IKEA adventure

We left Gotheburg bright and early on the Monday (well, okay it was 9:30) ready for our visit to IKEA. Little did we know that just getting there was going to be as much of an experience as being there. We had decided to save some money on the train tickets so we didn’t get reserved seating. This was how we had travelled around Scandinavia and so far it had worked well, but not so well today. The train was crowded and we ended up moving seats about three times (no easy feat when you consider the amount of luggage we were hauling).

If that wasn’t challenging enough, our train was running late and I started to get concerned about making the connection in Halmstad. I even asked the conductor, as we were getting closer to the station, if we would be alright - would the train wait? He assured me that we would be fine and maybe we would have, if we had known where we were going when we arrived at the station. We had to catch our connecting train two platforms over which meant going up some stairs, through the pedway, back down the stairs (did I mention we were really loaded down with luggage?) and down the platform to where the train was waiting. It was a relief to see our train still there until we noticed the conductor getting back on board, then the train started to move. We ran down the platform, waving our arms frantically, only to see it pick up speed and move right past us. This was the one time I saw Dennis really angry, I was glad I wasn’t the person at the ticket office. It wasn’t so bad though. They extended our tickets so we could catch the next train which would be in an hour. This just gave us a little more downtime than expected.

In due time, we arrived at Älmhult. We discovered that, unlike most train stations, there were no lockers for storing luggage at this station. However, the people at the ticket office graciously allowed us to leave it there so it wasn’t an issue after all.

After a short walk we arrived at the IKEA complex. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the flagship store - except for a sign in the entryway, it looked like every other IKEA I‘ve ever been in. However, I did pick up a Dala horse baking pan and I’m not sure you’d find that anywhere else.

When I called it a complex earlier I wasn’t kidding. To get to the store itself we walked by a couple of big warehouses and across the parking lot we saw the IKEA hotel and restaurant. I wondered if it was furnished entirely with IKEA product. In lower level of the hotel was an IKEA museum. After we finished shopping, we decided to have a look through it and see what would be there. We arrived just before 3:00 (which was the closing time) but the staff there encouraged us to go through anyway and to take as much time as we wanted. It was basically a history of IKEA (as expected) and had rooms set up with furniture from the different decades - similar to how the stores have their demonstration rooms. We also received a book talking about the life of Ingvar Kampar and the evolution of IKEA. The book was actually written as an internal training tool for new employees so gave a fascinating glimpse into the whole philosophy. Just as an aside - that’s how he came up with the name IKEA - Ingvar Kampar Elmtaryd (family farm) Agunnaryd (home parish)

After leaving IKEA, we spent a little time looking around the town square (bought a Dala horse for myself and a few more things for the kids) then got back on the train and headed for Copenhagen.

In Copenhagen we had booked a CabInn hotel about 5 blocks from the train station so once we got our bearings (or rather once Dennis got his bearings since I’m directionally-challenged) we set off to find it. Once there, we discovered that this room was probably the smallest and least luxurious of any we had stayed in yet - really brought definition to the term ship-shape. I’m pretty sure it was even more compact than our ship cabin, even had bunk beds. Oh well, we had decided while planning the trip that hotel rooms were only a place to lay our heads at the end of the day so this fit that purpose.

After a nice supper at an Italian restaurant (Vesusius in Copenhagen, go figure!) we wandered around the area for a little. We saw a few shops that we pegged for visiting the next day (to hopefully fulfill the quest for a Danish vimple). We also saw a pair of buskers dressed as Native Americans (the full headdress and everything) but their music was nothing like I was expecting - mostly pan flutes, the Sound of Silence, that type of thing. Oh well, they certainly drew a crowd and I guess that was the point.

It had been a long day so we went back to our little hotel room (Dennis opted to sleep on the pull-out bed rather than the top bunk) and prepared to rest up for whatever adventure the next day might hold.

Those Goofy Ears and Riding a Wooden Rollercoaster

Both on the way out to Hestra, and on the way back, I noticed an amusement park with a large wooden rollercoaster. Beth and I had figured there must be an amusement park nearby because we kept seeing young kids (and not so young) wearing these goofy looking pink rabbit ears. I got a yearning to try a wooden rollercoaster, something I’ve never been able to do to date. Once we got back to Göteburg we went to a tourist brochure display and picked up some information on Liseberg Park. Now the presence of so many young families made sense, it was a weekend get-away for people; take the kids to Liseberg Park (something like taking the family to Disneyland - though not quite as big, and with lots of games of chance… the favourite prizes being oversized chocolate bars, including the largest Toblerone I’ve ever seen).

A little checking on the internet and we determined the park was open until 10 PM, which would give us time to go to the park and for me to ride the rollercoaster. It was at this point that I discovered the wooden rollercoaster is called Balder, and has been voted the world’s best wooden rollercoaster several years running. In rollercoaster fan circles the wooden rollercoasters are known as Woodies, and some people have made it their life’s passion to ride every wooden rollercoaster in the world. So after brief deliberation we decided to squeeze this little adventure in.

The gal at the reception desk must have thought we looked like walkers (which we are) because that was how she gave us directions when we asked. About 20 or 25 minutes later we were at the gate (it was now 9 PM), the admission person said “You know the park closes in one hour” which we assured him was enough time (though we didn’t get a break on the price of admission). Once inside we made our way quickly across the park (Balder being on the opposite side of course), looking for a token seller (the first booths were all empty, but eventually we found one and I bought my three tokens needed to ride the rollercoaster).

Beth was not going to join me in this adventure, instead she became the keeper of my stuff as I wasn’t about to have my money pouch, Rider hat, or camera go flying off into space on one of those sharp turns. At that hour the line up wasn’t too bad and within 15 minutes I was strapping myself into one of the rollercoaster cars. Then the cars began climbing a long, long hill of wood and steel to the top of Balder, then whoosh we dropped at a 70 degree angle and the ride was in full speed.

I don’t know why, but I start laughing and yelling “woooooh” on rollercoasters, this happens spontaneously, and for the next 2 minutes and 15 seconds that’s exactly what happened. I can’t compare it with any other wooden rollercoasters since this is the only one I've ridden, but it certainly was a great ride (the ride seemed less jarring than most of the metal rollercoasters I’ve ridden). We have a picture to prove it, one of those ones taken by the amusement park which you can purchase for an arm and a leg after the ride.

After I had my ride on Balder we walked around the park looking at rides that you would catch neither of us on (ones with spinning involved simply make me sick - in fact the only amusement rides I really enjoy are rollercoasters, and now I can say that I have ridden one of the best in the world). We decided to grab a bite to eat in the park, and expected typical fair food, but I had a sausage in a baguette and Beth had little meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce - and both dishes were really tasty! So we sat in the growing twilight listening to the screams and laughter from people on the rides and enjoyed our simple meal. Then I took a picture of Beth by a giant Dala horse, something we’ve been looking for since getting to Sweden (a little one to take home, not a large one). Even though the park closed at 10 PM, most of the food places stayed open later, and people were not pushed out of the park, so we actually had a little more time to enjoy our food after which we strolled leisurely out of Liseberg and back to our hotel.

This was one of those pleasant, unplanned surprises of our trip. I had no idea the world’s best wooden rollercoaster was in Göteburg, but it was a bonus for me that it was, and that we had enough time to allow me to ride it. So we’ve been to Liseberg park, and I have ridden Balder (and have a picture to prove it), but in case anyone reading this blog was wondering, no we didn’t buy any pink rabbit ears.

Hestra

We arrived at Hestra in the rain, good thing the bike rental idea had fallen through. When we got out of the taxi we saw some people down by the cow barn so started heading in that direction.

We introduced ourselves to Bjorn, the current owner of Hestra. Bjorn’s parents, Helge and Sonja Stensson, had purchased the farm from my great-uncle, Johan Huvudsson back in the 1950’s. (I think I mentioned in an earlier post that only one of my grandfather’s brothers and a sister had remained on the farm with their parents and neither of them had married.)

It was interesting to look around at the outbuildings. With the exception of the new barn, the farm looked much like the pictures I’d seen of it.

Bjorn had limited English, mostly he was just self-conscious about it, and my Swedish was limited to what I could look up in the pocket Swedish-English dictionary I had purchased in Gothenburg - so needless to say, our conversation was limited. He had tried to arrange for some relatives to act as a buffer but no one was available so we just had to muddle through it ourselves. He actually could speak better than he thought so we didn’t have to resort to too much pantomime.

The rain had let up enough for us to tour some of the farmyard but when it started to come down again, Sonja came to the door of the farmhouse and called to Bjorn to bring us in.

We had planned to have the taxi wait because I didn’t want to impose on Sonja and Bjorn’s generosity and take up too much of their time. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that they had planned to have coffee with us and that Bjorn was willing to transport us back to Fristad afterwards.

Sonja is a delightful lady. She’s in her 90’s but, similar to my mom’s cousin Karin, is so full of life. One of the first things she did when we sat down to the table for coffee was to bring out a guest book for me to look through and identify my relatives. This book was amazing - it dated back to the 1960’s. I found many entries written by my relatives, including a few different ones by my parents (Dad once and Mom twice). It was fun to see how often the Hedlin name cropped up, and interesting to see some unfamiliar relatives, obviously some of the U.S. branch of the family had also made this pilgrimage.

After we had perused the guest book and added our own entry, Sonja was off on the search through various photo albums and once again I was called upon to identify pictures of my relatives. It was great to see the old photos, always taken with Sonja and her husband. Before we left we had our picture taken with Sonja, and I intend to send a print to her to be added to her photo album. It was also interesting to me to see pictures of my great-uncle Johan’s funeral and a picture of my great-aunt Ida, taken on her 85th birthday. Community events were apparently very meaningful to Sonja.

Sonja didn’t speak any English so a few times we did have to resort to a form of sign language to communicate. I had to laugh to myself when she showed us that she could count to ten in English, which was certainly more than I could manage in Swedish. However, I did attempt to write a thank you note in Swedish, with the help of my little dictionary. (I included an English translation just in case I wasn’t actually saying what I thought I was.)

A few times during the process of getting to Hestra, I had been tempted to just cancel the whole expedition. It seemed like there were so many roadblocks, that maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. After visiting with Sonja and Bjorn, I was so thankful that Dennis had been willing to persevere. We had such a nice visit and it was very meaningful for me to see where my grandfather grew up. Sonja welcomed us so graciously, it really was a joy to be in her house.

How We Got to Hestra

There were only two times on our trip that we thought we might need to rent a car to get to the places we wanted to visit. The first was in Denmark where were wanted to visit the Mårup Kirke and Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse - which we managed to get to by public transportation and walking (as covered in an earlier post). The second occasion was in Sweden when we wanted to get to Hestra, the farm where Beth’s grandfather grew up.

One problem we didn’t count on was trying to rent a car on Sunday. Doing internet research we discovered that the only place we could rent a car from in Gothenburg on a Sunday was the airport (which was a fair distance from the train station and our hotel). The other problem was that renting a car for one day simply wasn’t economical - most car rentals only became reasonable with a rental of a week or longer. So the next option was public transportation, combined with cycling. We found out that often Tourist Bureaus had bicycles to rent, and we knew that it was possible to take bikes on the train (at least in some places) so we started checking into that option. The reason we were looking into bicycles was because the closest we could get to Hestra by public transportation was the small town of Fristad which was still about 10 kilometres from the farm.

So here is how our travel adventure unfolded: We started off by taking a bus from Gothenburg (or Göteborg as the Swedes spell it). The bus depot was in the same building as the train station, so that was handy. We first looked at taking a train from Gothenburg to Borås but the trains didn’t run as frequent on the weekends, so the bus became our best choice based on our schedule. Once we got to Borås we walked to the Tourist Bureau to check on renting some bikes. In talking with the Tourist Bureau people we discovered that we would have needed to get the bikes back by the time the office closed, which was 3 PM, and there was no way we could make that happen. So time for Plan B.

Back to the Borås Train Station (which looked pretty cool - see the picture), and went inside to buy some train tickets to Fristad. The next problem we encountered was that there was no one in the ticket office (because it was Sunday). There was an automated ticket machine, but it didn’t like any of our credit cards. As a last resort we figured we should be able to buy a ticket directly from the conductor on the train. When the appropriate train pulled into the station we got on board. The trip to Fristad was not that long, less than half an hour, and in that time no conductor ever came through our coach… so when we arrived a Fristad not knowing what else to do we simply got off. It turned out to be a free ride! (I felt justified in this because the stupid ticket machines didn’t accept any of our cards - we tried to pay, honest!).

Now the question was how to get to Hestra from Fristad. The good news was that there was a local bus service that stopped right by the farm (the bus stop is actually called ‘Hestra’) but the bad news was that the bus wasn’t running that day since it was a Sunday. This was where we had been planning on using the bicycles, but that plan fell through, so then we contemplated walking, but it seemed to be a bit far for that, so finally we decided to call a taxi. There was no pay phone at the train station, so we went wandering in search of a pay phone, eventually ending up at a gas station where we asked the attendant where the closest pay phone was. When he found out we were trying to call a taxi he offered to do that for us, and within ten minutes the cab was there.

We showed the cab driver a map of where we wanted to go and he said he could do that for us, and I asked for an approximate price which he quoted and which seemed reasonable. So we loaded in the car and drove to the farm. When we arrived there we asked the driver if it would be better if he waited for 10 minutes, or came back to get us later. He said he would wait and even turned off his meter while doing so!

When we found out that we were invited to stay for coffee, and that Bjorn (the current owner of the farm) would drive us back to Fristad, we sent the taxi driver on his way with a big thank you and a (hopefully) decent tip. Beth will write about our time at Hestra, but I will conclude this post by explaining how we got back to Gothenburg. Bjorn did drive us to Fristad, and by that time it was raining pretty good (including some thunder and lightning) so Beth and I were glad the bicycle option didn’t pan out - we would have gotten soaked!

From Fristad we ended up taking a bus back to Borås simply because the bus was available before the train. As this was a local bus we were dropped off somewhere other than the train station (where the regional buses were based). It took a little wandering and asking to make our way to the train station, but eventually we found it, and having just missed the hourly run to Gothenburg, waited for close to an hour in an outside bus shelter (much like you would see at a city bus stop) until the next bus arrived. At least by that point it was no longer raining.

The trip to Gothenburg was uneventful and eventually we were back in our hotel room glad to have survived our transportation adventure. I did a little mental calculating and the way I figured it, even with the taxi ride, we probably spent as little as a third or a quarter of what we would have spent renting a car for a day… so in that way our adventure was definitely worth it.

First Hotel G

Our train arrived in Sweden around 9:00 pm. Typically our next step at this point would be to schlep all our luggage off the train, through the station and out the front door to see if we could find a taxi (by this point we’d pretty much given up on the idea of walking to our hotel, unless it was within a few short blocks). Today we could skip the taxi ritual because our hotel (called First Hotel G) was built right into the train station! We did have to go out of the train station because the entrance to the hotel was on the exterior but at the end of a long travelling day it was a treat to just have to walk a few more steps. It was a surprisingly quiet hotel, from our room we heard very little of the train/bus announcements (did I mention that the train and bus system run out of the same complex?). It probably helped that the station basically shut down by 10:30 pm and didn’t start up again until around 8:00 am.

Speaking of things shutting down - we thought we’d try to be proactive and do some of our research into travel to Boras. However, that was when we discovered that the all the ticket offices were closed, as were the currency converter offices and virtually all the shops.

However, we weren’t totally out of luck. We hadn’t really eaten supper, just some snacks on the train, so were both feeling like we needed some food. We didn’t feel like venturing out of the train station so Dennis settle on a sub from Mr. Sub (just like being at home) and I got a couple of tubs of yogurt and some bananas from 7-Eleven - I never imagined I’d be buying fruit from 7-Eleven. Dennis had an interesting experience with the server at Mr. Sub so this is probably a good time for an editorial comment.

<Here's my story from Mr. Sub: I decided on a Louisiana Chicken Sub, and went through the normal process of adding extras like mushrooms, onions and such. Then the girl behind the counter asked if I wanted any sauce on that. I asked "What kind of sauce do you have?" She replied by listing off 5 different kinds of sauce, after which I picked the one I thought sounded good - it was a Honey Mustard sauce if I remember correctly. Her reaction was pretty funny, she shook her head and said "You don't want that! You want the Southwestern Sauce" and proceeded to put on the 'right' sauce. I wondered why she had asked about sauces in the first place if there was only one 'right' sauce for this particular type of sub sandwich. Beth and I had a good chuckle over that, and to be fair the sub really did taste good! DH>

So at the end of a long day with another full day looming in front of us, it was nice to go back to our nicely appointed room and settle in for a good sleep. Another bonus was that we had booked two nights in this hotel so would have a brief reprieve from packing up and moving suitcases.

On the Road (Rails) Again

Saturday July 4 was another travelling day and a long one at that. This was our trip from Kolbu to Gotheburg via Oslo. In total I think we spent about 6 or so hours on the train - we’re sure getting good at organizing all our luggage and ourselves, especially when each country seems to have a different system of doing this.

Geir had plans for his day so Gae came to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma. She is certainly Bestemor’s girl (I love the Norwegian names for Grandpa and Grandma, wish I’d known them about 20 years ago).

As a special treat before we headed for the train, Magne had made waffles - I finally got to try the famous ‘vaffle and kaffe‘ combo that I‘ve heard so much about. The Nosterud clan laughed about we Canadians eating waffles drowned in maple syrup and I could understand why. We ate these with some sour cream and strawberry jam - a delightful change. It was not nearly so sweet as what we’re used to - I wonder if the kids will go for this?

