Goodbye to Paula (sniff sniff)

Today was our last day with my good friend Paula. We put her on the night bus to Oslo to catch a flight out tomorrow back to Colorado. It was hard not to cry. She wasn’t here long enough nor did I get to show her all the places that I love. The tourist season hasn’t really started here so many things are still closed (like roads) and schedules are limited (like ferries). We did have cooperative weather today though so we took the Hurtigruten ferry out to Geiranger. The two of us planned to take the boat and have Kory pick us up so she could see the trip by water and by land, but the ferry didn’t order a tender to get the people off the boat in Geiranger because there were so few of us on board today. We had to stay on the boat for the ride into the fjord and back out again to Aalesund. It all worked out fine as it was a lovely day for a cruise, even if the wind was a bit chilly – the sun was shining on us all day. The ferry was an hour later than scheduled to arrive in port this morning as it doesn’t travel quite as fast as the other ships in the fleet. We got the oldest ferry Hurtigruten (the Coastal Ferry line) has – built in 1956, so it was like a time warp traveling on that ship. It didn’t have the usual amenities the larger cruise ship type boats they run up and down the coastline have, but there were only a few dozen people on board so it was a good trade off. It was nice not deal with other tourists, even if it meant we got a smaller boat, as we practically had it all to ourselves.

We had lunch while we cruised and Paula, being the good Norwegian girl that she is, loved all that nasty food they served - like funny looking pickled things and fish eggs and such. She squealed with each spoonful of unrecognizable “stuff’ she scooped on to her plate as she was so excited to try out all the new flavors. I stuck with the safe stuff that was easy to identify and I knew what to expect – I’m such a food whimp. But we drank lots of coffee, we talked a lot and laughed a little but not nearly as much as we have laughed all week. If laughter really is good medicine, I won’t be sick for a very long time.

I tried to repeat all the stories that I’ve heard over the years as we’ve traveled into the Geiranger fjord, but I failed miserably in getting things right or remembering all the details. But there were enough mountain farms dotting the landscape to make it interesting however, even without the guided tour. This area of Norway is special as it has so many “fjellsæter” (mountain farms). The mountains are incredible enough in that they just go straight up out of the sea over 6,000 feet into the sky, but then upon closer examination, a house and a barn sometimes appear about 4,000 feet up. It’s always a wonder how in the world someone could carve a little farm out of the side of such a very scary looking place, but they did. When Kory was a kid his dad was a lay-minister and he used to go up into the mountains to visit the people living in those “cliff dwellings.” Kory has some vivid memories of one summer he spent several days up tending goats, rowing a boat on a mountain lake and sleeping over at a farm called Verpesdalen while his father ministered to them. Kory’s goal, before we leave Norway this year, is to visit that place. I’m afraid the hike straight up the mountainside might kill him, so we may have to take a helicopter, but one way or another we’ll get there. It takes more imagination than I have to think about what life must have been like in the days the farms were in full use. Today they are just summer homes. I saw a video on the fjellsæter many years ago and some of the farms were on such steep hillsides the people living there had to tie a rope around their goats and cows, their kids and even themselves, whenever they were outside. One slip and they’d fall to their death. The only advantage to living that high up was that when the tax man came to call, they’d pull up the ladder and he had no way to collect the taxes. I’m sure there are easier ways to avoid paying taxes than to live on the side of such a cliff, but the main reason they lived up there was because there was a patch of tillable soil and people were hungry.

So Kory and Kaleb stayed home today while Paula and I were enjoying a little bit of luxury. Kaleb had a friend from school over and Kory insisted they play outside all day. Kaleb’s imagination has been sucked right out of his brain as he swears there is nothing to do outside. Kory went with them down to the creek and showed them how to build a dam. It worked for a while then they were back again complaining about their boring lives. I think Norwegians kill the boredom by climbing mountains, and building things in odd places. I kill the boredom by communicating with friends via e-mail or Facebook or Skype, but this week I have most certainly not been bored for even a second. It was so great to have Paula here, but now I’m afraid, I might get bored. What to do… what to do…. Come back Paula, come back!