Norway

 We recently spent an incredible week in Norway, a country that has been on my list for several years.

After checking in at our hotel we decided to catch the tram and walk around Oslo.  Our first stop was at the National Theatre then the Royal Palace of Oslo, which is the official residence of King Harald V of Norway.  We simply enjoyed the view of the palace from the surrounding gardens in Palace Park. 

 

We also passed Radhuset, Oslo's red brick mid-century City Hall,  which is home  to the city council.  This is also where the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony takes place every December.  Not the most attractive building is Oslo.

To the right of Radhusplassen is a complex of buildings including a modern box-like structure.  This is the National Museum of Norway.

We then headed to probably Oslo's most famous building.....the Opera House.  It has won several architectural awards and this iconic harbourside building is designed to be walked all over, literally.  The roof is formed of sloping marble and granite walkways, so you can wander onto the ground-level terrace and then walk up the sides onto several viewing platforms.  From here you can look out over the harbour and the city.

Look out for the floating sculpture in the middle of the harbour:  She Lies is a sculpture of steel and glass on a floating concrete platform.  It is reminiscent of a ship's sails, or a modern glass building and moves around with the tide.  It's a must-do.

It was approaching dinner time at this point so we walked past the Akershus Fortress, which was built to protect the city, to the old harbour.  The fortress has been attacked many times over the centuries but was never successfully besieged until it was surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940 when the Norwegian government evacuated the capital.

We had booked dinner on an open air sailing ship (under power - no sails).  We had a great time passing very near the islands in the fjord, so we could get closeup views of the houses and docks whilst eating lots of whole prawns  and enjoying a glass of wine.

Oslo is a city of museums, which is lucky as the next morning was the rainiest day of the trip. 

After breakfast we embarked on a sightseeing coach tour of Oslo stopping first of all at Vigeland Park which is filled with bizarre sculptures.  Even the fountains are surrounded by strange artworks like "Man Attacked by Babies" ....it doesn't need any explanation really, does it?  It was raining heavily, unfortunately, so after a quick stop we reboarded the coach to the Bygdoy peninsular and it's museums.

The rest of the day was free for us to explore this charming city with the use of our included  Oslo Pass, which allowed us free entry to the city's main museums and galleries, plus unrestricted travel on public transport.  Saved us a load of money.

The Kon-Tiki museum is tiny, but it's set up so well with a few different rooms about rafting adventures.

We braved the rain to run across the road to the Fram museum is absolutely fantastic, about the polar expeditions on the Fram ship.  Most of the museum is filled with the ship itself, and all around the outside are information boards and exhibits.

Both the Kon-Tiki and Fram museums are fascinating, learning about expeditions that nobody thought were possible, but in completely opposite ways.

We then caught the yellow ferry back to the city centre.

We really wanted to see The Scream so we were debating the Munch museum vs the National Museum as there is a version of the painting in each.  We decided to do both. The National Museum collection totals over 400,000 works, amongst them the first copy of Edvard Munch's The Scream from 1893.  There was also a nice cafe for lunch.

Next door is the Nobel Peace museum.  It provides a history of the Nobel Peace prize as well as considerable information about previous winners and Alfred Nobel.  It explains his interest in science to literature to peace.   Who will win this year? 

  It had finally stopped raining, so we decided to return on the Yellow Ferry to the outdoor folk museum.  And stop raining it did - for just long enough to see the best of the outdoor areas!

We then caught a bus straight down to the Munch museum.  Phil is not normally a fan of art galleries but this was a great place to visit. The Scream, an expressionist painting, depicting someone screaming in anguish or despair, has entered our cultural lexicon.  It is now an emoji, symbolising fear! The entire Munch exhibition was interesting.  We then decided to splash out on a meal at the top of the Museum with great views and delicious food.

The next day began with a journey west, through a stunning landscape of steep mountains and deep fjords, to the picturesque Telemark region.  Following a stop at Lake Tinnsjo, we visited the site of the processing plant at Rjukan. 

What earns Vemork a place in dark history was not the hydroelectric power generation as such but what some of that energy was used for.  In the  late 1920s a hydrogen plant was built right in front of the power station.  In the mid-1930s it was discovered that so-called 'heavy water', containing the rare hydrogen isotope deuerium, which has an extra neutron in its nucleus (making it indeed about 10% heavier than ordinary hydrogen), could be used as a neutron moderator in nuclear reactors.  Subsequently, a facility extracting heavy water by means of electrolysis was installed at Vemork, making use of the abundant availability of both water and electricity.

