Wonderful Western Norway

If you wish to stay in a hotel that listed in ‘1000 places to see before you die’ then here is one. Unfortunately the reviews from people staying here are mostly poor. On reaching our room I also formed a poor impression. The bathroom had a toilet propped up on a six-inch block to allow the passage of the outlet pipe. The paper was peeling off the bathroom wall and signs of black mould showed. The room was also level with the car park just outside so anyone in it could see straight in if our light was on. This room was, however, of a good size with a settee.

We quickly sought a room change. We got it next day when conference people who had asked for an extension of a day left. Our new room was on the fourth floor and in a different world. Although we hadn’t paid for a view we were looking straight out on to the fjord. It was picture-perfect with a looming mountain with glittering water in front - a view that artists have been coming to paint for 200 years. The fjord changed colours and moods as the light changed. The room was smaller but clean and without any of the failings of the last one. It was a basic room without any extras like a settee, or tea and coffee making facilities – what we had paid for in fact!

The original hotel dating from 1752 has the traditional "Swiss" architectural style. This part is atmospheric and historical. Unfortunately the modern extension containing our room is a concrete monstrosity like a multi-storey car park.

With its 190 rooms, it is now one of the largest tourist hotels in Norway. Over the years, the list of prominent hotel guests in the old hotel have included Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and emperors, kings, presidents, prime ministers, film stars and artists from many countries. An impressive collection of art and historical pieces is a central feature of the old hotel's interior, and contributes to its unique character.

We had dinner each night in the hotel, it being part of the package deal. Served in the old part of the hotel, it was a four-course buffet and the range of food was breathtaking with fish featuring prominently. Reindeer was the main meat course on two occasions. The food was always perfectly cooked and the wine was expensive.

The bed was comfortable and we slept well. The breakfast, also served in the old part of the hotel, was most expansive with a wide choice and set us up for another day.

Facilities: sauna, Jacuzzi and games room, wood-panelled lounges, reading rooms, antiques and art collection, bar, scenic terrace and fjordside garden, lifts in new wing only. In addition: free use of rowing boat and fishing gear, good bathing facilities for hotel residents.

We had a marvellous stay at this hotel once we sorted out our room problems.

Balestrand lies on the sheltered north shore of the of Sognefjord, Norway’s longest and deepest fjord. It looks out on dramatic mountainsides plunging into the deep, dark waters of the fjord. Beyond is a hinterland of unspoiled forests, lakes and glaciers.

Its picturesque but dramatic setting has been a focus point for tourists for over 200 years. It became popular due to the interest of artists. Among these is Hans Gude a Norwegian romanticist painter and Alfred Heaton Cooper an English landscape artist who worked in watercolours. There is also Hans Dahl a Norwegian painter of landscape and Johannes Flintoe a Danish-Norwegian painter, known for his depiction of landscapes and scenes from Danish and Scandinavian history. Their paintings of the scenery around Balestrand inspired visitors.

Because of its beauty Balestrade is still a gathering place for artists and writers – several of whom have made it their home - for instance Bjorg F. Bjoberg and Arthur Adamson. In their Café Galleri you can have a light meal or browse the watercolour paintings of Bjorg or the oils of Arthur. He is from Liverpool and in addition to painting runs a small museum in the gallery. Arthur is a fund of jokes while explaining the museum items and Bjorg says she collects ‘golden moments’. Mine was when she sang several Norwegian songs to us.

The first inn in Balestrand, built in the Swiss Chalet style, opened in 1752 and still welcomes tourists as the modern-day Kvikne’s hotel. Kaiser Wilhelm II helped make it popular in the early 20th century by visiting here during his summer vacations before World War I. The hotel still owns the chair he used in the restaurant.

School leavers from all over the country come to stay for a week at a time to study the life in the fjord at the Sognefjord Aquarium. They have collected the fish, animals and plants in the aquarium. Also in the building is another treasure - Gallery Munken with displays by Magnus Sande. These are a series of woodcarvings each focusing on life in Balestrade from a historical perspective. The work-like paintings in 3D show intricate detail and are well worth seeing.

