Vinje Rundt

August 22, 2008

Today we (mainly the first year students) went on a bus tour of the county. My favorite fact is that there are approximately 1.2 people per km2. We stopped at Vinje, the place the county is named for, and got a history lesson and performance from Åsmund Nordstoga. Awesome. A little further up the road we stopped and looked at an exhibition of paintings from Draumkvedet and Sondre Bratland told us the story and sang a few verses. Again, awesome.

Vinje Kommune is attractive to artists both because there is such a rich history in the area and because there is a lot of open space. The open space happens to be stunningly beautiful. While a five hour bus tour may have been a little long, I can't choose anything I would have left out. I also spent an extra half hour looking at the sculpture museum that is about five minutes up the hill from the dorm, so I couldn't have been too burnt out!

In the evening, I made dinner and had some friends over. Then I went downstairs and played hardingfele. They taught me some easy tunes and then I taught them three Finnskogspols. They sound pretty good on hardingfele! We were joined by a ukulele and guitar and a small audience. It was really a good way to end the week.