Saying Goodbye - Life Goes in Circles

Life goes in circles. Sometimes what seems like the end is really just the beginning of something else. And that is how our trip to Norway has felt. Even though today is the beginning of many long goodbyes, I realize that it isn't so much an end to our summer vacation but the beginning of something bigger, that being the beginning of new and re-kindled relationships. When we started our vacation, two-weeks seemed like a long time but now our stay in Norway has come to an end and I am looking back wondering how did it go by so fast! Yet, our hearts are full and we have a lifetime of memories as a result. 

We all slept in late Friday morning, our last one in Vågsvåg, as thoughts of our fun-filled evening the night before still pleasingly lingering in our minds. I ate my breakfast quietly while gazing out the window trying to take in the the last views of this quintessential Norwegian fjord scene. In a way, I was glad that it was a bit cloudy today since to look out onto the water and surrounding mountains in full morning sunlight may have been too difficult to turn away from. But the time to pack our bags had come and trying to squeeze everything back into our suitcases was surely going to prove to be a daunting task. However, after some pushing and careful placement of our newly acquired Norwegian novelties (i.e., flags, blankets, books, etc.), everything seemed to be in its place and all of the zippers were zipped. Our bags were ready. Now the much more difficult task was upon us. It was time to say the first of several tearful goodbyes.

Once again we found ourselves gathered around a now familiar table at Lisbeth's home and I realized that this is where it all began....we had a late dinner here the first night we arrived, so it seemed appropriate that this where we'd meet last as well. Life goes in circles. As we handed out some small gifts from Iowa in appreciation of our newly found cousins' gracious hospitality, it was hard trying to hold back our emotions. Somehow, in a very short period of time we had developed a close bond to these Våge cousins and we were going to miss them deeply when we left. I must admit, it did seem a bit uncanny at how each of the gifts we gave came fit each person so well. After wiping away a few tears, we decided it was time to eat again!! Last evening's leftovers were too good to pass up, especially the cream cake, so we feasted on them one more time. Now according to our trip coordinator, Lisbeth, it was time to leave for Måløy in order to get through before the road closed so that we could catch our boat to Florø as we started our journey home! We piled into several vehicles and left Vågsvåg hopefully to return again someday. But for now we had completed our circle of life by seeing the birth homes of Jorgen Mathias Ingebretsen Våge and Christine Erickdatter Kvalheim, Bob's great-grandparents, and I imagined that they were smiling down on us now.

Since we had some time before our boat left we stopped by the nursing home for a couple of short visits with several other Våge cousins. Margot, Magnar's sister whom we had met the day before and whose mother was a half-sister to Jorgen, and then Roald, who's grandfather was a brother to Jorgen. Whew, did you get all that? Genealogy work is fun but it can get a bit confusing too!

Now it was time to board the express boat in Måløy at the same place where Lisbeth, Asbjørn and Terje first met us just a few short days ago. Now to see us off was a whole collection of Våge family members. With long deep hugs and our eyes welled with tears, we slowly said goodbye and promised each other that someday we would meet again. As the boat left the dock we waved our final goodbyes. I had no idea it was going to be this hard to leave. Each of us quietly took our seats on the lower deck as we passed through the fjord. Unlike our journey here when we anxiously stood on the boat deck to catch the first glimpses of Måløy, now it was almost too painful to watch it disappear. Life goes in circles.

We had a short trip to Florø where we were caught our flight to Oslo that evening so that we could make our international flights from Oslo back to America on Saturday! We arrived in Oslo's airport without incident and checked into our hotel next to the airport. Now the Oslo airport is actually located in Jesseim, where Stein and Linda live, so they were waiting patiently waiting for us at the airport. We had a great time visiting with them again over dinner. Stein told us all about his recent bycyling race that he had competed in the weekend before and Linda explained how her daughter Aurora is already counting the days to her seventeenth birthday so she can come and live with us in America just like Stein did! (Bob did promise her, so a promise is a promise and this is one that she'll soon not forget either!) It was getting late and now it was time to say goodbye to Stein and Linda....I had no idea this was going to be so hard either. It had been 23 years ago that we put Stein on an airplane back to Norway. How do you say goodbye again.....I only hope that we can meet again someday soon, or maybe we will meet when Aurora turns seventeen.....Life goes in circles.

