief that the vast majority of people on this planet are good, caring folks.

Rick (I feel like we should be on a first name basis) recommended staying away from the chaos of the Norway in a Nutshell tours and soaking in the scene and scenery in a more remote, quieter town in the Sognefjord. We chose Balestrand.

Inge’s Cabins

I had rented a small cabin from Sognefjordcabins.com for three nights as I thought we could use a bit of a break from our go-go-go schedule up to this point. Plus, from my trip Excel spreadsheet I could see these cabins had a laundry facility, and this was one of Bridget’s requirements for every 5 days or so.

If you do end up staying in Balestrand, and don’t want to shell out the big bucks for the Kviknes Hotel and its fancy buffets, then I can whole heartedly recommend Sognefjord Cabins. Ours was only yards from the fjord edge and had most of the amenities of home; two bedrooms, covered porch, and a TV with Netflix access—Have you ever seen Trollhunter? If not, go see it now!).

Owner Inge is a charming guy with deep roots in the area (check out the crazy cool video he took of Killer Whales/Orcas going right under his little fishing boat just down the fjord. It is on the website sognefjordcabins.com). He made us feel very welcome and showed us around the property (free use of canoes, paddleboards; small fee for fishing boat, sauna use). But once again, the only bedding were winter-weight down comforters. These Norwegians must be cold sleepers.

Balestrand is a sleepy town of 824 folks on an arm of the Sognefjord. It is kept sleepy by the fact that no cruise ships can dock here, and only a single narrow road that winds around the sparsely populated north side of the fjord reaches this spot. Did I mention that the road is narrow with a capital D? Some spots two cars can not squeeze by each other.

Walking around town doesn’t take too long…it is quite small. One of the architectural highlights is the dragestil-style (see “Oslo” post) St. Olaf’s Church. Built in 1897 and somewhat modeled after ancient stavkirkkes, it is open to the public. Services are still held here. Oh, and don’t forget to pet the fluffy gray neighborhood cat with the bad eye.

I ran into a couple from Minneapolis, and of course we knew someone in common! She formerly taught with Larry Weber in Duluth, my neighbor and one of my authors. Small world!

Dining options are fairly limited if you don’t want to shell out $80 per person for the Kiviknes Hotel buffet (we didn’t). We chose the Golden Fork instead; great food, loooong wait to get our meal.

Kaiser Wilhelm’s “Vacay” spot

Kaiser Wilhelm II found this spot much to his liking; in fact, he summered here from 1899 until the outbreak of WWII.  Built for him, “The Kaiser’s Stairs” are still down on the waterfront (see photo of Birk on the stairs). He was so enamored with the legend of King Bele, a Viking King who was said to be buried in one of the five Viking burial mounds west of town (see photos), that he commissioned a large bronze sculpture of Bele to be placed atop one of the mounds (see photos).  

NEXT: Norway #4 VIK, GUDVANGEN & UNDREDAL—Say that three times fast!

HUMANITY IN STONE: VIGELAND’S MASTERPIECE

VIGELAND’S PICE DE RESISTANCE—OSLO’s FROGNER PARK SCULPTURES

Two hundred?! Yes, actually 214 larger-than-life sculptures dot Oslo, Norway’s magnificent Frogner Park; in total over 750 human figures are portrayed. This is the work of Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943); a Norwegian sculptor; wrought iron gates, bronze statues, and the human-figure sculptures chiseled hammer blow by hammer blow over many years. It is the largest sculpture park in the world dedicated to one artist.

As a younger man, Vigeland traveled Europe looking for inspiration, and was especially moved by the work of Auguste Rodin, the French sculptor, and his human figures.

In 1921, after the city of Oslo needed to demolish his home to make way for a library, they gave Vigeland a new home  in a beautiful location near Frogner Park. In exchange, Vigeland agreed to donate all his sculptures to the future Frogner Park installation. The project took 20 years to complete.

