The Ambitious Odometer: {EUROPE} Day Seven

What a day!

We kicked off the morning by entering and cruising the Sognefjord, the largest and deepest fjord in Norway, and also the second longest in the world...

ending in the tiny village of Skjolden...

Skjolden has around 300 residents, but that number increases to around 500 in the summer.

Grandma decided to stay on the ship today and enjoy some quiet time reading her book, while the rest of us tackled an all-day excursion from Skjolden to Lom and back.

We began our journey in Skjolden and drove through the small village of Fortun where we began to climb the mountains. The scenery was just beautiful as we drove along the Sognefjellet National Tourist Route and into Jotunheimen National Park...

We made our first stop at a lookout point named for King Oscar II...

King Oscar II is thought to have crossed these mountains many times, and this was supposedly one of his favorite spots because of the views. I can't exactly argue with him!

From there, we continued up through Northern Europe's highest mountain pass...

The snow was still so thick.

and our guide said that the road had just been opened back up for the summer!

The kids LOVED seeing so much snow...

and the adults did, too!

We made our way out of the Hurrungane Mountains and through more beautiful scenery...

passing several hotels...

into the town of Lom...

In Lom, we visited the Norwegian Mountain Center...

where we were able to see several neat artifacts including old skis believed to be 1300 years old...

and arrows...

along with a couple of bows ~ the oldest estimated to be 4000 years old...

and old scare sticks used to corral reindeer in order to make hunting easier...

In addition, there were a couple of old shoes discovered in the area, the oldest estimated to be 3300 years old!

The center is very proud of its wooly mammoth replica, as well!

We had some fun with it, too...

Across the street from the museum is the town's beautiful stave church...

believed to be built around 1170...

We left Lom heading back in the direction we came, as it is the only road back to the ship, and stopped for lunch at a local hotel called Elveseter...

{my vegetarian dish}

The hotel was so charming...

On the grounds of the hotel is the Saga Column. This large, imposing column depicts central elements in Norwegian history...

Originally intended to celebrate the Norwegian Constitution and be installed in Oslo, the sculptor had not finished the column by the end of World War II and expressed some unfavorable sympathies. Therefore, the installation was cancelled. According to the hotel's website, parts of the column were discovered in a shed in the 1980s, and the hotel owner arranged to have the column restored and completed. In 1992, it was installed on the grounds of the hotel and became a local tourist attraction.

Such an interesting story!

Our last stop was a quick photo opportunity at Asafossen Waterfall...

BUT, most of us were more interested in this cute cow that was nearby!

I think our M is cuter, though...

Now, if the cute cow would've just been over a few feet and situated in front of the waterfall, that would've been perfection!

When we got back to the ship and reunited with Grandma, we shared about our day and then walked up to the top deck to check out some beautiful views of the fjord before leaving port...