St Olav’s Church built in 1897, also known as the English Church, is an Anglican church built in the style of a Stave Church. It was the idea of Margaret Kvikne English wife of Knut Kvikne the hotel owner. Unfortunately she died before her dream could come true.

Balestrand takes four hours to reach from Bergen by either bus or express boat. Once there it is a place for relaxation and revitalisation. Stroll along the side of the fjord breathing in the fresh, clean air scented by apple blossom while listening to birdsong.

In the area you can walk terrain unlike any in the world and visit memorable attractions - for example a trip to Europe’s largest glacier, or travel on one of the steepest railways in the world.

We boarded the express ferry at 7.50am and enjoyed the ever-changing scenery as we powered along the fjord making our way to the open sea. Gradually the mountains disappeared and more rugged coastline appeared with rocky coasts polished by ice and sea. We passed under the Nordhordland Bridge crossing Osterfjorden, the largest floating bridge in Europe, slipped through narrow channels and arrive in the old harbour of Vågen at Bergen at 11.40am without coming out on to the open sea. By bus or express boat the travel time is the same but in decent weather the boat ride is smoother.

We had just over four hours to explore this city founded by King Olav in the 11th century. It was Norway’s first capital and its largest city until overtaken by Oslo in the 20th century. Its hills create a damp climate but the sun shone for us.

Along the inner harbour is the open-air fish, flower and fruit market - perhaps a little surprising this far north. We strolled through the market past the wooden warehouses of Bryggen and took the Floibanen funicular up 'Mount Floyen'. At the top there is a coffee bar restaurant and shop. From the viewing platform Bergen below is a map of islands and peninsulas leading to the North Sea.

Arriving down we found a small restaurant, had something to eat, and had a look in the Tourist Office. The building itself with its ornate ceiling and motifs on the wall was well worth seeing.

Unfortunately Monday the day of our arrival was when the museums shut so we contented ourselves with exploring the old town, Bryggen, next to the market. The old wharf was a reminder of Bergen’s importance as part of the Hanseatic League's trading empire. In the late Middle Ages it set up a trading post here, which became a thriving centre of international trade.

Many fires, the last in 1955, have ravaged the beautiful wooden houses, but much remains. The characteristic parallel rows of buildings, with their seaward-facing gables represent a building tradition dating back almost 900 years and deservedly placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1980.

We wandered through the narrow ally ways between the remaining 58 buildings admiring the work of the artists who now use the buildings. Unfortunately closed doors faced us at the Hanseatic Museum housed in one of the oldest and best-preserved merchant houses.

Further along the waterfront we came to Haakon's Hall a medieval stone hall inside Bergenhus fortress. Scottish stonemasons built the hall in the middle of the 13th century - it looked similar to a Scottish fortified house. It was the largest building of the royal palace in Bergen, then the capital of Norway and the largest secular medieval building in Norway. Guides conduct hourly tours apart from Mondays.

At 16.30 we boarded the ferry and arrived back at Balestrand at 20.20pm after a much too short visit to Bergen.

We left the hotel at 7.45am and drove by coach to catch the ferry at Dragsvik for Vagnes. Continuing by bus to Vik we visited Hopperstad Stave Church. We then caught the boat at Gudvagen for a two-hour passage through the Naeroyfjord to Flåm.

The village of Flåm has been a popular tourist destination since the late 19th century. It receives almost 450,000 visitors a year many of which are from the 131 cruise ships that arrive at Flåm harbour.

After lunch at the Furunroe café, where our guide Anne had arranged soup for us, we strolled among the craft shops before we boarded the train to Myrdad at 2.45pm. This spectacular railway is a miracle of engineering, snaking 20 km up the narrow mountain valley through 20 tunnels and flicking in and out of snow screens. The gradient at 1 in 18 is one of the steepest adhesion railway tracks. Because of the steep incline and scenery it is a major tourist attraction. Snowy peaks, small farming settlements on the valley floor and snowy mountain tops flickered through the trees.

Built to provide a line of communication between Sognefjorden and the main railway, the route chosen was tortuous. Construction started in 1923 with manual labour the sole means of digging out 18 of the 20 tunnels. The line opened in 1940 with passenger traffic starting the following year. The top station Myrdal is 865 metres above Flåm which is at sea level.