I first have to say that I’ve been to many urban parks in North American and Europe, but this is by far my favorite. A visual tour de force of the struggle of everyday humanity. No war heros here. No giants of industry, or philanthropy, or scientific discovery. Not here. Only the thoughtful vision of everlasting emotions and struggles, from birth to death, of all of us, the common people. And to he has stripped the trappings of class from the figures; no clothes, no jewelry, no idealization of the human body.

We all split up to explore the park separately; Bridget one way, the boys went another way, and my camera and I another.

“The Fountain” is a massive cauldron being held up by six massive men, all different ages, and they appear to be struggling mightily under the weight. Water flows over the sides of the bowl creating a curtain around the figures. It was originally supposed to be placed in front of the Norwegian Parliament, but those plans fell through. Does it symbolize the struggle of life, the pain and effort of making a living? Or??

And don’t miss the smaller bronze bas-relief insets. You could spend all day trying to interpret these bizarre but beautiful snippets.

Crown jewel of Vigeland’s sculptures is the 53-foot granite pillar of 121 entwined, writhing human figures; babies to nonagenarians and every stage of life in between. It is so hard-to-fathom how he even created this towering piece of sculpture. I’m going to look that up…Hold on, I’ll be back in a few minutes…

Okay, I’m back. Vigeland designed it but he did not carve it himself. It took 34 stone masons several years to complete.

Most of the sculptures are people doing everyday things, but sometimes Vigeland veers into the metaphoric, such as the wonderful sculpture of a man fending off a battalion of babies. Love it! You can read many things into this one sculpture…and that is the beauty of the park. Vigeland himself did not name the sculptures, and wisely refused to tag them with any interpretation. Each individual piece of his art can be interpreted in many ways, often personal to the person doing the pondering.

Definitely put this park on your travel bucket list!

NEXT: Norway #3

SOGNEFJORD IS CALLING!

Oslo the Magnificent—”DRAGON STYLE”

Thank you Icelandair for our layover in your beautiful country! An added “bonus” to flying out of Keflavik is that you get to load the plane from the tarmac….always fun when it’s raining . Then we found out that we had different seat assignment as they had to use a different plane, some rickety old thing.  It didn’t make us feel any better when two flight attendants had to try four times to shut the manual sliding door right by our seats. As I watched them struggle, I wondered why parachutes aren’t standard issue, like the life vests… “Simply pull the red rip cord to fully deploy your parachute…Please get sucked out of the plane before helping others deploy their chutes.” I stared at that door the whole flight….Kidding…Not kidding.

But the slightly-less-than-three-hour flight went well. We left Iceland at 10:45 and arrived in Oslo at 3:45pm…wait…that math doesn’t add up. Turns out that not only is Norway in a different time zone, but they are also on daylight savings time, unlike Iceland. After collecting our luggage. We check bags instead of carry-ons even though all our bags are carry-on size compliant. To us it is worth going to the luggage carousel and risking a lost or delayed bag versus hauling them around the terminal and struggling to find a spot in the overhead bins.

SCANDIA HOLMENKOLLEN HOTEL

Now it was late afternoon, but fortunately sunset isn’t until nearly 11pm. We grabbed a high-speed tram that took us up towards the Holmenkollen just a half-hour northwest of downtown. “Mind the gap,” is now a phrase that is engrained in our heads, since the tram recording belted it out at nearly every stop…and there were a lot of stops.

From the tram stop it was about a 1.3 mile walk to our Scandic Holmenkollen Park hotel. And did I mention that the walk was nearly vertical? Great anaerobic workout for these American tourists! If it weren’t for the incessant and loud chattering of the broken wheel on my rolling luggage wobbling and hobbling over the pavement, steps, curbs and cobble, it would have been a very pleasant hike!

I chose our hotel for three reasons…1. It was near the famous Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Ski Museum, which I wanted to show the kids. 2. It was a Scandic Hotel chain of which I am a member. 3. It had a family-size suite so all four of us could share a room, plus an outstanding breakfast buffet. Oh, and finally, maybe most importantly?, on social media it simply looked like the coolest old wood “Viking-esque” hotel I’d ever seen. And the view overlooking the city and harbor wasn’t too shabby either.

