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Where am I?:^mistymornings-->Cycletouring-->2007-->Scandinavia.-->Day 16

Day 16-2. Kjørnes campsite to the Sogn Folk Museum Kaupanger

This collection of buildings that make up the 'Heiberg Collection' is more extensive than the one at Uvdal and claims to have buildings from all over Norway. There were several very old buildings and it was interesting to see that even in the eighteen hundreds it was not unusual to have a smoke hole in the roof instead of a chimney. Also interesting was to see that the basic form and shape of houses built over a three hundred year period was very similar. What changed with the later houses was that the single main room was divided into more than one space.

At around four our guide had to go and do something else so we wandered into the main museum exhibition and went through the three floors of exhibits. This included tools used for different trades and a section on clothing in differing periods. We didn't have that much time to see everything so it was a bit of a whistle stop tour through history. We liked the museum and had the weather been more welcoming and we had not arrived so late we would have spent more time wandering round the buildings on display.

Comparing this museum with the one in Uvdal the most obvious difference is that Uvdal is focussed on the history of Numedal, whereas the Heiberg Collection tries to cover the history of Norway. Although the Heiberg Collection is a well laid out and lovely museum I think that I prefer Uvdal because of that focus. You see artefacts just from Numedal and the social history is easier to hold in your mind as you wander round. Where Sogn Folk Museum is succesful is in that it places buildings from similar eras together and also tries to re-create the settings that the buildings would have been found in. So the crofter's farm buildings would have been found by a fjord and thus are placed next to water. A little after closing time we left and said goodbye. One student was studying fashion in Milan the other about to start a Tourism Masters in Edinburgh; two more reasons why the Norwegian state is looking for new citizens from outside its borders.

Heading back to the campsite we made dinner, finishing off the last of the potato salad and salad from the day before. We finally had a break in the weather so we celebrated with another round of Sjokolade Pudding from KOS. This has to be the best high calorie dessert for cyclists ever invented, with no concessions to the low fat/sugar lobbies. They are also incredibly yummy, and that combined with sun raised our spirits somewhat. It was good to see Sogndalsfjorden and Sogndalsfjøra in the sun for a change, no matter how fleeting it was. I made the most of the hour of sunshine and Sogndalsfjorden did its best to assist me.

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