Trondheim

Trondheim:

Trondheim was a delightfully hipster city.  Everywhere we would walk, there were people that made me think I was back wandering the streets of Seattle or walking down the hello walk at Whitworth… haha!  But really, Trondheim was lovely. 

This is behind the palace right across the street from our hotel!

This is the side of the summer palace!

We were able to take a walking tour of the city to see the sights.  Nidaros Cathedral was a highlight.
On Sunday morning we were able to attend church in the Cathedral to worship and hear the Nidaros Boys Choir sing.  It was incredible to see many people dressed up in bunads and traditional dress for such celebrations as baptism and first communion.  (Norway has a state church – the Lutheran Church.  It is really interesting to see how this has affected funding and perhaps even the liturgy? I wish to do more research into this topic; it could prove quite interesting!)

Nidaros Cathedral

The front of Nidaros Cathedral... Funny story: the sculptures have the faces of the architects who restored the church this past century.  The figures on the right are figures from the Bible, on the left are figures from Norsk history, and the angel in the top left corner has the face  of Bob Dylan... lol!

Just a walk down a path in Trondheim... nbd...

After the church service, we also sang a few songs to promote our concert…   It really is incredible that we get to sing in these amazing cathedrals.  The acoustics are phenomenal!  At first we were disappointed that we were not going to sing at this church, but it really is massive and unless all of Trondheim showed up, we would have been singing to a seemingly empty crowd. 

We did end up singing at Our Lady’s Church just two blocks away.  It has a great ministry with the homeless population in the city and is always open offering coffee and some treats.  It proved quite a contrast to the Nidaros Cathedral but both churches are in the same parish. 

This concert was touching to a lot of people.  Specifically to a Romanian man named George who, we presumed, was a homeless man using the services at the church.  He attended both our rehearsal and our concert and was enthusiastic and overwhelmed by our performance.  He was moved to tears numerous times and he served as an encouragement to the choir.  It’s so funny… whenever someone is visibly moved by our music, we cannot help but sing for that person.  He kept on saying that this was the most wonderful experience of his entire life.  This may have seemed cheesy to some, and given any other situation, I would have been a bit more critical, but he was sincere and so moved because he himself is a musician.  This situation served as a reminder that our music matters and connecting human beings to one another is profound. 

Next stop: Bergen!
Cheers!
Hannah