Do we owe you an apology? In our constant struggle to present every place as authentic as possible to you, we must have slipped. Bergen is the city of rain, sporting no less than 220 days or 3000mm/sqm of rain per year. But the musky smell of the wooden walkways of Bryggen, the old quarter of the Hanseatic League will not really develope today under a sun that is trying to mimick mid-summer. People are sitting outside in T-shirt (and less), having a beer in one of the many bars and cafés surrounding the harbour.
OK, the crew of staff is pleased, as they receive one of the biggest loads of provisions for the season - 110 palletts of goods and parts and everything. A terrible amount of work. So we better get to town, so we don't have to watch this…
The excursions of the days bring us closer to what Bergen has to offer. Which is a lot! So much that I rather dispense here with the formal introduction of this immensely important trade location, of the several impacts of history, from Vikings to Hanse and WW II, of the fires that threatened and destroyed the wooden buildings, about the UNESCO world heritage list, recently listening the historical harbour area. Instead please find here a variety of impressions of a sunny walk in the city of rain. Which can be, actually, very delightful.
The afternoon excursion takes us to Fantoft and to the famous Stave Church. An orgy in carved wood, burnt down years ago by a maniac heavy-metal musician for publicity (he succeeded insofar as it brought him a 16-year prison sentence and certainly a few headlines.) It was completely rebuildt later and is now to be seen in all its beauty. A little further on is Troldhaugen, the Troll Hill, retreat and domain of Edvard Grieg. Norway has many famous names in music and theater, like Ibsen, Bjørnson, Holweg, Tveitt. But Grieg outshines them all by his work, for which he found all the inspiration he needed in this place: Sitting on a mossy hill, overlooking the fjord, it is a place of immense peace and beauty. The house is kept in its original state, unfortunately no pictures allowed inside. After visit of house and museum we get a piano recital in the splendid concert hall. Grieg's Lyrical Pieces with the backdrop of fjord, tree and sunshine - nobody wants it to end…
But it does, and so we get back to FRAM together with the last pallets. Lines are cast and we set course for our final destination, Oslo. To keep minds off that thought, the crew presents surprising skills in their newly choreographed crew show. See if it works...
We have learned that our Expeditionleader Karin can be fully trusted, so we have no doubt that we are cruising through Nordfjorden, if she tells us so on the PA system. It is not that anyone could verify this information this morning: Someone must have painted the ship's windows white, there is no way that fog can be so dense… But you can actually go outside and have the same sensation of being "whited out". Hm, so it is really just funny weather. But as if the city of Olden has a contract saying otherwise, the fogs get thinner and then stay entirely behind us as we approach the pier. Even the sun makes an attempt to come out. A good attempt, because one hour later the whole fjord is bathed in warm sunshine, revealing the prevailing colors green and dark grey for moss and rock that go so well together here.
Perfect timing indeed, for we all are leaving on different excursions. There is that fjord panorama tour, bringing you high up for wonderful views from a lofty perspective. Those who feel more active join the Briksdal Glacier Hike, a splendid walking tour to both sides of a roaring waterfall, up and up until the valley ends in front of a crisp blue-and-white glacier, source of countless waterfalls that all merge in a turquoise-colored lake which in turn is covered with a sheet of floating icecubes, glistening in the sunlight like obscenely big diamonds. This is a paradise, can't we stay a little longer? We can, getting an extra half hour to hang out and utterly enjoy this extraordinary day. The water, by the way, is not only about 500 years old but also so pure that they fill it in bottles right away and sell it to the world. "Olden" is a well-known synonyme in Norway for the still water bottled here. (Like Kleenex or Scotch, only for something more delicious in this case…)
Well, and then there was a small group of real fun-lovers who went and took a flight into the valleys - in a helicopter. They come back with a smile that doesn't want to disappear ever again from their faces.
In the evening, our musician Bjørn presents a lecture on traditional Norwegian folk music, and so we listen to soundbits of the old times as we glide past the places where they were invented. What a treat!
