Jeff and Theo South - 2008 Norwegian Vacation

The following pictures and narrative describe Jeff and Theo's trip to Norway in July 2008. We rented a car and drove through the mountains west from Oslo to the fjords, then north to Voss, then back east to Oslo using a different route on the return. Along the way, we took in the fabulous scenery, hiked a number of times and generally marveled at the perfect weather and the beauty of summer in Norway.

We flew into Oslo and stayed our first night in a hotel in the city of Drammen, just outside Oslo. Our second night was spent in the hotel in Dalen you see below, halfway across Norway, heading west from Oslo. The hotel had really unique architecture. Our best meal during our vacation was served up in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the back of the grocery store across the street from this hotel. The restaurant had a world class chef, was empty when we went in and jammed when we left.

In the evening we hiked around Dalen. Then the next day, we drove up into the mountains and took a short hike to this world-famous location. There's a monument that includes a listing of some famous people who visited the spot where Theo is standing. Notice, she's not too close to the edge. Jeff hung over the edge to get some pictures, but Theo wouldn't come within 10 yards of the edge due to fear of triggering her "klutz" gene (e.g., falls, slips, missteps, etc.)

After Hedda, we drove west to the town of Lofthus, which is on a fjord. Along the way we crossed the Hardangervidda, which is a high plateau in the middle western part of Norway. Even though it was July, you can see this area still had snow. It was kind of beautiful and kind of ugly at the same time. Nobody lived on the plateau.

Just west of the Hardangervidda was the little town of Roldal. This is the stave church at Roldal.


Throughout Norway, we saw a lot of rooves with grass growing on them. This picture is of a gentleman who is fixing the grass roof on a small cottage in Roldal.


Just south of Lofthus is the town of Odda, at the tip of the fjord. As we drove north along the fjord toward Lofthus we stopped and took this picture looking back at Odda.



Throughout Norway, we saw many waterfalls. The one below was just north of Odda, right next to the highway. Unlike most of the waterfalls we saw, this one was set up to accommodate tourists. We took photos of many other waterfalls, on farms, along brooks, in the mountains, but few of those waterfalls were being visited by tourists. Most of the waterfalls were just there as part of the everyday landscape.

We stayed at a very fancy hotel on the fjord at Lofthus. You can sort of see it in this picture. It's the multi-story building just below the cloud-covered peak on the right.

We took a hike through the orchards in Lofthus that you see in this picture and toward the waterfall you see on the mountain in the distance. Lofthus is the fruit capital of Norway. The route we hiked had little signs in four languages that described what was going on at each point in the orchard. For instance, they explained that the cherry trees were covered with mesh to keep the fruit from getting too much sun and splitting. The signs also explained that the apple trees were kept small, because small trees bore more fruit per square foot of ground space used and they were easier to pick.

A few miles into the hike we came to a different waterfall, but Jeff was beginning to feel ill, so we went back to the hotel. Jeff was violently sick with food poisoning for several days thereafter. We think it was the traditional Norwegian hash he had for lunch. We don't recommend that choice, if you go.

We got some beautiful photos while at the Hotel Ullensvang in Lofthus. This is one of a father and son rowing on the fjord at twilight. We love the light and the little details, some of which, unfortunately, you probably can't see because this picture is so small.

After Lofthus, we took a ferry across the fjord and drove to Voss, a world-famous ski area. The views from the ferry were stunning and we had some interesting conversations with people from different countries.



In Voss, we took a tram up the mountain behind our hotel. Because Jeff was still weak from the food poisoning, we didn't hike, but rather sat and watched a number of young people prepare for and take off hang-gliding over Voss. One of them told us he did it about twenty times a day! Voss was a nice little town and our hotel (Fleischer) was an historic building overlooking a lake and the town. The whole town was modern, but quaint - and quite beautiful.

Because of time constraints, we chose not to go on to Bergen. Instead, from Voss we headed back northeast toward Oslo. Just outside Voss, we came across this valley at Stalheim. To get down into the valley, we took a road that had 13 hairpin turns in a one mile downhill stretch. There were beautiful waterfalls along the road but we couldn't stop to look because the road was narrow, there was traffic and we were always in a turn.

At the end of the valley near Stalheim, we saw this mountain and the three waterfalls streaming down it. Strikingly beautiful!

As we got back toward the eastern half of Norway, the landscape changed to be more like the Finger Lake region of upstate New York. Here's a waterfall that we spotted at the end of some farmer's fields. Note the farm equipment near the base. This was definitely not a touristy waterfall. One couldn't get to it without having to milk some cows along the way or something.

An example of the views in the lake region northwest of Oslo.

This was a quick pictorial review of our trip. We have about a hundred more pictures, but these will give you a sense of the beauty of Norway. We didn't have as many interactions with people on this trip as we've had on other trips, and we didn't get in as much hiking as we would have liked. But, there's no question the country of Norway is beautiful. The weather was great. The only issue throughout was the relatively poor quality of the meat - a surprising fact to us, given how expensive it was. Still - a great trip, especially if you're not seeking a "city" vacation....

One more waterfall, this one near Dokka....