Norway 2024, part 6 (Eidsvoll, Krøderen Lake, Borgund)
After I had completed the formalities for renting a car at the airport in Oslo and the gentleman from the car rental company gave me a brief course on driving an automatic transmission vehicle, I was able to start and here is the map showing where I travelled.
However, I had a small problem finding my next destination on the GPS system in the car, but I managed to solve it and soon arrived in Eidsvoll, specifically at the Eidsvoll House or Eidsvollsbygningen.
In fact, it is a grand mansion of great historical importance to Norway, as the Norwegian Constitution was declared here in 1814.
Without wish to delve too deeply into Norwegian history, it is important to note that before the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was part of Denmark, with Copenhagen serving as the seat of the sovereign, while this union lasted for over 400 years. In 1813, Sweden attacked Denmark and Norway was ceded to Sweden. However, this was not acceptable to the Norwegians, so a meeting of the National Assembly was convened in Eidsvoll and on 17 May, 1814, a constitution was declared stipulating that Norway was an independent country, with the Danish heir, Christian Frederik, proclaimed as king. (By the way, 17 May is now celebrated as Norway's National Day.)
This displeased the great powers, while Sweden declared war. Negotiations ensued and everything was concluded on 4 November, 1814 when the Swedes accepted the Norwegian Constitution, thus granting Norway a high degree of independence, but the sovereign was still the Swedish king Charles XIII, who ruled Norway as Charles II.
Apart from this, the Eidsvoll Mansion or House was the private residence of the owner of the Eidsvoll Ironworks, Carsten Anker. Today, a monument to Anker stands on the grounds in front of Eidsvollsbygningen.
Eidsvoll Mansion complex and the monument to Anker
Carsten Anker (1747-1824) was a Norwegian businessman, civil servant and politician, and he was also one of the authors of the Norwegian Constitution.
When I arrived here, it wasn’t possible to enter the house directly and it seemed like some work was being done. On the other hand, I walked to what seemed to be the visitor centre with a café, where I learned that entry to the house was only possible through an organised tour, while the next one was in about an hour. I absolutely didn’t have time to stay that long. Still, I don’t regret it. I’m not particularly interested in constitutions and the places where they were adopted. There is a superficial interest, but the details aren’t that important to me.
On the other hand, I enjoyed walking around a part of the complex. Besides the grand mansion, the estate included various buildings associated with the ironworks and the entire complex extends to the shore of what I would call a narrow river branch connected to Lake Hurdalsjøen.
The ironworks was founded in 1624 and it went through the hands of several more or less successful owners before Carsten Anker purchased it in 1794 and moved there to live in 1811. He was also not very successful and the ironworks went bankrupt in 1822.
So, I took a short walk around the area near the central building, which is the museum, to see a few more structures and then I returned to the parking lot and the car.
Now I had a stretch of about 300 km ahead of me, but I knew I would be stopping occasionally, primarily to photograph the landscapes I was passing through. I just didn’t know how often.
However, as it turned out, there were very few vehicles on the road, so I could develop the skill of quick mobile phone photography, hoping that the photos would turn out well. This was greatly helped by the fact that my right hand wasn’t needed for shifting gears. When driving my own car with a manual transmission, I usually keep both hands on the steering wheel, but occasionally, as needed, I move my right hand from the wheel to the gear shift. Now, I could use those short moments for taking photos.
I believe that my safety, as well as the safety of others, was not compromised because I only took photos either when I couldn’t see any other vehicles on the road or when I significantly slowed down while taking pictures. I remained focused on the road and driving and did not spend time composing or worrying about the shots. I only needed to press the white dot and snap a few shots, more or less by instinct. I could check the photos later and quite a few were deleted.
Although I think one should be extremely careful with this, I am, after all, a mature woman and not prone to excessive risks. I can report that throughout the entire journey there were no situations that were even remotely dangerous.
The first part of the journey took me towards Lake Krøderen. Although it was already mid-April, I was far enough north in Europe that snow was still visible in some places.
Along the way, I also passed through a longer tunnel and began to realise that in Norway it is almost inevitable to encounter a lot of tunnels, considering its topography. Tunnels can be dull and do not provide an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery, but they certainly shorten the journey.