And did I mention the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet? Not even a sliver of resemblance to an American hotel included breakfast, this massive spread included freshly-baked croissants and crusty breads, multiple cheeses, meats, yougurts, Musli, veggies, waffles, eggs, sausages and about 100 other things…plus really, really good coffee.

The wooden part of the hotel was designed by Balthazar Lange and completed in 1894 in the Dragestil style of Norwegian Romantic period architecture (1880-1910). Literally translated to “Dragon Style,” Dragestil buildings draw their inspiration from Viking-era folklore (dragons) and medieval Stavkyrkke (stave churches). Stylized dragon heads arc from the multiple peaked roofs, overhanging levels, timber walls are often stained dark brown or tarred, tall steep-pitched spires add height and drama; all these features make for a dramatic and imposing building. Later in this post we go to yet another world-class Dragestil building just up the road at Frognerseteren.

The Hotel was commandeered by the Nazis during WWII as a base of operations for  the German Airforce Luftwaffe headquarters. I picked this up from Wikipedia but can’t find any other collaboration of this bit of history.

HOLMENKOLLEN SKI JUMP & MUSEUM

Just a short walk from the hotel is the world famous (and massive) Holmenkollen Ski Jump. I had been here for a World Cup cross-country ski race back in the 1980s (you might be surprised that I was a spectator, and not a participant ). It looked completely different then, and I also approached from below, then and now we were above, so it all seemed foreign to me. But then I realized that the jump tower itself was all new; a gleaming (literally glowing in the setting sun) piece of art masquerading as a world-class ski jump.

Built into the base of the ski jump is an engaging Ski Museum that engages most of your senses. If you are a fanatical Nordic skier/ski fan, you will love this museum (we knew many of the skiers and explorers celebrated within), if not, well, you will definitely enjoy the gift shop!

One cool connection to home was the listing of Duluth, Minnesota ski jumper Gene Kotlarek who set the distance record for the new Holmenkollen Ski Jump in 1963. He went on to compete in the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics.

FROGNERSETEREN

Further up the hill, at the end of the tram line, is Frognerseteren (“The Frogner’s mountain pasture”), a wild, “city park” densely forested and laced with trails for hiking, roller-skiing (yes, that’s a thing there!) and mountain biking. [It is a major cross-country skiing area in winter.] We did a nice hike (giant slugs!) followed by a snack from the dramatic Dragestil-style Frognerseteren designed by Holm Munthe and completed in 1891. Formerly a sports center, today inside you can find Café Seterstua and Restaurant Finstua, and much of the original interior décor.

Interesting fact…The elevation difference between the start of the tram in Oslo Central and the Frognerseteren Station is 1,568 feet. The largest elevation gain of any city metro system in the World!

SPUR (OF THE MOMENT) GLACIER

On our way back to the cabin for the evening, we spotted a sign that said something about a glacier, and we could see a massive glacier in the distance, so why not! This is often how it is in Iceland, a land without many trees; you see something interesting on the horizon and drive towards it!

What we found was Sólheimajökull Glacier, a 7 mile spur off the massive Myrdalsjokull Glacier. A spur-of-the-moment spur! There was a nice parking lot and a trail. That’s about it. An old shipping container serves as a meeting place for those gearing up with crampons and ice axes to get an up-close-and-personal guided tour of the glacier.

We just hiked the trail to see how close we could get. And I think we all were a bit surprised on how cool it was just to experience a glacier from this close (half mile away?).

It has an interesting history with this arm receding 2/3 of a mile between 1930 and 1969, and then advancing again for 500 yards in the cold years between 1970 and 1997. Since then it has receded 4,000 feet.

You can see a bit of the stunning “glacier blue” ice on part of the snout of the glacier.

You can barely see the name of the glacier (Solheimajokull) through all the “visitor-contributed” stickers!

