Geiranger

Greetings!

(From Pat's Journal)

We decided to take the 8hr fjord trip after all on the bet that we'd really kick ourselves to learn "these" fjord were really spectacular, and we'd passed them by. AND WE ARE SO GLAD WE DID. We met our charming young guide, Alexander, while waiting for the ticket office to open - joking with him that we'd seen New Zealand fjords, and had pretty high standards to be impressed! We started off on a bus with about 15 others: 2 Dutch, 2 German, 2 Norwegian, 1 Slovenian, and those rowdy 5 Spanish folks that were on our Bergen - Alesund trip(!). The bus took us about 45 minutes to a short (10 minute) ferry hop across a fjord, then another bus leg to a big fjord ferry along the "urinefjord" or Hjorundfjord as the Norwegians spell it, for about 90 minutes of splendor.

There are hamlets (30-50-100) all along the way, and isolated farms at every feasible (and nearly unfeasible) spots. They are all now linked by ferry, and have tv, phone, and internet. Many have roads in between them - but not all. Many had electricity starting in the 20's with hydro power from the many rivers and waterfalls. In the winter, these roads are not maintained - so they rely on ferries. Many families fish (not season now, so we didn't see this) or work somehow in the oil industry with two weeks on, two weeks off schedules. Our guide says with access the bigger villages are actually growing in size since the 60's. One has to think about how hard life must have been 100+ years ago when people were really isolated 5+months of the year (when the days were 4-6 hours long!).

There were many, many ragged high peaks of the Sunnmore Alpson either side of the fjord, but no porpoises. We huddled up top ship to take it all in - it wasn't cold, so much as windy. We came to shore at Hellesylt, and stopped at the Union Hotel - a victorian hotel all swiss gingerbread to see where Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and English nobility/mountaineers held up between roughing it on yachts and mountaineering.









The rooms had names of famous guests on the doors, including Grieg, Ibsen, the Queen (of Norway), and the Kaiser. A short way on, we stopped at a museum center for a quick but lovely lunch plate of lox, prawn, lamb salami, prociuto, a soft cheese, potato salad, topped off with apple cake with a huge dollop of whipped cream and coffee. The museum housed an incredible collection of 13 hand-carved wood panel reliefs depicting the story of Peer Gynt from the Ibsen play. Our guide quickly narrated the story in English and Norwegian. He was in a hurry to meet our next ferry, and the tale is long and tedious, and the panels a bit disjointed - so I don't think any of us really got the gist of the tale (which brings me back to my brother Ken's stage managing Peer Gynt at Solvang which I also managed to shiver and sleep through).

Back on the road to Leknes where we board a smaller 62 Degrees Nord boat to do the famous Geirangerfjord (on the UNESCO World Heritage list). This is a much narrower and shorter fjord (about 16kms long), so the trip is just 40 minutes. Although the sky is quite threatening now, we brave the top level for the shorter trip. This fjord has several magnificent waterfalls - the first we've seen that are actually named, e.g. Seven Sisters, the Suitor, etc. Unbelievably, there are farms perched precariously on the steep sides of the fjord near them. The last was abandoned for farming in 1962, but are all still privately owned and kept in the farming families for summer homes. Some are so steep that the tracks up to them end with ladders, and they are said to have roped the young children from danger of falling off. There are many frequent landslides and avalanches, and you can see their wakes in the denuded trees on the hillsides. Some of the farms rowed their milk to a village acroos the fjord daily!

After the cruise, we ended in Geiranger - a smaller version of Flam. There, Alexander walked us to a Fjord1 bus, and bid us farewell. Another part of the tour group was going back on a longer route through Andalsnes - a mountain resort and Molde - an offshore island town before ferrying back to Alesund. We, however, took a 3-hour bus (and bus ferry hop) back, starting with an 11-switchback climb on Eagle's Road for a stop at a great viewpoint that looked up and down Geirangerfjord.

We then proceeded over the top and down a lush narrow valley with bigger farms. We pretty much followed the fjords all the way back. It is clear (as pointed out by Alexander) that it is national policy to encourage people to spread out and stay in smaller towns and villages instead of flocking to Oslo and the bigger urban areas. They intentionally maintain roads well, have built bridges and tunnels and have ferries to the smallest hamlets. Everywhere, the houses are sharp and and neat. It is obvious that in 50+ years, Norway has gone from being one of the poorest to the wealthiest country in Europe. Tomorrow, we get up to catch the 9AM Oslo bus for a 10+ hour trip. We did a shop today for road trip snacks.

It was raining when we got back, but soon cleared up. Alexander told us that it rained here 200+ days a year as well, but I still doubt it gets the awful Bergen on-again,off-again drizzle-rain-drizzle routine. Anyway, we were happy to have the weather we've had since leaving Bergen.

