Remember in my last post about how the walk from Rasa's apartment into downtown Bergen was about a 30 minute walk? Well, once you put on a backpack, duffle bag, and are pulling a rolling duffle, a 30 minute walk turns into 45. All I have to say is I have GREAT legs now.We dragged our luggage back into the city from Rasa's apartment to the train station so we could put them into a luggage locker then head on out on our Fjord tour onboard the Flaggruten. The Flaggruten is a fleet of high speed catamarans and lemme tell you, they can REALLY move.
We were looking forward to a relaxing day trip seeing the Fjords. We learned from the guides that several thousand years ago, Norway was COMPLETELY iced over. As the ice melted, they created incredibly deep chasms that then filled with water. These are the famous Fjords of Norway. There are hundreds of them all over the coastline of Norway. Some short and as wide as a sea, some long and narrow. All of them are several hundred feet deep. We decided to take a day trip which was still scheduled for basically 12 hours. 8am to 8pm. It really turned out to be 13 since we docked at 9:05pm. But it worked out perfectly since our overnight train back to Oslo departed at 10:58pm. We could take our all day trip, eat dinner in Bergen, then sleep on the train back to Oslo.
Our tour consisted of 3 boat and a bus leg. The longest boat trip lasted 3 hours and the bus trip lasted 2. In a previous post, I suggested taking the Oslo to Bergen train because of the amazing scenery. I also have to suggest taking a Fjord tour. They are spectacular. I've never seen scenery like it. We also were blessed with amazing weather. Bergen was supposed to rain the entire time we were here. It rained once. While we were walking back to the train station to leave town. The weather on the tour was really nice. Sometimes warm, sunny, other times overcast and hints of clouds. But no rain. Even the ship captain commented that the weather was "special" on our trip. After the first boat leg, the groups started dispersing since people were signed up for different tours. Erika and I were paired with only 1 other traveller for most of the trip. A woman named Sarah from the UK who has the most beautiful and mezmorizing accent and voice. She joined us on the 2nd boat leg and bus leg. It was a lot of fun meeting her and talking to her. That's what I've found I like about travelling. Meeting new people from all over the world and getting to know them. But I'll let the pictures of the Fjords speak for themselves but sadly, they don't even do the Fjords justice.
We also stopped for about an hour in a town called Bygstad. It's a very small town along the Fjord that has a bed and breakfast, general store, 3 goats, and one of the most spectacular views in the world. If you take a Fjord tour, make sure it takes you to Bygstad, head into the B&B and chat up the owner. You will NOT be disappointed. And be sure he shows you the viking ship out back. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment