More of Sokndal

 Yesterday it was raining and very foggy in the morning, but after taking care of some logistical things, we took a drive to some local spots of interest.  Helleren is a place near Jossingfjord where there were some homes from the 1800s built under a cliff overhang.  

this is a characteristic view of the landscape around the Egersund/Sokndal area.
Big granite everywhere!

the Jossingfjord

Houses at Helleren; they were abandoned in the 1920s;
the roof work is minimal since they had the protection of the cliff overhang;
fresh water was collected from the drip off the cliff.

 At Blue Mountain, there is a huge boulder called the "Rocking Stone," and you can set it in motion!  There was also a movie-set further up the valley, where there had been some very early mining activity in the 1800s.  The movie is set in 1700s Norway and is still in production; "Skumringslandet."

Anna gets the rocking stone going.

Lena and Terje

movie set

There is lots of Foxglove along the roads; these were growing out of the roof on one of the houses in the movie set.

Lena has fixed some amazing meals for us and always has the table arranged in a lovely way.  I learned how to fold napkins last night.  Terje's sister Randi, came over for a shrimp supper and we enjoyed getting to know another member of our extended family.

Randi and Terje

Today the sky and ocean are gray again.  We plan to take it easy and walk around town. Tomorrow we will be taking the train back to Oslo (Tonnes's work has prevented him from coming back to drive us there.), and will be on our way home soon.  I should be able to blog again from our hotel.  Hilsen

More Mining in Norway

On Thursday Astrid took us to Sogndalstrand where Terje lives.  First order of business:  coffee and cake.

Our weather was beautiful and sunny, as we sat on Terje's deck looking out to the North Sea and his quaint little fishing village.

Later that afternoon, we were given a tour of a large mine called Titania (tee-tahn-yah) where they extract titanium oxide, used in whitening paint.  Terje's nephew Roy, works there and was given permission to give us an amazing tour of the mine, including getting up on these huge machines and even operating one of them! We couldn't believe it!

me and Lena

Terje, Anna, Lena, Warren

Titania is one of the largest open pit operations in Europe.

Terje and Lena

Warren in the driver's seat!

In Sogndalstrand

We are now further down the southern Norwegian coast in a quaint little village called Sogndalstrand.  If it doesn't show up on your map of Norway, find Hauge.  We are staying with Terje and Lena with a view of the North Sea right out the front window.  Terje works for an oil testing lab and Lena is a doctor from Belarus, but is studying for exams so she can practice here in Norway.  Yesterday we got a fabulous tour of a big mining operation called Titania, from Terje's nephew Roy.  I am having another little computer glitch, so I'll have to download photos later on.  Today Terje is taking us to see some other interesting geology around this area.  All is well, sorry for the short message.

Norwegian Meal Plan

Yesterday we had a typical Norwegian day of meals!
Breakfast at 8:30; bread cheese scrambled eggs, tomato/cucumber/sweet peppers, strawberrries,
smoked salmon/herring/mackerel, brown cheese and jam and Coffee/juice

Lunch at 12:30 Thermos of coffee, slices of cake and slices of apple.
         We had hiked to the lighthouse on Eigeroy.  Then we went to town to see the Egersund church, and shopped for pottery and souvenirs.

Dinner (big meal): in a Chinese restaurant in Egersund around 4 p.m.; then soft-is (pronounced “soft-eece”) It’s soft ice cream, but much creamier than what we get at Dairy Queen!

Back home for coffee and more cake/candy at 6.

Warren helped Anders rake the hay (turn it over to dry) and then they went to check out Anders’s boat and went out toward the lighthouse to fish a little--Warren caught one!  I hiked out to the “whalestone” which ended up being a lot more of a walk than I thought.  When I got back, the guys were getting ready to watch fotbol and Astrid was making “supper” at 8:30 p.m. Supper was similar to breakfast with bread, slices of canned ham, some vegetables (canned peas and corn) and hot tea.  Thank goodness we did a lot of walking today!

A very nice day of hiking on Eigeroy and seeing more of Egersund.  Their son Andreas joined us for the boat excursion and watching fotbol. He is 25 and is still a student in Bergen; his summer job is working at Anders’ mining operation.  He lives in a separate house with his girlfriend Sara; she is in nursing school and concentrating on mid-wifery.

Map of Eigeroy; the lighthouse is on the bit of land furthest to the left
and we have walked around most of the "left-hand" arm of the island. 

Anders, Anna and Warren on the walk to the lighthouse.

Inside the Egersund church; my great-grandfather was baptized here, and it looks much the same as when he was alive.  Most of the existing church was built in the 1700s and some parts are from 1620s!
Many churches in Norway have a ship model hanging from the ceiling.

The Whale-stone

Not quite in the belly of the whale yet.

