Odden’s Rural Life Traditions Tour

Norway, August 10 through August 21, 2012

Tour Norway with Phillip and Else  

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Thank You to our wonderful group of travelers who joined our tour in August 2011!

 Odden’s Rural Life Traditions Tour

Norway, August 10 through August 21, 2012

Tour Norway with Phillip and Else  

Contact information:

Phillip Odden & Else Bigton

20337 County Road H

Barronett, WI 54813

Website:  www.Norskwoodworks.com

Phone:  715 468 2780

Contact information

Website:  www.Norskwoodworks.com

Phone:  715 468 2780

Email: NWW@norskwoodworks.com

Else Bigton, a native of Ålesund Norway, and Phillip Odden from Barronett Wisconsin met each other at the Hjerleid wood carving school in Norway in 1977. They were married in 1978 and returned to Wisconsin in 1979 to establish Norsk Wood Works, a wood carving and furniture business. For 32 years they have made their sole living as artist- craftsmen in the Norwegian folk art tradition. In recent years they have established a herd of Norwegian Fjord horses. The couple raises, train and show Fjord horses in the upper Midwest in Pleasure Driving competitions and Combined Driving Events. Else and Phil enjoy working as artist craftsmen and keeping horses on their farm in rural Wisconsin.

The travel plans may change a little due to some new unexpected opportunities but our plans are pretty firm now. But I think you can see that we will experience some wonderful Norwegian Rural Life Traditions through the people we meet, the scenery we enjoy and the food we eat. There will be pleasant surprises not mentioned in the text below.

August 10 Day 1 Friday

Travel Day

 August 11 Day 2 Saturday

Arrive Oslo Gardemoen airport. After the group is assembled at Gardemoen airport we will drive north along lake Mjøsa toward Gjøvik. We will have Dinner and welcome at Gjestrum farm where we will experience rural Norwegian hospitality at its best. The people on the farm will explain how the farms in that area function and give us a tour of the interesting buildings on the farm. After dinner we will travel on to Lillehammer to settle in to our hotel. There may be an opportunity to visit a fine wood carver and cabinet maker depending on how our travel day goes. This will be a long day but we are hoping to get accustomed to the time change as soon as possible with this schedule. For those who wish to stretch their legs there is a good opportunity for a pleasant walk around down town Lillihammer.

August 12 Day 3 Sunday

Breakfast at hotel

Lunch on your own

 First up we will visit Maihaugen a large open- air museum. Here we will experience and learn about how people lived in Gudbrandsdalen at the time people were immigrating to the US. Lillehammer was the site of the 1996 winter Olympics. Lunch on your own can be purchased at the museum cafeteria. After lunch we will board our motor coach and continue on to Otta then to Lom. We plan to pick up our local guide Edvin Espelund and hopefully his wife Tove in Otta. Edvin was a classmate of ours back in the late seventies when we studied carving and furniture making. In Lom we will have a guided tour of the Lom Stave Church. This is a very special Stave Church and the largest in Norway.  A few blocks from the church we will have a special dinner at Fossheim and then on to Elveseter to overnight. I am hoping to arrange for special musical entertainment. Elveseter is a hotel with a spectacular collection of folk art and fine art from many of Norway’s most important artists. We need to take time to look through their collection and learn about rural Norway through the artist’s eye.

August 13 Day 4 Monday

Breakfast at hotel

Lunch on your own

Morning coffee and cake with Kristian Sulheim on a very old and tradition rich farm near Lom. This important farm has been in Kristian’s family for countless generations. The farm buildings are furnished with decorations one would see on a farm of very high status. Kristian also has an impressive collection of modern art he will show us. Edvin has agreed to show us his work-place where they build traditional log homes Norwegian style. Edvin will also show us some old buildings he has restored. The architectural traditions is quite special in this area and Edvin is the Governments representative to advise farm owners of how to preserve their old buildings. There will be time to explore the small mountain village of Lom and find a place to have lunch on your own before we continue on along E-6 north through the Lesja valley with a brief stop at the Lesja Church and then on to our hotel at Bjorli. Lesja church is wonderfully decorated with impressive painted carvings done by one of the great carving masters of Norway. Bjorli is a high mountain recreation center so people can do a short hike in the area. We have chosen a hotel featuring interesting mountain style décor. Dinner at hotel.

August 14 Day 5 Tuesday

Breakfast at hotel

The road trip from Bjorli through Romsdalen is a spectacular drive. This is a trip Else and I made many times as we traveled from the carving school in Dovre over the mountain pass to her coastal family home near Ålesund. Our main activity for this day will be to visit with Bjorn Kjersem at his summer farm and horse stalls. Here we will have the opportunity to take a horse drawn carriage ride or if you are able and willing you can ride a horse on this picturesque mountain farm. The stop will include a meal. Bjorn teaches agriculture at a local school. He is very much involved in the horse industry in Norway and he has been featured several times on Norwegian TV in historical documentaries.  I have visited Bjørn several times on my trips to Norway. He is a colorful and interesting character. This stop will take about 4 hours. In the morning we plan to visit the Rauma yarn factory where they have agreed to tell us about how they make wool yarn and what they make with it. If we have time we can stop at the Devold Sweater outlet on our way to Ålesund.

 Dinner will await us at our Hotel by the harbor.

August 15 Day 6 Wednesday

Breakfast at Hotel

Lunch on your own

Options

This day can be a free day for those who may wish to rest at the hotel.

