HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR SCANDINAVIAN TOUR: FLAM AND FJORDS (NORWAY IN A NUTSHELL ®) DAY 3

G'day my dear readers, hope you are all well

As you might recall, last night we travelled from Oslo to Flam as part of our Norway in a Nutshell® train journey.  If you missed my last post, you can read about it here.  

Today is penultimate day of our Scandinavian tour and we were feeling a bit sad.  To make the things worse, it was raining when we woke up.  Our morning was free so it was up to us how to spend it.  

There is a lot to do in Flam and surrounds:  there are short and long walking tracks depending on your fitness, mountain hikes and boat rides.  One activity that many people come here for is taking a scenic fjord cruise.   The fjord is a long narrow sea inlet with steep cliffs cut by the glacier and filled with ocean water.  Apart from Norway, you can find them in Alaska, Chile and our southern neighbour, New Zealand

As for our group, it was on our afternoon itinerary and we all were hoping that the rain would stop by then.

While some people chose walking or hiking despite the damp weather, my husband and I had no desire to do anything like it, we were happy just hanging there waiting for the rain to stop.  Our tour guide seeing us milling aimlessly, suggested that we go to Stegastein Viewpoint .

There was a shuttle bus that was taking people up there and back every 90 minutes that should give us enough time to see it and be back in time for the boat cruise.  Luckily for us, by the time the bus returned from the previous tour, the rain had stopped and the sky cleared up enough to see far and wide.  

It took us about 30 minutes to get to the top up the steep mountain hairpin bends that took my breath away a few times but the driver was very skillful and had a nice sense of humor that helped us to relax and enjoy the ride.

Once we reached the top and aligted from the bus, we were almost swept away by the very strong and cold wind.  Luckily for us, the walk from the bus stop to the platform was very short and once we reached the end of it, we were protected by the thick sheet of glass which is installed at the angle allowing you to lean on it to get the view underneath.

This viewing platform rises 650 meters above the Aurlandsfjord and offers unrivaled panoramic views over the fjord.  The structure is made of concrete and extends out 30 meters from the mountainside, enabling you to see further up the surrounding landscapes, including the fjord and surrounding mountains.  

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This is the picture of the public toilet I took from the viewing platform.  It has probably one of the most breathtaking views in the world.

Each group is allocated about 30 minutes to be on the platform that was more then enough to take pictures, enjoy the view and appreciate the wild beauty of Mother Nature.

On our return to Flam, we climbed on board the awaiting boat that would sail us deep into the Aurlandfjord to continue our Norway in a Nutshell tour.  All the vessels that offer cruises along the fjords are very modern and designed to maximize the sightseeing experience.  They all fully electric with no noise or emission disrupting the atmosphere the piece and tranquility.  

Our boat had three decks, each furnished with comfortable chairs, tables and benches with the huge windows all along each side so no matter where you chose to be, you will get an uninterrupted view of the scenery unfolding in front of you. 

Although the air on the water was rather fresh, we went outside to watch Flam disappearing from our view and soon it was just us and the magnificent fjords.

From time to time we saw small farms clinging to the steep mountainsides.

The boat took us all along the  fjord, the narrowest fjord in Europe and UNESCO World Heritage protected site all the way to end of the fjord to Gudvangen, a popular tourist destination where we took some photos of the the Nærøydalen Valley while waiting for the bus to take us to Voss where we would board a third and the last train of our NORWAY IN A NUTSHELL® journey that will bring us to our final destination, Bergen.

That is all for now.  Stay tuned for the finale.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR SCANDINAVIA TOUR: OSLO TO FLAM (NORWAY IN A NUTSHELL®) DAY 2

 Good day, everyone.  Hope you are well

It is early morning of our second and last day in Oslo which we are going to spend rather differently to what we did previously, we will be travelling by train for the most of the day in order to see the Norwegian fjords.  If you are just turning in, you can catch up with us here.

After a hearty breakfast at our accommodation, our group led by our tour leader walked to Oslo Central Station where our group boarded the Norway in a Nutshell ®, the classic railway and fjord journey from Oslo to Bergen.

This train ride has been voted as part of the 20 best train journeys in the world so we were looking forward to experiencing it.  Until this day, all our time was spent in the cities and apart from beautifully landscaped parks and gardens we haven't seen the raw nature which Scandinavia is known for so we were looking forward to see it with our own eyes.

The first leg of this journey was about 300 km long and took us about 4 hours by Norway in a Nutshell® train to go all the way up to Norway's mountainous "rooftop", Myrdal, perched 867 meters above sea level.

Very few people live in Myrdal and there only few wooden houses dotted  around the hills. This remote mountain railway junction is surrounded by rugged peaks, steep valleys and cascading waterfalls.

Completely inaccessible by car, this remote alpine hub provides the link between Oslo-Bergen line (our final tour destination) and the world-famous Flam Railway that we were about to board for our next and final leg of the journey.  This incredible 20 km ride with 900-metre descent to the picture-perfect village of Flam took us about an hour.  It is designed as a sightseeing experience, the train travels slowly so the passengers can appreciate the scenery unfolding around them.

When we reached UNESCO-listed Nærøydalen Valley, the train made a stop so we could take pictures outside historic Stalhiem Hotel offering sweeping panoramic pictures of steep mountains and waterfalls.

We alighted from the train and shortly afterwards boarded the Flam Railway for the next leg of the journey.  This incredible 20 km ride with 900-metre descent to the picture-perfect village of Flam.  This railway line is one of the world's steepest railway lines and we thoroughly enjoyed the views that we could glimpse through the windows while the trains was hurtling down towards our last stop of the day, Flam.

