Under The Atlantic

Boy, how time flies! Just a few weeks ago, my parents rented a beast of a car (a VW diesel 8 seater van) so we could drive south to the beautiful coastal town of Ålesund. We took the scenic route and drove roughly 10 hours (with lots of stops, of course,) through breath taking mountain and fjord scenes.

A highlight of this trip was driving along The Atlantic Ocean Road. This is a unique road that takes you by, over, and under the Atlantic ocean. The road connects islands together - one such city, Kristiansund, is a city entirely made up of small islands, connected by bridges, ferries, and underwater tunnels.

The light at the end of the tunnel has never looked so bright.

The Atlantic Ocean Tunnel is 5.7 km long and goes 250 meters below sea level. It seemed to have steep decline and incline, with the deepest part of the tunnel having a bluish light. I did not take any pictures of this, but was able to find this picture from the opening of the tunnel. Most of the tunnel seemed dark and damp. A little freaky, but an exciting adventure.

These two pictures show exactly the placement of the tunnel and the islands it connects.



























Then we went onto the Atlantic Ocean Road. This is was such a good picture of the road that I "borrowed" it to put on here.

One of many bridges connecting islands together.

OK, two more pictures that I "borrowed".

The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We drove through mountains, passed fjord's, and rode ferries truly enjoying the spectacular beauty around us. This was one the many fjords we passed.

The kids had so much fun on the ferries. Every possible minute was spent on deck looking for creatures in the ocean. They saw many jelly fish and once even spotted three small minke whales.

This road was right next to the fjord for several miles before cutting through a mountain.

Keikos, also known as "Free Willy", the killer whale, when retiring from his Hollywood career was released into the ocean up by Iceland. Probably due to his being in captivity most of his life, he found his way back to the the public and spent the remainder of his days in this fjord in Norway. He was quite the local celebrity and let the local children pet him, ride him and swim with him. It was a sad day when he eventually died, and the local town provided him with a burial. We passed his grave place and followed the signs for a while, but wasn't able to find the exact place of burial. But here's a picture of the road sign....

Ålesund, our destination. A beautiful city with a European charm to it. The yellow building in the back was our hotel. It used to be an old fishing industrial pier. Our room had apparently been the office of a fishery manager and had relics from that time in it. The kids were able to get a close look at the old typewriter, radio's and desk calculators that were still there.

Austrått Fort

A WWII relic and an old medieval manor took us on a short drive and on a ferry across the Trondheim's Fjord

At the mouth of Tronheim's Fjord are some forts and large cannons left behind from the German occupation of Norway during WWII

This, the largest of the cannons, was originally one of three large turrets on a German battlecruiser. From this fort, they had full view of any ships entering into Trondheim.

Bestefar and the three oldest kids took a tour inside this gigantic war weapon.

The turret goes five stories down into the mountain. It housed 3 shifts of soldiers at a time. Each shift consisting of 120 soldiers. Because this fort wasn't finished until near the end of the war, it was never used in battle. The only time these canons ever fired were during testing. This provided the soldiers with enough spare time to carve this totem pole.

Close by was Austrått Manor, originally built around 1150 and added upon until aroun 1660. It was home to some of Norways elite nobles.
We got there right before closing time, so we only got a quick look around, but it made quite an impression!

The tower was originally from a chapel. The stone chapel on the lower floor is still there today. Upstairs is a coffin room which houses 4 coffins of the occupants from the 1600's - beautifully carved coffins.


Here is the arch entryway looking into the castle courtyards.




The history that has been preserved was magnificent. I wish more time could have been spent there and more pictures taken.

Nidaros Cathedral

Last week, we were able to attend the St. Olav Festival in Trondheim. St. Olav was a viking from about the year 1030 that brought Catholicism/Christianity to Norway. For centuries, even his corpse was considered holy.

These Festivities provided many fun activities for us to witness and take part in. And, we finally took the opportunity to enter the famous Nidaros Cathedral, which dates back to the early 1012's.

The Nidaros Cathedral is a prominent land mark that can be seen from most places within city limits. I can only imagine how imposing it must have seemed a few hundred years ago, as pilgrims journeyed from far away places to seek penance.

The details, from the statutes of the Saints and the fierce gargoyles to the large stain glass windows are so fascinating! We could spend hours exploring this ancient cathedral.

We were able to make the climb to one of the tallest towers of the church. Guides warned us to reconsider the trip if we were prone to shortness of breath or claustrophobia. The 172 steps going up, twists narrowly in a tight spiral - not allowing room to go side by side or pass anyone.

Some places got a little dark, so we used the flash of the camera to shed some light on the very narrow steps.

We also had to pass through this narrow corridor. It was up high, close to the rafters. People were definitely smaller back in those days!

These narrow windows were our only source of light going up the spiral staircase.

The view up top proves to be a fitting reward from the long climb.

Entering the church courtyard, we were met with all sorts of interesting medieval characters; kings, princesses, knights, vikings, royal jests, flame throwers, moving statutes, and so on. It gave the children a chance to see where they would fit in in a medieval era. Blacksmiths, stone carver, nobility, princess or viking.

Can't quite decided between the two........

Trying on replica's of the Royal robes and crowns.

Jostling knights in armour.

Future stone carvers, hard at work.

Three princesses posing for a photographer

Our little princess was so besotted with this medieval costume that she battered her eyelids enough to make me give in and buy it. She immediately insisted on wearing it and became the object of much admiration, with passerbys saying "Oh, look at that little princess!"

Of course, she didn't mind one bit posing for pictures.