Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

A visit to Falstad Prison Camp

@brittarnhild

Drive 1 1/2 hour north of Trondheim and you might find yourself in the small village of Ekne, a place with a dramatic history. Most of this history is connected to this building, which was used as a prison camp during WWII. Some Norwegian prisoners, but mostly prisoners from the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia.

Many of the Norwegian prisoners were Jews. Many years ago I was at Falstad, in the courtyard, listening to the Norwegian Jew Julius Paltiel who told about humiliation. With the guards and the other prisoners watching, the Jews were forced to crawl over the courtyard, taking one and one birch leave in their mouth, moving it over to one corner. When they had manage to move all the leaves, one of the guards kicked the bunch and the Jews had to carry them back to where they originally were found. Still by their mouth only.

 

............this travel tale continue over in Caffe Avec.

 

Sweet, sweet honey

@brittarnhild

I booked a later plane home from Tromsø, just to be able to visit the arctic-alpine botanical garden again.

I have been to many botanical gardens around the world. Visiting botanical gardens is something I love, really love to do when I travel,

and the one in Tromsø is among the best.

May be even The Best.

I am working on a blog post in Caffe Avec, and will let you know when it is up.

 

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Thanks to those of you who has visited Caffe Avec, and an extra thank for the comments left :-)

 

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In my blog world today:
(might be updated.......)

 

To days in Tromsø

@brittarnhild

Tow days in the arctic city Tromsø. Meetings with the Sami church council.

Early up to catch the plane. Loooong meetings, but between tghe meetings and the dinner I had an hour, and of course I went out with my camera.

And since this can be called a travel post, I will post , I think I will continue over in.......

.......Caffe Avec

 

 

 

 

................so why not make yourself a good cup of coffee and come over :-)

 

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in my blog world today:
(will as always be updated)

 

Caffe Avec

Britt Arnhilds dagboksblader, my journal

My Columbine Garden

 

 

From ocean to mountain

@brittarnhild

The western part of Norway has so much to offer, and today we took our visitor, blog reader Ardi, from the ocean up to the mountains.

Starting with the Atlantic Ocean Road, the air still filled with the remnants of the stiff breeze which had followed us all though the night. Making me lay awake in bed enjoying the fact that I am alive.

From the ocean road we drove on, a ferry ride,  a long underwater tunnel under one of the thousands of Norwegian fjords, and then steep, steep up, up, up.

Watching out for trolls, over bridges, turning one hairpin bend after another.

And then we reach the top. And could look down at Trollstigen, the Troll Path, the serpentine mountain road with 11 hairpin bends which is  prohibited for buses longer than 12.4 meters (41ft). At one point, when we drove down again, Terje had to leave the car, going out to direct a driver who was almost in panic, with long lines of cars both ahead and behind.  Terje never panic, and soon the trafic flowed again.

If you ever come to Norway there are two musts: The Atlantic Ocean Road and the Troll Path.

And if you are lucky, you meet a juggler.......

.......or two.

 

Sightseeing with the American

@brittarnhild

Ardi loves clotheslines, so we take her to see clothelines :-)

 

Of course we also take her to see a lot of other things.

Like white houses with blue doors,

red houses with green doors,

and all ships decorations,

red peonies and more blue doors,

fishing boats,

and red fields of poppies.

I had my camera and Ardi had hers......

Lagre

The Sculpture Park

@brittarnhild

I am in Oslo for three days. Three long days with meetings, and in the middle of today, in the middle of the three days, I took one hour off. I needed fresh air. I needed to move my stiff body. I needed to let the sun cherish my face. I hadn´t actually planned where to go, but as it is Women´s Day today and I found an open gate with three women, I knew I was on the right track.

Frognerparken, or Gustav Vigeland Sculpture Park. With Monolitten as a main focus.

I have visited Frognsrparken many times, but this was the first time I came during winter.
Winter light is quite different from the warm light in the summer, and somehow the cold, crisp air made the human sculpures alive in a way I had not experienced before.

What amazes me the most is how Vigeland were able to find life inside the stones. Real, eternal life.

Life ready to burst out.

