Flim Flam... More than a Telegram

Flom as Flam is pronounced by the locals, is a little slice of Nordic paradise, a mere five hour express ferry ride deep into  Sognesfjord...  the "longest and deepest fjord in  Norway". 

It has a history that stretches beyond the 17th century and now is a farming and tourist town that has been supported by the Flam Railway or Flamsbana since the late 1800s, and of course the water based traffic.

 We elected to stay out of town, and given the large cruise ship that was in port when we arrived, it was a good move.  Apparently, at the peak of the summer tourist trade, 5,000 folk can descend in any given day...

Scourge of the Sea perhaps....?

...and we didn't enjoy it with 500 people there. Fortunately, the ship left that afternoon. 

Our accom known as Flam Oppleving was two train stops up the mountain on the Flamsbana and was simply... well.. here is part of the view from the garden outside our room...

Our host Jorunn grew up on a farm just to the left of this snap, and shared many  stories on and of the area. I snapped the smokehouse below (which belonged to her father ~ and others ) before I knew the story of it being originally  built in the 1700s when all the houses surrounded the church and dangerous buildings such as a smokehouse and blacksmiths were located well away from the fire sensitive wooden homes. Whilst the layered stone base is one which can be thought of as 1700s building technique, I suspect the upper parts are a bit like the Granpa's axe that has had three handles and two heads but is still considered the same axe.

Seen my fair share of religiious edifi (sounds better than edifices and I don't care if its not proper English) over the last few weeks, but the church here in Flam (Flom) is pretty darn special. Harks back to the 1600s when your Flomites were keen on the pray and play concept. Drawings on the walls are from 1600 and 1700s when they really knew how to paint a reindeer proper.