Monday 16 October

We arrived into Oslo quite late last night and so straight to bed. Breakfast at 6.30am today and off to the Central Railway Station for an 8am train. This is the first leg of a 3 day rail journey to Bergen. The initial 3 hours in the train are pretty dull, as are most journeys out of a big city. Even the cat in the seat in front of us wanted out.

But then we hit the views

More snow than we imagined

5 hours after leaving Oslo we arrive at Myrdal, where we have to disembark onto an ice covered platform. Nerve wracking for me

We struggle to get the bags off the train but succeed with the help of a saviour in Nord form

who then crosses the icy platform with us and heaves the bags into the carriage of the famed Flam Railway

I know I have previously advised that this is the steepest railway in the world, but I can tell you the Scenic in Katoomba trumps it. Although the Flam Railway actually goes somewhere, which is more helpful. The train makes one stop at a waterfall bearing a Norwegian name which goes something like Wadfklkdfjaldofjafljfodk. The trick is to pronounce it phonetically. Cherrie had her photo taken with the Michelin Man

And one without

The truly spectacular views just keep coming

If you prefer not to take the train or boat to Flam, you could chose to drive!

An hour later we arrive in Flam and it is 3pm. We are now in south western Norway and Flam is a charming, if intensely tourist, village. Time for a stroll

To meet the local kids

A very ordinary dinner at the local Inn, chewing on what might well have been a Viking, well done.

Tuesday 17 October
The morning in Flam it’s drizzling but we brave the elements (note the nifty gollasher)

and more walking and breathing in the views

The green philosophy is not lost on the Norwegians

We chose not to do the Fjord Safari Adventure

Mostly, but not exclusively, because it looks like it is obligatory to enter Chernobyl

At 3pm we board a boat which takes us through the fjords to Gudvangen, a 2 hour journey. It’s cold outside, the wind chill factor really, but Cherrie is a diehard photo journalist and she braves it all for these photos

This fjord, maybe called Rhkdfasdoifhdklafnl, is on the world heritage list. This is why

Meanwhile it’s a bit slippery out there for me so I sit inside this very comfortable ferry and soak up the views in comfort.

We get into Gudvangen, a tiny landing post amongst this World Heritage listed fjord, where the green roofs are the go

and board a bus for a one hour journey into Voss. Still, the views take our breath away. Will we have any lungs left after 2 weeks of this?

The bus pulls into the Voss Railway Station and the Nazi trained driver opens the doors, unlocks the luggage bins and wanders off. We manage to extract our cases from the bin and look around for a hotel. Is there one in sight? No. Fortunately another Aussie couple, Jeanette and Arthur, are at the same hotel so Arthur goes off on a private expedition to ascertain its whereabouts. He eventually returns triumphant and we heave our cases up hill and down dale, which includes a walk along a train platform, until we get to our hotel.

As you can see, it’s a curious, olde worlde place, called Fleishers and run by the family Fleisher. Since 1865. Most of the original founders have gone but it wouldn’t surprise us to find a few still plotting in one of the many attics around the place.

What do they do with the kids who check in?

This place has so many living/sitting/music/library rooms that it could take a long time to explore, something we prefer not to do for fear of never returning.

Note the score on this piano, one of three we have sighted, is for the tenor sax

Oh, and please feel free to look but for heaven’s sake, don’t sit

We unlock the door to our broom cupboard, squash in the luggage and head straight to the bar, where we find Jeanette and Arthur had the same idea. A drink and dinner with them and squeeze back into the cupboard for the night

Wednesday 18 October

We head to breakfast early-ish in order to stretch our legs, something our room does not cater for. Then a walk around Voss, a city of 15,000 most famous for its bottled water.

If you’re not happy with your bank, it’s always a good idea to have a back up

There’s not a lot that we can walk to, or at least I can walk to, and my friend is a very loyal kinda gal and chooses to stay with me rather than venture out in search of the water bottling factory. We were looking forward to a trip in the famed gondola but it’s on holiday. So we return to Bates Motel and I catch up on this blog and Cherrie takes over her photo editor duties.

At 5pm we are to catch the train to Bergen but shades of France here

The bus arrives at Bergen not long after 7. Check in and Cherrie and I feel the need for a walk, so that’s what we do. Bergen is a beautiful seaside city and we find a fresh fish wharf with a few little eateries. A good serve of Norwegian fish and salad and so to bed.

Thursday 19 October

It’s a beautiful sunny day, the first without rain for several days. How lucky we are. We take a bus tour this morning, which is part of our cruise booking. We learn that Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, after Oslo of course, and has a population of 300,000. It’s very hilly and very pretty

We leave the bus tour when it stops for the participants to take a walk (we are not the types to follow someone holding an umbrella over his head and speaking too softly) and walk ourselves by the harbour. Good gord, Halloween has found it’s way to Bergen

Bergen is the birthplace of Edvard Grieg

and it feels like a cultured city. We had wanted to go to the Grieg Museum, where concerts are held, but it’s closed for winter. We visit the national theatre

And find Henrik Ibsen. He spent a lot of time in Bergen. Curious eyes

But wait, is that a dagger I see before me? Did he have it in for the critics?

We visit the Opus XVI hotel, named for Mr Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, and the totally underwhelming exhibition in the basement. Not even recorded music playing. Here he is though, through the decades (like you care!)

We continue to walk and marvel at another old and beautiful seaside city

They actually can’t spell very well, these Nords

But at least they have more compassion than many Australians

It’s getting cold, even the tomatoes are feeling it

This below is a shot of the view from our Bergen hotel room, the evening we arrived and the morning we departed

Off now, to board the good ship Trollfjord