Before we left Kari was looking through her address book and came across a letter that had been written to her oldest son, Tore, from my cousin (who shall remain unnamed). This letter dates back to 1976 or so, shortly after my parents and Grandpa had been over visiting. She had asked him many questions about himself and life in Norway but Kari said she didn’t think he had ever responded. I’ll have to ask her if she remembers sending the letter.

Linked by a Pilgrimage

One of the sites we looked at in the Kolbu area On July 3rd was the local church. When we were walking into the church yard I noticed a familiar looking sign post - it was a pilgrimage marker, just like the one we saw at the Bønsnes Kirke in Hole! A quick look at a descriptive sign confirmed that this church was another stop on the Ancient Pilgrimage Route to Trondheim. This was another of those amazing coincidence moments from our trip - to discover that both our families were connected by this ancient pilgrimage route.

Pilgrims would have stopped at the churchyard where my grandfather played as a child, and then further north a few stops later on the pilgrimage route they would have stopped at the church that Beth’s great-grandparents could see a short distance across the valley from their home. This whole trip of ours we have been considering a pilgrimage (as evidenced by the title of our blog), and then to discover that our families had a connection of sorts through an ancient pilgrimage path - that was another thread in this interesting tapestry our life together.

The Kolbu Kirke is interesting because it is built in the shape of an equal armed cross (like the Red Cross symbol). Many churches are built in the shape of a cross, but with the traditional cross shape, with shorter horizontal arms than vertical. For the Kolbu Kirke the centre of the building is where the aisles meet, and in the centre of that space is the baptismal font. This arrangement I thought appropriate considering the Lutheran understanding of the centrality of baptism in a Christian’s life. Our understanding is that baptism marks the beginning of a journey of faith, a pilgrimage through life, and in Kolbu we were given another reminder of this interconnectivity of faith and life.

Visit to Torgunrud

We seemed to go from relative to relative. About the time Asbjorn was leaving, another cousin, Klara, and her husband came. Klara had grown up at the Torgunrud farm and was prepared to take us there to see it. The first thing I that struck me about the farm was the spectacular view (see the picture). Torgunrud is built on a bit of a hill so you look out across the valley and see all these farms, each with their own forest. (We were told that in Norway each farm included a forest, for firewood among other things.) We also saw the spot where my great-grandparents, Otilia and Anders, lived. The house isn’t there anymore but if we had looked through the overgrown area, we could probably have found the remains of the foundation. They left the area shortly after marrying, seeking a better life in the States. Again, as Dennis has mentioned in his entries, it must have been a very difficult transition from lush farmland to the harsh conditions they encountered but we, their descendants, are certainly better off because of it. We were able to see the main house and the outbuildings. We also saw some Norwegian elkhounds. It’s hard to believe that such a small dog could hold a moose at bay, that would be quite a sight to see.

Then it was back to Kari’s for supper. We were joined by Roar’s daughter, Mette along with her husband Bjorn and son Eskil. Poor Eskil, at ten years old this was not a fun crowd to hang out with - Gae was far too young to be interesting and the rest of us were just too old - thank goodness for computer games.

Mette’s older son is the one who races cars. I asked her how she felt about that, if it worried her. She said of course it did but when she was there watching him race she would get so excited she forgot about worrying. She also showed me a short video on her cellphone of him racing - clearly a proud Mama.

Kari pulled out her books with family tree records, it was interesting to piece together how everyone was connected. She has some very detailed records also, listing Confirmation dates and everything. I think if I had more time genealogy is something I would really like to pursue, it probably fits well with my love of puzzles.

Torgunrud Time

We must have been tired because once again we slept in (seems to be a recurring theme, time to think of going home). When we got up we had a nice breakfast with Kari, Magne and Roar; then it was time for Roar to leave - he was committed to providing some musical entertainment at the Senior’s Home where his mother now lives.
We lingered over coffee a little longer, then also headed over to the Senior’s Home. It was fun to hear Roar play the piano and sing along to (I believe) some old Norwegian folk tunes. Then he sang a song in English in our honour. I also very much enjoyed meeting Kari and Roar’s mother, Karin. She is over 90 years old but has so much spirit, there’s an unquenchable twinkle in her eye. I hope I have even half that much enthusiasm for life as I reach her age. When my parents and grandfather were in Norway in 1976, they stayed with her at her house. She had a very unique relationship with my Mom - they managed to communicate without words (probably because Mom is good with talking with her hands). I could see why she holds a special place in Mom’s heart.

Karin also has many artistic abilities. At breakfast that morning we had used a set of dishes that she had hand-painted. The plates were decorated with poppies which had included an amazing amount of detail. The incredible thing to me is that she didn’t take up painting until she was over 70. Then she started weaving when she was close to 80. We ended up bringing home a table runner that she had woven. I will certainly treasure it and it will bring back memories of our time here.

Friday proved to be Torgunrud family day. After entertaining at the Senior’s Home, Roar packed up his bus to head to Sweden to watch his grandson race cars. Cindre is 16 and this is something they like to do together.

We were not without company though. A cousin, Asbjorn, showed up in time for lunch. He is retired now but as a side-line is involved with some development in his hometown of Lena. He brought along some plans for a proposal he and other investors are working on for commercial development in the centre of town. He also had a book that he and another cousin had put together showing some of the town history, specifically pertaining to an old building that had been converted into office space.

The evening before at the restaurant, Dennis had expressed an interest in trying a “Toten” burger (Toten being the region where Kolbu is located). He had eaten a chicken dish instead so, low and behold, Toten burgers showed up on the lunch menu and they were very tasty. For dessert Kari had made something called “World’s Greatest Cake” and I had to agree with the name - it was a confection made of cake, meringue, custard cream and served with strawberries - most yummy.

While we were enjoying the coolness of the shade, Magne brought a pair of binoculars out of the house and indicated that we should look in the field across the road. I saw three cranes - a pair of adults with a young one. I’ve never seen a young crane before so this was a real thrill for me. One more unforgettable event to store up. I still wish I could have seen a moose (or Elg) while we were in Norway, but we were out of luck. Maybe next time.

On the Move Again

Now it was time for us to reconnect with my side of the family. I had made arrangements with a relative (also named Kari and married to a man named Magne, how confusing is that!) that we should spend some time with her at their farm near Kolbu, north of Oslo. Kari’s grandmother is a cousin of my grandfather (her mother is a first cousin of my mother, I’m not sure what that makes us.) We had met her when she was in Canada a few years ago and she had come to our house with my parents.

After wandering in the Oslo train station for a short time we met up with Kari and Magne (Kari had said she would be holding a Norwegian flag but Dennis recognized her even without it). We got back on the train and rode for about an hour until we reached a small town near their farm. We had a short scenic tour, stopping briefly at their son Geir’s house - mostly I believe for Kari to see their granddaughter, who she hadn’t seen for a few days. Gae Isabella is a sweet almost two year old, she has spina bifida so isn’t walking independently yet but she is so easygoing and lovable. I could see why Grandma needed to see her again.

Kari had promised us a relaxed time with them and she was true to her word. When we got to the farm we took a little time to settle into our room (again, in the lower portion of the house so most comfortable temperature-wise) then Kari’s brother Roar came. He had been in Canada with Kari and Geir so it was time to get re-acquainted. He was driving this huge touring bus converted into an RV. It was most interesting to see him manoeuvre it, especially when it came to backing it down the driveway between the two trees which flank the space (see the picture).

Shortly after that, Geir came driving in his little red sportscar and we all went to a neat restaurant on the Mjøsa Lake. It was on a boat that was built specifically as a restaurant, even though it’s half on the water and half on the land. The location is a bit of a resort area so we were able to watch people zipping in and out of the marina and kids diving into the water as we ate. Then it was back to Kari and Magne’s for a coffee time and then to bed, it had been another long day.

Final Update from Europe

As you can see I added many postings today, I took advantage of our long day on the train to catch up in my postings. We're now at the point in our trip where Beth will take over the writing (since it is about visiting her relatives and family farm site). However as I write this post we are about to go to sleep in our luxurious room in Hannover (the nicest room on our whole trip... and we're not quite sure how we ended up with it).

Tomorrow we board the train bright and early (6:41) to head to the airport in Frankfurt where our plane will leave for Canada around 2:14 PM (Germany time). We may do some more writing tomorrow, but of first priority is getting all our customs stuff straight. We may get an opportunity to post something before we board the airplane, but that's unknown. We will finish our blog when we get back to Canada (if nothing else), if nothing else for our own sake as we seek to set our memories down for future reference. To all of you who have been following our blog we hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure. There will be further postings after we get back, especially as we reflect on our experiences, so keep checking back to this site in the weeks to come. Now to get to bed, the morning will come mighty early.

