Our motorcoach had zipped in a northwesterly direction, out of central Sweden and toward Norway. I was looking forward to Lillehammer, our first city - and the host of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games.

 

The voice of our tour guide came over the bus intercom.     

 

“We are now in Norway,” she said. “There were no border guards.”

 

Indeed there weren’t. No guard shack. No soldiers or immigration people with stern faces. I do not remember, in having travelled 60-plus countries with Inland, of not having some interference in going from country to country.

 

Just open road. I realized again - the Norwegians must be the happiest people on the planet, as the international surveys show.

 

We were to learn that - many times over - during our five days in that quiet, laid-back, self-sufficient country of the blondes and the blue eyes.

 

They don’t get in each other’s way, for good reason. There’s only 5 million of them and a good share of them love the countryside, the powerful mountains and snow-fed streams. The quiet fjords.

 

Many of them make their living in the outdoors - timber is major; fishing, yes; farming, not-so-much. 

 

This is a country which doesn’t suffer from “big-city-itis, because other than Oslo, the capital of a million souls, everybody is spread out in the fresh air.

 

(And in Oslo, the people are smiling, too.)

 

Much has been written about the Norwegians, Swedes and Danes in recent months, since that international “happiness” survey came out. (American slipped from 12th to 14th.)

 

But you could tell it with every human contact you made. They were satisfied with their lives - and they liked themselves.

 

 And again. No police, nowhere. And no potholes.

 

I cannot imagine how Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Games, because it is a little tike of a community, 15,000 people. Limited infrastructure, but they pulled it off.

 

Like they do well on the ski jumps and the mountainside events.

 

Our travel took us westerly to Flam, where we took a train up a mountain. You can imagine the sights. Sunshine one minute; snow the next.

 

The next day, we received our first experience on the fjord - Sognefjord and the Naeroyfjord. Breathtaking bodies of water pinned in by the moutains from the North Sea, just north of Bergen.

 

Noiseless.

 

Norway easily outdistances Sweden in the checkbook. Both countries were a little light on finances until oil was struck in northern Norway in 1969.

 

The result has been remarkable. Norway is a well-to-do state.

 

It’s also an expensive state. As soon as we left Sweden to enter Norway, a noon lunch cost rose from $8 to $12 American. $12 American is 84 Kroner Norwegian.

 

Forty percent of Norway’s earned income comes from the oil industry. Seventh-five percent of their land space (the mountains) contributes nothing - but beauty and peace.

 

Agriculture is not large. But it’s been a way of life for nine generations for the Steinsto family, outside Bergen. There, they farm six hectars, for 4,000 fruit trees.

 

We had the pleasure of meeting the owners, a fellow and his sister, Ola Steinsto and his sister, Heidi, and learning their story.

 

Mother Nature and glaciers 12,000 years ago carved out a perfect fruit growing region for them; not too cold, not too warm. Their fruit was delicious.

 

I have positively never, ever had as tasty a dessert as their apple crisp, with a touch of raspberry sauce and whipped cream. Topping it was a glass of their world famous cider.

 

I could live there.

 

He’s worried, however. Four sons have left the farm; perhaps the fifth will stay with their cider operation. He hopes. Or it could be the end.

 

Fifty percent of the Norway farmers are giving it up, he said.

 

In the bays not far away, salmon farms. Lots of salmon farms.

 

Meanwhile, ahead, we prepared for another tunnel. One day, we lost ourselves in 42 tunnels  getting to the next destination.

 

Those mountains are such a big pain.

 

 

And then above the tree line. It was really quiet there, a slight wind.

 

At day’s end, we pulled up to Dr. Holm’s Hotel, built 110 years ago. Over the years it had hosted many regal parties and royalty.

 

But during the German occupation of Norway in the 1940’s, it lived a dark chapter. 

 

Hitler believed in propagating the Arian Race, perfect youngsters with features - like the Norwegians. Each young Norwegian lady impregnanted by German soldiers during the era was taken to Dr. Holm’s Hotel to give birth.

 

Once she gave birth, the child was separated from her and taken to Germany.

 

Our guide couldn’t tell us how many children and their mothers went through this ordeal.

 

Germans were in the neighborhood, of course, for another reason.

 

They were searching for the “heavy water” created by the Norwegians for use in the Nazi’s nuclear weapons program.

 

From it came the motion picture of the 1960’s, Telemark. The Nazi’s never got the boatload of heavy water back to their homeland. It was sunk in a fjord by the Allies.

 

The capitol city, population 1 million, has some remarkable similaries - one again - to Minneapolis. Like with Stockholm, a goodly share of our architects are transplanted Norwegians.

 

A beautiful stop was their government center, its main meeting hall walls filled with art depicting their history. The building dates to 1641.

 

Another worthwhile visit was Gustav Vigeland’s Park, comprised of 212 mostly-granite sculptures showing humans in their varied forms. He carried out his work in the early 20th Century.

 

As Oslo is nestled up into a bay on the North Sea, it prohibits much expansion. But the Norwegians aren’t going anywhere. There are satisfied where they are. What they do have is boats. Every small bay was home to thousands of boats.

 

We also made an evening visit to Oslo’s new Olympic ski jumping and cross country practice facility - a grand structure.

 

America I’m sure has facilities like this, but this was impressive for these people.

 

Olympic aspirants trudged up the stairs to the 90-meter jump. You know how many steps there are in a 90-meter jump?

 

Below, several dozen cross country athletes, on roller blades, in the blacktop park. They are preparing to beat the Americans - and the Swedes.

 

We didn’t see much presence of Middle Easterners in Norway, unlike Sweden.

 

There were some on the streets in Oslo; out in the open air areas, not at all. They are quietly not welcome.