The next morning, the clouds which had been hiding the mountains were nearly gone.
And, believe it or not, there was even a bit of blue sky to be seen!
At about 8 a.m., Burkhard went to the breakfast room which was rather dark - the lights there could have been a bit brighter.
Bearing in mind that one night at this hotel cost NOK1,550.00 (about €170.00, based on the exchange rate, when we were there), the selection of bread seemed rather poor. There were only three types of ordinary bread, which looked rather similar, and one type of crispbread, but neither buns nor croissants. OK, maybe the local bakery - or wherever the hotel got its bread from - didn't offer any. Burkhard said that the quality of the breakfast buffet at the Hotel Westerkrug in Germany two days before had been better - in spite of the fact that the room there had been much cheaper. But maybe Norwegians generally care less about their bread than Germans do.
After finishing breakfast, Burkhard took a few pics of Dwarf, Bjørkisen and me in our hotel room.
Since the weather was rather good - compared to the day before - and there was actually even a bit of sun coming through the clouds here and there, Burkhard thought it would be a good opportunity to go to the waterfall which should be somewhere in the vicinity of the Barony. Unfortunately, we didn't have a map and couldn't spot a sign anywhere showing the way to the waterfall. Of course, Burkhard simply could have asked someone, e.g. at the reception of our hotel, but that would have been too simple, wouldn't it? Well, that's a man for you!
Since we did spot signs showing the way to the stone-park ("steinparket") in Rosendal, we went there instead. Before you cross the bridge on the way to the Barony, you just have to turn left and go along a rivulet called Mehlselva.
You come past a few houses with some very strange paintings.
At the entrance of the stone-park, there's the Vangssago ("Vangs-Saw") sawmill, but it was out of work when we were there.
Close to it right by the rivulet, there was some kind of bench made of stones.
Stonebench in Rosendal
Now here's a clever photographer - Burkhard, you amateur!
At this place, Dwarf and I suddenly had a very strange encounter. When we were looking down from the platform we were standing on, we spotted a weird white thing somewhat hidden under a bush.
Could it be we had finally discovered one of the (in-)famous Norwegian trolls? After we had climbed down and upon closer inspection, it looked like a dustbin on wheels.
It made some strange beeping noises - maybe a sophisticated dustbin telling that it's full and requires emptying?
Dwarf claimed that he could understand what it beeped and said: "Its name is Arthur Ditto." "Are you telling me that dustbins nowadays are so sophisticated that they even have got names? Who would name a dustbin 'Arthur Ditto'? Doesn't look very Arthur-like to me. I've told you before that wearing a black helmet in sunny weather is not a very clever idea. And today the sun hasn't even been out for a long time yet!" Dwarf replied that Arthur Ditto wasn't a dustbin, but a druid. "Whut!? You've got to be kidding! I mean, it - or he - doesn't even have got a red cape, a white beard and a sickle to cut herbs required for magic potions. Maybe this 'thingy' is in fact just a troll disguised as a dustbin."
Dwarf insisted that he was telling the truth and as Arthur went on beeping, Dwarf translated - or should I say claimed to translate - that Arthur had arrived at this place when his spaceship had crashed somewhere in the vicinity of the Barony after it had run out of fuel. Yeah, of course! We have already had "Pigs in space", so why not "Beeping-dustbins-on-wheels-claiming-to-be-druids in space"?
Dwarf continued that according to Arthur's description, there was a huge waterfall running into the rivulet, if we continued our way further north. Less than 100 metres further north, there was indeed a waterfall.
The "huge" waterfall
While it was indeed "huge" by Arthur's, Dwarf's and - to a certain extent - also my standards, it was rather tiny by human standards.
Some plants near the waterfall
Meanwhile, Bjørkisen had wandered back again from where we had come to sit down in the grass close to the rivulet and just watch it flow by.
We said good-bye to Arthur who, according to Dwarf, beeped that he wanted to roam about the waterfall for a while.
When we found Bjørkisen further south, we also had a little rest and watched the rivulet flowing by.
Suddenly, Bjørkisen started singing "Du surlande bekk, du kurlande bekk, her ligg du og kosar deg varm og klår. Og speglar deg rein og glid yvi stein, og sullar so godt og mullar så smått, og glitrar i soli med mjuke bår'. Å, her vil eg kvile, kvile."
Dwarf asked: "What is this? And what does it mean?"
"It's the first verse of the song 'Ved Gjætle-bekken' on Lynni Treekrem's album 'Haugtussa'. It's a concept album and the lyrics on it are an excerpt of Arne Garborg's eponymous epic poem. It's in Nynorsk, which made it even more difficult for Burkhard to translate the lyrics. I think some of the words in the lyrics are even unknown to many native speakers."
"I see! And what do the lyrics you just sang mean?"
"They mean: 'You burbling rivulet, you rippling rivulet, here you lie and enjoy yourself, warm and clear. And you mirror yourself pure and glide over stone, and burble along so beautifully and purl so quietly, and glitter in the sun with gentle waves. Oh, here I want to linger, to linger.' I can't guarantee that this translation is 100% correct, but I think it comes pretty close. By the way, the music to Arne Garborg's lyrics on Lynni Treekrem's album was written by Ketil Bjørnstad who, as you probably already know, also wrote the music to Edvard Munch's lyrics on Kari Bremnes' album 'Løsrivelse' and on the album 'Sunrise' which does not only feature the Oslo Kammerkor, but also Kari Bremnes as solo artist on four beautiful songs."
Near the sawmill, there was a birch (Norwegian: "bjørk"), thus the tree which Bjørkisen (his full name is Bjørkeskoggrønningen) is named after, so he climbed into it and asked Burkhard to take a picture of him.
