My Plans Are Failing Once Again

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Geo: 59.879, 8.59134

We're up and ready to go at by 9am. We grab our free breakfast which is, well, free and very good. My plan for today was to take the Oslo sightseeing boat around Oslo harbor and fjords in the morning but, nervous about traveling today, we skip it and head out directly to the parking garage. Everyone tells me I have a problem since I don't have a parking ticket. A customer at the machine says the same. There is no attendant. Noticing a call button, I push. A lady comes on in Danish but quickly switches to English while listening to my story. No worries, she says. It will figure it out as long as you use the same card to check out with. There is no ticket. Oh, the stress. We follow her instructions and exit the garage. Instructions in English would have been helpful. They have a British flag that it you push it, instructions say insert card. They want that card. After that, all the rest is Danish.

We exit the garage with no issues but soon find ourselves on backstreets, going the wrong way, no GPS signal and end up using old fashioned street signs to maneuver by. We finally get in the right direction on E18, our GPSs are both working and we're on our way to Heddal to see the stave church. It's more complicated than that but let's just say we make it there. The machine works better out of the city. I buy gas on the way and my MC works but only with an attendant. That's not what Capital One said before we left.

It's 120 kilometers or about a 2hr drive to Heddal where the stave church is. Of course, that's if you know what you're doing. It's the only thing in that area to see and Norway is famous for them. Besides, it's on the way to Ryjvk and that's where the Gaustabanen is. That is the plan for tomorrow after breakfast. Today we check out the stave church, an all wood church of unusual construction built in the 13th century. Here's something about stave churches from our reading.

A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the buildings' structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing pine posts are called "stav" in Norwegian. Two related church building types also named for their structural elements, the post church, and palisade church, are often also called ‘stave churches'.Originally much more widespread, most of the surviving stave churches are in Norway. This church is a triple nave stave church and is Norway's largest stave church. It was constructed at the beginning of the 13th century. After the reformation, the church was in a very poor condition, and a restoration took place during 1849–1851. However, because the restorers lacked the necessary knowledge and skills, yet another restoration was necessary in the 1950s. The interior is marked by the period after the Lutheran Reformation in 1536–1537 and is for a great part a result of the restoration that took place in the 1950s.

Instead of driving posts and walls into the ground, a framework of sills was erected atop a stone foundation and posts placed within the sills kept them high and dry. With this improved technique, the next 100 years between 1150 – 1250 saw the construction of more than 1,000 churches with increasingly sophisticated design variations. Only 28 remain today, the Heddal site being the largest. Our guide pointed out the difference between the original posts and some more recent replacement posts. The originals were in perfect condition but the newer ones had cracks and splits in them. He told us that the originals were made from tall, straight trees that were stripped of their limbs and left to stand in place for 50 years. This kept the wood tight and intact for centuries.

Ok. Now that you know how to build one, we stop for some Heddal soup and coffee. The soup's great and the coffee, as usual, very strong so we add water. Now we set the GPS machine to Ryjvk and follow it. Fortunately, the route has only two highways but since there are lots of tunnels, we lose reception all the time and it takes some time to get back. It's around 6 pm when we get to our lodging, a nice little cottage. Mom likes it. It's like a little house. It's too late to do anything so, after settling in, we head to the restaurant on site. I had fish and chips with beer and Mom had Norwegian meat balls with a diet coke. It's a small little place, a cozy atmosphere and popular with bikers. They also have takeaway pizza, very popular here. Our food was reasonable and good, priced high by U.S. Standards but cheap for around here.

I ask about the Gaustabanen. It's close by and I know it would be fun to try. Gaustabanen is a funicular railway, inside the mountain Gaustatoppen. This is a very unique tourist attraction. No similar railway is to be found in North-Europe! A cable railway has been built inside Mount Gausta. The Gausta Line consists of a battery-powered carriage on rails which transports passengers approx. 860 metres horizontally into the mountain. At this point there is an intermediate transfer station from which a shuttle line runs upwards at an angle for 1040 meters to a height of 1800 meters above sea level. At the top there is an exit which leads passengers out on to the so-called Tuddalstippen, just below the Mount Gausta Tourist Chalet. The line was built in order to transport people and equipment up to a height of 1800 meters, and as a military transport system which is unique in global terms. A unit of the Norwegian armed forces, which was involved in the installation of radio links on Mount Gausta, was keen to gain year-round access to the peak regardless of the weather. They then conceived the idea of copying the developers of hydroelectric power stations by excavating a tunnel into the mountainside. The cost of the line on completion in 1958 was one million dollars. Today the price would have been so prohibitive that the line would never have been built. The Mount Gausta line was also originally intended to be used for transporting tourists up to the peak of Mount Gausta, but unfortunately the Cold War came along.

Gaustatoppen is the highest mountain in this area of Norway. The view from the summit is impressive, as one can see an area of approximately 60,000 km², one sixth of Norway's mainland. 6178' above sea level.

I note from a brochure in the restaurant that the opening day is Saturday and tomorrow is Friday. I confirm with the Norwegian clerk and she reads the same thing. We came to ride this thing and it opens a day later. Their 2016 hours were finally posted about a month ago and I would have had to change our route. I guess we're out. Returning to our cottage, Karen watched some TV while I struggles with the blog to get caught up. Being tired, we both went to bed about 10pm. Keep in mind it's still daylight out. Tomorrow is Eidjford and the Voringfossen waterfall. I wonder it that's shut down too. We adjust our plans to sleep in a little and then head out. We draw all the drapes while listening to the stream flowing past and check off another day.

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Comments

[Alan and Min]

Too bad Gaustabanen was closed. Love that slate roof and the church. Both of those are really unique.