Flåmsbana is a standard gauge railway. The rolling stock, with a dark-green livery, consists of El17 locomotives, which run push-pull trains of old carriages from the 1960s with rebuilt interiors to give a higher passenger density. The interiors have a luxurious look and feel with masses of wood panelling. Passenger numbers have climbed to 475,000 a year.

Trains on the Flåmsbana stop at the Kjosfossen waterfall during summer months. The roar of rushing water, the cool spray hitting faces, the rainbow forming in the mist, the constant changing forms and patterns that emerge out of the turbulence had cameras snapping. Sometimes dancers perform on stone platforms in the spray. From every angle one experiences something new from those waterfalls.

It seemed strange finding the main Bergen line at the top of the mountain. A journey on it must yield magnificent views! Here many people alighted with their cycles from our train to freewheel all the way to Flåm using roads, which twist and turn their way down the mountain. We had seen cyclists hurtle down the roads as we went up. Happily we returned on the train!

Although we came by boat we left by bus, which is now possible thanks to tunnels. In 1992 the Gudvanga Tunnel (11 km) opened and in 2000 the Lærdal Tunnel (24 km, longest road tunnel in the world) followed. Since then there is no need for car ferries or passenger boats except for tourists. We returned to the hotel about 8pm.

We crossed on the ferry to Hella at 10am and continued along the fjord by bus to Kaupanger. Here we visited the open-air museum. Located within a natural setting it is a living display which shows life in the area from the Middle Ages to the present-day. The museum moved more than 30 buildings ranging from medieval buildings to modern industrially produced houses to the Folk Museum from different parts of Sogn to show lifestyles along the Sognefjord over 300 years.

A traditional farm from the 17th century with live animals proved a hit with children and adults alike. Houses ranged from simple log cabins with roofs covered with birch-bark and turf through houses built with proper boarding to the grander judge’s house. A school with individual desks and inkwells caught the attention of my wife who had been a teacher. The museum curator who was a music teacher took the opportunity to hold a class and had our group sing a hymn – she didn’t look impressed! In turn she sang one in Norwegian we were impressed! People here love to sing!

Inside the museum building three floors hold displays on crafts, agriculture, food traditions, clothing, holidays and celebrations. It is an insight into life along the Sognesfjord over the past 300 years. Explanations were in Norwegian so we had to play guessing games. Anything to do with farming, the home, or joinery I could be reasonably certain that I was right. Other areas often left me puzzled. Children had an attractive display about items important to them.

In the small cafe we had soup as usual which Anne, our guide, had ordered for the group. The word ‘soup’ had become a joke each time ‘Souppan’ mentioned it. Afterwards we browsed the museum shop.

After the Folk Museum we moved to the Sogn Fjordmuseum sitting close to the ferry quay further on. This modern museum’s collection contains 30 working boats from the 17th century displayed in three halls.

The boats’ exhibition ranks among the best ones in Norway. Among the boats are big transporters for moving farm surpluses to Bergen for sale. Permanently rigged these managed with a crew of two and could make speeds of up to 9 knots. Four oared boats from Nornfjord, especially seaworthy, called for plenty of muscle. Travelling boats used by the big estate owners were the limousines of the fjord people. Others include the fishing boat Heland (1937) and a reconstruction of the Viking age Fjørtoft boat and a small boat pulled over the ice when the water froze over.

The workshop of a boat builder displayed the tools of his trade, fishing equipment and various other bits and pieces help tell the story of fjord life.

Going back over the centuries people had a hard life, they also had something we have lost – community spirit, faith and a greater wiliness to help one another.

We returned to the hotel around 5pm.

Nothing is more Norwegian than the stavekirke (stave churches). These get their name from the solid, upright timber trunks or staves. With their roofs shaped like the curves of a Viking ship and dragon prows to ward off evil spirits, these are churches belonging to people hankering after their pagan past. The strength and structural integrity of these buildings render them capable of standing hundreds of years.

A law passed requiring churches to be big enough to take a third of the local population almost meant the end of these wee kirks. Many were pulled down and only 28 remain.