Here is a link to all of the photos we took today: Geiranger

Alesund and Sunnmore

Greetings!

After breakfast, we walked over to the office of the catamaran which offers a tour out to Bunde Island to see if we could get a ticket. The stormy weather has caused them to cancel their scheduled Wednesday afternoon trip. We are dissapointed, but may take a ferry out to the island tomorrow.

In order to scout out the city better, we took the city train tour. It winds its way through the various areas of the city, pointing out the important historical and architectural sights. Then it heads up to a scenic viewpoint on a hill above the city, where it stops for a few minutes for travelers to take photos of the city.


Afterward, we took a bus out to the Sunnmore Museum, east of the city. The largest museum north of Bergen and south of Tronso, featuring a combination of an excellent Norwegian boat collection and 18th century buildings, the adventure brought us sun and more (I couldn't resist).






Here is a link to all of the photos we took today: Alesund and Sunnmore

Alesund

Greetings!

Bus - Bus - Bus on Ferry - Bus - Ferry. If there were an award for the best coordinated sea and land crossing involving busses and ferries, we would nominate the Fjord1 company on the route from Bergen to Alesund. The Bergen ticket clerk, two ferry boat stewards, and two bus drivers, were all so considerate and well-organized. I know that these people have to deal with much harsher weather (it is summer after all), but rain-slicked mountain roads and somewhat stormy seas do cause delays. But modern communications, excellent equipment, and personnel with great attitudes, all contributed to a day which we enjoyed immensely.

And it made me happy to see a transportation system which was used by both tourists making connections, but local folks just getting around. I enjoy using public transporation while traveling. But the costs and the route designs in most systems result in two very different worlds of users. There isn't any room out here economically for separate systems; both would fail. So Fjord1 has come up with fairly low cost, well-designed and comfortable busses and ferries that are on-time and very enjoyable. Hooray for them!

Arriving in Alesund around 5pm, we spent the next couple of hours checking into the hotel, asking questions at the city information office, and enjoying a good dinner at a local restaurant (mine was barbecued spare ribs, Pat's was billed as moussaka - but turned out to be different but excellent).

We've plenty of materials about what Alesund and the surrounding area has to offer, and the room at the Radisson looks out onto a beautiful sky (the clouds are parting) and sunset. Tomorrow is probably a trip to the bird island, but it could be more city walking. We'll be here until Friday, then the bus to Oslo.

Here is a link to all of the photos we took today: Alesund

Bergen Aquarium and Old Town

Greetings!

Like two kids continuingly chasing bubbles, we got tickets on a ferry to Alesund this morning. It leaves at 8am tomorrow morning, so we’ll get up early, eat breakfast when it opens at 7am, and get our butts and bags over to the other side of the docks to get on the ferry. Four hours later, we switch to a bus, travel for four hours, and then get on another ferry for a short ride to Alesund. There is an island off the coast of Alesund that is the home of over 2 million birds, including 100,000 puffins. It's one of the places we'l visit while there, because sometimes you have to try to put our lives into perspective with others around us.


So today, we’re just finishing the items on our list that we didn’t get to yesterday. The aquarium was an interesting collection of Norwegian shore specimens (kelp, mollusks, mussels), and lots of water-filled windows into local ocean and lake fish. I actually liked the tropical section best, but only for the closeup views of snakes, lizards, and spiders. Ironically, some of them were being packaged up for shipping to the Alesund aquarium. A penguin clown performed for the crowd. Worldwide, you can’t lose by blowing bubbles.


We walked back toward the city center along the high hills above the docks. The houses on the hill, and the view from them of the city, was terrific. Just when you’ve got most cities figured out, it’s time to move on. We took the bus to Gamle (Old) Bergen, and now I understand why it wasn’t featured on any of the city brochures. It’s really just a small collection of old homes out near the entrance to the harbor, and most of them were closed for viewing. We spent more time on the bus ride out and back then we did there. We headed home to the hotel, and an afternoon of reading and resting. We've picked up several books while here. Though Pat has been much better at reading while traveling, we both could use some quiet time.

Here is a link to all of the photos we took today: Bergen Aquarium

Bergen Bus Tour,and Museums

Greetings!

Last night, we poured over the guidebooks to determine what we wanted to see in the time we had left in Bergen. We paired it down to six places or adventures: a city bus tour to get better oriented; a combination of three museums close to each other; a stave church outside of town; the home of Edward Grieg, the composer; the city's old town district; and the aquarium. We made sure everything was open on both Sunday and Monday, and chose to believe the majority of the books where there was dispute. We also knew that today we needed to decide where to go next, and make some serious moves to get there, with a hotel at wherever it was on Tuesday night.

