I recently took one of those “vacations of a lifetime” to Norway.
Turns out my great grandfather immigrated to the US in the mid-1800’s. He with his family left a place named Loftesnes on the big Sognefjord in Norway.
Sometime after immigrating to the US, a second ‘s’ was added to our last name — probably to “English-ize” it.
In the photo at right (courtesy of the Hofslund Fjord Hotel), I’ve labeled Loftesnes which is just across the bridge from the town of Sogndal.
The hotel itself, where I stayed on the journey, is right on the fjord and has a beautiful overlook of the fjord to the south/southwest.
Once you’ve seen this place, you wonder how one could ever leave! Of course, life was very different there 150 years ago — and the new frontier of America called…
I wonder what my family’s first July 4th was like in their new country?
2 replies on “Visiting Loftesnes, Norway”
Hi Scott- I enjoyed the article even though I read it 9 years after being printed. I’m pretty sure we are related as our family came from Norway, settled in the Sioux Falls area and added the extra S to their name and then dropped it when moving to North Dakota.
Hi Scott, I spent a year at school in Sogndal, based at the youth hostel beside Loftesnes Bridge. 2 of my teachers were Finn and Kari Loftesnes. Great people in an amazing place! I believe that Finn still teaches nature photography at the school http://www.sogndal.fhs.no
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