Norway

While we're living in Europe, we're making a conscious effort to visit a few of the more unusual places. London, Rome, and Paris were always on our bucket lists. Bergen, Norway was not.

Our one-day fjord trip took us from Bergen to Voss by train, then from Voss to Gudvangen by bus.

We got down to Gudvangen by driving down these crazy switchbacks. In a bus. How the driver avoided tipping, I don't know. 

In Gudvangen, we boarded a ferry to ride up the Nærøyfjord and part of the Sognefjord.

I don't think I've said 'wow' so many times in my life. I cannot imagine a more beautiful place. So majestic, peaceful, and relatively untouched.

The water was so dark and still, it was easy to forget we were actually sailing on ocean water. 

Our photos do not do the fjords justice.

I took a short video from the bus and the boat. I love the water with the kayakers in the last scene.

The ferry ride terminated in Flåm, where we walked around the "town" for a couple hours.

We unknowingly boarded the Asian Tourist car on the famous Flåm Railway. Every time we saw a waterfall, which was often, there was a chorus of AAAAHHHHHs and clicking shutters. If the view was on our side of the car, they were literally in our seats trying to take pictures over us. Todd had to box them out (basketball skills coming in handy) so he could get pictures out his own window.

 I have one question, Asian tourists: do you ever look at your MILLION photos?

The Flåm Railway has a 55 degree incline at its steepest (I think the steepest commuter train in the world) and goes from sea level to 2,800 feet. At no time did it feel that steep. The downhill route is popular for mountain biking. That's on our list for next time!

The Flåm Railway terminates at this beautiful mountain station in Myrdål. From there, we took caught a  regular commuter train back to Bergen. It was just a short intro to the fjords, but we were hooked.



The next day in Bergen, we took the Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen for an easy little hike in the rain.

Looks a bit like Portland or Seattle.

The old canal-front, Bryggen, isn't terribly charming or beautiful once you've seen Nyhavn in Copenhagen. But it's been around since the middle ages and it looks like Diagon Alley. There was a food festival there, so we tried a few cheeses, delicious plums from Hardanger, and big crepes filled with butter, sugar, and cinnamon (they were everywhere). We looked in a few of the tourist shops but, as usual, found nothing compelling. In Denmark, an expensive country, we've heard high prices referred to as "Norwegian prices." Case in point: our $30 McDonald's tab and our $130 Brazilian Churrascaria tab. Yes, we ate McDonald's and Brazilian in Norway. I made fish cakes at home the day we left, and we could not stomach the local fare after smelling the fish market.

Bergen isn't the most interesting town, the main attractions are the fjords. They are definitely on our re-visit list.