Bjørkisen sitting in a birch
Some impressions near Mehlselva:
Because of the encounter with Arthur Ditto we hadn't really checked out the stone-park any further and since it was already noon, Burkhard wanted to have something to eat. When he had finally found something, it was already a quarter to two, so after he had finished, we went straight back to our hotel to fetch the presents for Kari (the boys also got something) and the pictures Burkhard wanted to get signed.
We arrived at the Barony at about three o' clock and Burkhard went through the iron gates into the Barony's yard where Kari's musicians had already begun with the soundcheck, sat down on one of the chairs and waited for a while. Eventually, Kari appeared and led Burkhard into a room of the Barony where they could sit down and talk - in Norwegian, of course! After handing over the presents he had brought along, he asked Kari to sign some pics he had taken at previous concerts, among them also some which had been taken at her concerts at the same venue two years ago and some collages featuring other favourite artists of Burkhard.
A collage featuring also Avatarium's vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith and guitarist
Marcus Jidell (both pics were taken at the Hammer of Doom-Festival 2014) and
Kari's guitarist Hallgrim Bratberg
A collage featuring Kari and the former The Gathering-singer Anneke van
Giersbergen (the pics of the latter were taken at the Metal Female Voices
Fest 2014)
He also asked her about the release of the long awaited DVD she had already mentioned after the concert in Oldenburg last year and was very pleased to hear that it was nearly finished and would probably come out in November/December.
After the conversation with Kari, Burkhard sat down in one of the chairs in the yard again until the soundcheck was finished.
Hallgrim and Sondre during the soundcheck
When he left the yard at about 4 p.m., people had already started queuing for the first concert, which was to begin an hour later. Since Burkhard had bought tickets for all concerts - you don't travel about 1,100 kilometres by car and another several hundred kilometres by ferry only to attend just one concert when have the opportunity to attend three, do you? -, he joined the queue. He did the same after the first concert was over and people were already queuing for the second one which was to begin a 7.30 p.m.
There weren't any changes as regards the setlist compared to the concert on the day before, but even though the setlist remains the same, the concerts are never exactly the same. E.g. when the first concert on that day began, it seemed - believe it or not - that the sun had come out for a moment! And Hallgrim played the second guitar solo of the song "Skrik" during the first concert on that day with such fervour that his high E string broke. Burkhard hadn't noticed it, since Hallgrim continued playing as if nothing had happened. When Bengt told Kari (who hadn't noticed it either) about it after the song was finished, she held her microphone towards Hallgrim and asked jokingly "Hvordan føltes det?" ("How did it feel?") For those showing a certain amount of ignorance in the guitar and clothing department by starting to giggle at the thought of a broken E string, it should be pointed out that an E string is always a part of the guitar and - unlike a G string, which might require further clarification in this regard - never ever something worn by the one playing it!
Hallgrim's broken high E string and the tools to fix it
If anyone should ask: "But doesn't it get boring to listen to the same songs twice within just a few hours and three times within two days?", I can only answer: "No, not if you really do like the songs. By the way, if you buy an album and you really like it, you usually also listen to it more than just once, even though the songs exactly sound the same, don't you?"
Looks like Kari and Sondre are having a fantastic time already, doesn't
it?
You figured this one out in less than a second, didn't you?
What a lovely smile!
7.45 p.m. - tea-time for Sondre
Heile mett hjerte
Hit a wrong note?
Looks like they are having a fantastic time again
Do you hear a scream?
The "Introducing-the-band-members-gymnastics"
"Hey you!" - "Who? Me?"
Mitt hjerte hamrer og hamrer...
Alle vet jo det...
alle vet jo det...
A final picture of the drummer
For those who have always been wondering what the inscription above the door behind the middle of the stage says:
"Wer Gott vertrauwet hat wol gebauwet Anno 1667"
After the second concert was over, it was time to say good-bye to the band and, of course, also to Kari. It seems even the clouds were sad when the last of three beautiful concerts at one of Norway's most special places was over, because when Burkhard left the yard of the Barony, the rain slightly set in again. Or maybe it just meant to help to make it easier to go.
The rose-garden of the Barony after the third concert
One last look back at the Barony
When we were walking through the park of the Barony, we suddenly met Arthur again.
He escorted us to the mysterious woodshed near the entrance to the park of the Barony.
We offered him to come with us, but according to Dwarf, Arthur beeped that he liked the Barony and its surroundings and wanted to stay there.
When we arrived at the parking lot of the Barony, there was only one car still standing there:
Back at the hotel, Burkhard noticed a poster announcing Kari's concerts at the Barony still hanging on a bulletin board near the reception. Since the concerts were over, he asked the receptionist if he could take it with him as a souvenir. He told her that he had travelled from Germany just to attend Kari's concert in Rosendal. The receptionist said that he could have the poster, but since neither she nor Burkhard were tall enough to take it down from the wall, she went into the kitchen to fetch a cook who was taller than both of them and he took the poster down for Burkhard.
The poster Burkhard took with him as a souvenir
Since we wanted to go back to Bergen the next day, Burkhard checked the weather forecast on videotext, but it didn't look very promising.
Weather forecast for Bergen on August 5th
In a shop on the ferry to Bergen, we had spotted the following postcard:
If rain clouds had bumper stickers, this would probably be one of the most
frequently displayed slogans. Bjørkisen said: "Did you notice
that if you strike off the first letter in 'Bergen' and switch the places
of the second and third letter, you get the German word 'Regen', which in
English means 'rain'? Is it just a coincindence?"