We quietly retreated to our hotel room and readied ourselves for our flights home the next day. It was a very short night for Jonathan, Michea and Chris since they had an early 6 am flight to Dallas whereas the rest of us had an afternoon flight back to Minneapolis. So when their alarm went off at 3:30, we groggily got up to see them off. It had been an amazing two-week family vacation that none of us will ever forget and it had been a wonderful time for us to reconnect as well, since life has taken each of our children in different directions. We have begun to cherish the times that we can all together so saying good bye as they left, not knowing when we'd be together next, was bittersweet....This whole series of good-byes was really starting to wear me down!

Now we were down to the last goodbye. Bob, Erik and I boarded our flight home Saturday afternoon and waved our final goodbye to Norway. I loved getting one last look at the fjords and mountains as the plane left Oslo. It had always been Bob's dream to take his family to Norway to see where his great-grandparents Jorgen and Christine Våge came from and now we had accomplished it! We had an amazing journey, saw amazing sights and most of all, met some amazing people that we will never forget. I know that we have been blessed and hopefully through this experience our children now have a deeper knowledge and appreciation of their heritage and in turn will share this story with their children. And I am confident that we will have many more Våge reunions to come. For as you know, life goes in circles!

More Våge fun in Vågsvåg

We are getting quite good at staying up late in Norway since the sun doesn't set here until after 10pm each night. Thus, the disorienting late sunsets combined with a very full schedule often keeps us up much later than we are accustomed. Many evenings we are up until midnight or later before we realize it and last night was once again one of those late nights. Therefore, luckil today's itinerary did not require an early start so I enjoyed sleeping in a bit snuggled up in my down comforter that I have come to be so fond of in Norway, on this cool Vågsvåg morning. The sun has a short night here in Norway since it rises very early, like around 5 am. So when I check the time in the morning and realize that's too soon to get up, I really enjoy rolling over and dreamily go back to sleep again. Which is what I did this morning as I reminded myself that I really need to buy some of these down feather duvets when we get back to Iowa!! They are great.

Eventually I did get up for the day and first on the agenda was a guided tour of the cemetery in Vågsvåg with Lisbeth and Asbjørn. They graciously showed us many gravestones of Våge relatives including some of Jorgen's (Bob's great-grandfather) siblings/half-siblings, and patiently explained how we were all interconnected. Bob recognized the cemetery right away from an old picture his grandparents kept. Very cool! It is a beautiful place to be laid to rest as it overlooks the peaceful fjord below and is quietly encircled by the nearby mountains. This place reminds me of God's love, like the mountains, always around us to comfort us and like the fjord, deep enough to last forever.

Then we were all off for a short hike in Maløy for a picturesque view overlooking the city and fjord. What fun and thankfully no one fell off the cliff! (Sorry Lillian if my adventuresome boys nearly gave you a heart attack!)

After our little excursion, we had a very important appointment to meet and visit with the local Lutheran priest from the church in Maløy. The church is a lovely traditional Lutheran church that reminded me of many Lutheran churches in Minnesota and Iowa except this one had a beautiful pipe organ! And thanks to Lisbeth's persuasiveness (and maybe some persistence too), we were honored with a beautiful organ/brass program with  Asbjørn, his brother, Terje and their accomplished church organist. Wow, it was great! More coffee and treats were served while we visited with the priest and then we were off again before the road closed! (Whatever weight I may have lost hiking around Oslo and Bergan has, I'm afraid, all been regained during our time in Vågsvåg. It seems that all we do is eat here!)

Following our return to Vågsvåg, we had the pleasure of visiting with Magnar and Marie Våge in their home. We had a lot of fun looking at some really old pictures and some new ones of their family today too. You could definitely see the resemblance between Magnar and Bob's grandfather, Carl! Marie served us a wonderful lunch of coffee and some Norwegian krumkakke! My favorite!! (Oh my, more food.)