What is this? Drops that fall out of the sky…? Didn't we arrange for sun the whole time?
Although these might have been the initial thoughts of some in the morning, it did not take long to realize that this also is Norway. And that it has its own, mystic charme. It is so much easier to imagine a Viking dragonboat emerging from the misty depths of the fjords than in plain sunlight. Yesterdays Vikings, however, seem to be off duty, cause they are rather to be found inside the ship doing presentations or teaching embroidery Part II. (To see our Vi-Queen Karin do that is a little bit like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger write a poem…)
The wonderful Jugendstil architecture of Ålesund, our first stop today, is not precisely emphasized by the greyness, though. But nevertheless most of us take a walk under the pouring rain. Feels nice to be back on board and have lunch!
In the afternoon, weathergods are getting mollified, the skies break up and FRAM's entrance of Geirangerfjord sees many people on the outer decks, expecting no less than the worlds most beautful fjord standing up to its reputation. And it does. Dozens of waterfalls brushing down the immense slopes, here and there studded with lonely cabins (how on Earth do they get their stuff up there…?!!), deep cuts in the fjord's flancs - wonderful!
In the evening we drop anchor in Geiranger, which is now a peaceful haven. This will change in summertime, when the 230 inhabitants face up to 8000 visitors per day… but this is the perfect time, small boats on one side, posh ones on the other, wealth seems well organized here.
The Nature Centre is a very well-done exhibition, explaining every aspect of Geirangers history, culture and natural surroundings. A last dash into the souvenir shop or a xtra delicious coffee (great Baristas at work)! in the newly opened cosy coffee house, then it is time to return to FRAM, which - for once - gives us a romantic nightly display of its lights.
The Sognefjord is the longest fjord in Norway and the second longest in the whole world, stretching 205 km into the Norwegian mountains. And undoubtedly it is one of the prettiest fjords you can imagine. Other than the comparably gentle Lysefjord (you still remember, do you? Seems a long time ago….), it raises about 1300m above the water level, featuring near vertical walls all along with gushing waterfalls aplenty. But the mighty forces of the ice were so much fiercer than "down South", and so we are travelling with up to 1000m of water below our keel. This is some cut in the landscape!
Reaching Flåm at the end of the fjord gives us an idea what the area might be like in peak season: They are well prepared for mass tourism, huge parking lots for coaches, castle-sized souvenir shops and well honed logistics around the famous "Flåmbana". Which we are getting on in great numbers, of course - it is said to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. An old, rattling train screeches out of the station and immediately up into the mountains. On a distance of 20 km we climb nearly 900m, passing through 6 km of dark, musty tunnels, always flanking the inredible Flåm valley, sometimes looking far down on small farms or villages, roaring meltwater streams, or the occasional pasture, sporting a few horses here, some sheep there.
Cross-country skiers are mounting the train on each stop, as we have reached snow level by now.
Once arrived at Myrdalen, some carry on with the Oslo-Bergen express, while most of us have a short break in the lofty train station before we hop on the coach again to take the ride back to Flåm, the fjord and FRAM.
And now we take fjord cruising to the next level, as we turn left into Nærøyfjorden, a side arm of the Sognefjord, the narrowest of all. Feels a bit like FRAM is sqeezed between the towering walls on both sides. Only very few houses are to be seen left and right, in this remote end of the world. But believe it or not, the deeper we scramble into the fjord, the better the connection to other places: Gudvangen, the village at the very deep end, sits at the entrance to the worlds longest tunnel that is carved incredible 24,5 km through the hard rocks that build up this giant geological trap.
Apart from that, Gudvangen has quite a bit of Viking history to offer. Enough to bring out the Nordmann blood in the expedition team, which lead to inexplicable amusement among our guests. The final chord of the day is struck by our chef who serves a de-li-cious barbeque dinner, which we enjoy out on deck, under the waterfalls of Nærøyfjorden.