The Vigeland Park is the worlds largest sculpture park made by one artist. You can read more about it here.

 

 

 

A Room With a View

@brittarnhild

Three hours south west of Trondheim, forty minutes and a ferry ride south of our cabin, you find the charming coastal town Kristiansund. In February every year there is an opera festival here, and tonight Terje and I have tickets for Die Zauberflöte, The Magic Flute. When we came to check in at the hotel the man in the reseption smiled and said - I am going to give you a room with a view, and soon The Costal Line will arrive.

So here we are, looking very much forward to a night at the opera and then a late dinner in a fabulous fish restaurant here in Kristiansund, Sjøstjerna, The Starfish.

 

See you after the opera.......some time :-)

Two nights with midnight sun........almost

@brittarnhild

From my hotel window in Tromsø I could see the midnight sun........almost.

Then flew south to Bodø and did a midnight hike up to Keiservarden, a mountain which got its name after Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited in 1889.

The tale says that Kaiser Willhelm II was carried up, and down again.
I hiked, with the most fit people of the Supervisory Board of Norwegian Church Aid, which had its meeting in Bodø.

I guess I was the less fit of the hiking group, and without doubt the one with most kilos to carry, but I made it :-)

And of course I felt proud of myself.

This last photo was taken in Tromsø, still the view from my hotel room window, a few hours before midnight.

 I was on Tromsø for a conference with the Sami people.

 

Seeking out an old path

@brittarnhild

16 years ago, for my 40th birthday, my brother Frode gave me a very special gift, the book Nordlands Trompet by Petter Dass. A few months before that Frode had found out that through our grandma Olga we are related in a direct line to this most known Norwegian poet and hymn writer Petter Dass 1647-1707. On a special sheet of paper he had written out the long list of forefathers which took me back to the great poet.

On our way south from Lofoten, we stopped at Alstahaug where Petter Dass was a parish priest from 1689 and until his death.

Petter Dass wrote about nature, seen from the eyes of the fishermen and the farmers, he wrote about life and death in a way that common people could understand what so far had been only for the scholars. Even today he is the most known hymn writer in Norway, and when The Church of Norway released a new Book of Hymns last year, Petter Dass´most known hymn Herre Gud ditt dyre navn og ære, is in it as a honored numbered one.

 

Centuries after his death, this forefather of mine is of great inspiration to me. I sing his hymns, I read his texts, and again and again his words, his way of describing life, creates in me a deep love for the God created world.

It was a  blessing walking on some of Petter Dass´paths, looking out his windows, smelling the sea, enjoying the wild flowers, imagining what life must have been here more than 300 years ago.

Then, suddenly, as created by my dreams, a young maid, Olava, materialized. She was a maid on the farm when Petter´s son, or was it grandson, was the master of the farm. She invited us in and let us watch when she did her duties, all the time talking about her life and the life on the farm.

This autumn I plan to read more of Petter Dass´books, and let his words inspire me to live my life close to nature and nature´s Creator.

You can read more about Petter Dass here.

And more about Nordlands Trompet here.

 

 

Postcard from Gildeskål

@brittarnhild

Dear you.
We have left Lofoten and are now driving south towards Trondheim. Instead of the main road E6, we have chosen the more scenic Riksvei 17, or Kystriksveien. It is so beautiful here, to make us believe the amazing nature we see, I have to pinch Terje´s arm again and again....which is a problem for him when he drives.........
Love, BrittArnhild

 

Do you have a postcard to share?
Tell us about where you are just now in the comment section (and if you have a photo as well, you can email it to me, and I will post it here)

 

And if you want a REAL postcard, I need your address (in an email)

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Postcard from Elaine:

 

This picture was taken a few weeks ago at Asilomar when I went to check it out with a walk and a look around.  I have been to Carmel and Pacific Grove many times but had never actually been on the grounds of Asilomar.  It was a sunny day and so beautiful.  Maybe you sat on this bench when you visited in 2012.  I thought of you and now I have enjoyed your summer travel on the West coast of Norway.  

 

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Thank you Elaine for your postcard. I loved Asilomar and have been there in my thoughts many times since our visit there two years ago.