You already know that I really enjoy the architecture of churches, and just outside of Vik we found yet another red-roofed church—the Reyniskirkja Church built in 1929. Allegedly an elf built a church on this site a 1000 years ago…but that is a story for another time.

Off to Norway!

NEXT: Norway #1 Oslo the Magnificent

VIKING HORSES, LITTLE SHEEP, FUNNY BIRDS

For over a thousand years now, since a decree at Iceland’s Althing in 982 AD, it has been forbidden/illegal to bring in any horses to Iceland. And once a horse leaves Iceland, it is banished forever, never to return to its homeland. Serious stuff! Today this law is mainly to protect the breed from diseases, but also to preserve the genetic purity of Icelandic “Viking” horses. They are so named because the first Scandinavian settlers, arguably Vikings, brought horses across the ocean in longships from 860-935 AD. Isolated on this rugged island for a millenia, they are the purest breed on the planet.

They are a hardy breed, able to withstand Iceland’s harsh climate, even growing a shaggy winter coat. A little larger than ponies, but small compared to most horses, they tip the scale at about 800 pounds and stand 13-14 hands (52-55 inches).

They are still used for sheepherding by farmers, but most are kept for racing, recreational riding or breeding. They are quite strong and intelligent.

Currently about 300,000 of these Icelandic horses are found across the globe with 40% in Iceland, and another sizable number in Germany. There are clubs in 22 countries.

Some other interesting facts from Wikipedia…

• Between 1783 and 1784, around 70% of the horses in Iceland were killed by volcanic ash poisoning and starvation after the 1783 eruption of Lakagígar. The eruption lasted eight months, covered hundreds of square miles of land with lava, and rerouted or dried up several rivers
• The early Germanic peoples, including those living in Scandinavia, venerated horses and slaughtered and ate them at blóts throughout the Viking Age.^[25] When these settlers arrived in Iceland, they brought their beliefs, and their horses, with them.^[3] Horses play a significant part in Nordic mythology with many, including Odin‘s eight-footed pacer named Sleipnir, allowing gods and other beings to travel between realms and across the sky.
• Horses were often considered the most prized possession of a medieval Icelander.^[27] Indispensable to warriors, war horses were sometimes buried alongside their fallen riders,^[12] and stories were told of their deeds. Icelanders also arranged for bloody fights between stallions; these were used for entertainment and to pick the best animals for breeding.
•  Stallion fights were an important part of Icelandic culture, and brawls, both physical and verbal, among the spectators were common. The conflicts at the horse fights gave rivals a chance to improve their political and social standing at the expense of their enemies and had wide social and political repercussions, sometimes leading to the restructuring of political alliances.

LITTLE FUNNY SHEEP

Sheep literally dot the entire landscape of Iceland it seems. Like their equine neighbors, these sheep are also the descendants of Viking/Scandi settlers in the 800s and 900s.

North European Short Tailed sheep are a horned sheep that is medium in size but stocky, short-tailed and thin-boned. Most are white, but black and white ones stand out. Their coat is double-layered for warmth and waterproofing, with a fine inner layer. No wool on their faces. Sheared twice a year, the wool is highly revered by fiber artists and knitters.

Thirty breeds of North European Short Tailed sheep still exist across Scandinavia/Nordic countries, all being descendants of these Viking sheep.

Through the 1940s sheep were mainly used for milk in Iceland, but now they are mostly meat animals. Lamb and mutton production is about 80% of  the sheep farmer’s income now. Wool makes up another portion of the sheep farmer’s income.

Lambs are vigorous and lively, right out of the “chute,” so to speak; the first twin even able to stand and nurse before its sibling is born!

Have you ever heard of “Leadersheep”? This is fascinating subject to me. Evidently, on rare occasions a sheep is born that has superior senses and leadership traits. This genetically-advantaged sheep is known, and revered, as a “Leadersheep.”
The info below is from Dr. Olafur R. Dyrmundsson of The Farmers Association of Iceland:

“Some people may argue that sheep are not intelligent and clever. However, it is well known that sheep have their own intelligence…. We should not underestimate the wisdom of domestic animals.