The Tord Gustavsen Ensemble

As promised, Kine from the Jazz Festival Office had reserved two seats for us at the Kino (something not usually done, thank you Kine!) right in the center a few rows up - perfect seats! And we arrived just in time, settling into our seats just a few minutes before the concert began. It didn’t take long to know that this was going to be a very different concert than the one we had just left. The Tord Gustavsen Ensemble concert was quiet, sublime and introspective - with Norwegian poetry spoken between (or sometimes as part of) the songs.

Sometimes the playing was very energetic, but it never had the sense of being showy, or flashy (unlike the previous band). The music unfolded in a very organic fashion, and the ensemble playing was great - the musicians showing a high level of sensitivity to each other, never stepping on each others toes musically, always supporting and enhancing each other‘s playing.
Part way through the concert I realized why I like Tord Gustavsen’s music so much, - it’s because his music always has a spiritual quality to it… there is something deeper going on in his music than simply notes being played well. In this concert there was one moment I felt close to tears, but I have no idea why (other than the music was touching my spirit), I didn’t understand the Norwegian poetry, and didn’t know the names of the songs either - it was simply the direct impact of the music being produced so organically and intimately right in front of my eyes (and ears). Simply put, this concert was a spiritual experience between the band and the audience (Tord compared it to a congregation being in tune with a worship service) and for me it was highly inspirational.

The ensemble included Tord, playing piano and Rhodes (sometimes at the same time), Jarle Vespestad on drums (whose playing I knew from Tord’s trio recordings), Tore Brunborg on saxophones, Mats Eilertsen on bass, and Kristin Asbjørnsen on vocals (I have one recording with her singing on it, and she has an usual voice - a bit Janis Joplin, a bit Kate Bush, and a bit Bessie Smith) - Beth commented that hearing her sing live her unique voice was not a distraction, but seemed to blend into the music well. The Norwegian poet was a women whose name I didn't catch, and while we didn’t understand the words, the way they were spoken wove a spell over the audience, including us.

After the concert we waited around for a little bit, then saw the band go out a side door to get some fresh air - so after a little deliberation we went out the same exit where I was then able to personally thank the musicians for a great show. The highlight of this post-concert time was being able to talk with Tord Gustavsen in person for a few minutes. He, like the rest of the band, was very gracious. As we chatted Tord came across as a very humble and authentic person, gentle and quiet - but with much depth, much like his music.

Beth and I walked back to the hostel enjoying the cooler air and the beautiful surroundings of Kongsberg. Back in our room we opened the window wide to help cool off the room. While the room was cooling down we spent a couple of hours researching train and hotel information (taking advantage of the free wireless in the hostel). By the time we went to sleep the room had cooled off enough to allow us to get to sleep without too much trouble.

Blood Sweat Drum ’n’ Bass

After a little rest we walked back into the town center to the fair area to grab a bite to eat at one of the booths. I had some kind of curry rice wrap, Beth had a kebob. Then it was off to the Tubaloon. We didn’t arrive too early but there were plenty of decent seats left so we set ourselves close to the sound board where we could see well and I suspected we would get the best sound mix.

The Blood Sweat Drum ‘n’ Bass Danish Big Band came on shortly after 8 PM. The concert started with guest artist Palle Mikkelborg (he is a older Danish trumpet player who is pretty famous in Europe) playing his flugelhorn through an echo and reverb unit, some very atmospheric stuff. Very subtly the band came in with some lush background chords, and then the tune slowly grew in sound, complexity and energy - it was a great beginning to the concert.

The write-up in the program suggested that this band could get wild, and sometimes they were indeed wild and raucous, but at other times they were subdued and melodic - always they were surprising. I really enjoyed the times that Palle Mikkelborg interacted in am improvised way with others in the band like a trumpet player, or the female vocalists, or even rhythm section. I also enjoyed watching the conductor who directed with much energy and unique hand gestures (my favourites being when he wiggled his fingers or when he stabbed his arm in the air). Before we knew it the band was leaving the stage after an hour. I had to check with someone to know that this was the intermission not the end.

After the intermission a different guest artist, Jørgen Munkeby, joined them on stage (someone whose name I didn’t recognize). This guy looked wild, like some kind of cross between a Fonzie character and a Viking. He was listed as a saxophonist, but in the first song of the second set he started by picking up a electronic wind instrument (EWI). When he started playing this instrument I realized that this was the sound I had thought earlier to be a synth keyboard. It was very nice soloing; strong, fluid and melodic - but as he played he prowled around the stage like a caged wolf (or some kind of rock star). In the next song he picked up an electric guitar at one point and proceeded to do some power chording and fast soloing… just like a rock star! On the third song in this set Jørgen actually played the tenor sax, with the same fierce intensity he showed on guitar - fast and powerful!

There was some tight ensemble playing with this group, some interesting interplay between various musicians (who took turns coming to the front of the stage to be featured). The band has two female vocalists, who sometimes sang wordless parts as part of the ensemble, and sometimes like a lead singer out front. Overall I thought it was a great concert, complete with musical humour (that most of the audience didn’t seem to get - my favourite being one song called I Have a Cold which began with two female horns players honking on their horns).

We didn’t get to hear the end of the concert, because we needed to get to the Kino and the Tord Gustavsen concert, which was the main reason we came to Kongsberg in the first place. So with the band still blasting out a tune Beth and I headed out of the Tubaloon and down to the Kino, the sound of the band slowly fading into the evening.

Kongsberg - Where Silver is King

Wednesday July 1 we enjoyed our final breakfast at Per’s, following which Per played some music for us, first on his Hammond B3, and then on one of his accordions. He is an excellent musician, and we heard more evidence of this in the car on the way to Kongsberg as he played us a recording from a band he was part of. He also gave us a CD of his most recent recording and we look forward to being able to play it when we get back to Canada.

Per and Truls drove us to Kongsberg (saving us from taking the train, a very generous act on their part). Along the way they showed us various places of interest (and told us that the round straw bales wrapped in white plastic are known in Norway as tractor eggs). We saw the largest Ski Jump in Norway, and I wondered if that sport would ever grow in Canada. With the Olympic facilities in Calgary I thought that might have happened, but perhaps we are too stuck on hockey (which is not a big sport in Norway unlike its neighbour Sweden). The Ski Jump facility in Oslo could hold crowds of over 50,000 spectators, it is a big deal in Norway.

In Kongsberg we settled into our Hostel Room - and were pleased to discover that it was a nice facility, but unfortunately it had no air conditioning (and our room faced south, so it got a little warm to say the least). Of all the hostels I have been in I think this may have been the nicest, but then again it was also the most expensive to stay in by far (but cheaper than staying in one of the local hotels which were twice as much money or more!) Speaking of money, Kongsberg was originally a town built around the silver mines, and silver is the theme of the city. From what I understood the coins for Norwegian currency have been minted in Kongsberg as long as there have been Norwegian coins - we saw the building where the Royal Norwegian Mint is currently housed.

Beth and I wandered around in the afternoon (with the purpose of finding the venues for the evening concerts at the Jazz Festival). The Tubaloon (a special structure designed for the Jazz Festival as their main stage), was actually quite close to our Hostel - right next to the famous Kongsberg Church. This structure, partially framework, and partially inflated fabric, is supposed to represent the inner ear in a stylized manner… certainly is interesting to look at.
We didn’t think the Kongsberg Church was much to look at from the outside, but we had some time and so we went in (had to pay admission however). The inside took us completely by surprise - baroque and big (seated 2400). Apparently the church was designed by two architects, the first was a pietist who didn’t have much use for excessive adornment, he was responsible for the exterior of the building. After he died another architect took over, and he was a flamboyant man - which accounted for the drastically different approach to the interior. Some interesting features of this church:
- the pulpit was built into the altar piece (right above the altar and below the pipe organ - see the picture, that‘s the pulpit and altar - note the large silver candlestick holders).
- there was a box for royalty (just like a theatre box) still used today only for royal visits.
- the main chandeliers were made with multi-coloured glass (very unique and very expensive).
- the altar faces west (rather than east) because this was the direction of the mountain with the silver in it, something the Kongsberg folks felt was a blessing from God (though to me it almost seemed like it was a subtle statement about the worship of money rather than God).

During our time looking about the church we heard the Danish Big Band warming up outside, this whet my appetite for the first concert of the evening (especially this nice synth keyboard playing… which I later found out was something else). Following our time in the church we walked into the city centre, where many booths were set up selling a variety of goods: hand crafted jewellery, clothes, art items, and so forth. We found the Kino (or Cinema) where the Tord Gustavsen concert would be later in the evening and then we headed back to our room where we rested and did a little internet work (the hostel had free internet!)

