Norway: Fjords of Fun Part 2

Flåm

It only took 3 months, but I am finally finishing blogging about the rest of our Norway trip. After this, I'll update about our exciting winter months around Germany, our last trip to London and our plans for the next few months.

So, where did I last stop blogging?

Oh yeah, Greg was finally feeling better and able to join me in Flåm the next day.

We arrived in Flåm early in the morning and prepared to set out. Flåm is best known for the Flåm railway line (Flamsbana) which is the steepest railway in the world which is still operated using an antiquated form of train technology. It passes through 20 tunnels and features more waterfalls and tiny Norwegian villages than you can count. Once you get to Myrdal, you can switch to the commuter railways and travel to Bergen.

Of course, we had to take the Flamsbana. Unfortunately, our train was delayed about an hour so we wondered around Flåm for a while until finally getting on at the last minute before leaving. It was sort of poorly planned as all we were told was to meet at a particular location for information, but no one ever showed up with the information. We finally just asked a conductor if we could get on the train and he nodded and showed us to a location with a tour group. We met our guide there, who ended up being kind of an ass, but I'll get into that later. Unfortunately, because we were "late", we didn't get a very good spot on the train which was already pretty packed full of people.

The train ride itself was pretty picturesque. You spend the slow ride surrounded by giant mountain cliffs and towering waterfalls. Little farms speckle the landscape, most of which are only in use in summer. There are 20 tunnels which the train passes through and one stop which riders are escorted off to see the Kjofossen, a massive waterfall in the middle of the mountains. A Huldra, which is a seductive troll creature, dances by the waterfall to lure men to become her slave. In actuality, the Huldra is a ballet student at a local college. It's an amusing way to intertwine some Scandinavian culture into the mix.

Kjofossen

Hulda

My camera didn't appreciate all of the movement

After the beautiful train ride, we switched trains to head to Voss. Our tour guide was woefully unprepared and got very angry that the group wouldn't follow his commands to sit in a particular location. We noticed earlier that he had a very American accent, so Greg asked him where he was from. He informed us that he was from the Pacific Northwest but relocated to Norway to be a tour guide. In all honestly, he was very stuck-up and a horrible guide. He spent most of the time making rude comments and acting like everyone was stupid any time they asked a question. Basically, he was the typical American expat that we've run into multiple times in Europe, except someone was dumb enough to hire him as a tour guide for other Americans.

The ride to Voss was at a very high elevation and surrounded by snow. Our guide explained that towns in the higher elevations of Norway usually have their own ski lifts which are free to residents and open as soon as the snow is deep enough. The also will have local winter sports contests in order to try to keep residents happy during the dark winter months. In Voss, there are about 2 weeks out of the year that the sun never comes up. Further north, it can be months at a time!

Tvindefossen

In Voss, we ate a lunch of mostly salmon (which, by the way, we were very tired of eating by the end of the trip) and set out to see more waterfalls. Tvindefossen is a waterfall right outside of Voss which is unique to Norway in that it is a "stepping" waterfall. As in, there are multiple rock formations which cause the waterfall to look as if it's falling in steps. This isn't common in Norway as large rock formations like that are only really seen in the Voss valley, per our tour guide. There is folklore which says the rocks found in the valley are trolls which froze into place in the sun. Supposedly, the Tvidefossen falls have magical healing powers. Greg filled his water bottle in the falls and didn't get sick for the rest of the trip, so maybe there is some value to this lore.

On our way back to the boat, we drove through a valley full of famous base jumping cliffs, saw more waterfalls and a mansion turned hotel which was once used to house Norwegian-German children which were bred by the Nazis to have the characteristic blonde hair and blue eyes. Towards the end of the trip, I grew disillusioned with the waterfalls as there seemed to be endless numbers any time we turned a corner or wondered down a hill. I was also happy to be away from our tour guide and back on the ship.

Stavanger New

Stavanger Old (with a modern twist)

The next morning we docked in Stavanger, a historic shipping town. Stavanger was also one a popular settlement for Vikings many centuries ago. The mix of old a new buildings was pretty impressive.

Our first stop in Stavanger was to an old farming settlement that had existed since before the time of the Vikings. We saw demonstrations on how they farmed, cooked and made clothing. The most exciting part for us was the sheep which wondered around the farm and ate the grass from the roofs of the dug-out buildings. One of men who worked on the farm thought it was pretty amusing how excited we were for the sheep on the roofs and encouraged us to try to feed them. I have a strange love for farm animals.

After the farm, we took a short stopped at a look-out tower and an old Viking burial ground before heading to the old shipping district of Stavanger. It was a large area of cobblestone streets lined with quaint white buildings made of wood. It's mostly a residential district now, but it was very pretty location to walk through. In all honestly, there wasn't a whole lot to do in Stavanger, but it was a beautiful town with an interesting mix of old and new. We were sad that it was our last day in Norway.

A day later, we arrived back in Germany had a successful train ride back to Germany. I was pretty sad to leave Norway. It was by far the most beautiful place we've visited in Europe. I really wished we could have just spent a few weeks driving around the country rather than taking a cruise, but I am still happy we made the trip at all. If we ever come back to Europe, I want to spend all of our time exploring the Scandinavian countries more because there was just so much beautiful and interesting landscape to see. Norway is probably my favorite European country now.

I swear I don't usually have five chins.

The cruise itself was okay. Our first cruise was much more enjoyable as a whole, but I wouldn't really consider us to be "cruise people." We enjoyed the trip a lot, but wished we had more time to spend on land rather than at sea.