Our first stop in Norway was Trondheim. Trondheim was founded in 997 and was the capital of Norway during the Viking age until 1217. Today, Trondheim is a thriving port town. It combines modern and old with a charming effect.
We spent a few hours wandering around the town. The highlight of the town is the Nidaros Cathedral. It was started in 1070 and is considered the most important Gothic structure in Norway. It was built over the burial site of St. Olav. It was Roman Catholic until the Reformation when it became a Norwegian Lutheran church. It is the northern most medieval cathedral in the world.
The front face is completely covered in statues and carved scenes. The picture I took of the entire face was overwhelmed by the sun. You can read about it and see some pictures on the church's web site. Below is a detail from the front face.
No pictures were allowed inside. One striking feature is the organ. The largest pipe is 12 meters (39+ feet long). The garden around the cathedral is beautiful as well.
We were walking back to the main square to have lunch when we heard a marching band. It was the Norwegian Air Force Band. They did some marching around the square and then played a concert in a nearby park. For my Kansas friends, on the drum is the motto of the Norwegian Air Force “Per Aspera ad Astra”. This is the same as the motto of Kansas turned around—“Ad Astra per Aspera” or to the Stars through difficulty. If you google the motto you will find that it is fairly commonly used. The band was quite skilled. Carolyn especially enjoyed the marching band, and of course the drummers.
Interesting fact for the day: For lunch, Chuck had a Spanish dish called bacalau. Bacalau means salted cod in Spanish. Norway exports salted cod (klippfisk), most of it to Spain and Portugal. The dish is made with the cod, potatoes, tomatoes, and other items. It would be little beef stew in the US. In Portugal then have no word for fresh cod. They call fresh cod bacalhau fresco. Carolyn had “French Toast.” It was basically a ham and cheese sandwich.
A couple of pictures from around town.
It was a lovely day in a lovely town.
(Carolyn) I must add our conversation at lunch. As I sat there eating my sandwich, my husband pondered the largest organ pipe. He was in deep thought as to the frequency of the 39+feet long pipe. He continued to enlighten me as to the depth of human hearing capacity. For example, typically we can hear down to 15 Hertz and the sound from the largest pipe (so he estimated) went as low as 12 Hertz. So basically, when the organ played we would not hear but we would feel the largest pipes’ sound! So, there you have our lunch conversation. (Smile—you just gotta love that guy!)