More of Royse

Our tour around the Royse area (where the Nosterud farm is situated) continued with a trip to the Hole Church (not 'hole' as in a empty space, but a Norwegian named pronounced something like hol-la), which was rebuilt after a fire in the 40s. I think that this was the church my grandparents were married in (though none of the cousins could answer that for sure). The rebuilt church has a very modern design painted on the ceiling, certainly not what we expected when we first walked in. The over all look of the sanctuary was simple and uncluttered (very different from all the other churches we have visited in Europe), only some decorative items from the original church building that were rescued from fire (the altar piece for example) were more fancy in appearance.

I also was invited to play the organ in this church. It was a nice relatively new instrument in great condition (though I am reminded that I am a pianist, not an organist - my attempt at pedal work was laughable). It is a tracker organ, meaning that all the workings are mechanical (versus having the keys trigger an electronic switch that opens the air flow to the various pipes). As a pianist I like tracker organs, simply because the more stops your have pulled (meaning the more pipes you have playing with each key you press) there is a bit more resistance to the fingers - thus it has a similarity to the piano in that regard. The family wanted Beth to sing something, so she sang one verse of I am So Glad Each Christmas Eve (the only song she knows in Norwegian) much to the delight of the relatives.

In the Hole Church graveyard we could not locate the grave of my great-grandmother (my grandpa Nosterud’s mother). It is in an unmarked grave and the church records were too vague to determine an exact location. However we did see the grave of my great-grandfather (and his last wife). This same grave site was also used for Truls and Per’s parents - it was common for the same gravesite to be used by multiple members of the same family. The cousins had purchased some flowering plants, and they spent some time that afternoon cleaning up the grave site a bit and planting the flowers. Over here we have seen many people in the graveyards watering the flowers around the graves of their family members - each cemetery has large watering cans just for this purpose. In some cases the family can pay for someone to care for the gravesite, but from what we could see many people took this responsibility on themselves.

After visiting the Hole Kirke we took a road up the side of a mountain by the lake, known as the Queen’s Road. There used to be a chair lift going up the side of the mountain years ago, it has been a favourite lookout site for many decades. The view from the top was awesome. At the top we also saw part of the King’s Road, and ancient road that went through this region. It was so steep that horses used to pull a tree behind them on the way down as a form of brakes. Hard to believe horses and carts used to go up and down that road - no nice switchbacks or tunnels to make the grade less steep!

The final lookout point we stopped at was a hang-gliding take-off point (though it looked like it hadn‘t been used very much recently). Apparently this was a great place to hang-glide, the up-drafts are strong and people can stay in the air for a long time. I tried to imagine running down the wooden ramp and jumping into thin air - even with a hang-glider it still seemed crazy.

At the bottom of the mountain we said goodbye to the cousins who came along for the trip (Kari, Anne-Berit, Sissel & Terje). Then Beth and I were taken back to Per’s house for some relaxing. We started on our catch-up work, mostly backing up and cataloguing pictures. Before supper we went for a little swim in the Tyrifjord, the lake is shallow for a long ways out right by the Nosterud farm, so we took the row boat out a few hundred meter and jumped in there, but even so it wasn’t very deep. The water was a nice temperature however.

The day concluded with another fantastic meal cooked by Per (a wonderful chef), and then we spent some time afterwards visiting. The idea was to get to bed earlier than recent days, but we weren’t all that successful. But when we did retire to bed the coolness of the room was nice after a long hot day. Sleep came easy!

Across the Tyrifjord to Djupvarp

Just down the hill from the Bønsnes Kirke is a boat loading area. There we met Truls who would take us by boat to Djupvarp - the summer home of my Grandma Nosterud’s family. This summer home (or cottage in Canadian parlance) was across a large bay from the Nosterud farm. As we leisurely motored across the lake I imagined my grandfather Lauritz rowing a boat across these very waters to meet his sweetheart Aarny (who became his wife and thus my grandmother). It would be a little ways to row, but young love provides lots of energy. From the Djupvarp property one can look across the water and clearly see the Nosterud farm (and vice versa).

We took some time to look around the outside of Djuvarp - unfortunately there was no one home to let us in to see the inside of the house. I noticed that there was a major addition since the last time I saw it in 1980 (a deck and sun room). Arriving by boat gave me a new appreciation for the beauty of the buildings and their setting, it truly is a special place. The current owners have done a nice job of maintaining the buildings, and even making the new additions blend in stylistically. I was glad to see that it was still in good condition, obviously well loved and used.

The rest of the group drove around the bay by car and met us at the property. Here on the shore we had a picnic lunch enjoying another hot and sunny day. The Norwegians love the outdoors, and we did as much eating and visiting outdoors as possible, and they especially took advantage of nice weather like we were fortunate to have.

A few interesting notes from our visit to Djupvarp:
- the two little cannons on the property have been restored since my last visit.
- Thor (Per & Truls’ father) made the iron gate to the entrance to the property.
- glancing in the windows we could see that the kitchen was a mixture of modern and traditional.
- leaving the property it became obvious that the easiest way to Djupvarp was by water, the road through the trees was rather rough and difficult to navigate (how much more difficult with horse and cart).

One final thought, after seeing the beauty of Djupvarp I found myself thinking of the incredible contrast my grandmother must have experienced coming to the prairies of Canada. Going from living in relative comfort and a certain level of wealth to living in poverty in a non-insulated wooden grainary must have been a monumental shift in experience. Even just the weather would have been enough of a contrast, southern Norway does not get nearly as cold as the prairies in the winter, and seldom gets as hot (though it was plenty warm when we were there). I don’t ever recall my grandmother as a bitter person, which would suggest to me that she came to accept this huge shift in her life and would simply make the best of it. I admire both my grandparents ability to survive such a life-changing move, though I know it was very difficult… it makes any problems we face today seem tiny in comparison.

Bønsnes Kirke

Tuesday morning, June 30th, we awoke to another beautiful day in Norway. After a nice breakfast at Per‘s we loaded into cars and went on a tour of the area. The first stop was the Bønsnes Kirke (Church). King Olav the Saint (995 to 1030 AD) was born near the site of the church and there is a tale that says it was built by the King himself (the tale says during a voyage on the Tyrifjord Lake he found his life in danger and he promised to build a church if he and his men would reach the shore alive). Olav is important in Norwegian history because he is the first King to establish what would become the modern borders of Norway, unifying the people (at least briefly) of the whole land. He is considered a saint because he brought Christianity to the interior and north of Norway, and after he died people claimed to be healed by his relics - thus began a long tradition of pilgrimages to Trondheim where Olav was buried. This Bønsnes Kirke was one of the stops on the pilgrimage journey.

Some of my mom’s cousins participated in a modern pilgrimage a few years ago, retracing the route the early pilgrims took. They had pictures and newspaper clippings of the event - it seems to be a significant thing to do and the pilgrimage trail is marked along the whole of its route. Here we were on our own pilgrimage intersecting with an ancient pilgrimage that until we arrived in Norway, I did really know about.

The church is from the 11th century, and is one of a few privately owned (or endowment) churches in Norway. This means that rather than being owned by the Church of Norway it belongs to the people living in the Hole area. An elderly fellow, who has been looking after the church since the early 70s let us in to have a look around. Inside we found some interesting features, here are a few of them:
- a pew with a lock where prisoners could sit while attending worship.
- chairs in the meeting room made from trees, in one piece (including the hollowed out part under one of the seats to store some drinks.
- a old pipe organ, at least 2 and a half centuries (which I got to play).
- an altar piece with mermaids as part of the decoration (see the picture).

Some special services are still held in the church, but only about 6 times a year, the regular worship services for the area take place in the Hole Church, which we saw later that day. I ended our time at the church by climbing up to the bells, which I tried to record a bit by ringing them with my fist, but I’m not sure it turned out that well, but it was fun to try. For the first stop on our tour that day it turned out to be an interesting and educational place to visit.

Crustaceans and More Crustaceans

As we were touring around on Sunday morning with Sissel and Terje, Sissel got a text message from Kari saying that we were going to have prawns for dinner that evening. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach until Sissel continued with the message saying that Kari would help me. I knew I would be fine with these cousins to guide me. When we sat down for the meal later that evening, there were indeed two very large bowls of prawns on the table (complete with their eyes and everything). As promised, we were shown how to peel these shellfish and get the meat out. We then put it on bread with some mayonnaise and dill - a most delicious thing to eat. Kari had also put cheese on the table as an alternate, but that wasn’t needed. (Sissel is most efficient with the prawns and quickly gave Dennis & I each a sandwich to start us off.)

The very nice thing about a prawn supper is that it becomes a lengthy affair. It’s pretty labour-intensive so you also have lots of time to visit while you’re working on your meal. As Anne-Berit’s husband, Knut Erik, commented, you don’t just sit down at the table for 10 minutes and then go off to do other things. This becomes a real occasion.

