We had an early morning start today. The buffet at the Grand Hotel was fantastic again. I noticed some chocolate chip cookies. I had one and later went back for another. A fellow traveler (Deb) asked me if they were good. I told her they were excellent “…but not as good as my sister, Annette’s”. Deb said “Oh, how sweet, you should put that in your blog.” So there it is.
The early start required us to have our bags ready for pick up at 7 AM and we had to be on the bus by 8 am. Tauck is quite militaristic when it comes to the schedule. Some vacationers might not like that but I love it. If our schedule calls for us to leave at 8 and I’m on the bus at 8 it would irritate the heck out of me if we don’t leave until 8:15 because someone else is late.
That reminds me of one of our fellow travelers, Marshall, who has been very fun to talk to. He told me the 3 main life lessons he has tried to teach his children, grandchildren, and apparently anyone else who will listen. That would include me so here they are:
1. If you’re not early you’re late.
2. Leave things as you’ve found them.
3. Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story (my personal favorite)
All good lessons to live by. And here is a picture of the sage person who shared them with me.
Today we headed to the fjords. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to take this vacation. During today’s road trip, our tour guide, Dean, relayed a number of interesting facts and stories. For example did you know the name Bjorn means bear? Or that the Vikings didn’t wear horns? (I guess Marshall isn’t a Viking after all).
Today’s trip was very long so we had some bathroom stops. The first was at 10:00 AM at this roadside restaurant with a very interesting roof.
Lunch was in Gol, Norway where the average high temperatures in July are 60° and in August 58°. In spite of these “high” temperatures they have this in Gol. See below.
We finally approached the fjords and then we were just two ferry rides and a short drive away from our hotel for the night. I could not believe the ferries. They were incredibly stable and exhibited no sway at all. I didn’t realize we were moving and then saw we were about to arrive. Very nice.
We are staying at the Kviknes Hotel (Kviknevegen 8, 6899 Balestrand). The hotel looks just average and the room is nothing special either but the buffet was something of which I don’t think I have ever seen before. We were told to get to the dining hall 15 minutes early for a lecture. I was prepared to hear a boring lecture about vikings or some celebrity who spent a night at the hotel 25 years ago. Oh no, not at all. Instead we were introduced to the head chef who walked us around the entire buffet and explained every dish. I am sure you are thinking, no big deal, he described 4-5 dishes and said “Bon Appetit!”. Uh, no. I can recall the following: Herring in mustard sauce, tomato sauce or pickled. Crabs legs, shrimp, seafood salad, Caesar salad, potato salad, cole slaw, tomato and cheese salad, crayfish soup, smoked and 2 other types of salmon, trout, halibut, venison stew, cold cuts (ham, roast beef, salami, et.al.), grapes and other fresh fruit, cauliflower, broccoli, root vegetables, olives (yuck), potatoes, a variety of cheeses, blueberry pie, ice cream, cheese cake, eclairs, creme brulee, flan, panna cotta, cookies, crackers, brownies, etc. Just writing this sentence is making me feel stuffed.
I am tired and need to get to sleep. We have another early start tomorrow. Speak to you then.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 