| Norway June 2014 |
A few months ago I came across a picture of the Pulpit Rock in Norway. I was fascinated by this piece of rock, rising 604 meter above the water of the Lysefjord. Searching the Internet I found that it was a major tourist attraction and that access from Stavanger was relatively easy. So Aric and I decided to make a trip to Norway, for both of us a first..:-)
Our plan was to take a flight to Stavanger, climb the Preikestolen as the rock is called in Norwegian, then travel to Bergen. From there to Oslo, using a combination of train, bus and boat with an overnight stop in the small village of Fløm. FInally fly back from Oslo to Amsterdam. A 11D10N trip.We booked our accommodation thru Airbnb. In Stavanger our host, Knut, had just decided to rent an apartment using Airbnb, we were his first guests. He was very eager to please, even picked us up from the airport!
As we arrived in the morning, we had a full day to explore Stavanger. It has an interesting historical district with the characteristic wooden houses. Large cruise ships in the harbour. As the apartment had a fully-equipped kitchen, we decided to prepare our dinner ourselves! |
 Our host Knut
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 The apartment
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 The harbour of Stavanger
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 Huge cruise ships
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 Old Stavanger
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 Picturesque
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 Beautiful houses
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 Not easy to lift :-)
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 What we bought in the shop
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 And the result
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 Start of the cruise
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We had two full days in Stavanger, so we studied the weather forecast to find out the best day for the Preikestolen trip. For the first day some drizzle was expected, so we chose the second day for our hike. Hmm, when we woke up the next morning, there was a blue sky! But we kept to our plan, which was to make a cruise in the Lysefjord so we could see the Preikestolen from below.
It was a pleasant half-day trip with nice views of the fjord and the pulpit rock. We had lunch near the harbour and in the afternoon we visited a memorial for a battle fought in 872. That's what I call history! Eating out in Norway costs you a bomb, and the quality is only so so, we had a simple dinner with a bacon hot dog...:-)
 Passing a bridge
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 The Lysefjord
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 Romantic countryside
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 Beautriful weather
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 Steep cliffs
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 Approaching the pulpit
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 Notice the red arrow
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 Preikestolen
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 Still snow in the hills
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 A gull
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 Back in Stavanger
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 The famous fish soup
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 Tasty mussels
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 Stavanger cathedral
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 Sverd i fjell
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 Our hot dog dinner
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 Ferry crossing. Dark clouds
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The next morning we discovered that we had been cheated by the weather forecast. A dark, clouded sky. What to do...:-)? To reach the Preikestolen trail head, you have first to take a ferry and then a bus. The trail is well maintained and climbs 330 meter over a distance of about 4 km. We reached the pulpit rock just before it started drizzling and raining.
What a spectacular rock it is! Worth the effort, pity that the weather was bad. We spent quite some time there, taking lots of pictures, before we walked down in a downpour. That evening we rewarded ourselves with a delicious dinner. The only really good meal we had in Norway. It came at a price, about 140 Euro.
 Map of our trail
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 Well maintained trail
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 Interesting erosion patterns
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 Almost there
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 There it is, the pulpit rock
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 A bit of sun
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 Then the rain started
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 Look at them
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 Another view
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 Yes, this is Aric!
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 Looking down
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 It became cold
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 We were soaked
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 A well deserved dinner
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 Delicious food
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 By bus and ferry to Bergen
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The next day we traveled to Bergen. Traveling along the coast in Norway is a slow process because of the many fjords you have to cross. But the landscape is nice and the ferries have a canteen where you can buy drinks and food.
Bergen is a big town, crowded by tourists. It is also a very old (Hanseatic) town, with many historical buildings. We stayed three nights here in another Airbnb apartment with a nice view of the harbour.Bryggen, the old wharf of Bergen, is a world heritage site, there is a lot to see. Near the harbour there are many seafood stalls, we decided to have a seafood platter, delicious, but 99 Euro (including two drinks) is really too much. We had splendid weather, surprisingly, because Bergen has the reputation that it always is raining there. We watched beautiful sunsets from our apartment. At 11 pm, it was almost the Summer Solstice.
 A Room with a View!
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 Near the harbour
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 Old houses
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 Seafood lunch
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 Old warehouses
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 Nice weather in Bergen!
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 Bright colours
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 The Stadsrat Lehmkuhl
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 Entrance Bergenhus castle
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 Rosenkrantz tower (~1560)
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 Just a nice house
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 The Sailor's monument
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 Near the harbour
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 Sunset at 11 pm !
