Borgund Internship in Norway 2009: 9/18/2009 Pilgrims Tur 4 Day Hike to Trondheim

The Pilgrims Tur is a trip that Pilgrims took in the 15 and 16 Centuries. Pilgrims from all over Europe would travel to Trondheim to the giant Cathedral. We walked about 25-30 miles in the 4 days and walked on the same path the Pilgrims used. We also walked in silence for 30 minutes each day to reflect on things. When we got to Trondheim, we had a ceremony for the entire group in the Cathedral. As you can see we had beautiful weather, it rained 21 straight days before we left, but on Monday when we left, it was perfectly sunny, not a cloud in the sky. It was like that for the first 2 days. Then slight rain on Wednesday and Thursday but nothing too bad. My favorite parts of the trip were, just being out in the high mountains hiking, pipe time, and then just the history behind what we were doing. The mountains were beautiful but in the high plateaus where we were, the leaves were changing colors which added to the beauty. Pipe time is something that all the male teachers do on trips like this. Each night after it was dark and everything was set up at camp, they go away from all the students and smoke tabacco out of a pipe. I was asked to join and it felt good. It is just like smoking a cigar but to be included in that "group" was kinda cool. When I go to Switzerland I will be buying a pipe. The history behind the Pilgrims Tur is interesting as well.

There is nothing like being out in nature, not showering for 3 days and not having to worry about a whole lot. So far this was my favorite part of working over here. Enjoy the pictures!

Only in Europe do you see a sign like this... this is how I know if I go into the correct bathroom... instead of trying to translate Herrer (male) and Damer (female), I can just look to see if the little man on the door has a penis or not, makes it alot easier for foreigners like me.

A tree... all by its lonesome... with the mountains in the background.

And we are off... this is just the start of the hike. We are now starting a half hour of silent walking to use as reflection time.

The Pilgrims symbol.

Panoramic view of the high plateaus in Norway near Dombas.

College super senior pic.

An American wearing Devold (Norwegian Brand), and a Canadian Ranger hat.

Matthias, Willy, Ottar and I taking a short rest on our journey.

All the lavvos, each lavvo sleeps about 10 people.

The sun is leaving for the day. And when the sun goes over that mountain, it gets cold fast!

And thats the last I saw of the sun this night. Getting colder.

Pipe time.... Something that all the male teachers do each night while on the Pilgrims Tur. Matthias had an extra pipe. I was inspired to buy one, so when I go to Switzerland here in a few weeks I will be purchasing a pipe. Those were special moments. Notice the beautiful sunset as well.