Day 13 (Friday August 5) Bergen-our last day

We love Bergen! It is now our favorite city of the trip. Too bad we only had one full day.

Norway is "troll country". You see trolls in all the gift shops. They were part of Viking culture. From small trolls that made your baby cry to large trolls that threw the big rocks down from the hills, trolls were used to explain the world around the Vikings.

Believe it or not, that is a table covered in Lego blocks that those kids are playing with. We found this, plus a lot of other games in the town square.

Actually, the Legos and games go hand-in-hand with Bergen's history. It was a fishing town, but you couldn't really fish in the winter. So board games, like this medieval chess set, were a common way for people to while away the long winters. The days were short with lots of rain and snow. Bergen is called by some the rainiest city in the world. We fit right in, although it never rained on us.

This was a smoked fish platter we had for dinner last night at the Bergen fish market. There were three kinds of smoked salmon, smoked halibut and smoked mackerel. Oh yes, and smoked whale, not exactly a fish. We enjoyed everything except the whale.

Our guide Nica explaining the dried fish hanging above the fresh fish. Exporting dried fish (cod) was the way people in medieval Bergen made a living. Today Bergen is more of an oil town, providing a home port for the nearby North Sea oil rig crews. But the dried fish is still a favorite. Great with beer I have heard, but we never found out. Bergen, by the way, has a very nice local pilsner.

Looking up the hillside in Bergen. Tomorrow we head out, so this is our last post from Scandinavia.

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Day 12 (Thursday August 4) Elvesaeter Hotel to Bergen-Part 2

Let the fjords begin. Fjord has a variety of definitions and two spellings as I said earlier. In parts of Scandinavia, what Americans call a bay would be called a fjord. Some would call Puget Sound a fjord. Norway has FJORDs! They are rivaled by nothing I have ever seen.

Our ferry boat ride started in Kaupanger, traveling down the Sognefjorden.

Sognefjorden itself is impressive. But then we changed course to travel up a tributary fjord named Naeroyfjord. It is the narrowest part of the Sognefjorden system and was the most spectacular part of the trip.

Naeroyfjord has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and for good reason.

Scenes like this were common. The magnitude of the high cliff walls could not be captured by camera. Some compared it to El Capitan in Yosemite, but going on and on. We saw many kayakers like these along the way.

Towards the upper end of the fjord were these idyllic little villages.

Even back on land we found beautiful waterfalls along the road to Bergen. This is rugged country. Vera counted 41 tunnels between where we got off the ferry in Gudvangen and Bergen.

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Day 12 (Thursday August 4) Elvesaeter Hotel to Bergen-Part 1

Today we traveled from the Elvesaeter Hotel, over the mountains, through Sognefjord and eventually winding up in Bergen. This is probably the overall best one day sightseeing drive we have ever taken. It combines rugged alpine roads, rustic Norwegian towns, and a fjord that must be one of the best in the world. For you spelling aficionados, fjord and fiord are both acceptable English spellings, but we're in Norway, so I will use fjord. Vera has picked a few other great Scrabble/"Words With Friends" weapons as well, but she's keeping those secret.

Driving up the hill, and above timberline. We are further north than Anchorage, Alaska now, so the tree line is low and the summers short. The road we are on is closed October through May, much like many high mountain passes in the U.S.

This is near the top and is a relative flat area ideal for cross country skiing. The elevation at the pass is only about 4000 feet, but then again, we are a long way north.

We had to bypass lots of sheep. Norwegian farmers bring them up above timberline in the short summer, and will start bringing them back down in a few weeks. Other than a few birds, we saw no other wildlife, which I found surprising.

The drop back down to the valley floor, and eventually the fjords, is quick and through a series of sharp switchbacks. They are tough for cars, not to mention buses. There were some tight turns and a few places where either we or on coming traffic had to yield so the other could pass. At least twice an on coming vehicle had to back up so our bus could manage the corner.

The picturesque valley floor. There were lots of opportunities for pictures.

And..wild raspberry picking along the road.

Group picture in the small hamlet of Surheim and at the farthest inland penetration of Lusterfjorden. Lusterfjorden is actually a tributary of the larger Sognefjorden. It's a short drive from Surheim to Kaupanger, where the ferry boat ride through the fjords begins.

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Day 11 (Wednesday August 3) Oslo to Elvesaeter

Today we took a long bus ride, heading north from Oslo to the semi-remote Elvesaeter Hotel. The route took us through wide open fields and into deep glacially carved valleys before ending at this semi-remote hotel.

We started the day with a fire alarm (luckily false). Vera and I had already made our way to breakfast, so did not have to climb down the nine flights of stairs from our room. Some were not so lucky.

We stopped for lunch and a short sight seeing excursion around Lillehammer, home to the 1994 Winter Olympics. Pictured above is a stave church at the nearby Maihaugen Open-Air Museum. It is more like a park, with old buildings and folk culture demonstrations. Lillehammer itself is a small ski town now, with a nice pedestrian shopping area where we had lunch, bought a few souvenirs, and had a nice rest before continuing on our journey.