Without (sheep) Icelanders would not have survived throughout centuries of hardship on an isolated island just south of the Arctic Circle. Even grazing in winter had to be utilized…and somehow a unique, small population of sheep developed which displayed outstanding abilities to help the farmers and shepherds to manage the flock on pasture, namely “Leadersheep.”

There is still a population of 1,000-1,200 Leadersheep within the national population of just under 500,000 [sheep]).

Most of the Leadersheep are colored and horned, even four-horned in a few cases. They…have been selected for intelligence, not for meat traits. Leadersheep are graceful and prominent in the flock, with alertness in the eyes, normally going first out of the sheep-house, looking around in all directions, watching if there are any dangers in sight and then walking in front of the flock when driven to or from pasture. They may even guard the flock against predators. There are many stories on record about their ability to sense or forecast changes in the weather even, refusing to leave the sheep-house before a major snowstorm. One wonders how better use could be made of such genes in the future.”

As a sidenote, the cabins we stayed at were on a sheep farm that also had an Icelandic Sheepdog. Adorable!

WILD BIRDS…CRAZY BIRDS

I repeat, this was NOT a birding nor photography trip! But how is a guy who has spent 45 years of his life obsessed with such hobbies supposed to put on blinders when in such an incredible place?! I could not, and I took those few precious moments I could wrangle to enjoy some of Iceland’s most iconic wild birds.

First up is the Puffin. I already talked about our surprise sightings at Reynisfjara but I found a few more images I like.

I also had a terrifying encounter with a MASSIVE roadside Puffin 

The most productive area was right around our inland AirBnB farm cabins. I explored the surrounding tundra while Bridget and the boys hiked up to the top of a nearby hill.

Whimbrels (same species as we have in North America) flew circles around me, which indicated that they might be nesting in the vicinity.

Close to Reykjavik we had a Redwing.

Fenceposts along the road were the favorite perches of Common Redshanks, a large and vocal shorebird that doesn’t need a shore. I love their red legs and bill. A dozen or more could be found along our short drive inland from the Ring Road.

I’ve saved my favorite for last. How can you not love the personality-plus Eurasian Oystercatchers (known as “oystercrackers” in our family). There were multiple foraging and flying on this patch of tundra. I layed down when I could to get some eyelevel shots…and I even got some winners, even with my substandard bird photography gear.

Bjorn came down the mountain first, and within minutes found a nest! He is a very observant kid. It had one newly hatched chick and two eggs, one of which was pipping! We took a few photos and left them in peace.

The sounds were about as satisfying as the sightings.

NEXT: Iceland #6 Spur of the Moment Glacier

WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS BEACH

In 2006 I almost lost my new bride to the ocean at this beautiful beach. Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach near Vik is a stunning spot; cliffs of geometric pillars of cooled lava (“columnar joining”) stairstep up from a beach of black basalt rocks. Two giant pillars of rock are just offshore. But there is a hidden danger here; rogue “sneaker” waves hit the beach every so often, and some can be huge. They suck unsuspecting tourists (and locals) into the ocean with a powerful undertow. SIX people have died here since 2013.

When Bridget and I were here on our honeymoon in July 2006, we were blissfully unaware of the dangers. Only two other people were on the beach that day (hard to imagine now that Iceland has been “discovered” and a couple hundred tourists seem to be on the beach at all times now). I was taking photos and Bridget explored up the beach past the corner of the cliff. The dutch tourists yelled something to me, and I went over to see what they wanted. They told me in broken English that every seventh wave or so was a big one, and it was dangerous to walk where Bridget was. I ran around the corner just in time to see one of these waves soak Bridget from the knees down but she stayed on her feet thankfully. It may not sound like much, but it was a close call, and I kind of get a bit queasy when I think of what could have happened.

