A taste of coastal Norway

Sometimes we are attracted to a place because of the people we meet who come from there. Many years ago, we met a lovely couple from Norway, a country we knew little about. Over time, the stories they told us created images in our minds and our curiosity grew.

What is it like to live in the Arctic Circle? What scenery do they see on their way to work? What do their grocery stores look like? Do they get to watch the Northern Lights dancing in the sky before going to bed? Simple things of everyday life that add texture to our connection to people we like. This November, we seized an opportunity to visit.

Norway is a narrow and elongated country, stretching between 58 and 71 degrees north, or approximately 1,750 kilometres. This is about the same distance as between New York City and Miami, Florida. Our friends currently live in Tromsø, the largest Norwegian city north of the Arctic Circle. The further north we went along the coast, the sparser was the vegetation but the tranquil scenery and the fading blue afternoon light were enchanting.

Norway is a very beautiful country with a dramatic jagged coastline carved by deep fjords and dotted with thousands of islands. Our cruise ship made five stops along the coast: Stavanger, Bergen, Ålesund, Trondheim, and Tromsø.

Each town has a specific character, a juxtaposition of historic neighborhoods and modern-day developments and a strong connection to the sea. All have a compact core that can easily be explored on foot.

The town of Bergen, founded in 1070, is an important trading port. From the 14th to the mid-16th century, it was associated with a network of European merchants called the Hanseatic League. Fish caught along the Norwegian coast were dried and exported through Bergen. A group of wooden houses and laneways facing the harbour (Bryggen) is a reminder of that time and the area is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The protected old town in Stavanger is a striking collection of 173 wooden houses along cobbled streets, located by the city harbour. Most of the houses are painted white and surrounded by well-tended gardens. Several of them house studios or galleries.

In Ålesund, the architecture stands out. In the aftermath of a major fire in 1904, which left over 10,000 people homeless, the construction of wooden houses in the downtown core was banned. Given the dominant architectural style in Europe at the turn of the century, the city was rebuilt with flair and imagination. Today it is famous for its Art Nouveau buildings, replete with turrets, spires and creative ornamentation. Ålesund was voted by Norwegians the most beautiful town in the country in 2007.

The warm hospitality showed to us by our friends, the dramatic countryside and the attractive cities and towns we visited, more than compensated for the overcast night skies that prevented us from admiring the Northern Lights in the Arctic Circle. Our next visit will be during the summer. We look forward to seeing the midnight sun, exploring dramatic fjords along the coast, and sampling the cultural offerings of the capital city, Oslo.

The short video below captures some of the sights we enjoyed on our first visit.

A bit of history

Long before the Viking Era of exploration and conquest (800 – 1050 CE), what we now call Norway was inhabited by people who were hunter-gatherers, fishers and herders. Today, the indigenous Sámi people, concentrated in the most northerly part of the country, have their own flag, language and parliament in Norway.

Over the years, Norway has had a history of complex relationships with its neighbours: Sweden and Denmark. It was in a union with Denmark from 1380, due to the fact that King Olav Haakonsson inherited both the Norwegian and Danish thrones from his parents. Following a treaty, the two countries separated peacefully in 1814.

After a short war the same year, Norway was forced to enter into a new union with Sweden, which lasted until 1905 when it became fully independent with its own king. Signs of the prominence of royalty are visible everywhere in Norway today.

Norway is also a country with a history of emigration: between 1830 and 1920, approximately one third of its population emigrated to seek better opportunities. There is a beautiful statue of a leaping gazelle in the downtown city park in Stavanger that commemorates the contribution of people of Norwegian blood to the building of America. Depopulation is no longer a challenge: Norway has a population of approximately 5.5 million people, and it is growing.

Until the middle of the last century, the farming, fishing and shipping industries were the economic engine of the country.  The discovery of oil resources in the North Sea in 1969 gave rise to a boom that brought the country enormous wealth. The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund (“the oil fund”) was established in 1990 to ensure the country’s ongoing prosperity.