Lillehammer

A late afternoon view of the town of Lillehammer, looking across Lake Mjøsa. Lillehammer became known after the 1994 Winter Olympics. You can see the ski jumps above the town. Lake Mjøsa is the biggest in Norway (150 sq miles).

In Winter Norway the blue hour comes very early. This was taken at 4 in the afternoon, from across the frozen lake. In the background the ski jumps of the 1994 Olympics can be seen.

The Stave Church in the Open air Museum, Maihaugen, in Lillehammer, is originally from Garmo. It is one of the 28 remaining original stave churches in the country. The name stave church has to do with the construction. The heavy corner pillars are called "staves" and together with connecting horizontal beams they form the strong basis of the church. From there on, walls can be added, the tower and the outer passageway. Stave churches were built in the early parts of the 2nd millenium, after christianity was introduced to Norway. Perhaps there were over a thousand, but during the middle ages many succumbed to fire, or were simply torn down to make place for bigger churches.

A late afternoon driving over the mountains from Dokka to Lillehammer and the sky suddenly presented me with some beautiful Sunset colours. I would have preferred a fresh coating of snow on the trees ....well maybe next time.