Lillehammer

Back in the spring, Lillehammer had seemed like a good place to stop before our final leg into Oslo.  I'd booked a room at the Scandic. Which turned out to be quite the place. Most of the Scandic Hotels we'd seen were fairly typical chain places, but here they've acquired something with a bit more history. It was high up above town on the side of the valley, not far from from the ski jump. The only downside was that it wasn't air conditioned. And the weather was very hot - more Italy than Norway.

We had dinner at a restaurant downtown (Nikker's), on an outside deck above the steep little stream that flows through town.

Lillehammer entered my vocabulary during the 1994 Olympics (remember Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan?). I don't remember much about the games, but apparently the Opening and Closing Cermonies were held up at the ski jump.

We drove up to the ski jump (Lysgårdsbaggen) in the evening, then came back the next morning to ride the chair up to the top. We were thinking mainly about the view, so were completely surprised to find that there were ski jumpers training on the hill. It looks like they were using standard equipment, but the in-run is equipped with little rollers and the landing is on artificial turf.