Bergen, Norway

May 31, 2016

Bergen is Norway’s second largest city founded in the 11th century by King Olav Kyrre.  Since all Viking architecture was wood-based, very little remains from their original establishments. The city was the birthplace of Norway’s greatest composer, Edvard Grieg. His most recognizable piece is “Morning Mood” from the Peer Gynt suite. We saw the stone castle, Bergenhus Fortress, which was built in the 1240s.  The site has unearthed remains from the era of King Olav as it is a strategic location for protecting the wharf. And then also in the city we visited UNESCO Heritage Site wooden structures of the Hanseatic League merchants. The merchants became most prominent selling dried cod from the northern Norwegian coast.  I found this particular delicacy rather nasty, but I guess it is an acquired taste.

Our day tour was mainly via bus to drive around the Hardangerfjord, which is one of Norway’s most spectacular fjords.  Of course, Owen was most interested in the gravel in the parking lot. The untamed landscape and expanses of land seemingly untouched reminded me of the United States.  We had lunch in the village of Øystese of Norheimsund that sits on the coast of the Hardangerfjord.  My favorite stop was the nearby Steinsdal Waterfall with a 65 foot drop over a cliff that you can walk behind without getting wet.

Geiranger-Hallesylt, Norway

May 30, 2016

The city of Geiranger lends its name to the fjord of the same name. This village dominates the head of the fjord, where a narrow and very long valley begins. Geiranger’s main industries are tourism, salmon and cod fishing. Geologists have likened the Geirangerfjord to the nave of a Gothic cathedral. From the village we drove to the snowy Dalsnibba mountain overlooking the Djupvatnet Lake. We also visited Norway's and Europe's deepest lake, Hornindalsvatnet, which is officially measured to a depth of 1,686 feet. The Styrn valley was very beautiful with the large tracts of untamed land.  The scenery really reminded me of parts of the US having a ‘wild’ feel remaining to the landscape that you don’t see in mainland Europe. Another beautiful lake was the Oppstrynsvatn which has the Jostendal Glacier National Park Center. The glaciers Briksdalsbreen and Jostedalsbreen are located to the southwest of this visitor's center.  Then we visited Lake Hornindal which is considered the deepest lake in Northern Europe. Near the lake is the Hornindal stone bridge built without any mortar in 1810. Our final stop was Hellesylt that is at the head of the Sunnylvsfjorden. The ship dropped us off in Geiranger, but then we were picked up in Hellesylt.  It was very cool to see the ship come into the port through the mouth of the fjord.

Ronda, Spain - Arab Baths and May Fair

May 20-21, 2016

We spent a weekend in Ronda staying in the shopping area just outside of the old city and bridge.  Our prior visit was with MWR back in October of 2013.  On this visit we went to the Arab baths and got to see a local festival parade. Ronda came to more prominence with illustrious visitors such as Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway. Between the 13th and 15th century Ronda was a stronghold of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada.  It was in this time that the hamman or bath was constructed. These baths are an adaptation of the ancient Roman baths with the major difference being that the Romans would immerse themselves in water while the Moors used the areas as steam baths.  The system of the structure is a reception area, then three rooms for cold, temperate, and hot with heating under the floor (hypocaust). The baths are always located at the outskirts of the city for religious cleansing and also for all ‘outsiders’ entering the city. The water was brought up via a water wheel from the Guadalevín River. The steam was achieved by emptying buckets of water over the burning heated floor of the first room. The receiving room has the latrine. The archway across the road was built in 1742 in the same location as a gate during the Moorish times. Access to the city was very much a fortress so each gate was very well guarded. The “Old Bridge” crosses the same valley as the larger and more prominent “New Bridge”. Very clever names.  The Old Bridge was built in the 16th century after the Moorish period to connect the old Moorish settlement with the new quarter.  The parade we saw is a part of the Ronda Romantica yearly fair in late May. Everybody is dressed up as in the late 18th and 19th century.  My favorite part of the outfits was that one of the accessories was a gun.  All of the boys loved those.  Throughout the parade the people would fire them into the air.  And then the soldiers with the small cannons would fire them off too.  Owen was asleep and amazingly stayed asleep during one of the firing rounds.