Today's drive took us on an irregularly -- shaped loop through fjord country via roads, tunnels and ferries. We had rain on and off, lots of clouds and swirling mist, and a bit of sunshine and it was all just fine.
Our first stop was a visit to Hooperstad Stave Church in Vik, a gem of a town in a green valley we first viewed from a vista point high above. Stave churches are named for the soaring wood posts (staves) that form the frame of the construction. These medieval churches were once common in northwestern Europe; now only 28 survive, almost all of them in Norway. The Hooperstad Church dates from 1140, first as a Catholic Church, then a Luthern Church after the Reformation; it is currently held by a Norwegian preservation society.
Just a few miles beyond pretty Vik, we crossed the Sognefjord, Norway's largest and deepest fjord, from Vangsnes to Dragsvik. Like the tunnels, ferries are an integral part of the road system here, cutting the time and distance it would otherwise take to get between places that are in sight of each other, but practically speaking, so far apart.
Norway has a program of 18 National Tourist Routes, several of which are in this area. Each route is designed to take advantage of outstanding natural features and ensure that viewpoints and visitor facilities are thoughtfully designed and aesthetically pleasing. Today, we traveled the Gaularfjellet route, the highlight of which is a vista point reached by switchbacking up a narrow mountain road. At the top, a concrete viewpoint extends out over the abyss. When we arrived, a foggy mist was rolling up the mountain and it soon enveloped the vista point. It a short while, it began to swirl away, revealing the views below and all around.
We passed more waterfalls than we could count, as well as streams of water running long distances down the sides of high mountains. They provided easy explanation for the speed, fullness, and force of the running rivers we encountered all day. This seemed remarkable to us for this time of year, and we could only imagine what it's like in the spring and early summer. One indication of the amount of snow this area gets was the height of the snow poles we saw along the mountain roads -- probably the tallest we've ever encountered.
As we drove, we noticed many small houses with what the Norwegians describe as "turf roofs." These green roofs, made of sod over several layers of birch bark, serve to insulate and waterproof homes and tighten the load-bearing log walls. This was a standard building practice for log homes in Scandinavia until the late 19th century.
Fellow travelers today included cows and sheep again, both grazing and wandering pretty much wherever they chose. They must have decided that, with little traffic and strictly enforced low speed limits, their chances are pretty good. Since much of our drive today was on two-way, one-lane roads (think about that for a minute), our well-being was also in the balance!
We made one commercial stop today, in search of wine. Liquor and wine are sold only in government-owned stores and they are few and far between, so we were pleased to find one on our route today. Less than pleased to discover however, when we arrived at 4:00, that they close at 3:00 on Saturdays. On Saturdays -- what are they thinking?!?
After another ferry ride, we were headed home through Lærdalstunnelen; at over 15 miles, it's the world's longest road tunnel.
And we couldn't even toast it with a glass of wine!
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