Nærøyfjord and Flåm

Ever since childhood, I thought it might be fun to see the Norwegian fjords. So I took a 10-hour tour of the Nærøyfjord (UNESCO) and the surrounding countryside. The tour consisted of a series of well-organized train, ferry, and bus connections, including a stop in Flåm and at the Kjosfossen waterfall. It was magnificent.


































While in Flåm, I decided to stop by the Ægir brewery to sample their beers.






Super tiny brewery, great beers. My favorites were the Ægir IPA and Lynchburg Natt.

Mount Fløyen, Norway

Took the Floibanen funicular up to the top of Mount Fløyen, and then walked back down to Bergen through the forest trails. The entire town of Bergen is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Outstanding views, pristine air, similar to the Cinque Terre trails in Italy.













Then I went down to the fish market at the harbor and got fish and chips there. The chips were ok but the fish was amazing. This is what $28 buys in Norway:

Bergen

After spending a few days in Oslo, I headed for Bergen via The Bergen Railway. This is a 6.5-hour ride through pristine wilderness, similar to Yosemite. We passed through the town of Voss along the way. Yep... where the bottled water comes from. This is considered to be the most scenic and beautiful train ride in existence... it was certainly epic.









Bought a small bottle of apple juice on the train. Organic, fresh, and made from Norwegean apples. It was outstanding; clean, pure of flavor, not too sweet.



Bergen, a gorgeous little town. These are tough people. They must have faces of stone - the wind is cold.

Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo

After some rain this morning, the sun came out and it became a beautiful day in Oslo, so I did the café thing for a bit and strolled around town.







After that I visited the Nasjonalgalleriet (National Gallery). There are many well knowns works there.


















Munch's "The Day After".












There is a thriving rock scene in Oslo... who knew.

Olso

There was a simple reason why I booked a flight to Oslo that would arrive at 11:10pm... it's significantly less expensive to fly off-hours. But there was an unexpected perk - a beautiful sunset during final approach. It was stunning. This reddish orange light poured through the windows on the left side of the airplane.

The Frognerparken and Vigelandsparken. Awesome parks and sculpture gardens conveying the range of human emotions.













Experienced the spectactular changing of the guard at the Royal Palace.






The Operaen (Oslo Opera House). Architecturally clever and distinct, I walked on it as well as in it.









The massive Holmenkollen olympic ski jump. Went to the very top observation deck. Epic.












It's my third day here and I'm really enjoying Oslo. Very green and woodsy country.







Norway is an extremely prosperous country with a very high standard of living, which makes it a seriously expensive place to visit. A basic tram or metro ride: $4.50, a Snickers bar costs $3.80, a 33cl bottle of Rochefort 10: $29, the experience: priceless.