By now it's mid-afternoon and we find ourselves around the Våge table again this time eating some of the fish that had been caught the day before! The makerel and polluck were excellent! The boys devoured the fish like they hadn't eaten for days even though it had only been a few hours since their last snack! Lisbeth laughed as she described how Chris's eyes rolled back in ecstasy following the meal. Much thanks is owed to John Inge for cleaning the fish very late into the night last night and for Lillian preparing it all! Tusen takk!!

Well, the kids are feeling a bit more adventuresome than Bob and I, so the four of them set out on an ambitious hike to the top of the mountain near Vågsvåg. From their account of the hike, it was a pretty awesome mountain-top experience, and not just figuratively speaking. In contrast, Bob and I took food coma naps. 

Ah, but the day wasn't even over yet! The culminating event of the week was the family reunion party and the long anticipated Våge band concert! So we all got cleaned up and took off for the party! What an absolutely wonderful evening we had meeting and visiting with more Våge relatives and of course, eating more great Norwegian food!! It was all very, very delicious but the famous cream cake was to die for!! (Thanks Inger!)  Then the fun really began when we were all entertained by the amazingly musically talented Våge family! Several pieces of the brass choir even included Jon on tuba, Erik on trombone and Chris on drums! Before the evening regretfully ended, we were treated to several other selections including Terje on his accordion and a coronet/clarinet duet by Lisbeth and Verena. Bob and I also took part in the concert with a guitar/vocal piece and I dedicated a "Norwegian wood" keyboard solo to our new-found cousins. Thank you so much Lisbeth for coordinating the dinner and concert and to everyone who helped make it possible! Also, thank you for allowing us to be a part of the program too! I think a Våge Band road  trip to Iowa sounds like a great idea!!

Well, we find ourselves up quite late again tonight but mostly because we really don't want the day to end for sadly, tomorrow we start our journey home...

Visiting Selja

I started the morning early learning how to make Norwegian pancakes with Lisbeth as my accomplished cook. I did not recognize some of the ingredients but they were delicious none the same. The boys smeared them with homemade raspberry jam and Norwegian syrup for a tasty breakfast. 

Today's adventure was traveling to the ruins of a monastery on the island of Selja. This is very possibly where Christianity begin in Norway. It is a natural cathedral with the ruins in between. The story of the patron of Norway, St. Sunniva, starts here. It is told that the beautiful and Irish princess Sunniva who fled her kingdom and she and her entourage ended up landing on the island of Selja where they settled. In an attempt to hide from an oncoming attack, they fled into the caves only to have a rock slide entomb  them. Years later the Christian King Olaf visited the island after hearing stories of "gleaming lights" from local merchants. In 996 Sunniva's body was found intact and a church was built on the site. Selja became a place to pilgrimage. In 1080 a Catholic bishop came here to build a Benedictine monastery which was used for many years. Even though the monastery later fell into ruins and was plundered during the 1500's following the Reformation, many today still pilgrimage here for worship services and to drink water from the spring. 

Following our tour up into the Sanctuary cave, we returned to the monastery ruins and ate our sack lunches while being serenaded by Lisbeths's coronet playing of some familiar hymns. Then we hopped back into our tour boat for Selje. Here we saw the church where Jorgen Våge was baptized. There wasn't a bridge or church in Måløy at that time so his parents had to take a boat to row over to this church to have him baptized. 

After a roller-coaster like drive back to Vågsvåg around the picturesque fjords and mountainsides, we arrived just before they closed the road for some rock-fall prevention work. Good idea. I don't think we want to suffer from the same fate as St. Sunniva! Also, we had to get back in time for the big fishing expedition on this sunny warm afternoon. It was so much fun for the boys and they all came home with at least one catch - Chris even caught a mackerel!! 

After a quick clean-up we were off to our dinner invitation at the home of another Våge cousin, Inger and her husband Rune.  They have a lovely home located up a bit higher in Vågsvåg with a beautiful view overlooking  the fjord. We were served a wonderful meal of salmon, Norwegian meatballs and boiled potatoes. It was so much fun getting to know these Norwegian cousins, looking at old pictures and comparing physical similarities (i.e., the Våge nose). It is very obvious that our Våge cousins are very musical. They even have their own Våge family band! Several of them are conductors and many of them play various instruments, the coronet being most prominent, and they love singing too. Before each meal we have had the pleasure of hearing them sing their table grace to a familiar tune. I hope we can learn to sing it with them before we leave. We also spent the evening looking at some pictures and watching several videos of their band! I can hardly wait to hear them at the concert they have promised for us tomorrow night! It is getting late and after hearing a few excerpts of their musical talents, we need to get back and do a little rehearsing ourselves since we will be part to the program too! 