As the train was approaching its final destination, Flam, the rugged mountains were replaced by rolling hills covered with bright green vegetation, the waterfall and the deep river valleys. The place looked serene and very beautiful.

Flam is a village in of southwestern Norway surrounded the mountains and fjords.  It sits at the end of Aurlandsfjordm, a brunch of Sognefjord, the county's longest and deepest.

As soon as we dropped the bags at our accommodation, we went outside to explore this scenic village.  I have been looking forward to taste famous Norwegian heart-shaped waffles know as hjertevafler that our tour guide strongly recommended us to try.   So the first thing we did was to find the stand that serves hjeretevafler and placed the order.  Once the waffles are cooked, It is up to you which topping you would like to go with them.  Two options were quite obvious:  sour cream and jam.  The third, called brunost (Norwegian brown cheese) was unknown to me.  It looked like a big chunk of butter but had brown colour and was sweet to the taste.

I wasn't quite sure how the whole dish would work, however after the first bite I was hooked.  The brunost had a distinct caramel-like flavour, it wasn't reach or fatty and all three toppings together were a match made in heaven. 

As with every tourist destination all around the world, there were a number of shops stocked with local goods, produce, alpine equipment and souvenirs.  My eyes were attracted to these leather slip-on shoes but on second thought I decided to give them a miss 😊.

Soon after we all gathered at the dining hall for a traditional Scandinavian dinner full of yummy food followed by the easy stroll along the river bank by which time the darkness had settled in and we retired to our accommodation.

Stay tuned for more

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR SCANDINAVIA TOUR: NORWAY, OSLO DAY 1

G'day my dear readers.  Hope you are well

If you follow my Scandinavian narrative, you would recall that after spending two and a bit days in Copenhagen, our tour group boarded the ship that would take us to the Norwegian capital of Oslo.  If you are just joining in, you can catch up with my story here .

 

Once we located our cabin and dropped the luggage, we went outside to explore the boat.  It was a warm sunny day to be outside so we bought ourselves a couple of drinks and settled on the deck to watch the world go by.

The dinner was a traditional Scandinavian smorgasbord that was enjoyable as always and then retired back to the deck to watch the sunset.

When we woke up the in the morning, the ship was sailing into the Oslo Fjord and then into the city port which was unfolding around us while we were enjoying our breakfast.  Oslo is surrounded by rolling hills and mountain peaks and is often called one of the world's greenest cities.

After disembarking, we rolled our suitcases to a nearby parked guided bus that took us on a tour of the Norwegian capital.  The first stop - Akershus Fortress, a medieval castle, that was built to protect a provide a royal residence for the city. 

While the bus was zigzagging across the city, it was interesting to see different parts of Oslo where the old was mixed with the new.

Out next stop was Vigealnd Sculpture Park, featuring over 200 sculptures by the famous artist Gustav Vigeland.   The construction of the park began in 1940 and it took forty years to complete it.  As we entered the Park, we found ourselves on the wide pedestrian path stretching as far as we could see and visually divided the park in two halves.  There were the bronze, granite and wrought iron works lining up on each side all along the path and in the distance you could see the tranquil green spaces rolling down the hills.

The core theme of the Park is the circle of human life.  Through these statues, the artist captured the human experience from the cradle to the grave, illustrating our relationships, dreams, hopes and our internal longings.

All the statues are depicted in nude, Vigeland believed that their clothes would tie them to any particular era or culture whereas the nudity makes them universal and timeless.  Each figure strikes strong meaningful pose and makes you stop and think of what it represents to you.

Walking along the patch, we This fountain is surrounded by 20 trees and bronze reliefs that represents the different stages of life and the burdens of humanity.  

This sculpture is called Monolith, it is carved from the single piece of granite and is comprised of 121 intertwined human figures climbing towards the sky symbolising resurrection and our longing for a spiritual connection.

After the tour we were taken to our hotel with the rest of the day left at our disposal.  Oslo has a wonderfully walkable urban centre so we were able to discover its gems at a leisurely pace.  

Our first destination was a visit to the Munch Museum to see his most famous work "Scream" but we were pleasantly surprised by the impressive collection of his other works of paintings, prints and drawings donated by Edvard Munch himself to the city.  

There are four versions of Scream created by Munch using different mediums - two of them could be seen at Munch Museum, the third is in private collection and the original painting is on display at the National Museum of Norway.

Our next stop - Oslo Opera House with its grand angular facade and white marble walls can be seen from the distance.  The roof of the building angles to ground level creating a vast plaza that invites visitors to walk up and enjoy the panoramic view of Oslo.

I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a photo of this amazing sculpture called Scapning fra Lddefjord (Creature from Iddefjord) not far from the Oslo Opera House.  The 7-metre high sculpture is constructed from stacked granite stone blocks and is design for physical interaction. 

We walked a bit more around the city and then came to a funky inviting place called Barcode, a big open space filled with tables, chairs and benches grouped around fire pits and all along the perimeter the multitude of small shops serving street food of various cuisines all the time overlooking the Oslo Opera House and surrounding landmarks.  It was a perfect spot to have dinner, a couple of cocktails and hang our with the locals.

Afterwards we slowly made our way back to the hotel to get ready to travel the next morning to Flam.  We were slightly disappointed that we didn't stay in Oslo for at least one more day but there was nothing we could do about.  On the plus side we were going to spend few more days in a different part of Norway and we were looking forward to it.  Till my next post...

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo