Driving to Norway can’t really be considered the easy option, but it is fun and a great way to see the country. We decided on a route which took in two ferries to do some of the miles for us. We started Saturday April 25th with a day ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. We have done this in the past by taking the night ferry, but that puts pressure on to get quickly to Kiel for the next ferry, so we took the day ferry and stayed overnight in a place called Roelofarendsveen near Leiden. This meant we could do an early start the next day, giving us plenty of time to get round Bremen and Hamburg, both of which can be quite busy. Given that we had to wait quite a time to do our fingerprints coming into the Hook of Holland, this was probably wise.
Arriving at Roelofarendsveen we were surprised to find the café shut but with large groups of people around. It turned out that it was the 80th birthday of the owner’s parents, so a very jolly occasion, but, given their age the party finished early – ideal for us with an early start. The drive the next day was pretty straightforward with a couple of charges on the way and we arrived in plenty of time for the next ferry – Kiel to Gothenburg, leaving at 5.45pm and arriving and 9.15am the next morning. Very sociable timing!
We got off the ferry fairly easily the next morning with no Customs checks and headed north – round Oslo and then north on the E6 to Lillehammer where we planned to stop for the night. We didn’t know what to expect (we had chosen the stop for pragmatic reasons), but Lillehammer was a lovely spot. Lillehammer was the venue for the 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games. Because of calendar changes for the Winter Olympics which were made in 1986, this was just two years after the previous winter Olympics which were held in Albertville in France. This was the second Olympic Games of any type hosted in Norway – the first being the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo and is the northernmost location of any Winter Olympics. The games were actually spread out over ten venues in five different municipalities, but Lillehammer was the central location. Norway as the host nation though must have been a little miffed to come second in the medal table to Russia despite having more medals than Russia (Norway’s 26 to Russia’s 23) – the Russians though had one more gold!
The next day was almost the last leg – another 6 hours drive to Trondheim. We started fairly promptly and then had a break for a while as we headed through the Rondane National Park – Norway’s oldest National Park – and a beautiful landscape with a scattering of snow still on the peaks. A lovely place to stop and take in the landscape for a while.
The National Park was established in 1962 and is one of the most visited, not least by herds of wild reindeer. The landscape has inspired writers, artists and a range of other creative people to develop works symbolising the wildness of the landscape, the wildlife and the evocative light. However, the evidence of creativity we saw from our layby was perhaps more basic – graffiti on a frozen lake!
We arrived in Trondheim early evening and after an interesting time trying to find the hotel car park (underground and very confusing!) found a very nice vegan restaurant making for a very relaxing evening. The next morning we met Ric from the station and had a wander round Trondheim looking at the cathedral, the old town bridge over the Nidelva river and then a wander back through the old town, which with extensive road works, was being made that little bit newer! The town, despite being Norway’s third largest, only has a population of 220,000 people and is very easy to wander around. Historically it is also fascinating – the Nidaros Cathedral dates back to a start date of around 1070 with it being completed in 1300. However, there was then a major reconstruction starting in 1869 and completed in 2001, so the overall effect is a slightly more modern one. The gothic facade though is imposing and certainly achieves the desired effect.
We also had a wander past Stiftsgården. This is the royal residence in Trondheim centrally located on Munkegaten. It has a total area of 4000 m² and has 140 rooms making it one of the largest wooden buildings in Northern Europe. It has been in constant use by royalty since 1800 and serves as the official Royal Residence when the family is in Trondheim.
The final part of the trip was later that day with a two hour drive back out to Hitra and finally back to Amalia ……
