Trondheim, Norway

June 26
Took the shuttle bus into the center of old town, yes, again.

The first place we walked to was the Nidaros Cathedral .  This Cathedral is the largest in Scandinavia and has the largest organ in Norway.  It is built on the grave of St. Olav, who brought Christianity to Norway and is visited by pilgrims.  

Since we arrived on a Sunday, the church was closed to tourists.  So we walked around the cemetery and saw the tombstones that are scattered around the outside of the church.  There are some very different tombstones there.

This is the flat stone over the body.  If you look closely you can see writing.  Unlike all the other tombs and tombstone that are carved in stone, this one was written into a thin coating of cement like material.  This allowed for more delicate writing and for more writing.  Not all of the writing has survived.  Never saw anything like it before.
                                    This tombstone is unlike anything we have seen before.  Very interesting….

As we walked around the church I heard the choir and the organ, through a back door.  So I sat down and listened.  It was beautiful.  Sounded like a huge choir with an angel boy singing lead.  While I was listening, Duane walked around the church and saw people exiting.  So we went to where they were coming out and found other people going in.  So, of course, we went in.  The service was still in progress, so we took seats and stayed.
When communion was offered, Duane went up with the rest of the locals and tourists alike.  The music from the inside was so much better than listening through the door.  The choir was only 8 people, 4 women and 4 men.  The angel boy was actually the female priest singing like an angel.
It was magnificent. 

                                      

                      Pictures do not do it justice.
From the church we walked the small town.  We saw a small flea market.  If we had the local currency, the Krone, we could have bought a Norwegian Waffle.  Oh, well.
We saw a Burger King.  Right, not a Mc D’s.
                           just couldn’t resist a picture.

At a nice restaurant, we saw seats covered with skins, probably not real, to keep you warm.
                                                                                       

An interesting thing about Trondheim is that it had the first “bike lift” in the world.  “Bike Lift” you say.  What is that?  Well there is a big hill in town and the city wanted to promote bicycle riding.  So to help in that regard, they installed a free bike lift.  You put your right foot on this belt and sit on your bike.  A board comes out and pushes you and your bike up the hill.  I am sorry that it wasn’t working today.  But here is what it looks like.


So now for some scenes of the town.  Like the rest of Norway we have seen, very colorful.