From Lois' Hands: A Climb to the Top - Slottsfjellet Fortress

Thursday, July 23, 2015

A Climb to the Top - Slottsfjellet Fortress - Toensberg, Norway

Good morning,

Behind the Viking and Whaling Museum (see previous posts) is Slottsfjellet, the Tønsberg Fortress atop the mountain overlooking Vestfjord. The building with the grass roof that you see in the image above is at the bottom of the hiking trail to the top of the mountain.

The tower at the top is our goal.

About half way up the mountain is this restaurant/meeting room. There is a road up the opposite side of the mountain. The white truck is delivering drinks to the restaurant.

Grass roofs are common in Norway. They provide excellent insulation from both heat and cold.

Our climb continues.... It seems the latter day Vikings have done a good job constructing steps and even a railing. ;)

Our goal.

Just before we reached the top there is a plateau with benches where we could stop and take in the sights. My Honey pointed out various landmarks and places he knew when he grew up and lived here in Toensberg (when home on vacation from the sea) before moving to the USA.

The weather was overcast, yet the views were beautiful.

Wild flowers were in bloom.

We continued our climb. You can see the large lights that illuminate the tower at night.

Each time we sailed into Oslo Fjord aboard Splendour of the Seas on our way to Oslo, we could see this tower at the mouth of Oslo Fjord.

In the foreground you can see the base of walls of the medieval fort that defended Toensberg. Across Vestfjord you can see businesses that we could see when we walked the historic dockside in Toensberg. The dockside where we walked is hidden by the mountain in this image.

Old and new buildings in Toensberg.

This is a model of the original fort.

The children wearing bright colors while playing among the ruins and the more modern buildings in the background provides stark contrast.

My Honey said a climb to the top of this mountain was an exciting outing when he was a child.