Sunday, September 15, 2013

Norway.

I have been longing to write this post but internet access has not been easy, so there is so much to tell!
Be prepared for jaw dropping beauty...
Norway is the land of unending eye candy.

Scandinavia is my family heritage.


Finally, for the first time, I set my feet on the land where my family has its roots. It looks like a travel book in front of your eyes. 




The intensity of Norway’s reds, greens and blues is unparalleled. 

Even looking at it you can hardly believe what you're seeing.


Hiking to the Briksdalen Glacier, I spied some red mushrooms along the trail. Real ones.

Can you even believe these photos?


Real. Red. Mushrooms. It was all I could do to restrain myself to a quick sketch and some photos... 

Norway is a place where nature’s fierceness and beauty beckon at every turn. It’s a country that looks exactly like you dream it should. But even better. 




Everything seems larger than life- the enormous fjords, the pure water cascading endlessly in waterfalls that take your breath away.


How can anyone resist the buildings painted mustard, white, green and especially that gorgeous Falun red, the color that immediately tells you this can only be Scandinavia?


I think I've been in hiking heaven... I have worn out a pair of shoes already!

We've passed cows grazing on a sunny afternoon, and  crossed a tiny footbridge bridge and found a bench someone had placed facing a field, as if inviting passersby to sit and contemplate the brilliant emerald lushness of grass and wildflowers.



Where else in the world would you find a bench placed with a view this pure? 
It's at the edge of a grassy field where the animals graze.


Then goats.
Remember, this is a cheese-loving people. And the animals are much loved and well treated.



And more Falun red buildings, shining in the sun beside the village alongside the fjord...



How could anyone resist a nation that has picnic huts conveniently placed by glacier-tinted teal rivers? 

Especially ones with enchanting names like “Eiraholen”... a land where roofs are insulated with turf, and goats are regularly invited to graze there to manicure the architecture?

This one was alongside a glacier-fed rushing stream tinted vivid teal.
See what I mean about eye candy?


Next I'll show you the hike we made up the side of an arm of Naeyroyfjord to the highest goat pastures. 

It was raining buckets but that didn't stop us.

This is such an amazing land of beauty.