We took the LONG way to Kristiansand today, and as the old Robert Frost poem says, “…it made all the difference.” Sometimes the journey is better than the destination. We arrived in Kristiansand just before dark, so we look forward to exploring the town tomorrow, but the journey here certainly was a day well spent.
There were gray clouds overhead all day so none of the photos I took were eye-popping, but the day was probably more typical than the blue skies we’ve enjoyed since we left Aalesund. The south coast of Norway is known to have the best weather in all the land, so it’s a bit ironic we got clouds and a little rain today.
We passed so many different types of areas in the space between Stavanger and Kristiansand it would be hard to make any generalizations– other than it’s VERY rocky. The mountains here aren’t nearly as high or dramatic as those around Aalesund, but Aalesund is a tough act to follow. A normal drive between today’s two cities would take about four and a half hours, but we used eight as we stopped often. The first stop was at Ikea outside Stavanger. I love that store and it’s as close to a Costco fix as I can get here. We don’t need anything, but I was happy to buy gifts for a few babies soon to be born to friends of ours in Aalesund. I love bargains and the only other place I can get them is a second-hand stores. I made Kory turn around a go back to a “bruktebutikk” (used store) we passed today just so I could check out the goods. All the stores this week are on limited hours due to the holiday, but our timing was perfect. I found a few treasures, so that was a good day for me. We also stopped at several “bomb stations” (bomstasjon) – which is actually what they call “toll booths” here. Pretty funny word for it. The side roads had an unforeseen benefit – the tolls are not nearly as high. Instead of paying $12 to $15 every so often, it was only three or four bucks a pop. Gotta love that. And the scenery in the small towns and the farms right along the coast were very quaint. I can’t believe the size of the farms this far south – huge farms, huge barns, lots and lots of land – so NOT like the farms around Aalesund – and they were all lined with rock fences. (I’ve never seen so many corralled rocks in all my life.) I can’t imagine what it was like for the early settlers, as some cleared fields stood next to fields not cleared and it was easy to see how many back aches came from the clearing. We also passed several types of quarries along the back roads up in the mountains. Some of the rocks were totally white, so many of the driveways we passed were covered in white rock – which was quite a contrast to the surrounding area. So many old roads no longer used, so many old rock fences now grown over with moss and trees and so many very scary roads hugging the sides of steep cliffs with hairpin turns that made me want to lean toward Kory as we were driving, just to make sure we wouldn’t topple over to our certain death below. I’m so thankful Kory’s wrist was better today as there is NO WAY I could drive those roads. This area is as old as the hills, literally.
Kaleb kept himself entertained in the backseat all day with electronics. I so hoped he would like to see the geology and differences of all the areas we passed, but for some reason he finds Pokemon games far more interesting. He did take interest in the restaurant where we ate dinner tonight, however. I’ve never seen anything like it, but the restaurant near our hotel obviously employs a very creative artist. Each table was set completely differently, and they were each incredible works of art – using only the glasses, silverware, bread plates and napkins. Glasses were delicately balanced on each other, stacked in creative ways, the napkins were all formed in unique shapes and the silverware and plates were knit together as part of the overall effect. Kaleb insisted on taking pictures of every table (there weren’t many in the restaurant because of Easter break – normally I guess, reservations are required, so we lucked out.) I’m sure I’ll never set the table again without thinking about that restaurant. We didn’t really want the food to come and mess up the table display, as it was all just so darn clever. Kaleb is ready to start stacking glasses and artfully weaving silverware together so I might actually get him to set the table from now on. At least there is something he’ll remember from this trip.
We were talking this morning at breakfast about the hardest and most dangerous jobs in the world. Kaleb naturally wanted to know the best paid and easiest jobs to have. I told him, “Being a child,” to which he responded, “That’s not a job, it’s a privilege.” I’m thinking Norwegians should feel about the same, as they are extremely privileged just to be Norwegians, as life here is pretty sweet, no matter what kind of job they have.
There were gray clouds overhead all day so none of the photos I took were eye-popping, but the day was probably more typical than the blue skies we’ve enjoyed since we left Aalesund. The south coast of Norway is known to have the best weather in all the land, so it’s a bit ironic we got clouds and a little rain today.
We passed so many different types of areas in the space between Stavanger and Kristiansand it would be hard to make any generalizations– other than it’s VERY rocky. The mountains here aren’t nearly as high or dramatic as those around Aalesund, but Aalesund is a tough act to follow. A normal drive between today’s two cities would take about four and a half hours, but we used eight as we stopped often. The first stop was at Ikea outside Stavanger. I love that store and it’s as close to a Costco fix as I can get here. We don’t need anything, but I was happy to buy gifts for a few babies soon to be born to friends of ours in Aalesund. I love bargains and the only other place I can get them is a second-hand stores. I made Kory turn around a go back to a “bruktebutikk” (used store) we passed today just so I could check out the goods. All the stores this week are on limited hours due to the holiday, but our timing was perfect. I found a few treasures, so that was a good day for me. We also stopped at several “bomb stations” (bomstasjon) – which is actually what they call “toll booths” here. Pretty funny word for it. The side roads had an unforeseen benefit – the tolls are not nearly as high. Instead of paying $12 to $15 every so often, it was only three or four bucks a pop. Gotta love that. And the scenery in the small towns and the farms right along the coast were very quaint. I can’t believe the size of the farms this far south – huge farms, huge barns, lots and lots of land – so NOT like the farms around Aalesund – and they were all lined with rock fences. (I’ve never seen so many corralled rocks in all my life.) I can’t imagine what it was like for the early settlers, as some cleared fields stood next to fields not cleared and it was easy to see how many back aches came from the clearing. We also passed several types of quarries along the back roads up in the mountains. Some of the rocks were totally white, so many of the driveways we passed were covered in white rock – which was quite a contrast to the surrounding area. So many old roads no longer used, so many old rock fences now grown over with moss and trees and so many very scary roads hugging the sides of steep cliffs with hairpin turns that made me want to lean toward Kory as we were driving, just to make sure we wouldn’t topple over to our certain death below. I’m so thankful Kory’s wrist was better today as there is NO WAY I could drive those roads. This area is as old as the hills, literally.
Kaleb kept himself entertained in the backseat all day with electronics. I so hoped he would like to see the geology and differences of all the areas we passed, but for some reason he finds Pokemon games far more interesting. He did take interest in the restaurant where we ate dinner tonight, however. I’ve never seen anything like it, but the restaurant near our hotel obviously employs a very creative artist. Each table was set completely differently, and they were each incredible works of art – using only the glasses, silverware, bread plates and napkins. Glasses were delicately balanced on each other, stacked in creative ways, the napkins were all formed in unique shapes and the silverware and plates were knit together as part of the overall effect. Kaleb insisted on taking pictures of every table (there weren’t many in the restaurant because of Easter break – normally I guess, reservations are required, so we lucked out.) I’m sure I’ll never set the table again without thinking about that restaurant. We didn’t really want the food to come and mess up the table display, as it was all just so darn clever. Kaleb is ready to start stacking glasses and artfully weaving silverware together so I might actually get him to set the table from now on. At least there is something he’ll remember from this trip.
We were talking this morning at breakfast about the hardest and most dangerous jobs in the world. Kaleb naturally wanted to know the best paid and easiest jobs to have. I told him, “Being a child,” to which he responded, “That’s not a job, it’s a privilege.” I’m thinking Norwegians should feel about the same, as they are extremely privileged just to be Norwegians, as life here is pretty sweet, no matter what kind of job they have.
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