Page 193 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2021 DISCOVERING SANTA FE

strangers, to the weather, specifically how warm
and sunny it’s been on my visit. “We’ve had 30
days of this,” Saebo tells me, somewhat wearily. “Is
that unusual?” I ask. “Not really. It happens every
hundred years or so,” he shrugs, his lips twitching
almost imperceptibly upwards beneath his bushy
grey moustache.
Even given the lack of rain, Vøringfossen is duly
impressive. Two separate falls froth and wriggle
down opposite sides of a valley, which zigzags into
the distance beneath a brilliant blue sky. Where
the falls meet, far below the observation platform
where I stand, the mists mingle to produce a per-
petual rainbow, like a scene from J.R.R. Tolkien’s
Elven realm of Rivendell.
For me, though, the highlight of the Hardanger-
fjord is unassuming Ulvik, one ferry stop from Eid-
fjord. Admittedly, it doesn’t sound that appealing
on paper. With a population barely topping 1,000,
this quiet coastal community has the bare mini-
mum of amenities, including just a couple of cafes
and gift shops, a poetry museum, and a 19th cen-
tury church, which is simple white clapboard
without, and elaborately painted within.
“The church is a bit like Norwegians,” says
Vibeke Korsnes, the cheerful manager of Ulvik’s
chamber of commerce and tourism office. “It can
seem cold on the outside, but it’s fun on the in-
side,” she grins.
Mostly, Ulvik is defined by what it doesn’t have.
“We don’t have a funicular. We don’t have ex-
treme climbing. It’s just…nature,” Korsnes says.
And yet, that’s more than enough, particularly
given Ulvik’s peculiarly mild micro-climate. Shel-
tered on three sides by mountains to protect it
from the winds, and as inland as it’s possible to be
while still sprawled alongside a fjord, it’s a perfect
little Norwegian Eden.
Ulvik’s smattering of steep-roofed houses are

Left:The Taste of Bergen foodie tour includes
an opportunity try stockfish. This airdried fish,
often cod, can be rehydrated with water.
Norwegians have been trading stockfish---
possibly this very fish, by the look of it---for
1,000 years. Copyright Amy Laughinghouse.

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