Jotunheimen National Park, the national park, is one of Norway's best wilderness destinations while Hammerfest claims to be the northernmost town in the world.
May 13, 2006 (Press Release) --
Off The Beaten Track
Jotunheimen National Park
This national park is one of Norway's best wilderness destinations. It has a network of hiking trails leading to some 60 glaciers and to the country's loftiest peaks. The trails pass through ravine-like valleys and past deep lakes and plunging waterfalls. Huts and private lodgings are along many of the routes. The park is on the road between Sogndal and Lom, in central Norway.
This fishing village on the Lofoten island of Moskenes is intriguingly named and well-preserved. It boasts a shoreline of red rorbu, plenty of cod drying on racks, and postcard-perfect scenes at every turn. Many of the village's buildings have been set aside as the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum, complete with old boats and boathouses, a period bakery, storehouses and so on. Nearby is Moskenesstraumen, a maelstrom with a mighty whirlpool which inspired tales by Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe.
Hammerfest
This 10,000-strong fishing town claims to be the northernmost town in the world. If its name sounds familiar, it's the place Bill Bryson hung around at the start of Neither Here Nor There waiting to be gobsmacked by the Northern Lights. While you're waiting for this celestial display of psychedelia, check out the Royal & Ancient Polar Bear Society and the reindeer grazing in the Hammerfest graveyard.
Culture
Norwegian architecture is renowned for its unique stave churches - among the oldest wooden buildings on earth - which have one foot in the Viking Age and the other in the 11th-century early Christian era. Norway holds on to many of its cultural traditions and it's not uncommon to see elaborate folk costumes worn at weddings and other festive events. Traditional folk dancing, singing and storytelling (often featuring trolls) are also popular. The country has produced a wealth of artistic talent including the painter Edvard Munch, composer Edvard Grieg, sculptor Gustav Vigeland and playwright Henrik Ibsen. Norway has also produced three winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Bjornstjerne Bjornson, Sigrid Undset and Knud Hamsun.
Norwegian dishes include laks (grilled or smoked salmon), reker (boiled shrimp) and torsk (cod). Popular at Christmas time is lutefisk (dried cod made near-gelatinous by soaking in lye), which is definitely an acquired taste. A common sight on most breakfast tables is sweet brown goat cheese called geitost and pickled herring. Alcohol may be hard to find in some rural communities where virtual prohibition is the norm.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
Jotunheimen National Park
This national park is one of Norway's best wilderness destinations. It has a network of hiking trails leading to some 60 glaciers and to the country's loftiest peaks. The trails pass through ravine-like valleys and past deep lakes and plunging waterfalls. Huts and private lodgings are along many of the routes. The park is on the road between Sogndal and Lom, in central Norway.
This fishing village on the Lofoten island of Moskenes is intriguingly named and well-preserved. It boasts a shoreline of red rorbu, plenty of cod drying on racks, and postcard-perfect scenes at every turn. Many of the village's buildings have been set aside as the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum, complete with old boats and boathouses, a period bakery, storehouses and so on. Nearby is Moskenesstraumen, a maelstrom with a mighty whirlpool which inspired tales by Jules Verne and Edgar Allen Poe.
Hammerfest
This 10,000-strong fishing town claims to be the northernmost town in the world. If its name sounds familiar, it's the place Bill Bryson hung around at the start of Neither Here Nor There waiting to be gobsmacked by the Northern Lights. While you're waiting for this celestial display of psychedelia, check out the Royal & Ancient Polar Bear Society and the reindeer grazing in the Hammerfest graveyard.
Culture
Norwegian architecture is renowned for its unique stave churches - among the oldest wooden buildings on earth - which have one foot in the Viking Age and the other in the 11th-century early Christian era. Norway holds on to many of its cultural traditions and it's not uncommon to see elaborate folk costumes worn at weddings and other festive events. Traditional folk dancing, singing and storytelling (often featuring trolls) are also popular. The country has produced a wealth of artistic talent including the painter Edvard Munch, composer Edvard Grieg, sculptor Gustav Vigeland and playwright Henrik Ibsen. Norway has also produced three winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Bjornstjerne Bjornson, Sigrid Undset and Knud Hamsun.
Norwegian dishes include laks (grilled or smoked salmon), reker (boiled shrimp) and torsk (cod). Popular at Christmas time is lutefisk (dried cod made near-gelatinous by soaking in lye), which is definitely an acquired taste. A common sight on most breakfast tables is sweet brown goat cheese called geitost and pickled herring. Alcohol may be hard to find in some rural communities where virtual prohibition is the norm.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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