 

P.S. The kids had so much fun fishing that they all went out again!! Holy makerel!

The Vågsøy Island Tour

How does one begin to describe their feelings of finally seeing for the first time where their anscestors lived? And as I look out over the beautiful hills and glass-like water in the fjord in Vågsvåg this quiet, sunny morning, you cannot help but wonder if this was the same scene that they looked at each morning so many years ago. I had to ponder, how was it that they came to leave this place? It must have been a difficult decision and how they must have mourned it after they left knowing that they would, most likely, never see it again. It must have been very hard. We may never know exactly why  Jorgen and Christine left but we are so thankful that we have been able to come here to see it for ourselves. I know that I am going to miss this amazing view and the people we have met after being here for only a few days.

Today we took a guided tour around the Vågsøy island with Lisbeth and her father, Asbjørn as our guides and driver. To accommodate our large family their were able to secure a small bus for us to all be together as we circled the island. We started our tour at Oppedal where we to see and climb the famous Kannesteinen Rock. Shaped over thousands of years by the crashing waves, it is a magnificent mushroom-shaped rock formation.

As we continued to wind around the island we visited the original farms of Bob's great-grandfather, Jorgen, in Vågsvåg and his grandmother, Christine, in Kvalheim. Based on some old photographs we re-traced where the original house and other buildings were located on the Våge farm. None of which are still standing today. Just some trees and old foundation rocks remain. But in Kvalheim we had the opportunity to go inside the original home of Christine and to visit a little bit with the current owners. The current owner, who is in his early 80's, showed us some old photographs which included a picture of Christine's sister. He informed us that Christine's father, Erik, was also born in Kvalheim but down a bit further. How exciting and quite an emotional experience for Bob!!

Our tour continued this time stopping at the lighthouse and we hiked up the trail to peer over the thick walls built to withstand the crashing waves. At times the waves are large enough that they go over the lighthouse itself! Luckily for us, it was a calm day and the North Sea was rather subdued. From this vantage point we could see in the distance an island that is claimed to be the most western part of Norway!

Our last stop of the day was at the beach which according to our hosts, was rated the most beautiful beach in Norway. It certainly was very beautiful with a fine, white sandy beach that stretched out in an arc between two mountains to form a bay. Impressively, our younger cousins had set up a small camp for us including a hot meal. For some reason we felt famished and so we heartily ate the tasty hotdishes until we were completely satisfied. Yum! Yum!

Now it was time to jump into the crystal clear, cool blue waters! Several of us had a great time wading out into the shallow bay and diving into the oncoming waves. It felt great, like we were swimming in a bowl. 

We returned to our rental house for the week which is located conveniently next door to Lisbeth's home with our hearts full! While I was making dinner, Bob went exploring in the local cemetery and was overwhelmed that about one third of the gravestones were of Våge or Vaage's. I think he took a picture of all of them!  What a most amazing day!!

Arrival in Vågsvåg

Before leaving Bergen I had fun doing some shopping (surprise, surprise) at the Bryggen shops. It reminded me a little bit of shopping at the Emporium in Arnold's Park - old merchant buildings re-purposed as quaint souvenior shops for tourists. There one could purchase an assortment of Norwegian novelties from wool sweaters, which one day you will surely see Bob and I wearing, to lots of trolls, Norwegian flags, t-shirts, etc... After finding a few treasures and wondering how I was going to fit them in my suitcase, we headed back to our apartment to check out and to get ready for our boat ride up to the Nordfjord. 

We boarded the Norled express boat at the harbor, waved goodbye to Bergen and started up the picturesque, almost mythical, coastline towards our destination, Vågsoy.  

