Fjaerland kyrkje

Raining though light this morning. The fjord still looks brilliant even when covered in cloud and seen through misty rain.

We visited the two bookshops we’d missed yesterday and I collected the church. Very cute but not very old.

The name of the church is just Fjaerland kyrkje (kyrkje = church in Norwegian). It is thought that there was a church built on the site around 1600 but it was destroyed by a storm about ten years later. The existing church was built in 1861 when the old one was demolished. In 1931 the church was reconstructed with annexes added to both of its long sides. The oldest fixture in the church is the six arm chandelier which hangs in the chancel. This was donated to the church by two parents after they recovered the body of their daughter who had died in an accident.

And then there’s the baptism dish donated by the mother of a German officer who was killed in 1910 on Fjaerland Mountain – he’s buried in the church. It is all very nice but it seems the church only benefits when someone dies…

Mirinda booked next weeks accommodation at the Hotel Charm in Bergen. We bought rolls and meat at the supermarket and had lunch back at the hotel. Then snoozed for a bit.

Then I went for a walk to Bøyum (left Mirinda sleeping). Lovely stroll up to the end of the fjord. The fjord was created when the glacier started retreating at the end of the Ice Age. Right at the end is a huge muddy, marshy, boggy place which is now a bird sanctuary. I thought I could walk to the glacier but stopped (as it turned out) well short of it. It was a lovely walk. This place is very peaceful and not at all cold. It rained lightly for most of the day.

We went to dinner at 7 – tonight it was soup, schnitzel and cloud berry pudding. All very nice. The hotel was empty of other diners tonight because of a wedding at the Mundal Hotel up the road. We were in bed by 9.30!!!

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