Some Historic Sights

Throwing rocks into the pond with Jeanette.

The three of us took a little trip to the Sunnmøre Museum. A fun cultural side note first. Byron and I picked up Jeanette from her daycare before this outing and I saw first hand one of Norway's corky (I think) traditions. Outside of the daycare I noticed this long row of baby strollers neatly parked under a little roof, as if it was made specifically for them. And it was, Norwegians have their babies sleep outside! The fresh air is "proven" to help them sleep better. I saw this more so practiced with moms who are visiting someone's house or at daycare etc. But it is totally true. Most likely, there were several babies bundled up tight and peacefully sleeping outside when we walked by. Just a fun fact that surprises me and I can't blame them, the air is wonderful here.
Alright back to our sight seeing adventure. On the property of this outdoor museum there is a  church (where Byron and Martha got married). We took a quick peek inside the picturesque church then strolled down the trail to a beautiful pond and where some Viking house are. We saw houses for livestock, a school for orphans and a few houses that looked like they were probably mansions back in the day. Beautiful craftsmanship and I took note of the use of wooden pegs. There were houses from the 1600’s even, pretty cool. We saw a few Viking ships too. Another cool outing in Ålesund.

Wooded peg securing front door step.

Earlier this year back home in Ballard, a group of us from church went to “Viking Days” at the local Nordic Heritage Museum. We toured the museum, did some crafts and had fun exploring the interactive Scandinavian inspired outdoor activities. Anyways, there was an activity where you could make your own pegs hammering wood through a piece of metal with several sizes of holes in it, creating a wooden peg. So walking around this outdoor museum in Norway, looking at how all these buildings were constructed I see all these round pegs. It brings be right back to this cute memory of watching Josh determined to make peg after peg and not wanting to stop :) We saw a few Viking ships too.

Another historic sight I saw was this house that has quite the story behind it. Here is my short version. So, alcoholism was huge in Ålesund in the early 1900’s.  Despite the preaching on repentance, the town soon experienced a great awakening. Around that same time a Christian man, Anders Nord heard from the Lord that a great catastrophe will soon happen and if he and his family stay in their house they will have nothing to fear. 2am on January 23, 1904 a local margarine factory went up in flames. 

House untouched by 1904 fire!

The fire spread fast through the town of wood houses and buildings, people were fleeing to the shore and to their boats for safety, but Anders stayed in his house as the Lord said. Ten thousand people were homeless because of the fire but his house was unharmed by the fire and stands to this day. Praise God for his faithfulness! The town was rebuilt in the charming Art Nouveau style we see today.

God Bless,