Vera wanted all you quilters out there to see this old method of ironing linens...this was part of the folk museum.

Farther up the road we got to see a moose grazing in the river bottom below our road before arriving in Lom to see another of these medieval stave churches. They are another example of the wood art preserved from the 1100's. The above picture is from the interior of that church. If you are curious, look up "stave", which helps explain why this church survived all of these years.

The above pictures were taken at the Elvesaeter Hotel, with its museum quality antiques and paintings.

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Day 10 (Tuesday August 2) More of Oslo

We have really enjoyed Stockholm and Copenhagen, but both agree that Oslo is our favorite. Their Viking museum is outstanding. Even though there are only three, ships in this museum seem in much better shape than those we saw in Denmark. Vikings buried important people in their ships, and that is what these were used for. Valuable possessions, including horses, pets and slaves were included in the burial. Supposedly it was a great honor to be buried in such a way. I wonder if the slaves agreed with that assessment.

A cart found in one of the ships. Another display was of a beautiful sled. The carvings are incredible. These items were recovered over 100 years ago, and the techniques used to preserve them were not as sophisticated as we have today. In fact, not only are these items slowly decaying, the little coloration left on them has been destroyed. Archaeologists think that these items were originally decorated with beautiful and vivid colors. There are other burial ships out there, but these are being left buried in the blue clay until someone comes up with a better preservation plan.

Ever read the book Kon-Tiki? Well you can see the actual boat in Oslo. Norwegians were great explorers. We also visited the Fram exhibit where you can see "The Fram", a famous Arctic/Antarctic vessel used by Amundsen and others.

Inside the opera house I talked about yesterday. Tours were available, but not at a convenient time for us.

Climbing to the top of the opera house. From there the view is incredible, with people looking like ants crawling on the white marble slabs below.

We took a Rick Steves recommended walk through Oslo, and ran into this beautiful old cemetery. Ibsen and Munch, just to name a few famous Norwegians, are buried here.

And then there was this waterfall right in the middle of the city.

 Vera "fainting" on the fainting couch in the hotel.

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Day 9 (Monday August 1) Oslo

 Oslo's famous ski jump. The thing is huge, and needs to be photographed from a distance to take it all in. They have a zip line going from top to bottom in the summer, but the cost was $100. There was all kinds of activity going on, including roller-skiing (a way to practice your cross country skiing) and even target practice for the biathalon. Norwegians love the outdoors.

Gustav Vigeland's sculpture park. This is a must see. There are hundreds of statues depicting all stages of life in a never ending cycle.

Our tour guide Yahel encouraging us to touch the sculptures, as the artist intended. By the way, Yahel is originally from Israel, having moved to Oslo after marrying a Norwegian she had met in South America. She took up the tour business so she could live somewhere warmer in the winter. Now with two kids in school, that is impossible.

Akershu Fortress. We took a wonderful stroll through the old castle grounds, and visited Norway's WWII resistance museum.

Snohetta, based in Oslo, designed the opera house. Snohetta was also the designer of the 9/11 memorial in New York. The opera house is located directly across the street from our hotel. Rick Steves upgraded the Oslo portion of the tour, as the city is full of kids participating in an international youth soccer tournament.

You would think that a country rich in oil reserves would not be promoting electric cars. Not so in Norway, or the rest of Scandanavia for that matter. It is hard to see, but this is a line of electric cars lined up and having their batteries recharged. Norway has a tax rate of between 25% and 100% on cars, unless they are electric. Then the tax is waived. We see lots of Teslas. Norway is also putting much of the revenue from their oil in a trust account for the future. Quite different from the US and much of the rest of the world. The drop in oil prices is hurting them, but not like places like Saudi Arabia.

Dinner included Rudolph (a.k.a reindeer) for me, while Vera opted for the salmon. It tasted pretty much like beef.

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Day 8 (Sunday July 31) Overnight Ferry to Oslo

Today we departed Aero Island. We're sad to leave, but excited about our next destination: Norway

Our last look back at Aero from the ferry and on the way to Copenhagen where we catch the Oslo Ferry.

Boat traffic along the way.

A meteorite found in Greenland and on display at the Geological museum in Copenhagen. We were killing time waiting for that Oslo ferry.

The National Museum of Art in Copenhagen

The obligatory visit to "The Little Mermaid".

Finally, dinner on the "ferry". Ocean liner is a more appropriate description, complete with disco, swimming pool, four restaurants, etc., etc. Above is a picture of the dinner plate on our "ferry". Ever heard of wolfish? Neither had we. Quite tasty. We've got a standard berth, complete with shower. Arrival in Oslo is at 10:00am tomorrow morning. I just hope to get some sleep, as the disco is upstairs and the music seems to make it into our cabin.

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