Tag: Fjords

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #12 “Bergen”

by reissmd, posted in Bergen, Norway, Norway, Uncategorized

Our trip is almost over.  We left the fjords this morning and the beautiful scenario that every way we turned looked like a picture used in a jigsaw puzzle.  Yes, beauty that you would think only existed in someone’s imagination. If you think this is just my imagination, come to Norway, experience the fjords, and see for yourself.  Here is one last fjord for the road.

Fjord with a salmon farm.

There has been some downtime during the trip during which I have read my book group selection for the month. It is a non-fiction tale about about Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the Diesel engine.  At first glance it might sound like a boring story.  In reality it’s quite interesting and what’s more, it is very pertinent to the trip. 

Diesel was a peer of Alfred Nobel from Nobel prize fame.  As you might recall we visited Stockholm where the majority of the prizes are awarded and Oslo where the peace prize is given. This tidbit was a footnote in the book and was very illuminating: 

[When Ludwig Nobel (Alfred’s brother) died in April 1888, French newspapers incorrectly reported the death of Alfred, who was in fact alive and well. Alfred then read his own obituary, which was a scathing critique of his life and work. The obituary named Alfred a “merchant of death” and declared that his invention, dynamite, “killed more people faster than ever before.” Alfred was so disturbed at this potential posthumous reputation that he later changed his last will and testament to bequeath his entire fortune to a new foundation that would award a series of prizes to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”]

I’m sure this was horrifying for Nobel but I’ve often mused that funerals are a waste because the one person who would really enjoy hearing what was being said is dead and can’t enjoy it.  That’s why I’m planning to have my funeral long before I die.  

We left the Fjord country and headed to our last stop, Bergen (of course not before stopping for bathroom breaks which just happened to be in gift shops). Bergen is Norway’s second largest city, with a population of about 292,000 with about 20,000 of those people being students at the University of Bergen.

We arrived late and only had a chance to use the funicular to see a panoramic view of the city.

A view from the top.

I also was excited to to see someone with a nose bigger than mine. See below.

Handsome chap, isn’t he?

In addition we saw one of my favorite travel sights. See below.

Oh yes, another bird on a statue’s head.

After returning from the furnicular we found an excellent Spanish restaurant for dinner and then on to home.

Tomorrow is our last full day of the trip. Until then adjø (goodbye).

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #11 “W.T.F. Waterfalls, Trolls, and Fjords”

by reissmd, posted in Norway, Uncategorized

Travel can sometimes make me confused.  Yesterday I said TGIF but it was only Thursday.  Well today was (is) Friday and we had a another great day of looking at the fjords.  We had an early start, lots of great food, and transportation to lots of great sights.  In other words we are on a Tauck tour.

Our coach driver (by that I mean our bus driver, not someone who is telling our driver what to do) did a great job transporting us from location to location.   Our coach is large and comfy, but the roads are at times a bit narrow. 

This is a two lane highway. Luckily traffic coming the opposite direction was light and drivers were very considerate (in other words they weren’t from Los Angeles or New York).

Our first stop was Dalsnibba where supposedly the view is breathtaking unfortunately for us, all we could see were clouds and snow flakes. 

Except for the coach, is there much you can see?

But then we had a series of stops where we saw lovely waterfalls.

Patrice posing with me in ‎⁨Oppstryn⁩, ⁨Norway⁩.
Together in front of a fjord. ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
In front of a run off from another waterfall. Also in ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
And another. Also in ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩

Finally Patrice had enough and told me to go take the picture by myself. I asked our guide if Tauck would give me a substitute for me to use in my picture. I was told, they would send a young thing to pose with me instead. YES, I LOVE YOU TAUCK.

Tauck, that was not exactly what I had in mind. With travel buddy, Matt, in ‎⁨Hellesylt⁩, ⁨Norway⁩

Back in the hotel now and getting ready for a lecture on the history of Norway (just the first 10,000 years) followed by…….. DINNER!

Talk to you soon. But since this was entitled Waterfalls, Trolls, and Fjords, I feel obligated to give you at least one Troll (other than me). See below.

See you tomorrow as our trip rapidly nears its end.

Skol! Our Trip To Scandinavia Day #10 “TGIF: Thank God It’s Fjord-day”

by reissmd, posted in Loen, Norway, Norway

Today was totally devoted to experiencing the fjords of Norway. As I mentioned before this was one of the main reasons I wanted to take this trip.  I hate to say this but in spite of today providing some beautiful sights I have to say I was a bit disappointed.  

My vision was that I was going to see mountains of ice extending from a water base all the way to the heavens. I was thinking about what we had seen in Alaska and Patagonia and that this would be similar or hopefully even more spectacular.  Today reminded me of when we saw geysers in the Atacama desert in Chile.  The guides prepared us to see spectacular geysers but instead we saw things that guides at Yellowstone or Patagonia wouldn’t even bother to point out.  

The day started out with me being cold on a ferry. Do I look happy?

Cold and alone.

That being said it was still an enjoyable day. It warmed up after the morning and we didn’t have any rain. I even had to take off my jacket because it was warm. And we got to hang out with 22 new friends who are all wonderful travel partners.

Warmer and happier in front of one of the glaciers and fjord.

Heading to one location we met with a delay. Traffic was blocked by some locals crossing the highway.

Line of cars waiting for goats to clear the highway.
A close-up of our new travel buddies.

But more fjords were to follow.

In the coach passing by a lovely fjord.

Our next fjord/glacier was a bit more spectacular (see below).

Nice view of a glacier.
Same glacier but close-up view to better see the snow and ice.

We also had the opportunity to see two Norwegian movie stars.  I only got their first names.  They were obviously special since numerous people were among their entourage.  Here is a photo of Sven and Ingrid.

Such gorgeous movie stars. Her English was amazing. His needs a lot of work.

We then returned to the hotel to be greeted by another massive dinner buffet. Good thing my pants were loose fitting when we left Los Angeles. They feel just right now but I predict they will be snug by the time we get home.

I did another magic trick tonight asking one of our travel mates, Jayme, to assist me and it worked like a charm. They are a great magic audience.

See you tomorrow.

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #9 “Fjords Ahoy!”

by reissmd, posted in Balestrand, Norway

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. 

I’m taking life advice from this person?

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.  

This is called a sod roof and I don’t think it will become popular in Southern California.

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. 

A water slide when the high temperatures in the summer reach 60°? No thank you.

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.