Day 9 Fossesholm

Fossesholm, Norway


Fossesholm is the wealthy farm and homestead where Petranella and her sister originated. This farm has been through many many owners but it began primarily as a timber and lumber mill, next to the Drammenselva river itself!


We took a tour through this beautiful farm but were unable to take any pictures as the wallpaper and furniture are SO old that light could potentially destroy what is remaining today. The art on the inside walls was so unusual and outrageous when it was painted in the 1400s. And though it was faded, we could only imagine just how vivid it once was.

Scenes from everything from hunting English style, to floating goods and lumber down the river, to proposing to a woman via a birds nest (to say yes all she must do is open her apron and accept it, then the man may go ask her parents for her hand) and many many other images depicting outdoor scenes that in the winter the people living in the house (for the wealthy rarely went outdoors in bad weather) could see all the time. How I wish we could have taken photographs!! The interior floors also are painted to resemble Italian marble and are still in great condition as of today.



Komgsberg, Norway
Then cousin Rune took us to Kongsberg and the silver mining museum,


Where I really really wanted to climb some ladders!!!! Very interesting museum where they mined silver, gold and gems and for a long time made the bulk of money used while the king of Norway and Denmark Christian IV, reigned(the silver here was especially valuable and some very large pieces have been found to date)


Here also were mineral deposits and stones that would be a geologists dream.....

Then off to more family activities, attempting to speak Norsk(I think it's getting easier, at least to understand though I still cannot pronounce...) and attempting to tell them that I am diabetic, which another member of the family has type 2 so they had a "special" sugar free cake available!!!

Heading to Flam on the railroad tomorrow!

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Location:Fossesholm, Norway

Day 8

To the Petraborgs we were unable to meet in person, we took a side trip to the graveyard to solemnly pay our respects.

















But all was not solemn, these kids are a bundle of energy! Just ask Aunt Kat!!! (she slept well this night!)

Dinner with family and a friendly game of arm wrestling, Norwegian style. This kid is 9 and he is STRONG!





Aunt Kat and I both lost.

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Location:Krokstadelva and Vestfossen, Norway

Day 7 the Petraborg farm

We picked sun kissed raspberries today!!!!


Amazingly we picked these delicious berries on a track of land that goes by the name of: Petraborg farm in Vestfossen, Norway.


Wow, where to start with this day....the raspberries are a start, but the story goes that there were 2 brothers who married 2 sisters from a nearby farm by the name of Fossesholm and they lived on this land and split it between them. The house, the fields, everything.

One of the sisters name was Petranella. In Norway, Borg is a castle or more similar to a type of fortress. From this place, the rest of the Petraborgs were born.

I cannot put into words on a blog exactly how amazing it was to physically "see" the beginnings of the Petraborg name! Especially when you see raspberry and strawberry fields galore! Wow!!


Can you see Aunt Kat picking(eating) raspberries!?

We met family today!!!!! I cannot believe how many Petraborgs are currently living in Norway at this time! We had a small reunion where they took us around, fed us and joked with us- it definitely felt like family!!!

Then they tried a little matchmaking, in setting me up with a man who was born the same year as I, except, he is a relation to me!!!! 4th or 8th cousin, people, I don't care it's still a COUSIN!!!!! Aunt Kat has a blackmail photo that I'm sure will crop up any day here.......

They spoiled us here in Vestfossen, so much that I know for sure that someday I wish to come back!


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Location:Vestfossen

Day 6

Drammen


Song of the river.



The river Drammenselva is one of the largest rivers in Norway, with a drainage basin of about 17,000 square kilometers and a flow rate of 300 cubic meters per second. The river has an average discharge of about 300 m3 / s. Drammen River's total length is 308 km making it the 5th longest river in Norway. It is a staple of life and transportation in central Norway.

Along the river there are these huge metallic orbs called river harps. These cool sound sculptures are set into the pedestrian Ypsilon bridge with two large silver balls, one on either side of the river. The music is created by variations in water flow and bridge oscillations.

Be careful though, the Drammen River is home to Nøkken, a water spirit in Norwegian folklore who lures people into the water with his beautiful music!!

Spiralen


This tunnel is the start of 8 tight spirals that take you up to the top of the mountain! It is all completely enclosed and completely dizzying!!!!!!


We also met a few locals at the top(a father and his son) where aunt Kat proceeded to tell them that I am single?! Unfortunately for the son, his father would not allow him to go to Alaska, even for a visit, as he was needed to stay in Norway to run the family business. Darn, he was cute too ;)



Then we went to a family house and Aunt Kat found something a bit more appealing than that kitty cat to bring back to Alaska as a souvenir. Though the mother of the baby made it quite clear (even though she also said she knew minimal English) that Aunt Kat should "go ahead and just try." Then Aunt Kat understood that you don't always need English to convey a protective maternal "look".

