The Family Farm

Last Friday we left Solvorn for Tom's family's farm, which is in Hakadal, 45 minutes outside of Oslo. It took three buses, one ferry, and two trains and a pickup from the last train station. But no complaints, because it was a beautiful trip. The first two buses took us to the town of Kaupanger where we took a ferry to Gudvangen through one of Norway's narrowest fjords - as little as about 800 ft wide and with mountains up to about 4000 feet high and snowcapped.


The walls were lined with waterfalls tumbling from the snowfields all the way down.

After the ferry (and our third bus ride) were were in the town of Flåm. By this time, we clearly were not in a remote, quiet Norwegian village - we were right on the tourist trail with tons of people fresh off their cruises. It was a bit of an adjustment, but the train ride we took out of town was well worth it. It is a scenic train that goes up and into the mountains. The train makes a quick stop at Kjosfossen, not the tallest waterfall we have seen yet, but with a tremendous flow. Dancers from the Norwegian ballet school were dancing in the waterfall's mist dressed as a Huldra.


The final train we took started high in the treeless plateau and made its way down through forest and farmland, with beautiful scenery the whole way.

Since we've been at the Døhlie Farm, we have had a wonderful time with lots and lots of great food. The morning starts with homemade buns and homemade strawberry jam, lunch is usually smoked salmon, and dinners have been feasts. I hope to replicate some when I return home. One night we had Pinnekjøtt, which translates as "stick meat" for the birch twigs used in place of a steamer for cooking. It was lamb that has soaked for weeks in a brine. The following night we had a seafood stew and tonight we had trout that actually looked and tasted a lot like salmon.

Aside from all of the great eating, we've also been active here. We've been biking in the forest and went on a hike to the top of the ski mountain across from the farm, which is also where the family has a cute hut that Tom and I plan to stay at tomorrow night.

Yesterday we took the train into Oslo with Kristina and John (Tom's sister and brother-in-law) who arrived at the farm the day after us. We walked down some beautiful streets - everyone here has such beautiful flower pots and window flowers.


We also visited some of the main sights to see, like Vigelandspark which displays 212 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland.


We walked along the waterfront and treated ourselves to lunch there (Considering a hotdog and a soda from a convenient store is about $8 US, you can only image what a treat it is to eat in a restaurant with linens... :) After meeting up with some childhood friends of Tom and Kristina, and with their cousin Magnus, we walked through the old fort,


had a beer at the Dubliner, walked to the Opera House, which has an amazing roof that slopes to the water and is more like a beach where there are concerts, then caught the train home.
As always, we've been busy, but having a great time. We have one more week here, and lots more to do :)