Trondheim - Norway - page 365

9 Sykkelheis (Municipal
Bicycle Lift)
Designed to assist bike riders in their
ascent of the steep hill, this mecha-
nized conveyor belt (most of which is
concealed underground beneath a
metal-edged groove in the pavement)
hauls bicycles, with their riders, up a
steeply inclined stretch of a scenic bike
path. The cost for 15 minutes of con-
tinuous operation is 100NOK ($13),
which you can pay by inserting coins
into the machine's coin slot. Frankly,
most individual riders either walk
their bikes or cycle in low gear up the
relatively short hill, but as a conversa-
tion piece, the Sykkelheis is worth a
look.
From the Sykkelheis, retrace your steps
downhill, and turn left onto Øvre Bakklan-
det. Within a few steps, behind the vine-cov-
ered brown-plank facade of one of the first
buildings on your right, you'll find an appro-
priate place to:

0 Thomas Angell's Hus
Originally built in 1770, and exten-
sively restored according to its original
design in 1903, this was conceived as
a retirement home for indigent wid-
ows. Later, its venue was expanded to
allow widows to cohabit with well-rec-
ommended widowers outside the
bounds of traditional marriages—a
liberal 19th-century trend of which
many Trondheimers seem appropri-
ately proud. There's a pleasant garden
in the building's interior courtyard,
but hours of visitation are erratic, and
the doors are very likely to be locked
at the time of your visit.
Continue walking west along the Bispegate,
detouring into the intensely evocative:
! Cathedral Cemetery
Cemetery walks aren't for everyone,
but this one is spiritually evocative
and appropriately eerie. For centuries,
grave sites here were reserved only for
the town's more prominent citizens,
and consequently, many of the grave
markers are carefully planned sculp-
tures in their own right. Note the loca-
tion of this cemetery on your visit in
the daylight hours; you may want to
make a return visit, perhaps late at
night and—preferably—when it's
raining and the wind is howling. Its
majestic trees and undulating walk-
ways lead to the cemetery's center-
piece, the:
@ Nidaros Domkirke (Cathedral
of Trondheim)
We think this is the single most amaz-
ing, stunning, and majestic building
in Norway. Spend some quality time
here and plan on a return sometime
before you leave Trondheim for a sec-
ond view of the cathedral's amazing
back side (we define it as the most
spectacular bas-relief in Europe). Plan
your second visit after dark, when
much of the cathedral's exterior is illu-
minated nightly until around mid-
night. For more on this cathedral, see

TAKE A BREAK
Den Gode Nabo (The Good
Neighbor), Øvre Bakklandet
66 ( & 73-87-42-40 ), is our
favorite pub in the city, where you can
dine on delectable fish soup. For more
on the pub, see “Trondheim After Dark,”
later in this chapter.

Now, retrace your steps back across the Old
Town Bridge. When you reach the other side,
turn left onto Kjøpmannsgata and walk for
about a minute. When you reach a clearing in
the bank of trees on your left (the side
toward the river) look in the far distance to
a point across the river on the crest of a
stony ridge, for a view of Trondheim's once-
strategic 18th-century military stronghold,
Kristiansen Festnung, which is separately
described in “Seeing the Sights,” earlier in
this chapter. During clement weather, a Nor-
wegian flag proudly flies from its summit.
When Kjøpmannsgata intersects with Bispe-
gate, turn right and look on the Bispegate's
right-hand side for a view of Trondheim's
most elaborate baroque building, the: