Back On The Road Again: Nuts for Norway!

Norway in a nutshell, an overcrowded nutshell, tourists from everywhere, and that includes us. So we meet the train in Bergen, walking to the classic old rail station carrying our bags which are getting heavy with over worn clothes and the gifts that I have added. We are standing in line and realizing that it's a bit of a cattle call, no assigned seats, and a full train, but we get to sit together. So many tunnels! The beauty of Norway comes in and out of view. We get to the town of Voss and now we are transferred to several buses. The next phase of our travel is unbelievable! At one point the grade is 18% downhill, hairpin turns on a really narrow road. Our female bus driver performs this drive with remarkable ease, stopping a few times to let everyone move from one side of the bus to the other taking photos. Finally we get to the port and to the boat and grab seats at the large picture window in the back of the boat on the lower level close to the water. Happy with our seats we embark on our journey of the Undredal Fjord to the town of Flam.

Waiting to board the train from Bergen

The crowd on the boat (200 + people) was spread out and because there was a chance to go out on the decks, three levels, it was not unbearable. We had all kinds of weather that day which made for more drama than just the landscape. I have always wanted to experience the fjords, ever since the 4th grade geography class that impressed me with stories from kids in all parts of the world. So maybe this was a bucket list accomplishment! Getting to Flam and discovering that we were staying in the large historic hotel right there off the dock was icing on the cake. But again, the room is full of furniture, this time lovely antiques, so still no room to roll out the yoga mat.

Secretly striking a warrior pose

I'm finding myself striking poses secretly waiting in lines, watching scenery, even sitting on planes and trains, or now on the boat.

Super cool Fjord touring boat

The amazing manner in which the Norwegian hospitality industry deals with the masses of people is impressive! In this small harbor of Flam, there are two large cruise ships, one being a Princess cruise line, the other is the Queen Mary 2, which has a long banner running along the side of the ship: "security warning keep 50 meters away!" .... or what? wanted to find out but never did.

Watching the Norwegian scenery flow by.

We spent the day we had in Flam walking in the hills and the rural areas around the town. It was a perfect day. The late afternoon train that got us back to Oslo a little later than schedule, 10:45 at night, not the 10:30 promised time, was very obviously a failure for which the train crew were sincerely apologetic. Electrical problems on an electric train, were repaired in no time. Imagine having such on time trains in the U.S.!

QE2 stopping in for a pint or two

One of the more hokey stops of the train ride is at a large waterfall. Everyone exits the train to walk to a platform, to take photos of the always amazing scenery. We have become accustomed to the many waterfalls, and there will be more, so many more that by the time we get to Iceland it's, "oh, there's another one." Anyway back to the hokey, it is the reenactment of a myth that there is a woman living in the hills and she will use her feminine whiles to capture you. Piped in music comes from beneath the bridge platform we are standing on and a "lady in red" appears, coaxing you with her charms. This scene is well choreographed she appears in one place and disappears to appear in another close by but that rocky terrain would be difficult to maneuver sooo quickly (I think she had a double at this distance you would not be able to tell one nordic blonde goddess from another!) and when the song ends, quick get back to your seats, we are trying to make up for the lost minutes from the electrical outage caused by too many people ordering pizza in the dining car, perhaps.

What Norwegians call intermission

The Thon Opera Hotel was perfectly situated right outside the central train station, (again thanks to Angelika for this reservation,) we are happy to get to our room after a glass of wine in the glamorous lobby.

Ian and Sharon out for a latte in Oslo, Norway

The next morning we will meet a friend, Ian, who is flying into Oslo. He will take the train into town and find us at this convenient location easily. We will go for a quick walk, enjoy a lovely cup of coffee and give him our take on this beautiful friendly country and hope that his hiking vacation around Norway is not as rainy as ours.