Molde, our last stop in Norway

We’d sailed into the fjord early this morning, noticing the sudden drop in movement on the ship, Molde was our destination for the day, one of the additional “replacement” ports when the itinerary was changed. We weren’t so pleased about that - not that we had anything against Molde itself, but it is only a stone’s throw from Kristiansund, where we’d stopped on our Northbound journey and many of the tours were similar.

Our first stop this morning was a viewpoint. I can’t say it was a successful stop because there were far too many people there and, really, the view was hindered by quite a few trees and shrubs and of course, all those wanting to take photographs! Still the ship was berthed right downtown and it looked to be a fairly interesting place to explore later. Next, we were heading for a museum.

It was an open air museum with a collection of traditional buildings brought here from a variety of locations, each one preserved to showcase the historic lifestyle in this part of Norway, Romsdal. As soon as we arrived, the day perked up! We gathered outside this first building where a chap was using a scythe to cut hay and dry it traditionally over a stretched wire. We could come back and take a closer look though, because first we had a short performance from a group of young folk dancers based at the museum. They were very good, but sightlines weren’t great for taking photographs and I waited until we were outside where it was easier to admire their traditional bunad dress.

In doing so, I also spotted the roof structure that our guide had described to us earlier.

All the houses here were traditionally constructed from wood, upon which the first layer of roof was laid. This was made from pieces of birch bark which created a flexible and waterproof layer upon which to lay the turf. A thick - and heavy - layer of turf was then placed on top of the birch bark, held in place by wooden supports around the edge. Plants could be grown in the turf and occasonally animals put on the roof to keep it neat and tidy, we were told!

I noted a charming phrase uttered by our guide whilst explaining how the birch bark needed to be replaced every twenty years or so, which was a time consuming and expensive business. As a result, she said, people had taken to using the non-traditional plastic sheeting, which had the advantage of being “longer-lastable”.

But never mind the roof, interesting though it might be, did you notice anything else about that wooden building the girls were standing in front of? Suddenly, we were taken back to Galicia…

Our guide referred to them as granaries, which was already familiar and in Norwegian as stabbur. What a curious and interesting link!

Wandering around these curiously familiar structures, we thought it time to have a look inside, for we’d been told that although some were empty “for us to discover for ourselves” in others we might find museum staff, eager and willing to chat to us.

Sure enough, I stepped into the next house in the row and there inside was a loom and a fine assortment of weaving-related things. Best of all was a small inkle loom on the table with a decorative wooden heddle - the kind I’ve bought from Stoorstålka but whereas mine are made of plastic, here they were finely carved from wood.

There were several around the room, including this lovely one hanging by the window.

The weaving hanging from it wasn’t half bad either.

Whilst I was mooching about the room with all the weaving things, my Hero had followed his nose to the source of some baking. A young woman was making the traditional Norwegian flat bread and offering tastings. Nibbling on a particularly tasty sample, we gratefully accepted the offer of the recipe and made our way over to the next building, from where a bell was sounding.

The little chapel was simply beautiful and the young woman in here was aiming to gather a few people inside and tell them a little about the structure and some of the features inside. But sadly, we were watching the time and had to be back at the entrance in just a few minutes…no time to stay.

Thankfully, we had time to admire - and take a photograph of - the votive ship hanging above the aisle, something I failed to do when we were in the Stave church the other day.

With that, it was one last glance at another of these remarkable turf-roofed houses on the way back, for it was time to leave. As is often the case, we could have spent so much longer there, but then that’s a cruise; a kind of taster for places to which we’d return.

After a spot of lunch, we went out again, just exploring the immediate vicinity of the port. The main street was only a few minutes walk away and so we walked along there with a few krones in our pocket in the hope of spotting something interesting. We looked for brown cheese - gjetost - as recommended to me by a Norwegian friend, but drew a blank. Like many towns, Molde’s principal shopping district has moved out of town. Never mind. We will have to come back!

We did, however, have chance to get a better look at the fountain celebrating the City of Roses and will remember Molde fondly after our short visit.

This evening, the Captain warns of high seas and strong winds on our way to the Shetland Islands. We’re battening down the hatches!!