Blog 4 Urnes, Jostedal Glacier, Geirgangerfjord, Trollstevegen and Alesund


Advertisement
Norway's flag
Europe » Norway » Western Norway » Ålesund
July 13th 2015
Published: July 14th 2015
Edit Blog Post

GeirangerfjordGeirangerfjordGeirangerfjord

You just can't help but love this place
Sunday July 5 – Urnes Stave Church, Jostedal Glacier, Geirgangerfjord Ferry, Trollstevegen and Alesund

Breakfast the next morning was a local food tasting feast. Apple juice from the local fruit farm, brown goat cheeses, local honey, Flam bacon and specialty sausages, hot smoked fish from Alesund, and so many other delicacies. We thought we may as well try the lot so breakfast took quite a while – we didn’t care because we didn’t want to leave this wonderful little peace of heaven. Ah all good things come to an end and we checked out. Didn’t go far – just 30 metres across the garden to catch the 15 minute ferry ride to Ernes. The reason for doing this was to visit the UNESCO listed Urnes Stave Church. The church is the oldest preserved stave church in Norway. Built in the 1130’s it has 4 previous churches under its foundations so it is a very significant site. It is built from dried oak trees which have been coated with a special tar mix to protect the timber – done a great job so far!

The church itself was truly beautiful because it was all done in wood. The carvings on
Jostedal National Park Jostedal National Park Jostedal National Park

Lupins growing wild as we drove towards the Jostedal Glacier
some parts of the Church are the same Celtic inscriptions as those we saw in the Book of Kells exhibition at Trinity College in Dublin. The Irish and the Vikings of Norway share a long history! The ceiling and walls are covered with wood shavings in a rich brown colour and in some parts of the church the original colorful artwork remains. One thing that was quite interesting was the open space under the floor which was used for burials. They banned this in the 1800’s because of the ‘unpleasant smell’ – imagine trying to concentrate on singing a hymm! There was also one painting dating back to the 1600’s which had been sprinkled with ground glass to create the effect of woven silk. Glass back then was very rare and this is an extremely rare piece of art. After listening to the guide, looking at the amazing woodwork and sitting in the pews of this thousand year old church, we looked at each other and decided that this is why we need to travel – you just don’t know what you don’t know.

So we had to back to the 21st century quickly to catch the next ferry
Towards JostedalTowards JostedalTowards Jostedal

Very steep roads here as we head towards the mountains
and that meant a very brisk walk down the hill. 20 mins later we were on our way back to Urnes to pick up our car and drive north over the Jostedalsbreen National Park with its beautiful glaciers, through Lunde to Stryn. The Jostedal Glacier was truly stunning. The glacier sits perfectly in view as you drive along the road and we just wanted to keep photographing this amazing glacier.

Driving on we stopped at Gudbrandsjuvet Canyon walk. More rushing water eating away at the rock etc – the walkway was really well contructed making it easy for people to enjoy the water pouring into the canyon as well as the ferns and tiny plants..

Continued on our amazing drive to catch the ferry at Hellystyt to cruise along the Geirangerfjord. Well yet again we misjudged the driving time because of the slow speeds on the little windy roads and missed the early ferry – not to worry as there was another one to catch. When we arrived in Hellystyt the place was a mass of people partying in the streets celebrating a summer music festival. Navigated our way around them, found the ferry and waited patiently in the car queue.

What an amazing one hour cruise the Geirangerfjord turned out to be – so glad we had the opportunity to experience it. The fery crew did a running commentary about the fjord, the names of the waterfalls, explained the history of the abandoned farms high up on the steep fjord slopes, as well as providing details about the size of the fjord etc. It is a branch of the much longer Storfjorden Great fjord which comes 60 kms inland. The Geirgangerfjord is 16kms long and more than 600 metres deep. The big cruise liners come in from the coast all the way to the end of the fjord finishing in Geirangerford. The beautiful Seven Sisters waterfalls were really spectacular. The ferry docked right outside our hotel and there was a cruise ship sitting right alongside. To our surprise we had a balcony room with a view looking straight down the fjord – it was a great way to finish another wonderful day.

Monday July 7- Twists and Turns to Alesund – After seeing how many buses were lined up to leave Geiranger we decided to get going early. Also the weather forecast was for heavy
Jostedal National ParkJostedal National ParkJostedal National Park

Beautiful traditional Norwegian home with the carvings etc at the front entrance
rain by mid morning so it was important to get moving. Directly above the town of Geiranger was the Eagle Road (Orne to the locals) to Eidsdal. Quite a few switch backs to us up into the mountains with waterfalls pouring off the mountainsides.

