Today we re-traced our footsteps and took the train back from Bergen to Oslo. Now that we are back in Oslo it feels more like a part of our trip home than a part of vacation. Tonight we have only had time for dinner and trip back to a micro-brewery that we enjoyed our first time here. And a few minutes to play with our hosts cays Pierre and Jean-Claude.
And that is the end of vacation. Tomorrow we take an early flight back to NYC via Zurich.
We spent our last day in Western Norway at the Voss Ski Resort, which is about 100km in land from Bergen. The nearly empty slopes, perfect weather and amazing vistas overlooking countless mountains and lakes Lonavetnet and Vansvagnat made for the perfect end to our winter stay in Bergen.
Today we took a road trip around a bit of Western Norway, about a third of which was through tunnels. As the only tourists in the fjord region we found that there were no running ferries, which is the traditional way to see the fjords. Instead we improvised our own trip and saw some of the lesser publicized fjords. Today's itinerary included the following towns:
Voss: the adverture sports town is the home of the ski resort we are visiting tomorrow so we stopped in to see the town and grab a latte after skirting the Sorfor fjord;
Ulvick: the jumping off point for many fjord excursions in the summer season, the town's information office seemed surprised to see us stop by for some driving routes in the area;
Osa: a small settlement at the terminus of a small fjord, we are probably the only tourists that have made it to this outpost at the end of a cliff-hanging road, shadowed by ice and snowy cliffs;
Eidfjord: a scenic and touristic town that is now accessible by a new suspension bridge that joins that existing 8km tunnel in an underground rotary, we visited to see what was supposed to be a large waterfall. Unfortunatley, we took one wrong turn and ended up on a 7km spiraling climb up a mountain through snaking tunnels. By the time we could turn around the sun was fading and the road conditions at the mountain top were icy and snowy. And we never did find that waterfall.
We took the overnight train from Oslo to Bergen, saving us a night of lodging but costing us a night of sleep. Part of the reason for the lack of sleep was the scenery outside our train in interior Norway. The combination of clear skies, a full moon and plentiful snow gave us a great view of the barren plains, packs of deer and 'mountain' ridges that fill out Southern Norway. But the other reason for the lack of sleep was the passengers in the row behind us sneezing on our heads, kicking the chair and adjusting the table. That said we did get a solid three hours of sleep and arrived in Bergen ready to eat and explore.
But Bergen wasn't ready to have us quite yet. Despite arriving at 7am we didn't find a working luggage locker until 9am. That, combined with a persistent cold rain, did not give us a great first impression of this otherwise well-regarded city (particularly in the summer).
Our stay briefly improved over a nice breakfast at Aura before we realized we were homeless for another four hours, it was pouring rain and virtually nothing was open yet. We visited a few shops and the thoroughly mediocre Bergen Museum before we were able to check into our apartment in the city center. Fortunately our apartment is very and comfortable. So comfortable that a power nap turned into a full afternoon nap. Which lead us to engage in some splurging.
Having spent our day cold and wet we felt that we had earned a nice dinner of thoroughly Norwegian cuisine: fish macaroni, a salmon/scrambled-egg/mayo sandwich, and beer (which is quite a luxury here). And both meals were, despite the sound of them, excellent.
After dinner we also rented a car, which will allow us to spend our next two days visiting fjords and skiing, and Amanda made (well attempted to make) brownies to accompany a low-and-slow evening.
Unfortunately that is all of our day in Bergen. While we did see the old wharf for which the city is famous, and walked around enough of the city to recognize that there are a lot of interesting neighborhoods and restaurants, we will not be investing any more time exploring this city. Instead, tomorrow is a Road Trip!!
Today was our last full day in Oslo. Despite each of us spending 15 minutes drip-drying this morning (our dispute with our host is ongoing), we got underway just after sun-up to make the most of it.
The first stop was the Viking Museum, which is essentially a preservation of three buried Viking ships and other belongings recently found around Oslo. The 1100 year old ships themselves were the main attraction and they were impressive to see in person. But, the museum also had some artifacts that depicted life, albeit royal/elite life, during Viking times that were worth seeing.
After the Vikings we sauntered past the administrative looking Royal Palace before we got up to speed on more contemporary Norwegian contributions at the National Gallery, which just happened to be free on Sundays. While we went to see Munch's famous "Scream," we both really enjoyed his "Self Portrait with Cigarette" in addition to the Norwegian landscapes and other works at the Gallery.
Afteewards our final tourist stop was Oslo's new showpiece Opera House that is designed to look like an iceberg and was, appropriately, buffered by ice when we arrived at sunset.
But that was not the end of our day. With seven hours until our overnight train to Bergen departed we still had time for a cheap, excellent Vietnamese dinner and a movie (Imitation Game) because you gotta stay warm over here.
But now we are settled into Carriage No. 7 and preparing to set off for an eight hour trip to Bergen, salty potato chips and Cliff Bars in had.
Oslo is a pretty damn cool city and we had no idea; not when we booked our visit and not even when we arrived last night.
This morning we saw the sunrise ('rise' is generous for the January sun in Oslo) over the train station while food shopping. After that rather mundane start we headed across the city to Vigeland Park. Vigeland is a huge city park with with outdoor speed skating, tennis and diving arenas, acres of open space and views of the ski jump used during Lilehammer. But what the park is best known for are the hundreds of sculptures created by Vigeland late in his life (we do not agree on their meaning, but his installation is the centerpiece of this park). It was while walking through and around Vigeland that we realized just how diverse and energetic this city is. High speed trains, commuter rail, trams and buses are continually shuttling people (all not not just blonde white people) all over the city.
So we added our dark hair to the mix and took a tram to the Apent Bakerei (thank you Lonely Planet) for lattes and pastries outside the royal grounds. Recharged, we chased the setting sun down to the waterfront to find an incredible amount of new construction shoving up against the coast - a clear maifestation of Norway's recent oil wealth, and a sharp contrast from tbe more classic European city we spent our morning enjoying.
After walking the length of the "new" waterfront we briefly stopped at the Nobel Peace building before heading to the 700 plus year old Akershus Fortress situated across the harbor from the new construction.
After all those free activities we kept the cheap theme going by eating at an Indian restaurant in the immigrant neighborhood ($25 USD in this expensive city) before indulging in some local beer at Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri (thank you NY Times).
And that was it. Just a great day in a great city.