After breakfast, we walked down to the city information center, and grilled the staff. Our choices for the day's activities became easier when we found out that three of them could be combined into one. There is a city bus which goes to the local stave church and the home of Edward Grieg. It was leaving in 15 minutes, so we jumped on it. If we still had energy and time, we'd walk to the museums and do as much of them as we could before they close or we tired out.

After some consideration to going south to Stavanger, we chose to head north to Alesund. It's a town a days ferry ride north of here, on routes which stop at lots of small fishing towns. Three companies make the trip, and one of them couldn't make the reservations fast enough. The remaining two weren't open on Sunday, so we did our best to learn how reasonable it will be to show up tomorrow morning (Monday) and try to book the trip for the next day.

Then we dashed off for the bus. Securing seats on the top of a double-decker (left side), we spent the next three hours learning (in english and german) lots of interesting knowledge about Bergen and the two sites I mentioned.



I tried to get some pictures of the inside of the church, and was only moderately successful with the camera we're carrying. The shots of the outside turned out better.


I enjoyed the trip to Edward Grieg's home more than I expected I would. I didn't put it high on my list of priorities last night, thinking it was just another uniteresting big house which didn't look lived in. On the contrary, I could perfectly imagine this brilliant but frail little guy spending the last couple decades of his life using this house to reflect his new love of Norway in music. It hangs off the edge of a gorgeous lakeside peninsula, and his composing room (a small desk, piano, and a stove) is exactly as all of us would like to own to be creative.

I did come up with a question about his work which I will pursue with his researchers. The materials in his museum describe his concert schedule over his life. In them, it is written that he performed in Jotunheimen while on tour three times: in 1885, 1889, and 1893. I asked the staff at the museum where he would have performed, as I knew of no concert halls in that area? They smiled and reminded me that he was a romantic, and probably just found a large field. Now that would have been a great summer's sunset bonfire performance on the mountain.

The tour ended back at the city square at 2pm, and we decided we would walk to the museums and get lunch at one of their cafes. To save time and energy, we only visited the exhibitions which featured Norwegian art prior to 1900. It was both strange and reassuring to see illustrations of Norwegian countryside and life which mirrored what we had seen in the Valdres Valley. Unfortunately, there was too little for my appetite, as the artists preferred to choose scenes of coastal life or life in Paris, Italy, or Denmark. I did find two artists there of interest to me. One is Torsten Torsteinsen (the similar name of one of my distant relatives), and the other is Frantz Diderik Boe (who shares the last name of some of my ancestors).

I do have to include a photo I took in one of the museums. Photos of the art is forbidden, and there are guards all over to prevent it. But there was a point were two directional signs pointing toward each other best illustrated the confusion we all sometimes feel. I couldn't help but snap the shot when no one was around.

Tonight, after dinner, we got on the Internet and booked a hotel for Tuesday night in Alesund. We believe that we will be able to find a way to get to there on Tuesday by ferry, bus, or plane. We'll find out tomorrow, and we'll make other arrangements if we can't. That's sometimes the fun of planning while you're traveling... not really knowing. But, we'll need a little luck on this one. Stay tuned to find out.

Here is a link to all of the photos we took today: Bergen Bus Tour and Museums

Bergen

Greetings!

It helps to have a strategic plan. Just like organizations trying to figure out what to do with themselves, travelers need to maintain a daily and weekly strategic plan. What are the objectives of the day? What do you want to have achieved in the next three days? Of course, changing the plan to adapt to the changing conditions is essential also. But you have to have something against which you measure your performance.

Back home in Sonoma County, my friends in Coastwalk will be spending the day trying to decide the directions of the organization. Pat and I will be deciding our own directions concerning museums, parks, shopping, and people watching. Given the fact that it rained off and on most of the day, and because Pat left our umbrella in a hotel bathroom, we had one objective: find and buy two collapsible umbrellas for the remainder of the trip. I had not had one, preferring to dodge the drops. Referred to an over-priced shop on the waterfront, we purchased a pair which opened awkwardly (pop it open it completely, then straighten out each metal strut). Oh well, we had seen a century-old Norwegian heraldry tapestry in one of the museums which had two umbrellas embroidered across the top. It was a sign from the past.


Another objective was to get lunch. The hotel breakfast was not nearly as good as the guidebook raved, so we didn’t make a sandwich to take with us. It was just as well. It probably would have gotten soggy. Bergen has plenty of restaurants, but today wasn’t a day we wanted a sit-down meal. The plan was to walk as much as we could around the area of our hotel, and see what we could see. And not get too wet. So we had the equivalent of a polish hotdog and a coke, sitting on stools against a small shop window. It was pleasant, and it hit the spot. So did a bird when it hit the window in front of us. He soon got his bearings, and went his way. So did we.