When Germany invaded Norway in 1940, this heavy-water production facility also fell into the Nazis' hands.  This alarmed the Western Allies as they saw the risk that the heavy-water plant might give the Nazis an advantage in the possible development of an atomic bomb.  The spectre of Hitler obtaining such weapons of mass destruction caused the Allies, in particular Britain, to try and foil such a capacity.  As the heavy-water production facility was located in the Cellar of the hydrogen plant an air strike would have little chance of putting the production out of action.  So instead a sabotage operation was planned.  In February 1942 a group of members of the Norwegian resistance, trained in Britain and with British logistical support, managed to make their way to the Vemork plant, where two of them entered the cellar through a cable tunnel and laid down explosives at the heavy-water production facility.  The subsequent explosion did indeed completely destroy it.

Thus Nazi Germany's possible nuclear capacity was thwarted.  Hence this operation is generally regarded  as one  of the most significant acts of sabotage in history.  Or as the museum puts it: it changed the world!

By the way, the suspension bridge over the gorge, the only road access to the plant, is these days also used for bungee jumping!  (we were not tempted to partake). 

We then travelled to Lake Tinnsjo.  It was from here that the Germans planned to transport their remaining stocks  of processed 'heavy water' back to Germany but the 'Heroes of Telemark' as they became  known (you have probably seen the film of the same name) blew up and sank the steam ferry carrying the heavy water.

We travel back through this stunning landscape finishing with a visit to the country's largest 'stave' church at Heddal, a spectacular 13th century wooden structure that looks like something straight out of a fairy-tale.  Unique and beautiful, with Viking carvings on the walls, wooden furnishings and the inevitable dragons.  A guide explained in English the characteristics and legends of the church.  There's a nice little cafe right next to the church so after a coffee and some carrot cake we returned to our hotel in Oslo.

After breakfast we departed from Oslo on the fabled Bergen Railway.  I love travelling by train, everything you read about the spectacular scenery is true.

As you depart from Oslo the cityscape gives way to rolling hills, dense forests and tranquil lakes.  As we continued on the journey towards  Drammen, we passed through a mixture of residential area and countryside with glimpses of the Oslofjord and Drammenfjord appearing intermittently.

The train then follows the Drammenselva river to Tyrifjorden.  Tyrifjorden is the fifth largest lake in Norway and there were beautiful views from the train.

After  the bigger city of  Honefoss, the train follows the Hallingdalselva river  to Gol, Al and then the Strandafjorden to Ceilo in the Hallingdal valley.  The landscape around Gol and Geilo is characterized by rolling hills covered in green forests, with several lakes and streams dotted throughout the area.  In the winter, Geilo is a popular ski resort with over 40 kilometers of cross-country skiing trails and 39 slopes for downhill skiing.

As the train left Geilo, it climbed steadily through the hills and forests towards the Hardangervidda plateau, the largest mountain plateau in Northern Europe.  The landscape changes dramatically as we gained altitude, with forests giving way to rugged mountains and barren, windswept tundra dotted with lakes and bogs.

The train journey from Finse to Myrdal goes through the heart of the Hardangervidda plateau.  This stretch is particularly stunning, with breathtaking  views of snow-capped peaks and glaciers.

We passed through several tunnels and over high mountain passes.  This included the highest point on the train route, Finse station, which is at an elevation of 1,222 metres above sea level.  This area is so remote that the stations of Finse and Myrdal have no connection with a road.

The train then descends from the high altitude of Myrdal and into a lush valley filled with dense forests, waterfalls, lakes and rivers.  Slowly it feels like you are returning to civilisation again after the desolate Hardangervilla plateau.  First you pass by the beautiful Langavatnet lake that is still surrounded by rugged mountains.

As the train approaches Voss, our stop, the landscape became more pastoral and rolling hills dominated the view.  Voss is a charming town in the heart of Western Norway with a beautiful lake.  Voss is known as the adrenaline capital.

After five hours on the train we check into the historic Fleischer's Hotel for two nights.

A real treat in store today - a trip on the world-famous Flamsbana Railway.  Although the Bergen Line is absolutely spectacular, it isn't Norway's most famous scenic railroad.  That distinction goes to a branch line which forks off from the Oslo-Bergen line at Myrdal.  The Flam Railway 9called the Flamsbana in Norwegian) is one of the steepest standard-gauge railway in Europe and has views to die for.

