Norway

North to the Arctic Circle

Posted by Mark Sullivan on August 9, 2022

Posted in: Europe, Norway. 1 comment

Entering Geraingerfjord, the most celebrated of Norway’s famed fjords

The 13th century Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is the northernmost Gothic building in Europe — and Scandinavia’s largest medieval building

We left Bergen on the MS Havila Castor, sailing our way to the far north of Norway. It’ll take six days to reach Kirkenes, at the very top of the Norwegian mainland at the border with Russia.

More of the stunning cathedral interior

A waterfall in Geraingerfjord

Two companies — Havila and its older competitor Hurtigruten — today run ferry services that shuttle people, tourists, mail, and freight along this extensive coastline. The fist steam ferries began running between Trondheim and Tromsø in 1838. By 1908 service covered the whole route from Bergen to Kirkenes.

Today, these companies feel like a cross between a ferry service and a cruise line. Some passengers travel short distances, while others spend a week or two going up the coast, down the coast, or even round trip. The boats offer comfortable accommodations, tasty Norwegian cuisine, shore excursions, and plenty of clean Scandinavian design.

Early in our journey we sailed deep into Geraingerfjord, the mother of Norway’s spectacular fjords. The next day we spent a few hours on shore in the elegant university town of Trondheim (which we will return to after the boat trip). And this morning, halfway into our trip, we crossed the Arctic Circle. And with three more days to go!

So far this has been a great way to see Norway. We spend a lot of the days and evenings sitting on our own balcony just watching the landscape glide by. The scenery includes mountains, islands, pretty harbors, little towns, and no end of isolated houses that you can’t even imagine how people get to.

It all sits under moody skies, patches of fog, occasional wind and rain, and sudden bursts of sunshine. And the long summer days seem to get noticeably longer with each northbound day. We love watching the landscape slowly darken between 10 and 11 pm. But not for long: Sunrise tomorrow is scheduled for 3:12 am.

Steep cliffs and lots of waterfalls line Geraingerfjord

More waterfalls

Approaching the town of Gerainger at the far tip of the fjord

Our boat in Trondheim

This crown was traditionally used for the coronation of the kings of Norway. But the last couple kings pared back the celebration from a “coronation” to a simpler “benediction,” so now the lovely crown just collects dust in the museum near the Trondheim Cathedral.

Posing in pretty Trondheim

Norwegians seem to love classic American cars. This 1956 Buick Roadmaster was in mint condition.

We loved watching the landscape slowly get dark between 10 and 11 pm

This monument welcomed us across the Arctic Circle this morning

Bergen

Posted by Jim St. George on August 6, 2022

Posted in: Europe, Norway, UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1 comment

Beautiful, moody Bergen, snuggled in between the sea and the mountains

From Finse our next stop was Bergen, over on Norway’s western coast. The second largest city in Norway (after Oslo) and Norway’s capital in the 13th century, today it is an important commercial port and major tourist destination. The historic buildings on the eastern side of the old city harbor known as Bryggen form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

One of Bergen’s picturesque streets

First though, we had to get here from Finse. We’ve traveled by train a lot in Europe and we’ve come to expect reasonably timely service, reasonably comfortable service, a reasonably easy trip. OK, not so much in Norway. Our train was some 45 minutes late getting into Finse, it stopped a few times en route to Bergen due to technical problems, there was no café car, and we’d been warned that at the penultimate stop we would have to get off and transfer to a bus.

OK, things go wrong. But when we got off the train to finish the trip by bus … there was no bus. The signs all pointed to the place to catch a bus, but there was no bus. I just assumed they would have that all arranged but … not so much. Now eventually we only had to wait 10 or 15 minutes, but then the bus didn’t have enough seats for everyone so some people had to stand the full 30 or 35 minutes it took us to get to Bergen. Not exactly what you expect for Europe’s train system.

Eventually, though, we got to Bergen. The first thing to note about our stay here was that the weather was not normal. You know those European heat waves you’ve heard about recently? Totally missed Norway. Mark was here 36 years ago in August and he remembers normal summer weather. Our three-night stay was all rain and fog and cold and more rain. You’d look at the forecast on your iPhone and see that there was a high chance of rain, and sure enough it was raining. You’d look at your iPhone and see there was zero percent chance of rain and … it was probably raining then anyway.

Three American tourists, three new raincoats!

One result was that the tourist stores along the harbor were full of tourists buying rain coats and rain pants and sweaters and coats and gloves. And when I say “tourists,” of course I’m referring to Mark and Jim. And Bart and Ann, who joined us here for the three days. And as you walk around the city you can see all these tourists who, just like us, have the nicest, cleanest, newest cold wet weather gear on. Quite the sight.

