Solfrid and I took a brisk early morning walk with the dogs through the forest behind their home (more about that in a later blog post).
After a lovely breakfast of knekkebrød (seed cracker) and brown cheese (yum!), the four of us headed for Trondheim, a 15 minute drive from Heimdal.
We are here for the 10-day Olavsfestigene (Festival of St. Olaf). It is much like a Renaissance Fair with actors dressed in Medieval garb, wares for sale, etc.
Olaf II Haraldsson (995-29 July 1030) was King of Norway from 1015-1028. During his lifetime, he was known as "Olav the Fat" because of his sizable girth. Some believe that he is responsible for bringing Christianity to Norway, however, this has been disputed. Olaf, like many Scandinavian kings, used his Christianity to gain more power for the monarchy, so religion and politics... For the same reasons, Olav was beatified in 1031 and is considered to be the patron saint of Norway. His remains were enshrined in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, however the relics are no longer there. Nonetheless, there is a newly popular 640 km pilgrimage route to Nidaros Cathedral known as Saint Olav's Way.
The Happy Gate Bridge (Lykkens Portal or Portal of Happiness) is the iconic Old Town Bridge at the southern end of Kjøpmannsgata that crosses the Nidelva River that snakes its way through Trondheim. It is a popular bridge for wedding photos.
Bakklandet, situated on the banks of the Nidelva River, is one of the oldest parts of Trondheim with lots of cozy cafés, lovely restaurants, lively pubs and boutique shops. There one can also find Brygge, wooden tenement warehouses built on the wharf with pylons into the water so that, in olden days, ships could easily unload. These are iconic of both Trondheim and Bergen (where we will be next week).
We had lunch at Bakklandet Skydsstation, an old home from the 17th century, now a restaurant in the old town of Trondheim.
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