Once again the weather has been marvelous and hot.

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Location:Drammen and Krokstadelva

Day 4

Today we ventured to the opera house!


The roof of the building is built out of granite and marble and designed to make it seem like the opera house is rising out of the water like a song!


This house was designed and completed in 2008. Very trendy and very modern and you can walk on the roof!


Unfortunately everything playing here is strictly outside of our current budget, so walking around the lobby, gazing at the art, and using the ultra modern bathrooms was well worth the visit!!!!!

In fact, a bit later we were in sentral station and needed to use the ladies room again- but when we realized at the station that they were going to charge us 10 kroner, we decide to scamper back over to the opera house, where the toalettes were clean and most importantly- FREE!!


Here we be, walking down a street that is beginning to seem familiar, only to leave the sentral station in a direction we hope leads North to the botanical gardens only to find ourselves back on the street called Storgata that our hostel we are staying in is on!? Yep, 2 Alaskans in a big city is still who we are!


But finally we made our way to the botanical gardens. Refreshing!





And even did our good deed of this day: as we were walking here we see a poster...... Of a missing CAT! And can you believe it, we see a cat just like the one that is in the poster getting a drink of water!?


Turns out this cat is super friendly!


So friendly that I think aunt Kat may have wanted to bring it back to the hostel with us. Or perhaps even back to Alaska?


Turns out it is not the same kitty, though markings are very similar!!
And so we left it there to enjoy the lovely botanical gardens on it's own....for now....

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Location:Oslo

Day 3

Wow, you thought yesterday was a big day? Well get ready for this one!

First we took the 10 minute public ferry ride over to Bygdoy peninsula (please don't make me try to pronounce this one again, it sounds nothing like it's spelled, and I completely slaughtered it *grimace*) and here we found the: VIKING SHIP MUSEUM!!!!! I was excited for this one if you cannot tell!


These are the 3 best preserved Viking ships discovered in burial mounds where they had been buried to serve as vessels for their wealthy owners final journey into the realm of the dead.



The ships were laid with food, jewels, and (supposedly live)servants and horses to aid in the passage of the journey.


Look at the detail work! Research shows that this was all carved between 820-900 AD!



There are about 5 animal head posts displayed here that were found on one of the ships of a very powerful woman.




What a shot without a body in it?! Well, the body of the man that was found in this ship has long since been removed, I meant no "tourists" in this shot! This was one of the first vessels to be discovered in the Oslo area!



The only thing that was terrible about this museum, were the hoards of people who were also excited to see it just as much as we were.

Since we were already over here and wanted to make the most out of our ferry ticket (as there are 4 really good museums on the peninsula) but not as excited about another tourist trap, we trudged our way over to:


The Norsk Folk Museum. And am I so glad we did!






Authentic Gol stave church from 1200 AD.



Look! Kathy is in fengsel- AGAIN!!!!

The open air museum was well worth it and spread out enough that we didnt feel rushed or crowded! On our exploration we even did our good deed of the day (we have a limit on our doings of good deeds you know) by finding and turning in a cell phone we found laying on the path. It started ringing and we were too chicken to answer it thinking we would not understand the Norsk on the other end so we turned it in as quickly as we could!

Farmsteads, shops and buildings shown through the years of Norway throughout it's development. Hundreds of years all within walking distance!! What a great beginning to our trip of this country!







Even our feet got thirsty! We could have spent 8 hours here alone, but as we were exhausted we decided to only visit a select few of the indoor exhibits. I still cannot believe how beautiful the weather has been for us!

Sun every day so far, we are going to come home tanned and nobody will believe us when we say it happened while in Norway!! We walked nearly 12 miles today, its now time for a well earned rest!

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Location:Oslo

Day 2 (yes again, this was a BIG day)

My first glimpse of Vigeland Park. Amazing.


And what's more amazing, it was raining when we arrived so I was able to take many photos of the first statues with not too many people around!









This statue has been stolen a number of times (sawed off at the foot nonetheless) really? Who would do this to a baby statue? Now everyone rubs his hand, which is why it is shiny, most likely it is made of copper and so it naturally tarnishes over time.

But then (really how unfortunate) the sun came out again, and so did the people....












We will be spending more time here. Love it!

Prepare yourselves for a spew of words as I could not force myself to sleep last night, so I played catch up on blogs. Yet I need to space them out as I need to fine tune them (as I find while traveling I leave SO much out!)

Don't miss the previous post (below) of day 2!!

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Location:Vigeland park, Oslo