As it was Constitution Day, many patriotic citizens were dressed in their traditional outfits to celebrate.
We caught the 8:20 train along the Bergen Line, towards Myrdal, to start our "Norway in a nutshell" tour. I found a lovely map on the web, if you want to follow along at home.
The train rode through the countryside, with tranquil views of rolling hills, lakes, and farmland.
Along the 4.5 hour ride, the train climbed several thousand feet in elevation, stopping in tiny towns that appeared to be little more than a clump of buildings around a rail station.
The higher we went, the views out the windows changed more and more to winter.
This train ride took us over dozens of bridges and through many miles of tunnels and snow sheds. (According to the Wikipedia article, there are 182 tunnels, totaling 45 miles in length, 10 of which are over a mile long each.)
At a one or two stops, passengers disembarked with skis. Elevation somewhere around 4000 feet?
We rolled into Myrdal station just after 1 PM, and had a few minutes to grab a snack before boarding the Flåm railway for the next leg of the journey.
The train to Flåm descends steeply through a valley, from about 2800 feet to sea level. Along the way, it stops at the viewing platform for the Kjosfossen.
There's also a road/path that some people apparently choose to bike down; rental bikes are available at the top.
The side of the valley is littered with small waterfalls, which the recorded narration pointed out along the descent.
Near the bottom, we passed along the outskirts of the "old" town of Flåm, which is apparently too far from the cruise terminal to be useful anymore.
After an hour or so, we reached the end of the line, and everyone spilled out into the sunshine.
The next leg of the tour didn't depart until 4 PM, so we had over an hour to spend wandering around the picturesque port.
Top priority was finding something to eat; after an exhaustive search, we were disappointed with the value proposition and visual appeal of food choices.
Our first boat trip of this trip is a scenic ride through Nærøyfjord aboard the Future of the Fjords.
The weather was ideal, the boat wasn't crowded, and the views were stunning.
The tour even pauses at a prominent waterfall, so everyone can take photos.
The walls of the fjord were runneled with small waterfalls, fed by snow melt from above.
We couldn't have hoped for a better day for the Nutshell tour. Our impression is that we didn't experience the typical weather for this area.
Just before 6 PM, we landed in Gudvangen, which is so small it makes Flåm look like a bustling city.
Almost everyone from the boat marched directly to the waiting buses for the next leg of the journey.
The bus slithered its way up a narrow road to the Stalheim hotel, to drop off two passengers.
The road back down is apparently the steepest road in Norway, and almost too crazy for the bus to navigate.
It is, however, a great way to see more waterfalls.
I'm not sure this barrier would stop a bus...
The driver stopped at Kjelfossen for a photo op, and I think he mentioned the height of the falls.
Another hour or so, and we pulled into the Voss bus depot, just after 7 PM.
From there, it's a short walk to the train station, to continue along the Bergen line, all the way to Bergen this time.
After another 90-ish minutes on the train, through a lovely-but-less-photo-worthy stretch of the Norwegian hinterlands, we finally arrived in Bergen at 9 PM.
It was a mercifully brief stroll to the Airbnb location, only a few blocks from the train station.
Sabrina and I went out to find a light dinner, as we hadn't eaten anything that could be considered a meal all day. We ended up at Bella Paris, a block or two from the apartment.
This endeavor took longer than anticipated, and, due to a slight miscommunication, resulted in me being on the receiving end of an entire pizza (Sabrina only ordered a salad... the waiter's assumption that the pizza was for both of us is totally understandable). Since there's a refrigerator in the apartment, I took about half of it to go. More on that tomorrow, probably.
On the way back to the apartment, we were treated to a lovely sunset (at 10:30).
On the train, we had overheard something about fireworks at 10:30 PM, to end the Constitution Day celebration, but severely discounted that rumor since the sun doesn't set until after 10. The entire city was still partying when we arrived, though.
The fireworks were at 11:15 PM, as it turns out. We had a great view from the apartment windows, as they were being launched from the city center, not far from the train station.
As soon as the fireworks ended, the party was over and the city went silent.
Tomorrow, we will explore Bergen, and then board the train back to Oslo.
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