Trondheim

I am back from my visit to Trondheim! I had been curious about the city since I arrived in Norway and postponed my travels until winter when I could take advantage of the skiing.

map courtesy of holidaycityscan.com

Trondheim is the third largest city in Norway, behind Oslo and Bergen. Despite having 170,000 residents, it felt less like a city than I was expecting. The universities and folk schools insure a big chunk of the population is students. There was a soulful college vibe that I haven't felt since I've come to Norway.

At the mouth of the River Nid and right along the Trondheimfjord, the geography of Trondheim makes it the perfect harbor town. Originally named Nidaros, the city was settled in 997 and was the capital of Norway until 1217. Trondheim was the German naval base in WWII

At 63° North, it is the furthest North in the world that I have ever traveled. Traveling in Norway during the winter months is like jumping into a time warp. Even over the difference of 500 kilometers I could notice the later sunrise and earlier sunset. I had been feeling so optimistic about the longer days, then I lost a month's progress by just riding in a train heading North!

I attempted to ski two days while I was there. Bymarka ("city forest" in Norwegian) is a few kilometers away from the heart of the city. I was told by both the tourist and the DNT offices that it would be easy to get there and the skiing would be decent. Unfortunately, neither were the case. A bus runs to the ski hut at the summit in the center of Bymarka only twice daily. Compared to Oslo, where the T-bane runs to a major trailhead every 15 minutes, the transportation left a lot to be desired. Still optimistic, I bought a map, figured out the bus schedules, and hit the trails!

The rain from the previous days created a magnificent ice layer over every track in Bymarka. After a nasty fall on a icy downhill and double poling in frozen tracks for at least two kilometers, I decided to cut my losses, put my running shoes back on and walk the remainder of my excursion. Once I wasn't concerned with breaking a ski or making my fat lip from my first fall even worse, I had a pleasant time!

One positive thing that came out of the not-so-fabulous ski conditions was that I had time to explore the city sights. The Nidaros Cathedral, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest medieval building in Norway. I'm not a cathedral connoisseur, but even a novice like me could tell that this one was pretty spectacular. After some deliberation, I coughed up the 60 NOK to enter. Unfortunately photos were not allowed on the inside but they wouldn't have captured the feeling anyway. The interior was quiet dark but the stained glass made the whole place glow.

The cathedral is built over the grave of St. Olav. Construction began in 1070 but the building has seen many modifications since then. Europeans have traveled to this site as a pilgrimage for hundreds of years. Look here for more information about the cathedral.

I walked out to the piers overlooking the Trondheimfjord on my final day in the city and found this statue of Leif Erikson. My limited knowledge of viking history usually doesn't catch up with me, but I didn't know a whole lot about good ol' Leif. Here is what I found out: Although born in Iceland, his father, Erik the Red, was originally from Western Norway. It is said that Leif Erikson came to Trondheim two years before he left for North America, at which time he was converted to Christianity by the King of Norway, King Olav. The statue had this message at its base:

"Leiv Eirksson is an important symbol of ethnic pride for Americans of Nordic heritage. According to the Saga of Olav Tryggvason, Leiv sailed out from Trondheim harbor for his historic voyage to Vinland, now known as North America, in the year 1000... August Werner designed the original of this statue for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. The Leif Erikson Society of Seattle gave this replica to the city of Trondheim in 1997 to honor the thousand-year anniversaries of the founding of Trondheim and Leif Erikson's voyage to America."

Trondheim was not what I was expecting in terms of skiing, but I discovered just how great the city itself was.