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 Edvard Grieg
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One morning we visited the villa where Grieg composed several of his masterpieces. Beautifully located at one of the fjords. Included in the ticket price was a piano recital, with compositions by Grieg of course...:-)
 His villa
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 The studio where he wrote his music
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 Inside the studio
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 A nice concert hall with view of the fjord
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Bergen is surrounded by hills, and two of them are easily accessible by public transport. The Fløyen can be reached directly from the town center by a funicular, built in 1918! A popular tourist attraction with a nice view of the town. Much more impressive are the views from the Ulriken mountain. An extensive maze of hiking trails, pity we had only time for a short walk.
 The Fløibanen funicular
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 Going up
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 View of the town
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 One for the album
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 A crowd of tourists
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 The Ulriken cable car
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 Making the hill higher
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 Impressive landscape
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 Barren hills
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 Far away the snow
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For our travel from Bergen to Oslo we used the Norway in a Nutshell program. We booked at the tourist office a combination ticket for train, bus and boat, with an overnight stay in the small village of Flåm. Impressive scenery with a lot of waterfals!
 From Bergen to Oslo
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 Many waterfalls
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 Beautiful landscape
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 Another impressive fall
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 Cruising the fjord
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 The bird kept us company
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 Tiny villages
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 Paradise
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 Another fjord view
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 My fan club
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Flåm is an idyllic village at the end of a fjord. We had booked an apartment there and fortunately there was a supsermarket in the village, so we prepared our own dinner. It would be no problem to spend more days here and relax. In the afternoon we hiked to an impressive waterfall, the Brekkefossen fall.
The next day we took the famous Flåm Line to Myrdal. Over a distance of 20 km it climbs 863 meters. It has ten stations, twenty tunnels and one bridge! Halfway it stops for a few minutes, to let the passengers admire a spectacular waterfall.
In Myrdal we took the train to Oslo. Amazing landscape, lots of snow.
 Flåm
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 On our way to the waterfall
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 Brekkefossen fall
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 The Flåm railway to Myrdal
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 Train stop to admire the fall
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 From Myrdal to Oslo
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 .....
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 .....
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 .....
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In Oslo we had booked another nice Airbnb apartment, conveniently located not far from a Metro station. We spent the last days of our Norway trip, exploring the capital. Our first impression was not really positive, it is a big town, but there was enough to see. We paid a quick visit to the National Gallery, mainly to have a look at the famous painting "The Scream" by Munch. The Akershus fortress is a huge complex, we could only visit the outside, as there was a military function going on.
Another big complex is the new Oslo Opera House (2008). Interesting, but not as iconic as its counterpart in Sydney...:-)
 Our apartment in Oslo
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 The town hall
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 The parliament buildings (Storting)
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 National Gallery
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 The Scream
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 The Cathedral of Oslo
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 Storting Plass
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 Just nice
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 WWII monument
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 Akershus castle
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 Another view of the castle
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 Changing of the guards
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 Friendly Military
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 Oslo Opera House (2008)
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 Detail
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 Interior
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Probably the most popular tourist attraction in Oslo is the Vigeland installation in the Frogner park. Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) was a Norwegian sculptor. He created a huge collection of sculptures of athletic naked people. Most famous is the Monolith in the center of the park. We had beautiful weather, sometimes a bit too much contrast to take good pictures. Here a collection.
 Vigeland Installation
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 Many school trips
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 Collection of sculptures
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 The angry boy
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 The monolith
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 The Viking Ship museum
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Another popular attraction is the Viking Ship museum, where three Viking ships are exhibited. The most famous one is the Oseberg ship, discovered in a burial mound in 1904. The burial mound is dated AD 834(!), the ship itself is older. It is considered one of the finest finds of the Viking Age. Remains of two females have been found in the mound, they must have been of very high status. Sledges, beds, cooking pots and other grave goods were also found in the mound, to support the ladies in the afterlife. Fascinating.
 The Oseberg ship
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 Very elegant
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 view from above
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 detail
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 one of the sledges
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 detail
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 So beautiful!
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 Detail
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 Another Viking ship
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There were two more attractions we wanted to visit before we took our flight back to Amsterdam. The Ice Bar and the Nudist Beach...:-)! The Ice Bar was really cold, we were given a welcome drink in a glass made of ice. A nice contrast with the sunny beach just at the outskirts of Oslo.
Norway is more interesting than I expected, it was a very rewarding trip, but also tiring. Back home in Amsterdam, we needed two days to recover!
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