On Saturday I was feeling a bit stir crazy and wanted something to do. Bø is a great town, but it is small. Very small.
I had seen that there was a Stave church in a neighboring town. My new friend, Vebjørn, was kind enough to drive Hannah and I to Notodden to check it out.
I keep assuming everyone knows who Hannah is at this point, if you don't, let me explain that she is another student studying here from PLU. She is the best.
OK, continuing the story, we all decided to go. It was not until about 20 minutes on the windy Norwegian roads that I remembered that I get car sick. It was awful. We only had to pull over to breath a couple of times but we made it there mess free! When we arrived there was a wedding just finishing up at the Stave church. It was kind of cool to see people in bunad, celebrating and such, but I mostly wanted to get peruse the church up close. To pass the time we explored the graveyard surrounding the church. There some interesting headstones and long of cool names (cool in contrast to the ones in America). Cemeteries here are so much different that in the States. There is something that feels much more personal here. Perhaps its not have roads that drive through the center of them? Any who, eventually the wedding party cleared and we got to go inside and check out the church. This was not my first time to a Stave church so it was not completely new, but nonetheless is was still beautiful. I love all the intricate carvings and the strong smell of wood. When we were done at the church we started heading back. We stopped by a shop that had a bunch of, what I would consider to be, classic Norwegian furniture was rosemaling. The colors and shapes were neat. I'd like to have a few pieces like this in my home one day, but I am not about to try and ship a kitchen hutch to Tacoma anytime soon. Finally the three of us headed home and made an awesome dinner. I do eat food here, but it is not often what one may define as a meal. So grilling tons of veggies, cooking up beans (which is a staple I haven't had since being here) and eating our American-Mexican meal was the best. Got to see the Hobbit 2 and relax. I posted a slideshow of pictures below for you to scroll through.
I had seen that there was a Stave church in a neighboring town. My new friend, Vebjørn, was kind enough to drive Hannah and I to Notodden to check it out.
I keep assuming everyone knows who Hannah is at this point, if you don't, let me explain that she is another student studying here from PLU. She is the best.
OK, continuing the story, we all decided to go. It was not until about 20 minutes on the windy Norwegian roads that I remembered that I get car sick. It was awful. We only had to pull over to breath a couple of times but we made it there mess free! When we arrived there was a wedding just finishing up at the Stave church. It was kind of cool to see people in bunad, celebrating and such, but I mostly wanted to get peruse the church up close. To pass the time we explored the graveyard surrounding the church. There some interesting headstones and long of cool names (cool in contrast to the ones in America). Cemeteries here are so much different that in the States. There is something that feels much more personal here. Perhaps its not have roads that drive through the center of them? Any who, eventually the wedding party cleared and we got to go inside and check out the church. This was not my first time to a Stave church so it was not completely new, but nonetheless is was still beautiful. I love all the intricate carvings and the strong smell of wood. When we were done at the church we started heading back. We stopped by a shop that had a bunch of, what I would consider to be, classic Norwegian furniture was rosemaling. The colors and shapes were neat. I'd like to have a few pieces like this in my home one day, but I am not about to try and ship a kitchen hutch to Tacoma anytime soon. Finally the three of us headed home and made an awesome dinner. I do eat food here, but it is not often what one may define as a meal. So grilling tons of veggies, cooking up beans (which is a staple I haven't had since being here) and eating our American-Mexican meal was the best. Got to see the Hobbit 2 and relax. I posted a slideshow of pictures below for you to scroll through.