Scandinavia, Part 5: Borgund Stave Church, Norway

We were scheduled on a midday train to leave Flam for Oslo, but I simply couldn't go.

I pleaded with Mark to agree to change our itinerary for this gem here: Borgund Stave Church.

I had always wanted to see a stave church, and only a couple dozen are left in the world. This one is the best-preserved, built sometime between 1180 and 1250 A.D.

We had to go.

I got my way, bless his heart. :)

My love of stave churches was born at EPCOT, where Mark and I dated on the weekends with our seasonal passes while I was in high school. In Norway (at EPCOT--follow me here...) there is a replica of Gol Stave Church, which we saw in Oslo at the Open-Air Folk Museum, where it had been relocated from Gol.

Borgund Stave Church was almost identical to the Gol Stave Church (see our visit to Gol Stavkirke HERE).

Below is the stave church I love so dearly at EPCOT:

But there's nothing like visiting a REAL one in its natural, ancient setting.

 It was a marvel to behold.

 The church had intricate carvings evoking snakes and dragon gargoyles to frighten evil spirits. And under the floorboards, unbaptized infants (who were unfit for burial in the churchyard--imagine what Jesus would say about that!) were secretly entombed to be a bit nearer to heaven.

 Check out those dragons!

 A separate church (red one) was built nearby in 1868, which is where the Borgund Parish meets today. This odd building in front is a bell tower.

 There was a wedding to be held within this magnificent ancient wonder. They began setting up chairs and the Sacrament shortly after we'd arrived.

 The church has a strong odor of linseed oil and the tar that's slathered all over the wood to preserve it.  Because it's built on rock, the church doesn't rot.

 I'm so grateful for those extra hours in the fjords to really take in the spirit of Norway.

Even if it meant getting into Oslo past midnight :)

Scandinavia, Part 4: Norway in a Nutshell

Mark and I met 19 years ago on a Carribbean cruise: The SS Norway.

"Wouldn't it be amazing to visit Norway for our tenth wedding anniversary?" we'd always say with stars in our eyes.

God must have heard us, because He somehow arranged for Mark to speak at a conference in Stockholm the summer after we celebrated our tenth anniversary, which meant one thing: we were headed Norge.

We took a train from Oslo to Myrdal, past gorgeous mountains and countryside and up into the desolate  tundra, where we gazed awestruck at the little homes tucked here and there, wondering what on earth it would be like to live in this gorgeous land of glaciers and icy waterfalls.

How, for one, did they get groceries?

And if this was summer, what could life possibly be like in a snowy Norwegian winter?

Breathtaking, I'm sure, if you're not terrified of the isolation incurred by the weather and altitude.

From Myrdal, we took what many consider to be the world's most beautiful train journey, the Flam Railway, all the way into the valley of Flam.

It made a scenic stop at this spectacular waterfall.

Legend has it a siren lives here, and on occasion you can catch her singing to the tune of a dangerous trance.

Just like the legend of the Lorelei on the German Rhine, only without the wrecked ships.

She appears here and there and everywhere as if by magic. The kids were enchanted by it.

We camped in the Flam (pronounced "Flome") Cabins.

They were oozing of fairytale charm.

One of the two bunk beds.

For how small they looked outside, they were surprisingly spacious.

Gryffin's inner Viking escaped.

Clouds loomed low across the fjords, bursting in sudden showers and then clearing again.

Just down the street from our cabin, water met the fjords.

We adored this brewery, designed like a Stave church.

Take a close look at the stone walls. What art!

The inside of the brewery was just as thick on Norwegian spirit.

We sampled their full brew of beers here on more than one occasion.

We also ate some Rudolph.

(Please don't tell Santa.)

I took a walk early one morning into old Flam.

Flam's wood church.

Speaking of Rudolph the red-nosed:
it was on this hike that I received my first of four bloody noses.
Yep.
Four.

The altitude took a ridiculous toll on my noggin.

Our fjord cruise along the most picturesque fjord in the world: the Sognefjord.

Majestic and mighty, words cannot begin to capture the experience.

Pictures, too, fall so short of capturing the sheer magnitude of it all.

I've never seen so many waterfalls in my life!

Keep scrolling...

We docked in Gudvangen, then took a bus to Voss.

These hairpin turns are not for the faint of heart.

It looks ten times steeper than in the picture, I swear.

But what a view!

We took a train from Voss back to Myrdal, then rode the Flamsbana (world famous train) a couple more times.

Views from the Flamsbana from Myrdal descending into Flam.

Picturesque Flam.

This place so tugged at my heart that I couldn't leave it at our scheduled departure. We therefore extended our stay slightly to take in a wonder of ancient Norway... which I'll save for the next post.

To be continued...