On The 25th August, At Three O'clock In The Afternoon, I Left
Christiania, Squeezed Myself Into My Carriage, And, Following The
Example Of Norwegian Dames, I Seized The Reins.
I drove as if I had
been used to it from infancy.
I turned right and left, and my horse
galloped and trotted gaily on.
The road to Drammen is exquisite, and would afford rich subjects for
an artist. All the beauties of nature are here combined in most
perfect harmony. The richness and variety of the scenery are almost
oppressive, and would be an inexhaustible subject for the painter.
The vegetation is much richer than I had hoped to find it so far
north; every hill, every rock, is shaded by verdant foliage; the
green of the meadows was of incomparable freshness; the grass was
intermingled with flowers and herbs, and the corn-fields bent under
their golden weight.
I have been in many countries, and have seen beautiful districts; I
have been in Switzerland, in Tyrol, in Italy, and in Salzburg; but I
never saw such peculiarly beautiful scenery as I found here: the
sea every where intruding and following us to Drammen; here forming
a lovely lake on which boats were rocking, there a stream rushing
through hills and meadows; and then again, the splendid expanse
dotted with proud three-masters and with countless islets. After a
five hours' ride through rich valleys and splendid groves, I reached
the town of Drammen, which lies on the shores of the sea and the
river Storri Elf, and whose vicinity was announced by the beautiful
country-houses ornamenting the approach to it.
A long, well-built wooden bridge, furnished with beautiful iron
palisadings, leads over the river. The town of Drammen has pretty
streets and houses, and above 6000 inhabitants. The hotel where I
lodged was pretty and clean. My bedroom was a large room, with
which the most fastidious might have been contented. The supper
which they provided for me was, however, most frugal, consisting
only of soft-boiled eggs. They gave me neither salt nor bread with
them, nor a spoon; nothing but a knife and fork. And it is a
mystery to me how soft eggs can be eaten without bread, and with a
knife and fork.
August 25th.
I hired a fresh horse here, with which I proceeded to Kongsberg,
eighteen miles farther. The first seven miles afforded a repetition
of the romantic scenery of the previous day, with the exception of
the sea. But instead I had the beautiful river, until I had
ascended a hill, from whose summit I overlooked a large and
apparently populous valley, filled with groups of houses and single
farms. It is strange that there are very few large towns in Norway;
every peasant builds his house in the midst of his fields.
Beyond this hill the scenery grows more monotonous. The mountains
are lower, the valley narrower, and the road is enclosed by wood or
rocks. One peculiarity of Norwegian rocks is their humidity.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 114 of 170
Words from 58735 to 59239
of 87606