On this day, there were far more than two tourists on the beach…try 200! Much had changed since 2006; a massive paved parking lot now provided spots for a couple hundred cars and dozens of tour busses. It was a bit of a circus (I included one photo showing all the visitors) but I did manage to get some cool photos by waiting for lulls in visitors…or cropping them out of certain images.

**Note: This beach was a filming location for planet Eadu in the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Another aspect of this beach that makes it so special is the three trolls just offshore. More accurately they are frozen trolls, turned to stone when daylight caught them trying to sneak to shore dragging a 3-masted ship. Well, actually, they are just basalt pillars, but certainly some of the most spectacular basalt pillars in all the world. And for a photographer, they add a layer of interest for your landscape photographs.

But you turn your body 180 degrees and there is an equally spectacular sight— Dyrhólaey Arch, an arch so big that you can fly a plane through it.

Then Bjorn ran over to me that he’d just seen a Puffin fly in to the cliff above us! Yes! A dozen or so Atlantic Puffins were nesting in their burrows in the grassy cliff above the columnar joining. I had written off our chances of sharing Puffins with the boys on this trip since we weren’t going offshore. But here they were, cruising in right above us, along with some Northern Fulmars. So cool. And about a half hour later Bjorn spotted two seals in the surf!

Time for some lunch and shopping. We found a hip little café near the lupine-laced shoreline and had a more-than-decent meal.

Perched on a bluff above the town is the Vik I Myrdal Church, a red-roofed Lutheran Church completed in 1934. The church was designed by Iceland’s state architect Guðjón Samúelsson, the same architect responsible for Hallgrimskirkja Church in Reykjavik. It is also the town of Vik’s designated Evacuation Refuge shoul Katla Volcano erupt creating a massive flash flood. But it was all peaceful today. Everyone takes a photo or six of this picturesque icon…including me!

The old guesthouse in town Bridget and I stayed at on our honeymoon was still there, seemingly unchanged.

But the old wool and woolens shop that carried locally spun wool and hats/sweaters in 2006 (I bought a headband that I wore for more than a decade, and Bridget bought a sweater) had more than changed…it had morphed into a mega-modern tourist shop called Icelandwear where I think 95% of the stuff is made outside of the country. But they cleverly put “Designed in Iceland” prominently on the tags and hid the location of manufacture. Oh well…such is the world in the Instagram age.

NEXT: Viking Horses, Little sheep, Funny Birds

HAVE YOU EVEN BEEN BEHIND A WATERFALL?

After a dinner of eggs, sausages and bread, we played a few games of Uno and crashed. Nights are quite cool (10 celsius/50°F) and like everywhere on this trip, the beds only have super-thick down comforters. We left the window open but it was still quite warm…too warm, under all that down.

I had been planning this trip for many months, surfing many many websites, reading blogs of locals, hikers and other visitors, and checking Trip Advisor (with a grain of salt). The result was a large Excel spreadsheet with multiple options for each day.

Since Bridget and I had been to Iceland 19 years ago, we wanted to not only share it with the kids, but also to see some new things as well. So even though we were only a half hour from Seljalandsfoss (the popular waterfall that you can walk behind) I had found another one nearby that you could also walk behind, but they made it sound like there would be far less visitors…and they were right!

It is called Kvernufoss and it is just a short 1 mile (?) easy walk from the Skogar Museum near Skogafoss Waterfall (we didn’t pay to see the museum…on our last trip here, you could just walk right up to the old farmstead but now you have to pay.)

Quite a cool experience to walk behind a 100-foot waterfall. There were also Northern Fulmars nesting in the crevices of the cliffs on the way in.

I experimented with long exposure images, flash, underexposing, focal lengths and many compositions. I am sharing some of my favorites with you here. [Click on an image to make it full screen for a better viewing experience]

Not the largest waterfall, nor the highest, nor the most impressive, but a waterfall you can really get up close and personal with…without weaving through hoards of tourists. No bus tours here! We maybe saw 20 other visitors during our 1 ½ hour visit.

NEXT: The cozy town of Vik and the World’s Most Dangerous Beach