We made good time and as we were zooming down the road we saw a sign with a ferry to Linge. We looked at each other and said, ‘does that name ring a bell – yep we need to be on that ferry’. So we turned around and we were the last car on – perfect timing!!! The ferry is a nice break and they serve yummy hot chocolate. 20 mins later we were unloading and off to do one of our bucket list drives “The Trollstevegen Road’.

With rain chasing us all the way we started to drive this mighty road. It is impossible to describe how mountainous and rocky this area really is. All you can do is look at the photos to see what we mean. After driving up the mountain pass and across the rocky snowline, before you know it you are at the top and you start driving down a set of switch backs where a giant waterfall almost covers the road. There is not much room to pass and the drop over the edge is quite spectacular. Enjoy the photos because we had a ball taking them and driving this amazing road.

After the excitement of driving the Trollstevegen we drove through quite a lot of rain to the Alesund, an amazing port city dating back to the 1600’s. Unfortunately the old centre was destroyed by fire in 1904 and they completely rebuilt it in the Baroque architectural style. The buildings are beautifully decorated and we saw many walking groups who had come to see the ornate buildings. Being an old port city it is built around the waterways and that makes it even prettier.

Checking in at the Hotel Scandic in Alesund provided us with a new experience - hopefully not to be repeated. We had to wait for over an hour for a room to become available. When we were finally allocated a room we arrived at the door, Graham put the card in and opened the door, turned to me and said, "hand on there's suitcases in here'. Then a young girl appears
Jostedal GlacierJostedal GlacierJostedal Glacier

Getting closer
and says 'what's going on, I just walked in here, the room isn't prepared, and now I have someone walk in my door". Oops we said. Seems like the reception have stuffed up. Leave it with us and we will sort it out. You take the room." So back we went feeling a bit alarmed at the mix up and Graham was thinking thank goodness there wasn't a hot scene happening.... So we had a serious conversation with the reception and you know the old saying, every cloud as a silver lining well this one did because we got a terrific upgrade to a room with a wonderful view looking right over the harbour. So after that excitement we needed a wine and some food. The city centre was very quiet, perhaps it was the rain that sent people for cover. We found a great Indian Restaurant and really enjoyed the different touches of the Bangladeshi Chef.


Additional photos below
Photos: 42, Displayed: 27


Advertisement

Jostedal GlacierJostedal Glacier
Jostedal Glacier

Notice how much this glacier has receded
Jostedal GlacierJostedal Glacier
Jostedal Glacier

Canberra tourist spotted checking out the glacier
Jostadel National ParkJostadel National Park
Jostadel National Park

Leaving the mountains we headed into the valley with the Great Storfjorden in the background
Storfjorden Great fjordStorfjorden Great fjord
Storfjorden Great fjord

Check out the steep sides of this fjord which comes 60 kms inland.
Geirangerfjord FerryGeirangerfjord Ferry
Geirangerfjord Ferry

Motorcyclists are everywhere in this part of the world and they get prime spots at the front of the queue on the ferries
Geirangerfjord FerryGeirangerfjord Ferry
Geirangerfjord Ferry

Graham enjoying the view and the wind in his hair from the very front of the ferry - it was actually quite cold but the sunshine was great!
Geirangerfjord Geirangerfjord
Geirangerfjord

Waterfalls are pouring off the sides everywhere here
GeirangerfordGeirangerford
Geirangerford

and then there was another waterfall from the top to the bottom
GeirangerfordGeirangerford
Geirangerford

small local ferries cruise the area all the time. Love this shot because of the rock cliff face and the waterfall
GeirangerfjordGeirangerfjord
Geirangerfjord

The famous Seven Sisters Waterfall
GeirangerfjordGeirangerfjord
Geirangerfjord

View of the fjord and the cruiseships from our hotel balcony. The ships anchor at the end of the 250 metre deep fjord
Houses in GeirangerfordHouses in Geirangerford
Houses in Geirangerford

Check out the grass growing on the rooftops. This is very common everywhere we have been in Norway.


Tot: 0.118s; Tpl: 0.026s; cc: 10; qc: 32; dbt: 0.042s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb