Today we visited a hydroelectric plant in Rjukan that was taken over by the Germans when they occupied Norway during World War II. It was here that the Germans did research on “heavy water,” and had they been allowed to continue, would have developed the atomic bomb. In this plant Norwegians were originally producing an… Read More If not for the Norwegians…
On our way to the Hardangervidda National Park we passed many locations where the land meets the water—the water was so still that you could see a mirrored reflection of the steep mountains and valleys. This is a lot harder to describe than it is to just show you the photos! As you can see,… Read More Mirrored reflections
In looking over the posts I’ve written on my Norway trip, I suddenly realized that I totally (but not deliberately!) left out any mention of our visit to Hopperstad Stave Church, which dates from 1130 AD. First of all, what is a Stave church? It refers to Norway’s unique architectural style of wooden churches, based… Read More Hopperstad Stave Church
It so happens that the tour that I booked is called “Splendor of Norway,” and today’s boat, train and bus travels showed us the spectacular natural scenery of this country. The morning started out a little forebodingly, with light rain sprinkles as we walked to the boat dock just a short distance from our hotel.… Read More Splendor of Norway
Just as we were checking into the Kvikne Hotel in Balestrand, Jo Ann Condry caught sight of this poster by the elevator. “Hey, Kathy, there’s Evening Prayer tonight at 9:00 pm.” We had visited St Olaf church before dinner, and decided it would be a nice service to attend. We arrived about 8:45 pm and the… Read More Evening Prayer in Balestrand
Last night, members of my tour group met for an informal meet-and-greet session when every person had the opportunity to introduce themselves and to tell why they are on this trip. Most of them were of Norwegian descent and were looking for family birthplaces or to meet relatives. Of course, it is obvious that I… Read More Uff da! Lutefisk!
Karl Bachman generously invited Hawaii organists to a cocktail and pupu reception for my former student Joey Fala and Sarah Jones on their honeymoon! Back row: Paul Lillie, Guy Merola, Mark Wong, Karl Bachman. Front row: Sarah Jones, Joey Fala, Erin Richardson Severin, Steven Severin (Karl apologized for the lighting!) Sarah’s mom, The Rev. Susan… Read More Meanwhile, back in Hawaii
Twenty-five years ago, I remember being at Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg’s summer home, with my husband, Carl Crosier, and trying our hardest to stay awake. You see, it had taken us 30 hours, including flights and layovers from Honolulu, to reach this peaceful place. We checked into the hotel upon our arrival, and then set out… Read More Twenty-five years ago …
I left Gloucester on Saturday morning via National Express bus and arrived at Heathrow Airport. My friend Joan Ishibashi met me at the Premier Inn and we took the local train into Ealing Broadway for one last dinner together. My itinerary Saturday morning was a British Airways flight to Oslo, Norway, then a transfer to… Read More Sunday morning in Bergen
This afternoon at the Three Choirs Festival, we heard Christmas music, and in fact, the performance was recorded for the BBC Radio which will be aired in December. It was hilarious, though, when the Dean, in his opening remarks, wished to be the first to wish us a Happy Christmas! Only 143 nights before Christmas!… Read More Christmas in August?