The 4 1/2 hour express boat ride along Norway's coastline was breathtaking as the boat wove between islands and navigated through the fjords. Wow! I was once again left speechless by the beauty around every bend. I tried to capture the granduer of the mountains, the ruggedness of the hillsides, the gracefulness of the waterfalls and the tranquility of the still fjord waters many times with my camera but I'm sorry to say, it is impossible to describe the panoramic views with simple snapshots here and there. I was drawn over and over again to the bright green gently sloping land serenely dotted with brightly painted red-wooden buildings next to the deep blue waters of the fjord. 

With the wind whipping through our hair and the ocean air making our lips taste salty, we made our way up the coast. It soon became evident that we were finally going to see where Bob's great-grandparents, Jorgen and Christine, came from in Norway. After months of planning, this dream was finally coming to fruition. The magnitude of this reality was very emotional, especially for Bob. 

It was hard to contain our excitement as we approached the dock in Måløy where we were eagerly greeted by several cousins. (Thanks Lisbeth for waving the Norwegian flag for us!!) Before I knew it we were on our way down the narrow winding narrow road along the island shore of Vågsøy towards Vågsvåg..... I was overwhelmed with the view of the island and fjord as the sun was setting. What a truly beautiful place! 

Upon arrival to Vågsvåg we were introduced to many of our Våge cousins and served a Norwegian feast!! What fun we had finally meeting our cousins, looking at pictures, discussing our common ancestors and comparing some noted Våge physical similarities. It felt like we were home even though we had just arrived.... 

Exploring Bergen

We started off our lazy Sunday morning in Bergen with a great breakfast in our apartment. It took me awhile to figure out the Norwegian directions on how to make pancakes from the mix we bought, but surprisingly, they didn't turn out too bad! With a little strawberry jam smeared on top, they were consumed quickly. Scrambled eggs were also on the menu and I must say, they have great eggs in Norway. They are huge and like the pancakes, they too were devoured rapidly by the four men I'm traveling with.... Oh, and the bread, it's amazing too. It's hearty and thick, yet soft, with a crispy crust. I'm going to miss it. 

After our version of a Sunday brunch, Bob and I struck out on an adventure to visit the home of Edvard Grieg and a stave church just outside of Bergen. 

It's always a bit of a challenge getting from point A to point B using a foreign country's public transit system and there can be moments of frustration, like when our non-chip American credit card would not let us purchase tickets from the automated machine; however, sometimes you just get lucky.... Bob and I lucked out by asking a few of the right people along with using our trusted travel instincts to finally reach our destinations via the Bergen light rail system.  

I enjoyed exploring the museum and home of Norway's most famous composer, Edvard Grieg. His Victorian home and "composing hut" are nestled along the picturesque coastline near Troldhaugen. Who woudn't be inspired to write such mangfiicant music here? Anyway, I was inspired by the beauty. It was amazing to see some of his original handwritten scores and learn a bit about his life. This native-born Bergen, whose mother was a concert pianist, was discovered by the infamously Ole Bull. At the age of 15 Griege was whisked away to study in Lepzig, Germany. He started composing in his early 20's, married his first cousin and eventually he traveled Europe extensively performng in concerts. He used his home to entertain many other contemporary artists of the day. I especially like his pieces "Morning Mood", "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King".

After we successfully retraced or 20-minute walk back to the train station, we proceeded to our next stop at the Fantoft Stave church. It was a beautiful, large stave church that was rebuilt by hand with original tools in 1997 after it tragically burned down in 1992. The wood carving on the pews and altar were incredible! Since it was Sunday, Bob felt compelled to hop up onto the pulpit. It was a natural fit!! 

For our last night in Bergen we decided to eat at an authentic Norwegian restaurant on the Bryggen. I had the most incredible salmon and Bob had a mouth-watering white cod dinner that would have made his grandmother Della smile! Both were served with boiled potatoes, ya sure. Oh, and we just had to stop for an ice cream cone on the way back. 

We spent the rest of our evening playing cards in our apartment with the boys while listening to some of Grieg's symphonic masterpieces! What a great day! 

Gnomes in the Woods

We heard that Norway had gnomes hiding in the woods so while we were hiking today we conducted our own search and look what I found.... Can you find them? I found five. Can you?