As Norse legend tells it, the first rays of sunlight can turn the mythical trolls into stone (if they don’t hide in time!) so we will explore where trolls have been in the mountains.Our first stop was at the Gudbrandsjuvet Gorge.The Valldøla River has cut large potholes and intricate formations into the rock.Another interesting viewing area with fun art/architecture to experience the Gudbrandsjuvet Gorge.Sign outside the Gudbrandsjuvet: the cinnamon buns were awesome! Still warm from the oven they fortified us for the troll search.From the Trollstigen plateau, rising above the Isterdalen Valley are the three peaks: Bishop, King, Queen (Bispen, Kongen, Dronninga). which led us to debate if the bishop or queen had the most power…We passed over the glacial moraines with some snow still left in the upper valleys (where the trolls live?). We arrived at the Trollstigen Visitor Center.The Trollstigen cafe is undergoing repairs from an avalanche this winter but we could still appreciate the design and the location.We followed the water cascading to the first Viewpoint.We detoured from the paved path to follow these Sherpa stairs 1km for a private view point.What a stairmaster!Great view of the valley!And we were able to see the next cantilevered Trollstigen Viewpoint.And a take my picture balcony with The Bishop and The Queen.The Trolls Ladder (mostly one-lane) was completed in 1936 after 8 years – an engineering marvel. Imagine working in this valley carved out by the glacier, roaring rivers and multiple waterfalls!A better view of the waterfall through the vertigo inducing glass railing.An offer to take our picture resulted in this fun shot pointing to the future!Our GPS pretty much shows the same curves we have just photographed on this one-lane road. We are here in the morning so have missed dodging the tour buses.Ready or Not. We will probably regenerate many kilometers on the battery of our EV.At the end of the valley is another Troll spot: Trollveggen Visitor Center. We recharged the car while we ate a picnic lunch in this beautiful setting (cafe closed for the season).Europe’s highest vertical mountain wall has several climbing routes.We could browse for a book in this converted telephone booth lending library.Ramsdalen Valley: the route following the River Rauma has been named Europe’s most beautiful railway line. Filmed around here is the latest Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One
What is this? A robot Mowing the lawn? No noise! No sweat – lawn is mowed while you do something else – like prep the BBQ.This Robot Mower is making such perfect straight lines up the hill.This Robot Mower has his own garage… Very sporty looking!Captcha: I am not a RobotFish Farm in the fjord around Avory Island- this a permanent operation.Another Fish Farm in this beautiful fjord.This ship appears to be stocking fish going down that slide in the center into an enclosed circle.An interesting flower or jelly fish in the kelp beds along the Atlantic Ocean Road.The deer we have seen seem smaller.Kvernes Stave Church, circa 1633, is the only one in Norway built after the Middle Ages and Reformation – the nave end is built in stave technique.This says the supporting posts are called staves and are in each corner. Larger churches also have supporting posts in the wall line as shown by the circles in the plan.The shutters to protect the windows from the sea slide up and down with a chain.The thick wood boards on the siding are overlapped.Simple cottage on the coast.
The tranquil fishing village of Bud is on the North Atlantic Sea – specifically on the notoriously dangerous Hystadvida unprotected section of the coast – but not today.We are enjoying 4 nights in this wonderful house on a harbor.From the hill above the house you can get a sense of it’s location – the main living space is on the middle floor – lowest level has a dining table to seat 10 and opens on to a deck.Waiting on a chair carved into the stump – what a view!There is a coastal museum on top of the hill with local history and great views! if you want to view the coast of Bud, they have a live Camera on their webpage.About 1.5 km north of Bud, Kjeksa is the first rest stop on the Atlantic Ocean Road, one of Norway’s tourist routes.Askevågen is another stop to enjoy the views and see some wave action on the Atlantic Ocean Road.We did not know they farmed Marshmallows!The Farstadsanden Beach has a nature hike to the lighthouse – beautiful day and the tide is just coming in.The cantilevered Storseisundet Bridge defies gravity. Graceful and feels like you are driving into the sky as you go up.Several viewpoints to enjoy the Storseisundet Bridge.And even an elevated hiking path around Eldhusøya island to appreciate nature as well as the Storseisundet Bridge.We stopped at the Geitøya area for a picnic lunch.It smells good and looks good at the Geitøya rest area on the Atlantic ocean Road. (purple heather and European mountain ash with red berry clusters against moss and sedums)We are seeing a lot of these and wondering what they are….Lots of picturesque spots in Bud! And MIX restaurant has good fish and chips – even tho the Norwegians go for the hamburgers!
Our first stop heading northeast from Dombas is this interesting architectural – overlook of the Fokstumyra Nature Preserve.A beautiful morning looking over Fokstumyra Nature Preserve towards the northwest.Next stop was the Wild Reindeer Preserve Visitor Center, or Besokssenter villrein in Hjerkinn.Nearby is where you start the hike to look for wild musk ox in Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella NP.A wide mile long uphill trail with historical timeline winds through alpine tundra in Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella NP.This is the Snohetta Viewpoint!Inside Snohetta Viewpoint we could appreciate this destination. A ranger had a zoom scope hooked to a monitor screen and showed us the dots on the landscape that were musk ox far across the valley.Wow – what a view to enjoy! Snohetta was once considered the tallest peak and is pretty impressive even with the clouds at the summit. There was also some pelts, antlers, and other information inside the Snohetta Viewpoint.A bit further south we drove to Sohlbergplassen Viewpoint on the eastern tourist route along Rondane NP.This was designed to go around all the trees which also made it much more interesting. Sohlbergplassen ViewpointAnd what a view of Mt Rondvassbu across Lake Atnsjoen to Rondane NP.We walked across the river feeding the lake at Strombu Viewpointand we fed ourselves at these fun curved concrete picnic tables.We turned around at Atnbrua Historic Waterworks at the south end of the lake.Natural waterfalls that powered Atnbrua Historic Waterworks – still a good source of electricity.Our home for 3 nights right on the ski slope is the upper cabin at Hytter Dombas.The view from our porch looking northwest up the valley.
