Trondheim - Norway - page 371

careful not to hit your head on the timber-built trusses. Before you get too com-
fortable, however, we advise that you continue walking as deep into the innards
of this place as possible, for access to the woodsy-looking bar area, where up to
nine kinds of beer on tap cost from 48NOK to 70NOK ($6.80-$9.95) per
mug. During clement weather, the seating options expand outside onto a
wooden platform floating on pontoons in the swift-flowing river Nid, a roman-
tic and soothing refuge from which you get a water-level view of the way Trond-
heim's antique warehouses were built on pilings sunk deep into the riverbed. The
“pub food” will always include steaming bowls of the pub's well-known fish
soup. Priced at 70NOK ($9.95) per portion, it might be either red (tomato-
based) or white (cream-based), depending on the mood of the chef on the day
of your arrival. You can be a good neighbor at this place every day between 4pm
and 1am. Øvre Bakklandet 66. & 73-87-42-40.
Kaktus This is one of Trondheim's counterculture bars—the kind of place
where bourgeois airs are either ridiculed or simply not tolerated, where the
clients tend to be students in their early 20s, and where many of the patrons
seem to have known one another throughout the duration of their university
careers. Music by Billie Holiday might be playing softly, avant-garde photo-
graphs are for sale, and the staff may or may not be acting weird almost as a mat-
ter of defiant public policy. We especially admired the bulky and thick-topped
wooden tables, which were crafted in India. It's open daily 3 to 11pm. Nedre
Bakkland 6. & 73-51-43-03.
8 Side Trips from Trondheim
Unlike Oslo or Bergen, Trondheim isn't surrounded by a lot of “must-see” satel-
lite attractions. But all true Norwegians, or Norwegian-Americans, head for
Stiklestad.
STIKLESTAD Lying 90km (56 miles) northeast of Trondheim, Stiklestad is
the most famous historic site in Norway. It was the site of an epic battle on July
29, 1030, between the forces of King Olaf Tryggvason and a better-equipped
army of Viking chieftains. The battle marked the twilight of the Viking era and
the inauguration of the Middle Ages, a transition that would greatly change the
face of Norway.
Although Olaf lost the battle and was killed, in death he triumphed. Word of
his death spread, and in time he was viewed as a martyr to Christianity. His fol-
lowers made him a saint, and as the years went by, Saint Olaf became the very
symbol of Norway itself. In the wake of his martyrdom, Christianity quickly
spread across the land, and monasteries sprouted up all over the country. As his
fame and popularity grew, Olaf 's grave site at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim
became the goal of nationwide pilgrimages. In time, his death would lead to the
unification of Norway under one king.
Every year on the anniversary of his death, a pageant is staged at the open-air
theater in Stiklestad, using 350 actors and drawing thousands in the audience.
Launched in 1992, the Stiklestad Nasjonale Kulturhus ( & 74-04-42-00 ) is
like a virtual theme park, with exhibitions of the famous battle, plus a folk
museum and a church from the 12th century. Some of the artifacts on display
here were actually relics of the battle, which were discovered by archaeologists.
The open-air Stiklestad Museum is a living tableau of regional village life from
the 17th century. In summer there are demonstrations of farm life. On-site is a car-
penter's cottage, a water mill, and an old-fashioned, 18th-century style sauna.