On Anders's boat

Anders's beautiful wooden boat!

Today, Astrid will drive us to Sogndal to meet another cousin Terje.  We will stay with him and his wife Alena there for 2 nights.  Then Saturday it’s back to Egersund to meet Tonnes, Sunday drive through Telemark and back to Oslo, and Monday fly back home.

Egersund in the Sunshine

The weather is improving a little, but still windy and chilly--we feel right at home!  We drove into Egersund with Anders and Astrid.  Anders is my 3rd cousin also, first cousin to Tonnes and Rasmus.  He is a successful farmer/business man and lives on Eigeroy.  He is involved in a special mining operation near Egersund, mining a white stone, used in road construction in Germany and Denmark.  He gave us a tour:

Then we had a look around Egersund, the town where my great-grandfather Jorgen was from.

We also toured the Egersund Fayance Factory museum where Tonnes had set up a significant part of the display, including a timeline of the factory's history and a hands-on area for blind visitors.  Fayance refers to a type of ceramic dishes; the factory started in pottery with clay from this area and progressed to some very high quality pieces of artwork.  

Ander's father was Mikal, whom we met in Oregon in 1995.  Mikal passed away this last year.  We visited with his wife Signe yesterday, for cake and coffee:

Can you believe she is 91 and still living in her own house and getting around fine?  Her house is actually right next door to Anders.  Also of note:  Ingrid and Craig might remember Ander's children, Solveig and Mikal, who came to Oregon for the reunion that year.  They are both married with children now; Solveig is a doctor in Stavanger, and Mikal is a shipbroker in Kristensand.  Astrid (Ander's wife) is a nurse; she is a very lovely, down-to-earth person that I have really enjoyed getting to know!

Today we are going to walk out to the Eigeroy Lighthouse at the end of the island, and do a little more shopping in town.  Hopefully I can blog some more this evening while the guys are watching European Cup Futbol--it's Spain and Portugal tonight for the semi-final.  Ha det bra...

Preikestolen in the Fog

We went to Preikestolen or "Pulpit Rock" yesterday with Rasmus and his son Gunnar.  It didn't rain, but the weather hasn't quite cleared up, so it was a misty and foggy day.  It was very exciting to be there, although probably not as spectacular, since we couldn't see much of the water below us.  This is the Number One tourist attraction in Norway, according to Rasmus, so we had to enjoy it with A LOT of other people; there were a lot of Spanish speakers, German and Polish tourists there.  It is a fairly good climb up to the cliff and a lot of boulder climbing in the steepest spots, like stone steps up the hill.  The fog lifted briefly when we got up there, but most of our photos are in the mist.

The top is 604 meters, about 2000 ft. above sea level; this map shows the climbs in the trail.

Stoney steps to climb.

The trail goes over these huge slabs of granite.

Our only view of the Lysefjord when the sun came out briefly on the way up.

Don't look down!

Yes, I did it too!

Afterwards we went back to Rasmus's home and had dinner with his wife Benta, daughter Ingeborg, and other son, Andreas.  We also went to see Ellen, his mother, at her home, and of course she fed us a second dessert and coffee.  She is 89 and still as clear as a bell!

Today we are with Anders and Astrid and will see more around Egersund and their home on Eigeroy island. More about them later.

Back on line

We are in Egersund now and didn't have an internet connection for a few days.  All is well!  We are actually on the island of Eigeroy, with the North Sea on the coast!  I woke up to the sound of seagulls, sheep bleating and a frog in full symphony this morning!  Tonnes drove us down on Friday and we are getting acquainted with some of our other Norwegian relatives.  It has been very stormy these last two days, but we have gotten a good taste of what my fisherman-relatives dealt with in the past--lots of wind and rain and splashing gray seas!

Rasmus (Tonnes's brother) is taking us to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) on the Lysefjord today, near Stavanger.  Be sure to check out all these places on Google map or something.  I'll send more photos soon, but must go for now.  Ha det....

the landscape on Eigeroy

Anne Marie's cottage where we stayed Fri/Sat.

Eigeroy lighthouse; view from the cottage

Anne Marie and Torun, more 3rd cousins; 1st cousins to Tonnes and Rasmus.

Norwegian Grilling

A favorite way of grilling here in Norway seems to be using disposable charcoal grills.  All grocery store sell them and we had seen a couple in a park at lunchtime using one.  As you see from this pile of discarded grills, Norwegians are crazy about them.

We bought a grill and some hamburger meat to give it a try. First you open the package and find out all the directions are in Norwegian.  (duh)  Then you ask the neighbor lady sitting outside what it means and she does the rest for you.  Tonnes lives on the 3rd floor and Warren had to go down to a little courtyard to use the grill--thank goodness he found help.

So you light it, wait 20 minutes, and cook your burgers!