A Northern Weekend

I had been excited with Norway and fjords from my youth, that's why we planned a trip to Lysefjord. We knew that it was a expensive country, so we took food with us. We had taken the tickets to Stavanger and back to Gdansk. While a plane was landing we were having the sight of snowy mountains, forests and villages. Fascinating!

We bought the bottle of Jim Beam in Duty Free shop at the airport and headed to Stavanger. When we got to the city, we saw the white bleached-like houses, covered with snow. It was the early evening, we ate the sandwiches and went out. Stavanger appeared mysterious, old and hospitable. There was a lake in the center and a Stavanger Cathedral near by. That Cathedral was built in the beginning of the 11th century, so it was the oldest cathedral in whole Norway. That poisonous clock on the front side looked hypnotizing. Inside there was a feeling of Medieval

times, we could even inhale it. Everything was mixed: admiration, fear, mystery, sorrow, faith... Outside on the wall we saw the faces sculptured in stone. I guess they were bishops in Stavanger a long time ago.

Then we visited Valberg Tower, that had been used as a watchtower in the city to warn of fires. At the base there stood the three cannons ready to shoot. ;) In the harbor we watched a cruise ships and cargo ships. Walking down the streets we noticed its beauty in the small white wood houses, lights and lovely people. When we were getting back to our hotel in St. Svithuns' hospital, it started raining. On the next day we planned to take a cruise to the fjords.

To our dismay, we found that it was not a season for the fjord cruises, so I tried to find an information on the Internet. The only one company, who offered a tour to the fjords on Sunday, didn't work that day, so we decided to go to the harbor in the morning, anyway.

It was raining in the morning, so there wasn't any clue of the yesterday snow. In the harbor we saw after the swimming swans. We'd been waiting for about half an hour and the boat moored. The crew told us that the cruise would start only if at least 15 people bought tickets. We needed 5-7 more people. We all waited about 15-20 more minutes and 13 people were gathered, so I asked others whether they agreed to pay the tickets for the rest two missing people divided by all. Here we go!

The wind, the rocks, the troll legends and Edward Grieg's "In the hall of the Mountain King". Welcome to Lysefjord! Words not needed...

Having got back to the harbor after 4 hours of the cruise, we went to the music store and I bought the CD of Mayhem "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas". I thought that how I could visit Norway and not take away the masterpiece of Norway black metal legacy. It is also a thing that Norway is famous for. We found some church not far from the center with that usual spire roof and a yellow clock. Do not look at them!

We ate at the hotel and asked a receptionist how we could get to Sverd i fjell. We went through a city and got to Hafrsfjord fjord. It was really easy to ask local people, because they all spoke English fluently. By the way, we met some interesting

local people... or not? They weren't communicative but looked friendly... or not? Some strange things we noticed in them: big noses, hairiness and bellies. Finally, we got to the three viking swords planted into solid rock. They commemorates the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which united Norway under the one crown. The three swords kind of revived the Scandinavian legends of vikings and their crusades. It was dark, so the photos weren't taken well. While we were returning to the hotel, we realized that our journey came to an end. It was time to say goodbye but the will to come back in Norway grew much stronger inside us.