They are an art form that could equally as well have come out of Japan or China. They descended from simple palisade constructions of logs split in two halves, rammed into the ground and given a roof. Later constructions had a stone foundation to reduce rot.

Kaupanger stave church, which we visited, is the largest stave church in the Sogn og Fjordane area, and it is situated in the town of Kaupanger. It has the largest number of staves to be found in any stave church. The nave is supported by 22, eight on each of the longest sides and three on each of the shortest sides. Four freestanding staves carry the elevated chancel.

This church was built in the 12th century and is still in use as a parish church. The medieval construction has been preserved. Inside it is dark for there are few windows and those that exist are small. Around the walls faded decorations are still visible dating back to when it was a Roman Catholic Church. The pulpit, altarpiece and font are all from the 17th century.

Another stave church we visited was the richly decorated Hopperstad in Vik. It seems incredible that this church would have been lost but for the intervention of cultural conservationists. It is reckoned to be one of the oldest stave churches, probably built around 1140.

This Stave Church has suffered periods of neglect but experienced a wonderful revival in the 1880s. With the exception of the nave and the chancel, most of the church's interior had been removed. In 1881, the architect Peter Andreas Blix offered his services free of charge and the church was restored using other churches as models.

In Balestrand there is the St Olavs Church, also known as the English Church. It is an Anglican church built in 1897 in the style of a stave church. It was the idea of Margaret Kvikne the English born wife of Knut Kvikne the hotel owner. Unfortunately she died before her dream could come true. A beautiful little church it is one of the attractions in Balestrand and its door is always open for visitors.

If you get the chance to do visit some one of these churches, they are one of the things about Norway that is different from elsewhere. They seem to fit this land of mountains, ice, waterfalls and mischievous trolls.

We boarded the Fjaerlands fjord ferry to journey down one of the most beautiful and scenic fjords in Norway. Steep wooded mountainsides, cascading waterfalls, and small farms sitting by the waters edge drifted leisurely by. As the boat neared the head of the fjord we caught a glimpse of glaciers sitting high on the mountains. After rejoining our bus we passed through the small book town of Lunde and past its Fjaerland church dating back to 1861.

On arrival at Norway’s Glacier Museum we watched the Virtual Tour film, which took us over the Jostedal Glacier. Five screens gave a wrap round 3D effect. The helicopter carrying the cameras performed acrobatics among the crevasses and ice walls. A friend, a keen glider pilot, was frantically working an imaginary control stick to pull out of some of the dives.

After the film we entered the museum proper where we learn more about glaciers and tried some hands-on experiments on 1000-year old ice from the glacier. There are four chief types of glaciers: valley or mountain glaciers which are tongues of moving ice sent out by mountain snowfields following valleys originally formed by streams. Glaciers further divide into warm or cold depending on whether their temperatures are above or below –10 degrees Centigrade. Most of Norway’s glaciers are valley glaciers. Jostedal Glacier is Europe’s largest glacier and it is a plateau glacier with many branches although most in Norway are valley glaciers. It covers an area the size of New York. We entered a simulated glacier and listened to the cracks, bangs and slithering noises of moving ice.

Rejoined the bus we made our way out to the glaciers. The first glacier visited was the Suphellbreen, which because of the rainy weather we couldn’t see clearly. On journeying out to the Beyabreen glacier the weather cleared a little. Here we visited the small restaurant where soup was awaiting us. This happened everywhere we went for our guide Anne booked soup wherever we went - she has the nickname Souppan. Through the huge panoramic window we were able to admire the glacier.

Afterwards we strolled down to the glacier lake for a closer view. Here as in many parts of Norway waterfalls fed by melting snow cascade down. The roar of rushing water, the cool spray hitting your face, the rainbow that forms in the mist, the constant changing forms and patterns that emerge out of the turbulence. From every angle one experiences something new from those waterfalls.

Making our way back to Fjaerland, we arrived back in the village of Lunde. Here we spent two hours visiting the second-hand bookstores some of which had English books. We also visited the old church before boarding the ferry to take us back down the fjord, which we now knew had been scooped out by glacier action, to Balestrand. Fjords often extend downwards as far as the mountains extend upwards.