The second occasion was at Per’s house the next evening. As Dennis mentioned, Per had prepared a lovely four-course meal for us and the last thing to be served was a huge wooden boat filled with what they call Kreps. These were about the same size as the prawns we had at Kari’s but quite different in appearance. They were dark red and had claws similar to a lobster. Except for the color, these reminded me more of what I had tried to eat in Scotland. Once again I needed a lesson, I knew sort of what to do with the main body but wasn’t sure about those claws. Per told me he didn’t bother with the claws because you couldn’t get much out of them, although I did notice other people tackling them as well. So again, these were peeled (making sure you got rid of a part of the spine that was apparently poisonous) and put on bread with mayonnaise. Kreps live in rivers and later on when I looked them up in a Norwegian/English dictionary, it called them crayfish. Whether you call them Kreps or crayfish, they are still a very tasty dish.

Nøsterud Fixed Up

After the park we walked back to the subway and this time took it all the way to Kari’s neighbourhood, and then a short walk to her house. This could easily be the most walking we’ve done in a single day on this trip, Beth’s pedometer was over 30,000 steps - at least 5000 more than any other day that I was aware of. At the house we had a simple supper with some of the other cousins (with Sissel & Terje and Anne-Berit) who had showed up. Then we loaded into cars and headed out of the city to Nøsterud, the family farm.

When we arrived we unloaded our luggage at Per’s place then walked a short distance to the Nosterud farm. The first thing I noticed is that Truls has fixed it up quite well, the outside of the buildings are in much nicer condition than the last time I was here 29 years ago. We wandered around the farm yard, taking pictures, the cousins sharing memories, and generally enjoying the beautiful evening. We took a quick look inside the house where my grandfather grew up, marvelling that such a large family was raised in such a relatively small house.

The day ended with a wonderful four course meal at Per’s place (Per has been a caterer as one of his occupations, and his great cooking and hosting skills were shown in abundance that night). We ate on a deck built up on the hill behind his house, giving us a beautiful view to go with the wonderful food. Looking out over the top of Per’s house (which has a grass roof!) we could see the lake, the family farm and the surrounding landscape. The meal included smoked salmon with a spiced mustard sauce, rummegrot, sandwiches with a platter of cheeses and smoked meats, and concluding with kreps - Beth will tell you about these in another post).

Finally the long and very full day drew to a close. Beth and I went to bed in a basement room in Per’s house, which was nice and cool, and a welcome change after a very warm day. Everyone keeps telling us how fortunate we are with the weather - we’ve been hearing this since we were in the U.K. - and certainly we can’t complain about the weather, even when it gets a bit too hot for me.

Walking Through Oslo

After the visit to Rainbow Studio we began a walking tour of Oslo with Kari Grande. We walked down the path by the river, going through the old textile mill area. The river was lovely, and the coolness that we felt walking beside the water and in the shade of the trees was welcome on a very hot day. There were some nice waterfalls and interesting buildings. Along the way Kari would give us bits of history, pointing out various monuments, buildings and sites.

Here are a few cool things we saw: the first iron suspension bridge in Norway (with a sign that read “100 men can cross this bridge at a time, if they are not marching”); an old concrete grain terminal converted into student housing; an old church (the Gamle Aker Kirke - literally “Old Aker Church” in Norwegian) - from the 11th century, but still in use today. Kari was baptised, confirmed and married in this church. We had a young woman as a guide, and it turns out that she is nearing the completion of her studies to be ordained as a pastor (or priest as they call them here) in the Church of Norway. It was good to see some evidence of faith in the younger generation over here.

We ended up at the central Library (Kari worked in a library for many years and seemed to be a devoted user of the library system, including finding the choir recording of Dype Stille Sterke Milde which I had mentioned in this blog). Downtown Oslo was interesting, especially the street that had quotes from Henrik Ibsen, perhaps Norway’s most famous and significant author, embedded in the sidewalk. From downtown we took the subway to Oslo’s most famous tourist attraction - Vigeland Park.

It was amazing to see this nicely landscaped park filled with bronze and granite sculptures by this early 20th century artist. There are over 200 large sculptures in the park, and much small detail work on things like the fountains and stairways. We found the famous statue called “Angry Boy” which has apparently been stolen and retrieved twice in its history. We concluded our visit to the park at the monolith, and huge sculpted column that is supposed to represent the struggle of humanity to improve its place in the world. When the park first opened the Norwegians weren’t too sure of it because of all the nude figures, but from my perspective Vigeland was simply following in the footsteps of the Greco-Roman, and later the Renaissance artists who desired to show the human form in its most basic and beautiful form. Certainly modern Norwegians have no problems with these statues, and as a society are much less inhibited about their bodies than Canadians - except of course for the Muslim Norwegian women, of which we saw many (covered up as required), especially in Oslo.

In the Rainbow

Monday morning, June 29th, we ate an early breakfast with Kari and Magne because we had the possibility of visiting Rainbow Studio at 9 AM. Because Kari and Magne don’t have a car we took a taxi down to the studio (which is situated in the old textile mill area of Oslo beside a picturesque river). From the outside there is little to indicate the great things inside, just a little nameplate above the door buzzer. When 9 AM rolled around (we got there 10 minutes early so we just looked around the area first) Kari pushed the door buzzer. We heard a click indicating the door was unlocked so we pulled it open and walked in.

There didn’t seem to be much on the first level (and no one around) so we headed up the stairs - saw some old analog tape recorders and misc gear, but still no people so Kari called out hello (in Norwegian of course) and we heard a response from downstairs. Down we went to meet a man who looked to be in his mid to late 50's… and sure enough, this was Jan Erik Kongshaug - the great recording engineer himself. He greeted us warmly and showed us into the studio (which was on the main floor behind an unlabeled door).

For those of you who missed my early blog about Jan Erik Kongshaug let me recap a bit. This recording engineer has been behind the mixing board of many of my favourite recordings of all time. He probably has been involved in half of the recordings made for ECM Records, the most significant European Jazz Label for the past 40 years. Many of the recordings on ECM have been recorded or mixed at Rainbow Studio in the past number of years. Not at this specific space, because Rainbow Studio moved to its current location about 5 years ago (apparently the original space ended up with an Irish Pub underneath it, thus some unresolved disputes with the landlord, and eventually a move to the current space which Jan Erik said he likes very much). Mr. Kongshaug has been almost single-handedly responsible for changing the way jazz recordings sound - in the 70’s he (along with producer Manfred Eicher) created an approach to recording that resulted in “the ECM Sound” - which as best as I can describe it is a warm, clear, crystalline, detailed sound which hints at being in a cathedral. Jan Erik Kongshaug is a musician who also has an interest in technology, and this combination results in a high quality recording from both a technical and musical perspective. Jan Erik has won many awards and accolades over the years (and also some criticism in the early years from those who thought jazz should sound only a certain way). This was the legend that we met at the Rainbow, and it was a dream come true for me.

For half an hour Jan Erik showed us around the studio, talked about the equipment, reminisced about some of his favourite sessions over the years. During this time a group was setting up (bringing in drums and other gear), and the piano was being tuned. Mr. Kongshaug told me that the most important element in getting a good recording of a piano is to have it well tuned, this is the single most important thing he stressed. I think, once he saw that I wasn’t a crazed lunatic, but someone who simply appreciated his work very much, he was quite happy to show us around. At one point he was talking about doing a recent session with the Norwegian Pianist Ketil Bjørnstad to which I responded “I’ve been trying to get his Rainbow Sessions CD for months now but I haven’t had any luck” to which Jan Erik replied “Oh, I think I have a copy of that here.” This recording features three CDs, the first being the last recording session in the old Rainbow Studio, the second disc being the first recording session in the new Rainbow Studio, and the third disc being the first recording on the new Steinway piano which is now part of Rainbow Studio's gear.

After half an hour of visiting and looking at the studio I felt we should leave and let Jan Erik get on with his work, so I thanked him for allowing us to see the studio and to take some of his time. He was a very gracious and humble person and I was genuinely happy to meet him. Just before we left he said “Wait a minute” and he popped into another room briefly, returning with the 3 CD set we had spoken of earlier. He offered it to me, I asked if he would sign it (which he did) and how much I owed him for that - he very generously said “No, nothing, I hope you enjoy it”. So a big bonus, not only did I get to see Rainbow Studio, and meet Jan Erik Kongshaug, I also was given a rare CD set by a wonderful Norwegian pianist! It wouldn’t matter what happened the rest of the day - as far as I was concerned it was already a big success.

Oslo From Above and Movies From the Past

Once we arrived at Kari and Magne’s house, we unloaded our luggage, then loaded back up in the car to get a good view of Oslo. We kept driving up the side of this small mountain (on the west side of Oslo), past the famous ski-jumping site (which was being rebuilt for the World Championship next year), and finally at the top was a spectacular view of the city. We could see the harbour where we first arrived, and many of the important places of Oslo. After a few pictures we got back in the car to get back to the house for supper.

