Dobber-Blog: Lillehammer

The weather was beautiful today. Just over an hour from our cottage we were in the picturesque city of Lillehammer. We immediately went to the Olympic main arena which now houses a museum with history from each Olympiad up through Vancouver. It focused on Norwegian success, but gave interesting historical points as well.

Inside the ice stadium.

A movie reel showed footage from the 50's. It was a very different level of competition. It was quite scary to see them head down the bobsled track on one of these! Not much protection.

This egg is actually silver and was a key part of the opening ceremony.

Next stop was the ski jump. We drove to the top and started walking down for fun. At some point the girls decided to go all the way. We didn't know it at the time, but that meant 954 steps to get from the top of the 120 metre (tall jump) to the landing area. Everyone was ready for lunch after this.

Still near the top, we'd gone about 40 steps down from the top of the tall jump. The girls were still full of energy. Emily had noted the steepness of the steps and said "I did a scared face because, well, it's scary up here." Fair enough.

After one more flight, I turned around and got the car and drove to meet them at the bottom. Even after weaving slowly down the mountain, they were still just specks on the side of the hill. I raced to get a few shots of them on the steep part. It is nearly vertical.

It was interesting to note that where they actually leave the ramp they aren't that far above the ground. Maybe 10 feet or so. A decent jumper will travel almost 400 feet through the air before landing though.

They did successfully make it to the bottom.

The view was pretty amazing of Lillehammer and lake Mjosa.

We grabbed a quick snack from the bakery ($20 for 4 rolls) and cruised the shopping street. Didn't find much, but did buy some materials to make some traditional Norwegian treats, Sanbakkles, Rosettes, and Krumkakke. We only got the Krumkakke roller, but needed to find an iron somewhere still. (pictures to come on later post). It was also fun to call my sister, Jen, briefly and say we were in Norway. We hadn't publicized this trip much so it definitely caught her off guard.