Videos : Delights of Norway and Appalachia

NORWAY (Phil Slayton Enterprises, 80 minutes, 1993).

This video journey takes viewers on a delightful tour of Norway, from its capital of Oslo up the west coast fiordlands to Lapland.

Viewers first explore Oslo, where scenes include city hall, the Akershus castle and museum, Frogner Park with its Gustav Vigeland sculptures, the Viking Ship Museum and various winter activities. A side trip to the Hadeland Glassworks features artisans creating lovely crystal pieces.

In Lillehammer, site of the Feb. 12-27 Winter Olympic Games, viewers visit the open-air Maihaugen museum of old buildings gathered from all over Norway. They also tour the town and watch windsurfers on Lake Mjoesa, Norway’s largest lake, surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery.

At coastal Stavanger, scenes include the colorful marketplace, a re-created Iron Age community at nearby Ullandhaug, and a visit by boat to Skudeneshavn, a charming old fishing village. A drive through the spectacular fiordland takes viewers to Bergen, where scenes include composer Edvard Grieg’s home, a colorful dance festival and a sweater factory.

At Trondheim, the ancient capital of Norway, there’s a visit to the Nidaros Cathedral, Scandinavia’s largest medieval structure, dating from about 1150. And at Bodoe, above the Arctic Circle, viewers join a coastal steamer journey to the Lofoten Islands.

In the Arctic tundra of Lapland, viewers visit an open-air museum with traditional sod houses and watch craftsmen make knives, jewelry and reindeer-hide articles. The final stops are at the town of Hammerfest and at Nordkapp (North Cape), the northernmost point in continental Europe.

Tapes are available from Wish You Were Here Videos, 1455 Royal Blvd., Glendale 91207; telephone (818) 243-7043. Price: $29.95 (plus postage and handling).

APPALACHIAN TRAIL (American Automobile Assn., 60 minutes, 1991).

This film takes viewers through Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee--four of the most beautiful and historic states in America, each rich inlandmarks relating to the Civil War.

In Virginia, the video visits restored Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, historic Newport News and Richmond, the state capital. It also focuses on George Washington’s Mount Vernon home; Appomattox Court House, site of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender near Lynchburg, and the Blue Ridge Mountain vistas of Shenandoah National Park. Near Charlottesville, there are views of the estates of presidents Thomas Jefferson (Monticello) and James Monroe (Ash Lawn).

Moving into West Virginia, viewers visit Harpers Ferry and sites related to abolitionist John Brown, and see some of the recreational and scenic attractions of Monongahela National Forest. A tour of Charleston, the state capital, includes the cultural center and capitol building. Upstream there are impressive scenes of the New River Gorge.

Viewers enter Kentucky via the Cumberland Gap and Daniel Boone’s Wilderness Road. The video takes in Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace near Hodgenville and Mary Todd Lincoln’s childhood home in Lexington. In Louisville, city, it visits Churchill Downs, site of the annual Kentucky Derby, and Hillerich & Bradsby’s “Louisville Slugger” baseball-bat factory. A visit to Mammoth Cave National Park views the world’s largest cave system.

Nashville is the first stop in Tennessee. The film visits the Grand Ole Opry; Elvis Presley’s home, Graceland, and the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home and burial place. The video also looks at Chattanooga and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Tapes are available from AAA Video Service, 200 Fillmore St., Suite 106, Denver, Colo. 80206; tel. (800) 875-5000. Price: $19.95 for members, $24.95 for non-members (plus postage and handling).

Videos appears monthly.