Kari Grande has been following our blog, and she knew of Beth’s prawn experience on Iona… but that was the menu for this evening much to the amusement of everyone. I remembered having a family meal in that very dining room back when I first came to Norway. The attached picture is very similar to a picture I have from that first visit years ago… it was a bit of a déjà vu experience for me.

Following the meal we gathered in the backyard for conversation and some fresh air (we were in Oslo during a bit of a heat wave). Lots of enjoyable conversation, exploring more of the family history, or the history of Norway in general. Occasionally from further down the mountainside we could hear the cheers of fans at a football game (that would be soccer for us North Americans). We learned so much about Norway’s history and culture, and current realities that it was hard to soak it all in, but what an interesting way to spend an evening. The visiting continued until quite late (because as I have mentioned before the sky never started to darken until very late in the evening).

The evening ended with some home movies shot by the father of Kari Grande. This was mostly black and white footage from more than a half century ago. Some of the footage was taken at the Nosterud farm, and it was interesting to see moving images from that era - it made the history of Nosterud come alive a bit more than simply still photographs - an interesting experience for me.

Family Forest and Folk Museum

After the big family gathering, the next day started rather quietly, which was a nice change. After breakfast we went to see the cabin in the forest. Sissel and Terje actually have three cabins, one in Sweden which they use in the winter for skiing, a larger one near their place which they use for family get-aways, and this little one that was built by Terje’s grandfather many years ago as a place to sleep while working in the forest. In Norway much of the forest is owned by individuals, often connected with a farm. Terje’s grandfather would spend the week in the forest harvesting trees (or sometimes hunting) and come home on the weekend. This cabin was not large (even though in the early years it would often be home to 8 men who were all cutting trees (think of that smell!). It over-looked a little lake, and was perfectly secluded from civilization (at least that’s how it felt). Now it is a place that Sissel and Terje will go to for the afternoon, just to get some peace and quiet (it’s about 20 minutes by car from their farm). Both Beth and I thought it would be a lovely place to spend a couple of days. In some ways it reminded us of the Hedlin cabin at Christopher Lake, but much more secluded (see the picture).

After visiting the cabin we drove to the school where Terje worked for many years, and right around the corner was Oddlaut’s newly finished house. It too over-looked a lake and was built with a traditional look and layout. It has kept Oddlaut and her husband Thor busy for the past couple of years, and they were proud to show it off now that it is completed (and rightly so, it was a lovely place).

Here we picked up Oddlaut’s twin sister Marit, who would catch a ride into Oslo with us. However, before heading into the city we stopped at a nearby Folk Museum. This community effort featured a number of old buildings restored to their original condition, and showed how people in the area lived a century or two ago. We saw many interesting features of these houses, but the most interesting were the short beds (not only because people were shorter in those days, but also because the practice was to sleep sitting up in bed). There was also a cute device in the one kitchen which was a pole that extended from the floor to the ceiling and had a hoop attached near the base. This device allowed a mother to put her toddler in the hoop allowing the child to walk in circles (and yet stay safely away from the fire - sort of like a early version of a Jolly Jumper).

We didn’t have time to look at everything in this Folk Museum, but we saw lots, and gained a deeper appreciation for the way our ancestors would have lived in Norway… it was not an easy existence, though they figured out many clever ways to make life a little bit easier.

Before we reached Oslo we dropped Marit off at her home in Lillestrom. It is an apartment which we only saw from the street, as we needed to get into Oslo in order to attend a family supper at Kari Grande’s place. Once in Oslo it took a little time trying to find the house (if streets were laid out in a nice grid like prairie towns it wouldn’t be a problem!). After a few inquires we arrived at the right house, which is partway up a mountainside, thus giving the occupants a nice view of part of the city.

A Program of Surprises

Following the meal I was taken over to the local church where I met the organist (a British fellow named Richard). He showed me the new organ (which is an electronic instrument, similar to the one at Christ Lutheran in Regina, but using current technology and built by an individual organ builder, subsequently it had character like a pipe organ, and was easily the most realistic copy of a pipe organ sound I have ever heard from an electronic instrument). After a few lessons about the various buttons and settings Richard left me to play the instrument for myself. This was something my sister did when in Norway a number of years ago, she played the various pipe organs in the various churches they visited - I think the assumption was I would like to do that too. Well, I do love the sound of the pipe organ, but I am hardly an organist - my pedal technique is non-existent for one thing.

So I played through some hymns, then did some improvising. I tried to play the piano as well but it was locked. Soon the family gathering came to the church. There was to be a short program, with me playing the organ! Well I decided to bite the bullet and try something. I started by playing a couple of the hymns that my mom‘s cousin Kari had printed up (these were both from the album Dype Stille Sterke Milde, that features Tord Gustavsen‘s arrangements… Kari had been reading our blog!) Then I did an improvised piece beginning with a bell sound playing the melody of Dype Stille Sterke Milde. I got through it, and I think it sounded okay, now it was time for the next part of the program.

The oldest surviving cousin of my mom, Johan, told about the family history and some of his memories about the Nosterud farm. He was nice enough to tell all this in English so Beth and I could understand. For some of the stories he switched to Norwegian (these were some of the improvised moments) and these stories resulted in some laughter from the gathered family. Johan gave us his notes so that we could have something to share with the family back in Canada.

As part of the program another of the cousins, Per, played accordion while Kari Grande led the group in singing some Norwegian folk tunes. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music and the stories, but when the program ended, it was time for a group picture on the steps of the church then folks started heading for their various homes. It had been a full and interesting afternoon. Many of the folks there said they should get together more often and talked about doing something like this barbeque on a regular basis. Thus while Beth and my visit was the impetus for the gathering, it really had a life of its own. I hope they continue to meet so that the family history has a chance of being passed on to the younger generations.

I learned some new things on that day, things such as the information that my great-grandfather Christian Nøsterud (whom I never knew, nor actually did my mom) came to the United States (to Duluth, Minnesota specifically) in 1880 with his brothers, and that he was the only one who returned to Norway. Thus there is a good chance that we had Nosterud relatives in the United States that we never knew about (I think none of the family in Canada know this - or maybe I just wasn't listening, it certainly seemed to be a surprise for the Norwegian relatives to learn this information). An even bigger surprise was that my great-grandfather may have been married three times, not just twice. According to a history book from the region that the Nosterud farm is situated in, my great-grandfather was married to a widow with seven children for a year between the marriage to his first wife (my grandfather’s mother who died young) and his other wife who bore him 5 more children. No one had heard of this before, and it is a big mystery, all the book said is that this marriage took place and lasted only a year. I have a photocopy of the chapter with this interesting information that I can share with my family back in Canada (though it is written in Norwegian and they’ll have to do some translating).

The day ended with a few of the cousins sitting outside at Sissel and Terje‘s place visiting as the sun slowly set. The other two cousins who were there were a set of identical twins‘ Marit, and Oddlaug (as if it wasn’t hard enough keeping all the family members straight! Sharing stories and yummy Crème Carmel (left over dessert from the barbeque) the day came to a delicious and delightful end.

Boys Became Men

Saturday June 27th started with a lovely breakfast, at which both of Sissel and Terje’s boys showed up. When I visited back in 1980 they were just boys with whom I enjoyed playing (being nothing more than a big boy at that stage anyways). Now they are grown men with families of their own. Leif is a dentist (with a practice in Oslo) who lives on the farm in the house I talked about in the previous post - he and his wife Tone have three children. Tryggve is a teacher and lives with his wife Kjersti and two children in Fetsund, about a 20 minute drive from the farm. Tryggve pulled into the yard in his sports car, and I found out that up until a couple of years ago he raced motorcycles (much to the concern of his mother).

After breakfast it was time to set up for the big barbeque, tents were set up, barbeques pulled out and loaded with charcoal, and chairs and tables put out on the grass. At 1:00 PM people began arriving in droves, in the end there were around 50 people there, many of my mom’s cousins, with their children and grand-children. Many of these folks had not seen each other for years and thus there was much visiting and reminiscing. I could not keep everyone straight, especially the children and grand-children… but I think I got all the cousins sorted out. Some of these folks had been to Canada to visit in years past and it was nice to connect with them again. I particularly enjoyed meeting Sven again. He had come over to Canada in 1974 and we spent many days fooling around as only young teenage boys can. A few years later, in 1980, he showed me a little of the night life of Oslo when I visited Norway following the Camrose Lutheran College Choir Tour. Now he has teenage children of his own, one who was in a golf tournament (golf has become a big sport in Norway) that day (36 holes in temperatures over 30 degrees and high humidity!) That's Sven with me in the picture.

