Norway: Day Six, Trondheim

Today I was on my own to explore for the majority of day, since Sveii had plans, which really worked out well since I got to go play the tourist. With it being the offseason, everything had shorter hours, so I had to really plan my day. I do like to plan, but sometimes it is fun to just be spontaneous, which you can't do when museums are only open four hours a day. 

My first stop of the day was at the Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, which translates to the National Museum of Decorative Arts. There were a few rooms set up in specific time periods, and then there was the main exhibit which traced decorative objects from the 1500s to present day. And there was a special fashion exhibit, which showed the high fashion designers who collaborated with H&M. I knew H&M was a European company, but what I didn't realize was that it was founded in Sweden so has Scandinavian ties. 

After spending time there, I hopped a bus to Sverresborg Trøndelag Folk Museum. This was my first time taking the bus by myself, and I wasn't too worried because there were screens on the buses listing the next three stops, so I'd know when to push the stop request button, plus they announce the stops. Well...it figures that the bus I got on had the screen not working and no announcements! I thought about asking the driver or another passenger, but I knew the stop before the one I wanted so I just looked out the window and made there! 

The Folk Museum was mainly outdoors, and it contained about 70 historic buildings from Trondheim and the surrounding area that were moved there rather than knocked down for new contruction. I think this is a fabulous idea, and there are many throughout the entire country of Norway. I wish the US would do something like it, and we do have things like Plimouth Plantation, but these folk museums contain a range of years, and are a perfect way to preserve historic buildings while allowing space for new construction. These are buildings that were formerly in downtown Trondheim:

It was cute because even the Folk Museum was decorated for the holidays, with greenery and lights! In the summer, more houses are open; only ten were open to visitors now. And from what I was reading, in the summer there are reenactors throughout the villages. 

It was very common in rural Norway to have turf roofs on your house; it would be a great insulator in the cold winters!

The museum was centered around the first stone castle in Norway, which is really just ruins now but it had a commanding view of the city:

The view from the top:

The building I most wanted to see was the stave church, which was originally in Haltden and was built in 1170. Unfortunately, it was one of the buildings that wasn't open, but the sun was setting in just the right way and the light was beautiful on the church:

It was definitely a highlight of the trip seeing it! There are some very ornate stave churches, and this was just a sweet little one. They are called stave churches because of the way the walls are constructed, which is supposed to be a bit like ship construction if I'm remembering correctly. 

I stayed at the Folk Museum til it closed at 3pm; this is definitely on a list of things to do for a return visit in the summer!

At night, I met up with Sveii again and we went to see Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 in the movie theater. And yes, there is still delicious movie theater popcorn in Norway! The theaters are like those in England, that when you buy your tickets you pick a specific seat to sit in. The movie was in English, with Norwegian subtitles and it was really good, and followed the book very closely!