So, at one point, the road reaches Lake Krøderen and then starts to run along the lake (if you're heading north, as I was).
Lake Krøderen is about 41 km long and I drove along roughly half of the lake’s length. As seen in the previous photo, the lake’s surface, which is around 44 sq. km, was still mostly covered with ice. Although the sun occasionally appeared and illuminated the surroundings as the clouds dispersed, its rays were not yet strong enough to completely melt the ice on the lake's surface.
However, by mid-April, spring had indeed arrived in Norway and the ice was starting to melt. I took advantage of a parking area on the side of the road to stop and capture it all beautifully.
Although it was still too early for the trees to be covered in green leaves and the sun wasn’t shining all the time due to intermittent clouds, I still enjoyed the drive immensely.
As I approached the northern end of the lake, I came across a roadside parking area, so I had to stop again; photographing from a moving car, no matter how slowly it was moving, wasn’t good enough.
From here, the cracked ice wasn’t visible, but it was clear that the ice was melting along the edge of the lake, right by the shore. This created very beautiful sights.
Even when I looked towards the opposite shore, the effect was interesting – large ice surface in the foreground and open water of the lake further out.
I returned to the car, but just a kilometre further, near the village of Gulsvik, I found a large parking area with a gas station and a restaurant. I immediately planned to have lunch there, but first, I had to enjoy the beauty of the lake because the views were spectacular. The next few pictures show more or less the same scene: Lake Krøderen and the partially cloud-covered sky reflected in the lake’s waters. I was so captivated by the beauty that this is just a small selection from the numerous photos I took at this spot.
When I finally managed to tear myself away from this wonderful sight, I went to the restaurant as planned and had a very nice lunch there. It might not have been original, but it was tasty.
And yet, before I returned to the car and continued on my way, I had to capture the beautiful waters of Lake Krøderen one more time.
I soon entered the Hallingdal Valley (Hallingdal), through which the Hallingdal River (Hallingdalselva) flows. Whenever I came across a convenient spot where I could stop, I did so to take better photographs. At other locations, I continued with occasional shots from the car, but as it can be seen, most often there was no one else around.
Of course, from time to time, vehicles did appear, both in my direction and coming the other way, but I was especially careful and focused when taking photos with my mobile phone. Still, I made sure to take advantage of every convenient parking spot to capture better shots.
At one point, I passed through the town of Gol, which is home to the beautiful Gol Stave Church. This church can be seen at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, which I mentioned in Part 1 of my travel stories through Norway in 2024 (see: https://www.svudapodji.com/en/norway-1/).
From Gol, the road practically enters the Hemsdal Valley, through which the Hemsila River flows. As I continued upstream, high mountains began to appear, surrounding the valley, and in mid-April these mountains were still covered in snow.
Along the road, I occasionally saw houses with roofs traditionally covered in grass.
In this part of the journey, I even started taking photos from the side without looking at the phone or its screen. I would simply keep my eyes on the road, with my right hand holding the phone beside my left shoulder and snap away. Oh, yes... a lot of photos ended up in the trash. But some turned out comparatively well.
On the way from Gulsvik to Trøym
Here and there, I passed by some settlements, but there was also a lot of agricultural land waiting for nice weather and warmth to begin its annual growth and harvest cycle.
The road gradually climbed and soon more snow was visible alongside it.
The road continued to climb from Trøym, at around 630 meters above sea level, towards Storeskard Lake (Storeskardvatnet), at about 910 meters above sea level, so there was significantly more snow.
I didn’t actually know what to expect on this route, so I was somewhat surprised to find that I was driving over mountains. Granted, it was a beautiful and well-maintained road, but still over mountains.
Thus I reached Slette Lake (Slettevatnet) at around 1130 meters. It was covered in both snow and ice, but on this stretch of the road, I was often completely alone, so I could stop, roll down the window and take photos safely without bothering anyone.
At one point, the road began to descend and this was clearly noticeable not only by the road and signs but also by the vegetation. At a certain elevation, what started to appear were trees which are absent in the higher mountain areas exposed to harsher cold and stronger winds.
And so I descended into a smaller valley through which the Lærdalselvi River flows where I continued to follow it westward.
Soon, I arrived at the main destination for the day, the incredibly beautiful and charming Borgund Stave Church.