Across the fjord from Balestrand is the small village of Vik, where there is one of the remaining 28 original stave churches in Norway. It was our goal to visit that church today. Rick Steves says it is his favorite stave church and if Rick says so it must be worth seeing.

It was another sunny day so rain gear was left in the hotel room.  To get to Vik we had to catch the 7:50 AM ferry.  Fifteen minutes later we were dockside in the Vik, which has a population of 2,722, dwarfing Balestrand. It turns out there were 5 other people who got off the boat with us and we learned we all were from the US and headed to see the church. There was no traffic on this Saturday morning and we simply walked down the main road leading out-of-town for about a mile to reach the 12th century church which stood on a small grassy knoll overlooking the valley.

The stave church, known as the Hopperstad church, named for its location, is thought to date to about 1130; carbon dating of the wood show the trees used for construction date from 1034 to 1116. It is an amazing sight and I was awed.  Beautifully carved panels adorn the inside. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, the church was restored (1884-1891). I was surprised to learn it is considered to have been a Catholic church early on. We spent over an hour talking to the local church “guardian” who pointed out things about the church and answered our questions. This is a definite “must see” if you are in the area.

Some more parting shots of Hopperstad.

 

We walked back to town and found a place to have a snack while waiting for the return ferry to Balestrand. Surprisingly it was about 10:30 on a Saturday morning but  hardly anything was open yet. After asking a local we did find a small cheese shop where we had tea and cookies while keeping an eye on the clock as we had to make sure we caught the ferry as there are only two crossings each day.

We had a free afternoon but not wanting to waste a moment I found an adventure to pursue. A local resident offers a high-speed boat tour of the surrounding fjord that sounded intriguing. Yvonne passed, choosing to relax, but I donned the provided survivor suit and life vest and joined a family from the east coast for the 75 minute tour of the fjord, at speeds that topped 40 mph because of the 600 hp motors on the back of the boat.  We stopped at several spots along the way where Lars, the boat owner/operator told us about the area. His family has lived and farmed this area for hundreds of years so we got some great insight about living here. It was a fun excursion.

There was still some time before dinner and I wanted to try to find the location of the Viking burial mounds that were near here as well as visit the distinctive St. Olaf’s church on the edge of town. I did both before some raindrops hastened my steps back to the hotel. The rain was very short-lived and the evening cocktail hour before dinner was again held on the deck overlooking the fjord.

There was another piano “concert” after dinner that we enjoyed before retiring (it was a 12,000+ step day) and getting ready to move on tomorrow morning to complete the “Nutshell” trip.