Shore to Shore: Å to Ramberg, A Cycling the Islands in 3 Parts

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Blog post 3 - Saturday the 29th
Bakeries, Biking and Beautiful Places:
Farmhouse by the sea to Å and a step back in time!

We arose at leisure the morning of the 29th. Leisure for us meant 6 or 7 rather than 3 or 4 ?. The famed bakery we were visiting that morning for breakfast didn’t open until 9 and was perhaps a scant 4 km from us. It was on down the same road the cyclists had gone earlier.

We had hopes of a nicer day for a ride to Å However as we prepared to depart the rain started. It was to come and go throughout the day sometimes just to sprinkle and some times a little harder but not the downpour of the day before. We also didn’t have to deal with the gale force winds on this day.

We were excited to head to Å. We had been told about cinnamon buns made there in old world tradition. Lois‘s cousin Reider , whom we would be visiting in Bremnes, had told her that she must go there to have one. Plus the hiker from Australia we sat by on the ferry to Lofoten raved about the amazing cinnamon buns. He had been hiking on Lofoten and he and his friend had been picked up by a truck on their way to Å. There was no room for him upfront so he sat in the back of the truck. There he discovered heaven, as he described it, the wonderful cinnamon buns and the amazing smell! He told us this little diddie of sorts about traveling to Å. He used a very interesting little sentence which was comprised of vowel sounds about traveling to Å… In Norwegian of course. I can’t remember it though. I really wish I’d recorded him.

So off we went on our bikes to the little village of Å. There really wasn’t a direction that we could turn that we didn’t have magnificent views. This trip was no exception. Even the day before in the rain and the wind we marveled at the stark rugged beauty of this land. You can look at the pictures but even those don’t do it justice. The ride was a short one but totally enjoyable.

We arrived there before the bakery opened so we wandered around the historic little village for a while Marveling at the sites to see. This was a historic area that had been preserved as in olden days. There was even a Museum but we were not able to stay and visit the museum. Most of the buildings had plaques on them telling the history of the building and the year it was built. Finally it was time to head back to the bakery.

Per usual we encountered an unusual circumstance. As we headed to the bakery I noted that employees were standing outside and there was a loud alarm going off. We entered the room prior to the bakery (see pictures on Facebook- this stark room was where we enjoyed our breakfast and greeted the other customers that came in) to the piercing noise of the fire alarm located in that room. Apparently something set off the fire alarm. We never found out exactly what had happened but we had to wait a bit before we could get our buns and coffee. Whatever had happened messed up the electoral system and we all had to pay cash as the register wasn’t working… None of us had cash except Peggy so she had to pay for all of us. Please note the cash register and fire alarm were probably the only modern conveniences in the building. The cinnamon buns and other items… Breads, chocolate buns, baquettes, etc. were all made in an old-time woodfired stove. The employees were dressed in traditional garb and we heard that the recipes used were those of old. It was like stepping back a few centuries. We had been the first customers so we became the greeting committee. Everyone we met was quite lovely and sociable. The buns were of course amazing. When we finished them we took a tour around the town and also went into the shop to buy some souvenirs and postcards. Then it was time to be bike back to our farm house on the beach in Tind and prepare for our bike ride to Ramberg where we would stay the next night. Ramberg was known for its beautiful beach, not that we expected to enjoy it given the weather. We were in hopes that the weather would hold and we would have a pleasant ride.

Back at the farm house we are packed and ready to leave a little before the 11o’clock check out. Great stop… The house was amazing and the surrounding area beautiful. But now it’s time to head back the way we come; back to Sakrisøy where we had rented the bikes and then to a new adventure beyond. It was nice to see the scenery we had passed the day before minus the wind in the rain. We were going to swing by the bike shop to drop some things off in our bags left there so that we didn’t have to haul it around and to confirm our route with the staff there. The bike shop staff was very amazing and we had made friends with all of them. While there we decided to stop and eat lunch at a quaint little restaurant tucked back up behind the shop off the beaten path. It was a quaint little place and once again a step back in time. The food was delicious!

I am not a big fish eater especially not at restaurants as I like it fresh. I especially don’t care for cod but my meal that day was my second meal of fish....and of course was cod. The previous night at Maren Anna I had had bacalao, which was an absolutely amazing dish made from stockfish. Stockfish is the fish you see hanging on dryers all through the countryside. We googled it later to find out what exactly stockfish was. It is typically cod although it can be other types of fish. Given where we are it is safe to say that my stockfish had been cod. My lunch that day was another cod dish that was absolutely amazing.

Part 2 - Babes on Bikes:
Tind to Ramberg

After a relaxing lunch with wonderful food, good conversation and some more of the amazing Norwegian stout that Peggy and I had discovered we once again hit the road. The ride was an amazingly beautiful one but a little tense. We rode on narrow roads… Often barely room for two cars on it much less adding bikes with no shoulder or bike lanes. We passed around many blind curves Praying the car behind us would slow and wait to pass us until we are around the curve, we bypassed many tunnels (bikes don’t go through the tunnels but rather around them on side roads not used to my cars) and went through many open tunnels which bikes did go on. We also encountered manybrolling hills… Most not too challenging. It would’ve been such an amazing ride on Ruby. She would’ve flown up and down those rollers like the wind. The rental bikes were OK but nothing exciting - just functional. We didn’t encounter much rain, just some drizzle, and some mild winds in places.

At last we reached Ramberg and found our lodging.

Part 3 - Three Ladies and a Hobbit House

We found our lodgings at Kafe Friisgarden - A quaint little restaurant with a few rooms to rent above in the attic space. Our room was made up of four beds with a threshold you had to step over and an extremely short doorway. I believe I won the award for hitting my head the most on either the doorway or the beams in the room. I also probably had the biggest knot on my head! It was truly an adorable place And came with breakfast included the next morning. Given the cakes I had seen him making and delivering to the dining room I was looking forward to it!

We chose our beds and got a settled in and then headed out to find a place to eat. We decided not to eat there as we would eat there in the morning. Of course the moment we stepped outside it began pouring. We ran to the grocery store across the street so that I could pick up some postcards. There Lois and Peggy were given a recommendation to eat at the restaurant up the street where the campground was on the beach. The rain slacked off and we walked up the road to the restaurant. It was another amazing meal! I of course had another variation of cod and it was amazing. The weather was not conducive at that time to go to the beach and we were tired so we headed back to our home at the little hobbit home on our little hobbit feet!

While everyone else took turns at showers and settled in for the night I retired to the sitting room outside our bedroom. There I worked on my blog and read for a while. It was another Great day and I was looking forward to more adventures tomorrow. We shared a bathroom with the people in the other rooms and I met some of them. There was some other cyclists and some bikers. Peggy and I had talked about going for a midnight walk on the beach in the midnight sun. We had also passed a large number of racks of the hanging stockfish on our way into town and I had talked about riding my bike down there at midnight to check them out. I was quite fascinated by this process with the fish and wanted to see them up close and personal. I thought it looked just like fish heads on the racks but we’d been told they hang the whole fish. In fact walking back from the restaurant that night we saw fish hanging from the side of a house in town - again check the pictures on Facebook for this day. Well just as we had talked about biking in the early morning hours last night we didn’t make it this night either. All being exhausted we went to sleep in our little hobbit beds in our little hobbit room and had our little hobbit dreams! (Probably from too many blows to the head!)

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