Saturday was an incredible travel day. We started on a train heading from Oslo to Bergen, which is consistently voted one of the most beautiful railway trips in the world. Up and over the mountains to a high plateau that still had ice on the lakes and snow on the ground. We got off in Myrdal to take the Flam Railway, a short (20 km) trip, but breathtakingly scenic. It was built right down along the walls of the top of the fjord. Steep lush cliffs and waterfalls everywhere.

That took us down to Flam where we opted to take the express boat through the Songefjord (deepest fjord in the world) to the coast and then south to Bergen. It clouded over but was still awe-inspiring. And the boat was truly ‘express!’ We felt so alive!

Yesterday we were planning to take a day trip to hike on a glacier but it turns out there is still too much snow to get up there. It also rained most of the morning so we had a fun time just bopping around the fishmarkets searching for the best fish sandwich, and walking all around Bergen. I also managed to get some ‘Rudolf’-reindeer soup! Apparently it’s a Norwegian specialty, and it was very good.

In the afternoon the weather cleared up and we hiked to the top of one of the seven mountains which overlook Bergen. Some people take the ‘funicular’ train up but we navigated up the trails. It felt good to stretch our legs and the view was worth it.

This morning we took a bus out to a second fjord (Hardangerfjord) based on a suggestion by a very helpful lady at the tourist office. The plan was to get off in Oystese and walk back over the hills to Norheimsund, both cute towns on the water. I asked the bus driver where we should get off and he said ‘next one.’ The next stop was only 300 meters down the road so I assumed he meant the next town. Assumption was incorrect. When it was clear that we had missed our stop, I pushed the stop button at what looked like the next town. But it was kind of the middle of nowhere. Chelsea got a big test in ‘going with the flow’ and she kept it together like a seasoned traveler. Such a good buddy!

We managed to hitch a ride with a very nice older couple from the Netherlands who were driving around Norway in their camper van with their dog. So the mistake turned into a fun little adventure. They dropped us in Oystese and the walk was beautiful, as promised. We could not ask for better weather, a happy change from the rain yesterday.

Oystese

Sheep!

Hops!

Norheimsund