What’s to do in Bergen? Parts of it are really beautiful, you’re surrounded by water and mountains, and with all the precipitation the greenery is practically exploding. So you walk around (in your rain coat and rain pants, maybe an umbrella) and enjoy the moody beauty. A funicular takes you high above the city where there are great views and beautiful trails.

Bart & Ann enjoying the views from above the city

But there’s only so much of that you want to do in the rain. So there’s always laundry to do. Mark had done the research and found the service where you can drop off your dirty clothes in the morning and pick up clean, folded clothes in the afternoon. Sadly, though, the owners were on their summer holiday so instead I had to schlep some two miles north of the city center to a laundromat. Not ideal, but there’s little that makes us happier than a suitcase full of clean clothes.

Mark, Ann, & Bart getting high

And then spending time with Bart & Ann. Walking around, laughing, joking, finding places to eat. Talking politics and catching up on stories of the people we know but don’t see anymore. And playing Hearts. Lots of playing Hearts. Mark was the big winner if you’re wondering.

Now the sun is trying to poke out so it’s time to get the heck out. From here we board a boat and will spend six days sailing up through the fjords, up past the Arctic circle to the very northeast edge of Norway. Despite what one might think after reading about our two weeks on a boat in Croatia and now this trip, we’re honestly not cruise or really even boat people. But I didn’t want my first fjord experience to be some cheap day trip, and the chance to get that far north just seemed too good to pass up. So here we go.

More moody Bergen

Cozy streets

Cute houses

Historic wooden buildings in Bryggen

There’s a lot of green in this city

Oh right – history and culture. This was the King’s Hall next to Bergen’s old fortress. It is still used sometimes for events and concerts.

Political street art

Mark is always making new friends

A trail up above the city

Another pretty, wet street in the old town

Hard to believe that 25 years ago Bart was building our condo in Cambridge. A quarter of a century later there’s no couple we enjoy traveling with more.

Finse

Posted by Mark Sullivan on August 4, 2022

Posted in: Europe, Norway. Leave a Comment

Jim crosses a bridge at the far end of our hike outside of Finse

We left Oslo on the train headed for Bergen, a pretty six-hour ride across the Norwegian heartland. But we stopped along the way in the tiny settlement of Finse for a couple days of hiking and bike riding.

When I say tiny, I mean it. There is very little here, other than a train station and a hotel right next to it. In fact, this charming hotel, Finse 1222, can only be reached by train or by a gravel path that brings in hikers and bicyclists.

The “1222” in our hotel name refers to the elevation of 1,222 meters. Apparently this is enough elevation to dramatically alter the weather patterns, compared with the coast. We were pretty excited to head out on a hike on our first day in temperatures in the 40s Fahrenheit, under partly sunny skies. The dramatic landscape really sparkled in these very comfortable hiking conditions.

Mark takes in a sunny moment on our hike

There are a scattering of cabins in the area. This is for when you really, really want to get away.

Crossing a bridge on our hike, before we appreciated how nice the weather really was

The first day was all bright sunshine and greens and blues. Then the weather turned bad and there wasn’t so much color.

Lunch on the train to Finse was going to be modest – just a salad with some salmon – until we discovered these hot dogs. Turned it into a feast!

A roaring stream on our hike

The next day we decided to rent bikes so we could make our way further out from Finse, though we were somewhat concerned about a weather forecast that included rain all day. As I suspected though, it was that kind of Scandinavian rain that doesn’t bother you too much — a really light rain, the kind where the sun sometimes peeks out even while it’s raining. At least that’s what we got at first.

We headed west on our bikes toward the next “town” of Fagernuten, about 10 km away. The gravel path was a bit rough, but not too bad. But as we went along, some stretches got a little worse, the rain kicked up a bit more, and we hit occasional patches of snow that you had to walk the bike through. As the conditions worsened, I made up my mind that reaching Fagernuten would be enough accomplishment for me.

As we guessed, Fagernuten, with its one building, made Finse look like a bustling metropolis. I turned back for Finse there, and Jim decided he wanted to try going a little further. On the way home the wind was in my face and the rain got worse and worse. I was totally soaked and unbelievably relieved to make it back.

After I peeled off my dripping clothes and took a hot shower, I headed to the cozy lobby to await Jim’s return. Meanwhile I met a super friendly couple — Mike from Chicago and Ina from Bergen, though they live near Oslo now.

When we somehow got on the subject of the Munch museum, Ina told me she was actually an art historian specializing in Munch. I responded that I’d just has dinner with another Munch expert, to which she immediate asked, “Pat?” Now that is a very small world!