To Hovin

Tuesday, May 27

We had breakfast with more smorbrud (open faced sandwiches – the standard for breakfast and lunch here) and were planning to do some practicing before departing, but we’d been told about a Medieval church in town, and so we decided to walk out to it instead. We followed the road to a point where a couple of folks noticed a sign pointing to the church through the woods. It was a glorious path, following a stream and filled with little waterfalls and woodland flowers. There were baby fieldfares, fresh out of the nest, trying to figure out how to fly, and their parents scolding us severely. There were also many wagtails along the water. The church was stunning – we had been told it dated either from 1300s or the 13th century, we couldn’t remember which, but the structure was in excellent shape and clearly still in use. Unfortunately, we just missed the caretaker and couldn’t go in, but we could see through the keyhole and cracks in the door to see the altar area.


We walked back with Sue, who wanted to stop in the store for shampoo, so we grabbed this opportunity to buy another peanutter bar, which we’d discovered in Oslo. Wonderful chocolate bar covering peanuts and caramel – delicious! We saved them for later in the day.

After packing and offering people a last access to the internet (I have the only computer in the group, and there was an open network at the school) we hopped on the bus and headed out to Fossemholm, an old country estate. It was a fascinating tour, including hand-painted wallpaper, posh chandeliers, and a beautiful estate. There was a peacock with two hens (one albino) and a baby. The peacock was really showing off for one of the peahens, but she was totally uninterested.












We had a tiny lunch at the estate, and then went to stop for money. (Wayne and I picked up ice cream here.) One of us was having trouble getting the ATM to work, so we tried again in the town of Kongsburg (Kingsberg), where we had 45 minutes to wander. We went in search of a good map of Norway so we could follow our route in the bus. We’d also been warned by Sue that no stores are available in Holvin (our destination for the next three nights) so we picked up some candy bars in case we have a chocolate emergency. We walked down to the beautiful waterfall we’d seen driving through town.

The drive to Hovin was short and beautiful, as we climbed into the mountains we were seeing snow-capped peaks. We arrived at a quaint farm, where the cows jingling their cowbells greeted us in a serene and picturesque setting. Our hostess, Karin, is simply wonderful – kind and generous, helpful, and a fount of information about the area and the culture. She told us about how the church at the bottom of the valley ended up there – the local troll was angry when the church became a Christian church and threw the bell down from the top of the hill, and they built the new church where it landed.

Dinner was fabulous– we had salmon, potatoes, salad, and ice cream for dessert. After dinner Wayne and I did some washing of clothes in sink, and Karin saw me struggling with large things and offered to run a load of laundry at her place. This was a life-saver, as trying to was and wring the jeans in the sink was going to be very difficult.

After this, while many of the others played music, Wayne and I went on a hike, first stopping by to see the cows. They were so friendly – they came running when we came up, and followed us around until they couldn’t anymore. They licked our hands. We also saw a couple of families of sheep, with about six very young lambs – adorable.










We walked to the church in Hovin – where we saw this troll at the door, The hike up was steep, a really good workout.

We arrived back and had a long chat with Karin, where she showed us her home, with an amazing carved bed and rose painted bowls. We returned in time to catch the tail end of a session – I played along on one tune with Sue, Beth, and Hogne before retiring.