First of all a word of explanation: This is the Norwegian Coast Cruise, meaning fjords all over the place. A fjord is a steep cut in the shoreline, which makes it nigh impossible to get a satellite signal in or out. Hence a few hiccups with the transmission of the blog contents, especially pictures. So, if the blog is not always up at the expected moment, you know why…
Apart from that, the trip could not be nicer:
Just before sunrise we dropped anchor at the very end of Ulvik fjord, the 1100-soul village of Ulvik welcoming us with the maire and the tourist manager. Although there was fresh snow on the mountaintops, the air was surprisingly mild, so the Polar Cirkel Boat shuttle (the first on this trip!) was not a chilly thing to do.
Whereas many decided to take an early-morning stroll in the clean air, some went on the "Juice and Cider" excursion, which led us up in the hills above Ulvik and to a very, very cosy place, whose owner proudly showed us around. It seems a logic step ahead, in a place that produces copious amounts of apples per year, to enrich the common apple juice production with the first apple cider and apple brandy factory in Norway. So he build a shine distillery and is ready for business. If it weren't only for the strict Norwegian regulations which inhibit the liberty of sales considerably. But he's working on it, and we are contented with just buying - juice.
Just a bunnyhop away is Eidfjord, slightly bigger city close to Eid lake. From here we have several options bringing us into the breathtaking scenery of the Hardangervidda, big mountain plateau, crowned by the Hardangerjøkul, the glacier which had already served polar pioneers like Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott as training ground for their equipment. So we experience deep glistening snow, as if we were in Antarctica. The snow fox, however, is part of the Exhibition in the Eidfjord Nature Centre which we visited earlier. Highlight of the day was certainly the Vøringsfossen, a 182m waterfall that roars into the valley. So, we were definitely a bunch of happy campers.
On board, we continued to bring Norwegian traditions to life by preparing "Krotekaker" a sweet, crêpe-like pancake. One of the hallmarks of old Norwegian handicraft is the art of embroidery, expertedly taught by our expedition leader Karin herself.
Do we owe you an apology? In our constant struggle to present every place as authentic as possible to you, we must have slipped. Bergen is the city of rain, sporting no less than 220 days or 3000mm/sqm of rain per year. But the musky smell of the wooden walkways of Bryggen, the old quarter of the Hanseatic League will not really develope today under a sun that is trying to mimick mid-summer. People are sitting outside in T-shirt (and less), having a beer in one of the many bars and cafés surrounding the harbour.
The excursions of the days bring us closer to what Bergen has to offer. Which is a lot! So much that I rather dispense here with the formal introduction of this immensely important trade location, of the several impacts of history, from Vikings to Hanse and WW II, of the fires that threatened and destroyed the wooden buildings, about the UNESCO world heritage list, recently listening the historical harbour area. Instead please find here a variety of impressions of a sunny walk in the city of rain. Which can be, actually, very delightful.
The afternoon excursion takes us to Fantoft and to the famous Stave Church. An orgy in carved wood, burnt down years ago by a maniac heavy-metal musician for publicity (he succeeded insofar as it brought him a 16-year prison sentence and certainly a few headlines.) It was completely rebuildt later and is now to be seen in all its beauty. A little further on is Troldhaugen, the Troll Hill, retreat and domain of Edvard Grieg. Norway has many famous names in music and theater, like Ibsen, Bjørnson, Holweg, Tveitt. But Grieg outshines them all by his work, for which he found all the inspiration he needed in this place: Sitting on a mossy hill, overlooking the fjord, it is a place of immense peace and beauty. The house is kept in its original state, unfortunately no pictures allowed inside. After visit of house and museum we get a piano recital in the splendid concert hall. Grieg's Lyrical Pieces with the backdrop of fjord, tree and sunshine - nobody wants it to end…
But it does, and so we get back to FRAM together with the last pallets. Lines are cast and we set course for our final destination, Oslo. To keep minds off that thought, the crew presents surprising skills in their newly choreographed crew show. See if it works...