We stopped at a bookstore, and bought a new paperback novel. Phillip Roth wrote a book entitled, “The Plot against America” , which tells the story of Charles Lindberg’s 1940 defeat of Franklin Roosevelt, and the aftermath of his cooperation pact with Hitler. Pat was only moderately interested in it, but she agreed to let me buy it even though I have two books with us that I haven’t read yet. One is about Theodore Roosevelt’s Amazon travels after his defeat by Wilson in 1912, the other focusing on many little known facts about the indigenous cultures in the Americas before 1492. The topics are right on target for me, it’s just that I have trouble finding the time to read. Pat will probably read them before I do.

The longer term plan is to use the three days we have here to learn as much about Bergen as we can, and see the city and its history from its streets and museums. It’s not hard if you have a good umbrella, and you pace yourselves.


If there is one place in the city that you have to put on your list of seeing even if it rains, it’s Hakon’s Hall. It’s the former royal residence of an early line of kings in the 13th century. Reconstructed twice in the past 150 years, the story of its use for the past 800 years is a fascinating chronicle of Norway’s political and governmental journey. Left in disuse during the 400 years between 1310 and 1814 that Denmark controlled Norway, it rose from a series of storage functions to be transformed architecturally at the turn of the 19th century. The interior facades and decorations gave impetus to a dramatic and romantic view of Norwegian history and life in the middle ages. Blown up in 1944 when a Dutch ship carrying explosives accidentally blew up and destroyed much of downtown Bergen, the Hall was reconstructed in the 1950’s to resemble paintings made of it in the 1500’s, and absent some of the excess of the previous remodeling. The grounds of the fortress which surrounds it, and the views of the city and harbor it overlooks, are also worth the visit.

Tomorrow, we’ll visit some of the five other museums in the city, take a bus to the aquarium, and continue to absorb Bergen. The forecast is for rain until we leave, and we’ve got our umbrellas.

Here is a link to all of the photos we took today: Bergen

On to Bergen

Greetings!

This morning, we decided to take a walk down to the lake behind the hotel after breakfast. Our train down to Flam wouldn’t leave until 11am, and we had about 90 minutes until then. Great adventures are usually filled with great choices, and this was one of them. A more challenging hike in that period of time would be hard to find. The trail was just barely marked, as it consisted primarily of the pathways used regularly by no more than a dozen people using their cabins part of the year. Feeling a bit like we were intruding into someone’s private wilderness, we carefully stepped through very wet bogs, rocks, and wooden planks from cabin to cabin on a route that eventually led us to the dam at the top of the waterfall. Gingerly walking out on a wooden bridge across the face of the dam, we paused for a few minutes while the roaring water passed beneath us in the midst. Truly magical moments are few, and this was one of them. We turned, and began the long walk back to the hotel. Retracing our steps as well as we could, I was very glad Pat has a better sense of direction than I do. We were back at the hotel to check out with minutes to spare before the train rolled up.

We stored our bags at the Freitheim Hotel luggage storage, and walked out to the port to see the shops and wait for our 3:30pm ferry. An uneventful three hours passed checking out the area. The highlights were a mooseburger and lasagna lunch, buying some fruit, chocolate, and cookies for the ferry trip, and watching a large group of tourists negotiate the line to the bathroom in the tourist center.


I have a recommendation for anyone taking the express ferry (catamaran) from Flam to Bergen. The best seats are the ones we chose. Go to the bottom deck, third row from the front, on the left side. The panorama of windows is the best on the boat. There’s 40 feet of almost solid windows, five feet high in front, and four on the side. Except for a couple of small lifeboats on the deck outside, the view is clear to the sides of the fjords. There are two rows of three seats, so you can hog the section by placing your stuff between yourselves. Our seats were next to the left window, which hardly ever got wet (it rained most of the way to Bergen).

I have to admit – the Milford Sound in New Zealand has a better fjord boating experience than any I have seen on this trip. The caveat is that there was one stretch of the trip, which we our boat did not take, the travels up the narrowest fjord in Norway. It may be on par with Milford. The waterfalls were okay, but not as good as some we saw on the train ride to and from the hotel. The rock walls were too far apart, and the boat came nowhere near them. For the maximum oohs and aahs out of a fjord experience, I’d say go to New Zealand.

However, Norway has more than fjords to offer. Especially to people like me who come to find our history. The mountains which rim the fjords provide plateaus and hillsides lowlands where Norwegians raised families. And that is worth far more than walls of water or rock.

Here is a link to all of the photos we took today: On to Bergen