With another day of steady rain limiting our list of potential outings, we decided to add another stavkyrkje to our conquests, this time in Borgund, southeast of Sogndal. The Borgund church was built sometime between the 12th and 13th centuries and features seven tiers with dragon-themed accents at its gables. Contrasted against the Ornes construction, …
Rainy Reunions
At long last, as we knew it eventually would, our unseasonable streak of sunny skies came to an end today. But the gloom can only do so much to dull Sogndal's charm. The city, as well as the countryside that surrounds it, takes on a different--but no less striking--mood when blanketed in mist. I can't …
Around Sogndal in 30,000 Steps
Having decided that I hadn't punished my legs enough already with yesterday's climb to Ornes, I set out this morning on a solo trek up the roads that wind across the Sogndal hillside. As several of my pictures have likely demonstrated, Sogndal sits along the edge of a massive fjord. But the city also nestles …
The Battle of Fimreite
In 1184, a highly consequential naval battle took place at Fimreite, located just across the fjord to the southwest of Sogndal. Two kings--Magnus Erlingsson and Sverre Sigurdsson--clashed in a bloody affair resulting in the deaths of at least 2,000 men, including Magnus himself, cementing Sverre's claim as the sole ruler of Norway. The result of …
Geitene av Anestølen
Our approach to today's schedule was an old Sogndal trip standby: to make no plans at all and hope that something would materialize. It is a strategy that has rarely failed us, and today was no exception. As we sat for breakfast, we received an invitation from Lars to join him and his cousin, Kari …
Du Må Eta, Kar!
There's something about waking up in Sogndal that really eases the mind. Perhaps it's the imagination-defying view of the sunrise over the fjords. Perhaps it's the lack of responsibility that I enjoy while here (although, amusingly, I've been waking up earlier than I do in the United States, even though my job requires early rises). …
To Friends, Old and New
It has become a recurring theme on these trips to Norway to have days that feel like they began four days ago--a sentiment only increased, I suspect, by having started the day in a different city. When my dad and I boarded flight Widerøe en-fire-ni in Oslo headed to Sogndal this morning, I think we …
From Oslo with Love
It's 4:00 in the morning here in my hotel room in Oslo. What a joy to write that sentence. It feels surreal to be back in this country, and while the meat of our adventure is yet to begin, I am already reliving some of the simple delights that accompany being here. Yesterday's travel gauntlet, …
The Art of Waiting
If you ask my mother, patience is not one of my strongest suits. (Thanks, Mom.) But today's travel gauntlet, I suspect, would test anyone's resolve. My day began at 3:45 a.m. (a tip of my hat to Ben, who moonlit as my chauffeur this morning) with a flight out of Portland, led into a nearly …
To Sogndal, and Beyond
As I watched the city of Bergen, Norway fade into the background on October 1, 2019, I felt a profound sense of melancholy. This was an unexpected mood for my departure, given I had just completed what would eventually prove to be the single most transformative experience of my lifetime. But back home—at the time, …
Where the Waterfalls Mean Home 