Another option is to take the coastal ferry to explore Geiranger Fjord with additional expense.

  On this day we expect to have one or two guest guides to help us out.  For those who do not wish to do the scenic boat ride to Geiranger there will be a full day of visiting museums and attractions in Ålesund, Else’s hometown. Ålesund is called the Art Nuveau city for the architectural style. The history of Ålesund city dates back to Viking times. Plan to visit the  Borgund Church where Else and Phil were married. This church has extensive wood carvings done in the Jugend stil. We expect to have an opportunity to visit a fish processing plant since Ålesund is a city built around the fish industry. This day can also be an opportunity for people to explore the city on their own or take a rest for part of the day in the hotel.

For those who wish to travel to spectacular Geiranger by boat from Ålesund we have made arrangements for these connections at additional expense. Please let us know if you plan to take the Geiranger boat tour.

Return to Hotel for dinner.

August 16 Day 7 Thursday

Breakfast at hotel

Lunch on your own

Travel from Ålesund to Ørsta crossing the fjord to visit the Ivar Aasen Center on our way to Nordfjordeid.  Lunch can be purchased on your own at the cafeteria. We will drive by Bjørkedal boat works and perhaps have an opportunity to hear about their work depending on the time schedule. We will travel on to Nordfjordeid to visit the Fjordhorse center where they will arrange a short program for us. The Fjord Horse Center is part of a Folk School where they offer study with art, Circus entertainment, and horses. We will overnight at the quiet Raftevolds Hotel in Horningdal over looking the deepest lake in Norway.

Dinner at Hotel

August 17 Day 8 Friday

 Breakfast at Hotel

 In the morning after breakfast the tour will travel from Raftevolds hotel to Nedreberg farm near Stryn where we will learn how a small farm on the west coast of Norway functioned.  The farm is full of meaningful artifacts from the area. They also raise some of the finest Fjord horses in the area.  Their private collection contains many textiles with exceptional examples of woven and knitted items. They specialize in teaching weaving and knitting techniques. From Nedreberg we will travel along the picturesque Nordfjord to visit Arne Sølvberg at Fjelli for a traditional Nordfjord dinner. Arne will entertain us with his fiddle music. He is one of the most accomplished fiddle musicians in Norway playing the Hardanger fiddle and traditional Nordfjord fiddle tunes.  The cultural hall decorated with images from the early 1900’s is located just below his farm where he and his wife raise sheep and lambs with a spectacular view overlooking Nordfjord. The noon meal will be prepared by Arne’s cousin. From Arne’s place we will drive to overnight at the hotel in Skei. If we arrive in time there will be a good shopping opportunity close to the hotel. Dinner at Hotel

August 18 Day 9 Saturday

 Breakfast at hotel

Lunch on your own

 Drive from Skei through Fjearland to Manheller. Short ferry crossing Manheller. Fodnes. We plan to see the Borgund Stave Church along with the interpretive center in its age-old picturesque  setting. Phil is working on the carvings for a copy of the Borgund Stave Church that will be built on the Campus of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. We will continue our drive through Laerdals tunnel, the worlds longest tunnel to Flåm. Enjoy the famous Flåmline a special train ride with majestic views to Myrdal and back to Flåm. Drive via Gudvangen to Stalheim hotel. Lunch on your own, Dinner at Hotel with a special tour of the Hotel’s very special museum. Stalheim offers one of the most spectacular views from any hotel in Norway. They have a private museum with a tour guide. This is one of my favorite museums in Norway. The view is unbelievable. For those who are able to walk mountain trails there is an interesting hike from the hotel.

August 19 Day 10 Sunday

 Breakfast at hotel

 On this day we expect to visit the Voss area. Our local guide will be Torgeir Lirhus. Torgeir lives on an important and tradition rich farm on the outskirts of Voss. He has been a woodworking teacher at the Voss Folk School. Torgeir and his wife Astrid have invited us to their farm home for coffee and cake. Astrid is a very accomplished seamstress and she has reconstructed traditional dresses from the area. We plan to visit a wood carver then we will travel on to Osterøya for some special opportunities that are not yet fully planned to include a silver smith and some Fjord horses. We plan to stay at a hotel on or near Osterøya.  Dinner at hotel.

August 20 Day 11  Monday

Breakfast at Hotel

Lunch on your own

 On this day we plan to continue our activities on Osterøya and then travel to Bergen where we will have an opportunity to visit the water front market as well as some of the other special attractions in Bergen. There will be time to do some shopping.

 Day12  8/21 Tuesday

 Breakfast at hotel

 It looks like we will have a few hours in Bergen during the morning before we depart for the airport to fly home.

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Price

Land package: Pr. person, with two people sharing a room. …. $4300

Single supplement…………………… $525

Flight Icelandair from Minneapolis –Oslo,

Bergen-Minneapolis …………………$1200

Maximum participants……………….28

Prices and itinerary subject to change

Contact information:

Phillip Odden, Else Bigton

20337 County Road H

Barronett, WI 54813

Phone 715-468-2780

Website: www.norskwoodworks .com

Email: nww@norskwoodworks.com

Please call us or email us with your questions. We can send you the necessary paper work to sign up for our tour. We are very happy with all the fine opportunities people will have to experience Norway in a way that no other tour can offer. Please join us for this special travel opportunity.  

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Norwegian Fjord Horses

Tour Norway 2012

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nww@norskwoodworks.com
phone: 715 468 2780
Norsk Wood Works
20337 Cty Rd H
Barronett, WI 54813

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