Favorite Quote

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel,
read only one page." St. Augustine of Hippo

Monday, May 28, 2012

First post about Norway

Since we are on the diet and need to exercise 30 minutes a day, we decided to walk out to our favorite place and see if the cows had been out yet.  They had not, but I have so many pictures of them from doing this walk over and over, that I decided to use pictures from last summer.  The view is still INCREDIBLE.

Supposedly, this is the REAL place where Norway was united into one country by King Harald I in 872.  Legend has it that he wanted to marry a woman that refused to marry someone that was not King of all of Norway.  He vowed not to cut his hair until this happened.  This is a difficult place to get lots of tourists to, so they set up the monument at a more accessible place.  It takes us about 15 minutes to walk out to the chair where he is supposed to have finally had his hair cut after the battle takes place.

Something that we really enjoy (that you would NEVER find in the US) is the right in Norway  to  enjoy the right of access to, and passage through, uncultivated land in the countryside.  It is based on respect for the countryside, and all visitors are expected to show consideration for farmers and landowners, other users and the environment. Cultivated land may only be walked on when it is frozen and covered in snow.


What does this mean?  It means that we can walk straight through a cow pasture to get to our favorite spot.  And in many places, there are ladders handy to climb OVER the fences so you don't hurt yourself.

So enjoy the views from our walk:


Such a beautiful view!


Up some steps into the woods.  It's a little bit of a hike to get to where we are going.


Can you see the path we followed?


Hooray!  Cows!





And here is the chair where it is said he got his haircut!



They say that if you sit in the chair, you will be given the gift of health.  So I sit in the chair every chance I get.  ;)





We can see the planes taking off from the airport from this spot.



The cows are use to people walking through and are very curious about what you are doing.



Can you see how clear the water is?  Just beautiful!


And here is the monument honoring where the battle really took place.  If you want to come and visit, I'll take you here!

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