Our train from Voss to Myrdal had a short connection and we were ten minutes late, but Julia, our Rivieria rep, didn't need to worry.  The Flam train simply waited a few minutes longer for the connecting passengers.  Changing trains at Myrdal was amazingly simple as we simply had to walk to the other side of the platform where the Flamsbana train was already waiting.

The journey from Myrdal to Flam isn't that long as the distance is just a little over 12.5 miles with the train taking around 50 minutes to complete the trip.  When going down the mountain from Myrdal to Flam, the best views are on the left side of the train for about 90% of the journey.

What makes the journey spectacular is that you go from an altitude of 866.8 metres at Myrdal all the way down to sea level at Flam, which is located at the end of a fjord.

At one point shortly after departure, the railway line enters a series of tunnels and avalanche galleries.  The views now start to become really spectacular.  When you look carefully between the supporting pillars of the avalanche galleries, there are some great views  800 metres down into the valley.

At this point of the journey you truly appreciate the amazing job of the engineers to construct this line given the sheer height difference they had to overcome on a relatively short line.  That  would already be the case if the line was constructed today, but consider that the Flamsbana was actually built in 1924 without modern equipment!

Given that railway lines can only have a certain gradient in  order for trains to safely operate and to be able to climb up, this means that a lot of loops and tunnels had to be hacked and blown out of the rocks.  The train cannot go faster than 19 mph when going downhill and the gradient of the line has a maximum of only 5.5 percent.

After just a little more than 4 kilometres down the line, the train makes it only scheduled stop at Kjosfossen waterfall.  Here as passengers disembark on the viewing platform for a short break, a mysterious woman with long hair and a red dress emerges from the forest, dancing to a Norwegian folk song.

She is the Huldra, an elusive foerst spirit from Norse mythology.  According to local folklore, she lures men into the woods to seduce them.  Watch out, guys!

After a five minute stop, (the male members of our party are still with us) we departed from Kjosfossen and made our way into a tunnel down towards the Flam valley.

After a few tunnels there were more spectacular views over the mountains and valley.  The views back towards Myrdal were interesting too, as you can clearly see the avalanche galleries and railway tracks running higher up the mountain on the other side.

After quite a few more loops and  tunnels, the railway line arrived at the bottom of the valley and our train pulled into Flam station.

Flam is a small village and on the day we visited it was dominated by a very large cruise boat.  So many cruise passengers and the place is tiny consisting of a few houses, tourist shops and a couple of restaurants.

We were then supposed to board a two-hour ferry for Gudvangen across the UNESCO listed Naeroyfjord but unfortunately a storm was forecast and the ferry cancelled.  Julia managed to commandeer a coach to take us to Gudvangen and then on to Voss.  Very disappointed.

We leave Voss and our first stop is the Skjervsfossen waterfall.  There is a small parking area at the bottom of the falls.  You can get wet quite quickly as you walk towards the bottom of the falls but it is worth  it.

We then drove though the Vallavik tunnel that has a roundabout in it which in itself is quite amazing.  This tunnel pops out on to Norway's highest suspension Hardanger bridge. Terrific views.  You then cross the bridge and go into another tunnel with a roundabout.  Quite a special bit of road!  Again Norway is full of tunnels in mountains, this bridge joins two mountain tunnels over the fjord.  Top engineering. 

We continued our journey up the valley to Voringfossen, the country's most renowned waterfall. The falls are easily viewed from multiple vantage points via easily walkable platforms.  An awesome place!

We also popped in to the Fossli Hotel at Voringfossen and saw the piano where Edvard Grieg composed his Norwegian Folk Songs, Opus 66, in 1896.

Our journey then takes us on a scenic drive to the pretty village of Eidfjord, which is nestled on the banks of Norway's second-longest fjord, Hardangerfjord - known as the 'Queen of Fjords'.

Eidfjord is a darling little town which is a popular port of call for people on cruise ships, which means it can get busy.  Fortunately, no boats in town!  An example of the cuteness, there is a path were we noticed that the trees were snuggly wrapped-up in knitted designs.  Yes, the trees each had their own knit design on their trunks.  The day we visited it was a sleepy fjord town with very good prawn sandwiches.

Another waterfall beckoned - Steinsdalsfossen Waterfall - the waterfall you can walk behind!  What is great is that you can approach the waterfall both from the front and side and there is a path leading to the upper viewing platform behind the waterfall, which opens up a whole new perspective.

