Olympiske Fjellhall

The 1994 winter Olympics primarily took place in Lillehammer, but some skating events were in Hamar, and the ice hockey matches were here in Gjovik. The photo to the left is the 6,000 person capacity hockey arena which was built for the Olympics--if it doesn't seem that big, that's because it's actually built into the mountain. Architects decided that a huge mountain cavern would best represent and celebrate Norway's legendary mountainous terrain and its notorious cave-dwelling trolls. (I think it's more representative of Norwegians' love of tunneling--there are tunnels everywhere here! Why build a road over a mountain when you can burrow right through it?)
Anyway, it's a great local resource. When we first moved here, I signed up with a friend for a yoga class at the fjellhall. I was kind of nervous about the class--I had never done yoga before and was scared I wouldn't understand the teacher. To my great relief, she taught the class in English. Thank goodness--I don't know the translation for "downward facing dog"! Yoga is brand new to Norway--the teacher actually had to import the yoga mats from England! There was a man in the class who always brought a furry little sheep's pelt to sit on. Everytime I would peek over at him, cross-legged, meditating, sitting on a dead animal, I would get the giggles--he was part "sensitive new age guy" and part cave man! As I said, I've never been to a yoga class in the U.S., but I can just imagine the jaws dropping if someone waltzed into a class and unfurled a furry hide!
Sadly, my yoga class has now ended, so no more twisting myself into a pretzel each Wednesday. Even sadder, no more cafe lattes and pastries at the fjellhall cafe after class!