Guests came from all over Norway, including some who came from Geilo, at least a 4 hour drive. Many folks wanted me to greet the family back in Canada, and many wanted to know how the Canadian Nosteruds were doing. Thankfully most of these folks could speak English quite well and so we had little trouble conversing. My Grandfather Nosterud had 4 siblings, and 5 half-siblings (his father re-married after his first wife passed away). So there are lots of cousins and extended family.

The food was organized as a bit of a pot-luck, and Beth and I got to try barbequed moose (which had been marinated in a nice sauce making it moist and tender). There was certainly more variety than one would see at a typical Canadian barbeque - besides the moose there we noticed fish, sausages, pork, beef and something that looked like huge Hersey‘s Kisses.

Fjord and Farm

On Friday June 26th we got up, had breakfast at the hotel, then called a cab. We had debated walking to the ferry terminal, which was only 4 blocks from the hotel in Frederikshavn, and had even gone there the night before to get our bearings (so we thought). It was a good thing we called a cab, because we would have ended up in the wrong place on the pier if we had walked. So, needless to say, we got on the ferry without trouble and were soon on our way to Oslo.

We both had been a bit worried about this crossing because it is the route that my dad got so sick on a number of years ago. However, our trip was very smooth, and the boat very big, so we hardly felt the movement of the waves at all. Our ferry seemed to be over-run with children, there were kids everywhere. Probably families heading off on summer vacation. One of the most bizarre sights involving kids on the ferry was watching adults playing the slot machines with their children or grandchildren. One time a little girl was pulling the arm on the slot machine with her dad (I assumed) feeding it coins. Wouldn’t you know they hit a jackpot, and lots of coins came out. I thought “Way to go dad, now you’ve shown your kid that gambling can pay off, perhaps establishing an addictive behaviour for life."

As with most of our trip, the weather that day was beautiful. Sailing down the Oslo fjord we noticed lots of little boats enjoying the perfect boating weather. There were many motorboats, often coming alongside the ferry for a bit to wave at the people on board. There were some sailboats, both large and small, and even a racing boat that went by us at an incredible speed (I think I managed to snag a shot but won’t know until I process my slide film). A few of the boats got too close to the ferry and as a result got a blast from the ferry’s fog horn. Apparently the ferry captains hate all the small boats clogging up their sailing lanes, that certainly was the case that day.

Once we disembarked we found my mom’s cousin Sissel waiting for us at the Ferry Terminal. We loaded our stuff in their van, and then she toured us around Oslo a bit, showing us many of the main sights in central Oslo. After a little of this we headed out to the farm she lives on with her husband Terje. Their farm is near a village called Lø ken (about an hours drive north-east of Oslo). Many years ago (in 1980) I stayed at this farm for a few days after being in Europe on a choir tour. The farm looked as lovely as ever, and now Sissel and Terje’s younger son lives in the house where Terje’s parents used to live. (Actually this is not technically correct because it is a new house. They story is that they were going to renovate the house, but the timber and beams were in rough shape so it was better to tear it down and build from scratch, which is what they did except they built an exact replica of the original house - only a little bit larger, and with radiant heating in the floors and other modern construction techniques. However the old house continues to exist in a form - Sissel and Terje saved many items from the old house, such as windows, and built a little summer house - like a gazebo but in the shape of a little house - and they placed old furniture and such items from the old house in it - see the picture).

Terje had been away at a funeral in the south part of Norway that day, but when he returned home we had a lovely supper with shrimp, eggs and peas in a cream sauce on some pastry shells (Terje’s favourite). It was very pleasant visiting and catching up on all the family news. Here the sun is still up in the sky quite late (Oslo is at the 60th parallel, the same as the northern border of Saskatchewan and Alberta - thus while not quite the land of the midnight sun, it was certainly light late into the evening and early in the morning. This was something that would take a bit getting used to.

Quick Update

Hello to all who are following this blog... you may have noticed that we haven't posted for a few days. That isn't because we haven't been doing anything worth writing about, quite the opposite. Since arriving in Norway we have been busy morning, noon and night with my mother's relatives. It has been a great time, but not one with a lot of time for writing. I have been keeping some notes and hope to have some real posts in a day or two, but for now we just wanted you to know that Norway has been great!

We've met lots of family, seen lots of beautiful countryside, ate lots of yummy food and learned much new information. For those interested, we did get to Rainbow Studio and did meet Jan Erik Kongshaug, we did attend the Blood Sweat Drum 'n' Bass Big Band concert in the Tubaloon, and most recently we attended the Tord Gustavsen concert (which was very, very good) and even got to meet Tord for a few minutes after the show. So everything I wanted to do in Norway we have done (thanks mostly to my mom's amazing cousins). Now we are going to meet some of Beth's extended family.

It is very hot and humid here, and both of us are wishing we took more hot weather clothes rather than cool weather, which we have hardly used at all on this whole trip. Not that we're complaining about the weather, its been nice not having our sightseeing made difficult by wind and rain. So that's it for our quick update, hopefully some new posts will appear in a day or two.

The Sahara in Denmark

Thursday we left the Skjern area and this would be a crazy day - one in which we would try to use the public transportation system in a country we weren’t familiar with, to reach a remote area where part of Babette’s Feast was filmed. The day began well enough, with Jørn being able to give us a ride into the train station (rather than take a taxi), he was heading in to the last day of school (he is a science teacher) and so his work schedule worked out perfectly with our travel schedule.

We boarded a train in Skern armed with my list of what station we had to transfer to a different train in order to get to Hjørring. At our first transfer point a train arrived earlier than we expected, but it was going to Frederikshavn, so we hopped on. Turns out this was a train that was late, and thus we were able to catch a train that would take us straight to Hjørring without anymore transfers, and as it was a bit of an express route, with fewer stops along the way.

This was great as it would allow us a bit more time to visit the Mårup Kirke and the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse. When we got to Hjørring we loaded our luggage into some lockers, then walked a block away to the bus terminal. It was going to be almost an hour before the next bus left to Lønstrup so we wandered about Hjørring a bit. I managed to find a photo store that had Velvia film, so I bought some more rolls (because I am on the last couple of rolls of the ones I brought from home).

The bus, once we got on it, took us to Lønstrup, which is a bit of a resort town, with lots of camping and cabins available. We figured it was because of the beautiful sand beaches that we could see when we were at the coast. We were dropped off at the local tourist bureau which was just closing but we were able to get a map and directions (and a few postcards) then it was off on our own two feet.

We first walked to the Mårup Kirke. This church on the sandy cliffs by the sea is in danger of falling into the ocean soon, so most of the church has been moved (the interior furnishings and the roof). Still at the site is the large anchor (salvaged from a shipwreck a few centuries back) and the walls of the building. While we were there a tour group came, and while we were taking pictures we suddenly heard singing, and to our surprise the tour group was holding some kind of the service on the grounds of Mårup Kirke. Their singing reminded me of little section in Babette’s Feast with the sect members singing before and after the meal.

Off a little way away we saw the huge sand dune and the top of the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse. There was a path along the shoreline which we took. Sometimes we were led through areas filled with a thorny type plants, and Beth’s bare legs (below the knees) were paying the price. When we finally got to the dune it was enormous, and made of very fine sand. We climbed to the top where you could see the wind blowing the sand around. We both thought that it felt a bit like being in the Sahara Desert - the huge dune, the sand getting in our shoes, and the heat beating down on us (it was quite a warm day).

The lighthouse was not covered by sand (I think it has been dug out) but sand dunes surrounding it were half way up the structure. We both took lots of pictures hoping that some of them will give a sense of the size of this dune. All along this section of the coast you could see the power of nature at work, especially the force of erosion.

We walked back into town and we figure it was a good 5 - 8 kilometre round trip. We certainly got our exercise that day! We managed to catch the bus back to Hjørring about 10 mintues after getting into town. From there we picked up tickets and waited on the platform for the next train to Frederikshavn. Right on the platform we had a bit of a picnic lunch eating left over bread and cheese from yesterday’s supper.

The train arrived, we headed east - I was looking out the windows to the north where the area where Bindslev is, this is the region where my ancestors on my Danish Grandmother’s side come from. More trees than I expected, and obviously not hand planted, it seemed like a pretty area - though perhaps when the winter winds blew it would not seem like such a nice place to be.

We got to Frederikshavn, where we took a taxi to the hotel (and got ripped off - the hotel was close enough that we could of walked had we had a map). The cab that was next in line at the taxi stand was a wheelchair accessible one, and I think we paid extra for it (this morning we paid almost half to get to the ferry which was three times as far!) Oh well, I’ll let it go - most of the time we have done quite well with doing things for a decent price, and I should be grateful for that.

So we did a crazy thing - we got out to the Mårup Kirke and the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse without renting a car, and dealing with a pile of luggage to boot. So pretty well everything I have hoped to do in Europe I have now done (and Beth has been gracious enough to go along with me on these crazy jaunts). Now we are sailing to Norway (as I write this entry) and there family will take care of us, a nice change from the past couple of weeks.