Catching Up - Part 1

Well, we have been busy! We have been to Norway, back to Sweden, then back to Norway again! The first trip to Norway was to the farm in Hedmark (eastern Norway) where I was an exchange student many years ago. It was great to be back! My son also found it a welcoming experience, where he could relax while I got over my cold. He took a few pictures while we were there:

For us, the particularly impressive part of the last photo was that it was taken at 11:30PM. The midnight sun is still amazing for both of us!

As a special treat, our hostess took us for a trip north to Lillehammer where they held the 1994 Winter Olympics.

We also went to a fascinating amusement park called Hunderfossen, which was based entirely on the old Norwegian fairytales and folk stories recorded by Asbjørnsen and Moe about a hundred and fifty years ago, many of which are famous around the world (like the three billygoats gruff). Around the turn of the twentieth century, the artist, Theodor Kittelsen, created drawings and paintings of many of those same fairytales (for examples, check out this link to the Norwegian National Museum: http://mikro.nasjonalmuseet.no/kittelsen/docs/eventyr.shtm). Following Kittelsen's illustrations, another artist, Ivo Caprino, made a number of sculptures that were used in animated films of the fairytales originally collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe, perticularly in the 1960s. Scenes from the tales using Caprino's sculptures are on display at Hunderfossen, especially those involving the character, Askeladden (the Ash Lad). Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, but here is a link to the park's webpage: http://www.hunderfossen.no/eventyrklubben/eventyrboka/  Stay on the Norwegian pages for good pictures, as few have been included on the English translation. Also at the park is a giant rendition of a sitting troll:

Of course, in Norwegian mythology, this would be a life-sized rendition, or a little on the small side for a mature troll! Some of the trolls in Kittelsen's paintings were the size of mountains.

On the way back to the farm, we saw a magnificent view of Lillehammer and the southern opening of the Gudbrandsdal valley: