Today is our last day in Voss, which is also mindblowingly beautiful. We arrived Tuesday, played our separate concerts (Band had yet ANOTHER outdoor concert, while we got to play in the movie theater), yesterday went on a long long long group outing, and today have a little bit of free time to kill.
Tuesday was idyllic. We checked into the youth hostel--the adults get to stay in a real hotel, typical!--and then were able to wander around for three or four hours until Orchestra rehearsal downtown. I walked into town with a friend, wandered the neighborhoods, ate lunch on a bench in the sun, then went to the park. We found a large, flat rock to read on, then ended up falling asleep in the sun, on the rock. Apparently I talk in my sleep--something about how I needed to catch the ice cream truck before it was too late. Ha. We walked back to the hostel around the lake shore. Yep, das right, the hostel and a bit of the town sit right on the edge of a lake. Goegeousness.
Yesterday was such a long day. We all boarded the buses and headed out to Gudvangen, where we boarded the ferry for the Norway in a Nutshell tour. (Apparently there were Russians in the parking lot and I missed them, phooey.) We rode the boat for two hours, which was not the most fun since I am terrified of boats and constantly imagine fjord sharks coming up underneath us and taking a bite out of the hull a la Jaws. But I survived. The scenery helped take my mind of it. The water was a deep gree, reflecting the trees on the cliffs that surrounded us, plunging straight down into the water. Norway is full of waterfalls--we must have seen a million of them. We pulled up to one and the boat people got fresh waterfall glacier water for us. It was so delicious.
The ferry dropped us off in Flam (Floam), which is tiny and ridiculous and does NOT have enough stuff to entertain kids like us for three and three-quarters hours. After all that freaking time passed, we boarded the train and eventually returned to the hostel. I slept all the way home and drooled in my sleep on Tom's shoulder. What a gentleman.
I want so badly to write more but there is a long line of poeple waiting to use the internet and I do not have time. We had a hilarious No Talent Night, a bonfire, a delicious dinner, and so much other stuff. SO sorry!
Tuesday was idyllic. We checked into the youth hostel--the adults get to stay in a real hotel, typical!--and then were able to wander around for three or four hours until Orchestra rehearsal downtown. I walked into town with a friend, wandered the neighborhoods, ate lunch on a bench in the sun, then went to the park. We found a large, flat rock to read on, then ended up falling asleep in the sun, on the rock. Apparently I talk in my sleep--something about how I needed to catch the ice cream truck before it was too late. Ha. We walked back to the hostel around the lake shore. Yep, das right, the hostel and a bit of the town sit right on the edge of a lake. Goegeousness.
Yesterday was such a long day. We all boarded the buses and headed out to Gudvangen, where we boarded the ferry for the Norway in a Nutshell tour. (Apparently there were Russians in the parking lot and I missed them, phooey.) We rode the boat for two hours, which was not the most fun since I am terrified of boats and constantly imagine fjord sharks coming up underneath us and taking a bite out of the hull a la Jaws. But I survived. The scenery helped take my mind of it. The water was a deep gree, reflecting the trees on the cliffs that surrounded us, plunging straight down into the water. Norway is full of waterfalls--we must have seen a million of them. We pulled up to one and the boat people got fresh waterfall glacier water for us. It was so delicious.
The ferry dropped us off in Flam (Floam), which is tiny and ridiculous and does NOT have enough stuff to entertain kids like us for three and three-quarters hours. After all that freaking time passed, we boarded the train and eventually returned to the hostel. I slept all the way home and drooled in my sleep on Tom's shoulder. What a gentleman.
I want so badly to write more but there is a long line of poeple waiting to use the internet and I do not have time. We had a hilarious No Talent Night, a bonfire, a delicious dinner, and so much other stuff. SO sorry!
posted by Claire | 11:53 PM
3 Comments:
As usual, great story.
The glacier water does sound wonderful. I actually BUY glacial water in a bottle at times in Fort Worth (a fool and his money are soon parted). I tease my earth conscious children that high-sulfur-content oil fires being used to rapidly melt whole glaciers to obtain the sweet drink. Appears from your tale that it is collected as ground run-off. This will reassure my local environmentalists, who are still likely to complain about the cost of transport and the plastic bottle.
An afternoon of reading and resting on a lakeside flat rock -- it does sound wonderful. Unfortunately, in Texas such idylls are accompanied by 4 inch long grasshoppers, a burning-no-nonsense-sun, dwarf mesquite trees and plenty of flies and mosquitos. There can't be any great plains grasshoppers in Norway. Flies? Mosquitoes? Or were they all forced to fly to Algeria because of the cold winters?
How are the crowds and applause in the smaller towns? I know that Queens of Sovereign Nations will stand and call Bravo. How about norwegian batchelor farmers?
You are great, Claire. Thanks for writing.
Claire Kelly-
This Robert hombre sounds like he's a real fan of yours. Better have him checked out. Why are you not writing since 8 of June? Here in my little home in my little home country, I am looking always for friends to read of their life...yes? I no know English mucho. Hasta lasagna!
Hey! I'm a soon-to-be St.Olaf student--2006 hopefully--I'll return to the world of education after a little hiatus. I'm a musician and anticipate many awesome times at StO, so this is fun reading. Thanks for writing!
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