We drove north and then west into Jotunheimen NP to the Vegaskjelet Viewpoint. This is Galdhopggen, the highest peak in northern Europe at 2469 meters (8,100 feet).We enjoyed views up and down the Boverdalen valley and made a stop at the Eleveseter Hotel.Fun historic architecture (and interior finishings) with slate roofs at the Eleveseter Hotel.Inside the octagonal building is a dining room with a painted ceiling at Eleveseter HotelOf course we are in Troll country!There is also the Sagasoyla Column with the history of Norway carved in layers which is here because Åmund Elvesæter campaigned to have it finished.
We followed the river to Lom Bakery for some fresh baked goodies and a loaf of bread to go. The National Park visitor center is here as well as the stave church.Impressive Stave Church in Lom was worth a wander. “Stave” means vertical planks of wood in case you were wondering as we were.Detail shot of building techniques from 1158 when this Stave Church was constructed.
The Roman Aqueduct of Peña Cortada near Cheiva. This is an engineering achievement being 28 KM in length over rugged terrain.We found the Hanging Bridges of Chulilla over the river Turia. These were originally built as shortcuts by workers building a dam upstream but is now a very scenic hike.This gives a new meaning to your daily commute!Our balcony is the lower on left overlooking this lovely Fuente Toran park in Teruel.We walked across this pedestrian bridge with great views of the valley to explore Old Town.There was an amazing modernist style Grand Staircase to a park in the valley.A lovely building in San Juan Square of Teruel.One of the Mudijar towers of Teruel – this on the Cathedral.A gorgeous modernist building on the Torino Square. Notice the very small bull on top of the fountain column. The famous Toro of Teruel.The nearby village of Albarracin was worth a visit.Albarracin’s buildings are made of a local pink stone which makes it unique.We walked to the castle on the hill for a great view.You can see the walls protecting the city of Albarracin.Nearby is a hike in the Pinares de Rodeno with this view of the landscape.There are alcoves with Levantine Petroglyphs like this horse, estimated to be 7,000 years old. Wonderful they are preserved for us to enjoy.Embassament de Arenos – this is a reservoir we enjoyed on our route back to the Mediterranean coast.
Another day trip to Valencia just for the Calatrava architecture and to explore the city of the arts. Pictures from our visit in 2020.Museu de les Ciences was first as we waited for the weather to warm a bit from the chilly January day.Loved the architectural model with the reflection of the window in the glass pond.Out of this world! Birth of Stars in the Rosette Nebula.In the music section Henry is the Maestro.Severo Ochoa was one of 3 Nobel Prize winners for Spain.This is an exhibit showing Severo Ochoa explaining his theories of DNA.There is a beautiful glass sculpture depicting our DNA. There is also a really good exhibit explaining each of our chromosomes and their characteristics.Let’s have a chat and a brew with my Neanderthal Ancestors – probably have some of their DNA.Ruta 99 is a fun play on Route 66. These are picturesque small towns in the Provence of Valencia with populations of 99 or less.The next building over is the Agora – as we remember that is Greek for the meeting place.Inside the Agora is a fun futuristic place to hang out. And sometimes you can see a concert or movie.Typical of Calatrava’s buildings, there are moving parts of the Agora that can open to let in more or less light.
L’Escala Apartment In Front of the Sea looked the same after we were gone for 996 days waiting for our return so we could continue our Spain vacation.Henry guarding the keep at Torre Montgo. He could see the Barbarian approaching for miles. Our previous pictures of L’escala.There is a beautiful cove and the Platja de Montgo on the other side of the tower. We decided to walk to the cliff on the other side.Looking back from Cala MongoBeautiful Bay of Roses from Punta Ventosa.What does the sea look like down there? From Punta Ventosa.The Seagulls look different with a black and white tail.We enjoyed a walk around the marina and especially the old fishing boats.Walking back along the shore and the Reilles beach is The Little Prince reminding us that what we tame is important to us.The city of Emporion on the Bay of Roses off the Mediterranean Sea is where the Greeks first landed on the Iberian peninsula.The Ruïnes d’Empúries shows many different centuries of Greek building.Asclepius is the god of medicine and this replica looks over his temple – and the Greek Ruïnes d’EmpúriesThe real marble carving is inside the museum with a 3D computer recreation movie of Empúries as it looked in the 2nd century BC.This incredible roman mosaic (each piece smaller than the end of your pinky) from the 1st century BC depicts the myth of the sacrifice of Ipigenia.So the Romans drove out the Greeks and built their larger city adjacent but inland to complete the archeology Ruïnes d’Empúries.This is part of the Roman city with baths, mansions, mosaic floors and all sorts of interesting architecture.This is a small Roman courtyard in one of the massive mansions.The edge of the city has a concrete wall which was one of the earliest examples of Roman concrete we had actually seen.Sunrise on the Mediterranean is a great way to celebrate the winter solstice.