We continued our journey along the scenic fjord to Bergan where we stayed for two nights at the historic Grand Hotel Terminus, a classic art deco hotel dating back to 1928.  The atmospheric oak-panelled bar - voted the best in Norway for whisky - offers over a thousand different labels. 

After breakfast we take a morning guided walking tour.  Oh, Bergen!  This charming little city on Norway's west coast is like stepping into a postcard- colourful wooden houses, dramatic fjords, and just the right touch of Nordic coziness.

Founded in 1070, Bergen was once a major hub for the Hanseatic League (think medieval trading powerhouses), and you can still see that history in its UNESCO - listed Bryggen Wharf. 

 And yes, a little rain - ok maybe a lot of rain.  We were very lucky.  Bergen may very well be my favourite town in Norway - but I have yet to get up to Tromso or the Lofoten islands - so I might change my mind if they get checked off my never ending bucket list. 

The afternoon was free, we are in Bergen, we have to get out on the water! (remember we missed taking the Naeroyfjord ferry boat in Flam).

Luckily, there was a short fjord cruise from Bergen to the beautiful Mostraumen Strait which only takes three and a half hours.  It took us from the centre of Bergen to the Mostraumen strait and on to the village of Mo in just 90minutes.  It was a great way to get a taste of Norway's beautiful fjords.  The Mostraumen strait itself is absolutely stunning with plenty of waterfalls and cute little villages.  Just after Salhus, the boat passed under the majestic Nordhordland Bridge and into the Osterfjord.  The bridge connects Bergen to the Nordhorland region of Norway; it's 1614 metres long.

The outside deck did get very windy but once the boat reached the narrow strait around Paddoy island the captain slowed right down (making it much more pleasant to be out on deck!) and played some beautiful music by Grieg as we continued through the jaw-dropping landscape.

The Mostraumen Strait is incredibly narrow.  At less than 200 metres wide, it looks more like a river than a fjord - even the famously narrow Naeroyfjord is over twice as wide.

The scene of the little village next to the Mostraumen channel is so beautiful but we were informed the strait has only been here since 1743.  The next section of fjord, the Moforden, used to be a freshwater lake until floods eroded the river bed and allowed salt water from the Romarheimsfjorden to flow in.

As the boat approached the little village of Mo at the end of the Mofjorden, there were two beautiful waterfalls, one on either side of the fjord, framing the village in the centre.

You can see Mo's pretty wharf from the boat.  With its bright colours, it reminded me of a miniature  version of the Bryggen wharf back in Bergen.

On our return to Bergen we met up with the rest of our party to visit the Ice Bar.  A fun experience.  We were provided with insulated capes and it was fun to drink from a glass made of ice.  The ice sculptures were beautiful and detailed; very talented artists.  Available sheet to explain them all.  Nice sitting areas with sheepskin rugs to keep your booty from freezing.

We walked back to the Fish Market to look for dinner. Fish Me Restaurant was extremely busy, which in itself is a good advertisement, as it was competing with the fish market vendors and many other restaurants close by.  We did have a bit of a wait, but with a glass of wine in our hands, we watched the chef preparing the food.  When the food was served, we were amazed at the generous size of the portions.  Norway is not cheap but this was exceptional value for money.

Our last day.  We depart late afternoon for home.

Time for a ride on the Floibanen funicular up to the summit of Floyen for a breath-taking view of the city.  After checking out we made our way early to the funicular.  As I have previously said it rains a lot in Bergen but today the sun was shining.  Too early for the cruise boat passengers so we walked straight on.  The cars have glass ceilings and panoramic windows.  Lovely views from almost every seat.  The entire journey takes approximately 6 minutes from bottom to top, and vice versa.  There are two cars and each train takes 100 passengers.  The funicular railway climbs 320 metres up the steep track.

From Mount Floyen viewing platform it's easy to understand why Bergen has the nickname 'Gateway to the Fjords'.  Bergen is surrounded by seven mountains and we had a perfect panoramic view of the harbour and surrounding mountains.

We did an easy loop trail to the lake which took about 30 minutes.  It was not challenging.

For lunch we returned to the Fish Market and Fish Me.  Crab salad this time.  Excellent.

Overall I would say that a holiday in Norway is definitely on the very expensive side.  Yet the nature is incredible and the cities are fun to explore.  An expensive love affair.  We left Norway with memories we'll cherish for years to come.