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| The beautiful old church at Alvors |
We felt we were really well in
the north when we saw the sign just out of Dorotea saying we had entered the
Lapland region.
After such a lovely evening
last night, we woke to rain during the
night and all day it has been grey, no sign of sunshine with periods of
drizzle/rain and temperatures only reaching 13 degrees. But it hasn’t worried
us as once again we were clocking up the miles, and put in 500kms today. By tomorrow we will be in Norway, and Tuesday
will see us in the Lofoten Islands, so well worth a few big days.
We are following E45 North,
many have said that it is boring and there is only mile upon mile of trees, but
we have enjoyed it, surprised by the number of small villages that pop up, with
a few houses. Not very many farms this far north although around the large town
of Otersund we were surprised to see some very good farmland, with large areas
cropped. The houses have changed, from
the rather prosperous farms further south, to more “peasant style”, often
painted black and not as prosperous. And quite a few log cabins. And there are
endless lakes and rivers with what appears to be holiday cabins dotted along
the banks, with small jettys.
We stopped for a lunch break at
Alvros, in a church carpark beside a river. I went or a wander with my camera,
the church and bell tower were in such good order and so pictueresque. Noticed the church door was open and poked my
head in and couldn’t believe my eyes. It was so beautiful. I gave Ian a whistle
to come and have a look too. The church had an unbelievable painted vaulted
ceiling. There were exquisite paintings everywhere, I really can’t describe it,
but hopefully you can see from the photos. I would love to know how old these
are. And another rather lovely organ for
you Dean Williams, not grand but oh so different!
Evidently this village was on
the medieval pilgrimage route up to Trondheim in Norway, and as early as the
Middle Ages a small wooden chapel existed. This church was built in the 1600’s
and it has been added onto through the ages. The pews which have been well used
over the centuries have a door at the end of the row with paintings of flowers.
It was such a surprise to find this place of such beauty beside the road in a
very simple town, I felt quite moved.
Continued on with a bit of a
break for a cuppa and arrived in Dorotea about 5.30. Spotted an information
centre beside a church and cemetery with a carpark on the outskirts of this
small town, just perfect for an overnight stop, except no wifi signal.
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| So many rivers and lakes |
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| The church at Alvors |
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| The very quaint organ in the church |
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| Nights free camping spot |
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| A few flowers to brighten a grey drizzly day |
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| An interesting mushroom in the church grounds...didn't eat it though! |
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