Beauty is Sometimes Exhausting! June 29,2010

We rotate seats everyday and today, beyond the fact that it was a long day, I was almost beautied out by the end of the day. Still, today was my most favorite day so far. We started the day a little earlier than normally planned because our tour director likes to get a jump on the other tourist buses which you come to appreciate when it comes to taking rest stops, shopping or lunch breaks!

We started the day by taking a bus ride along the Nordfjord and then crossed the mountains and had a inspiring view of the Vatedalen Valley with Lake Jolster a beautiful focal point. The valleys are more narrow than in the Rocky Mountains and consequently you have very steep climbs from the valleys to the tops of the mountains surrounding the fjords. We climbed up to a high point where we could get some good pictures of Europe's largest glacier -- Jostedalbreen. The fjords have a very green appearance as does the glacier. Unfortunately, though our tour director provides a lot of history and current opinions on Norway, his home country, I almost always immediately go to sleep when he starts talking. However, today Pam and I and Karrah and Megan are sitting in the very front seats, so there would be no disguising a snooze on my part. I did manage not to embarass myself by sleeping today. We stopped in Fjaerland to see a very informative Glacier Museum. The 5 screen multimedia presentation of the glacier and some skiers was definitely an experience. One perception about glaciers that I corrected today was how carved they look from centuries of assault by the weather etc. We were supposed to have a two hour cruise on the Sognfjord. However, that cruise ship had mechanical problems so Oevin, our guide quickly went to plan B and moved us to the next port further down on the fjord. We did have a rather short ferry ride to another port where we caught a ferry that would deliver us to Gudvangen (the Nayordal River Valley is even more isolated and specatcular than the other river valleys we saw earlier today) Then with a quick bus trip to Flam, we also caught the Flam tram ride to the top of the mountain near Myrdal and saw an amazing waterfall just before getting to the peak. Then it was another hour train ride back down to the bottom. Because of the steep climb, this tram ride was spectacular also. I don't know if my pictures will do the waterfall justice but I will try to share some. Finally, we took the bus from Flam to our hotel - Hotel Stallheim which sits at the top. No TV in the rooms of this hotel. After dinner we went into one of the banquet rooms to catch the World Cup match between Portugal and Spain. Exhausting day, we saw so much. There are so many spectacular waterfalls in Norway----it you love photography as Pam, Megan, and I do, this is a match made in heaven.

Norway -- Up Close and Personal

I am going to post some pictures this evening. We had a fairly long bus ride and then finished the day with an absolutely breathtaking ferry ride across the Geirangerfjord to Loen. We are staying definitely in a 5 star hotel this evening. We had another amazing dinner and enjoyed the view from our room----a beautiful stave church set against a gorgeous mountain. Another high point of today was climbing to the Dalsnibba lookout over the Geirangerfjord. It was far above the treeline and to say that the road was narrow and winding would be an understatement. Fortunately, no motion sickness for me today! Enjoyed seeing the amazing waterfalls during our ferry ride. Myself, Pam and Megan were busily snapping away pictures today. Unfortunately, the pictures will never due justice to the views that we saw. Here are the pictures:

This first picture is of an exceptional waterfall that we captured from inside because the ferry ride began with rain which made the deck not the most hospitable place to be standing!

This second picture of Karrah, Megan, and Pam was taken from a site when we were descending from the Dalsnibba which looks over the Gierangerfjord.

Oslo - here we come!

None of us were very excited about the transatlantic flight, but we survived! Karrah thought it was the most boring thing ever! Had very little time to explore yesterday. Our current converters we purchased in the states did not work so we went searching for something that would. We are way too dependent on our electronic devices! We did make time to find a spot to watch the World Cup soccer game and were very disappointed with the outcome! We also found out that alcohol is very pricey in Norway. Last night our 4 drinks were over $50.00. Probably won't be sampling a whole lot of local brews.

Today we got up bright and early and were pleasantly surprised with the large and plentiful breakfast buffet. Everyone found something to their liking although we had to consult each other over a few items - trying to decide what they were. Megan and I were brave and tried a couple of the herring dishes. I don't think Megan will make it a daily part of her breakfast. We toured an open-air museum the had many old buildings that had been reassembled on the museum site. They were really neat and I hope my photos turn out. They also had another part of the museum where they demonstrated many old skills, like making a wheel, weaving, making stain glass windows, etc. A few individuals were making actual demonstrations, but since it was Sunday many of the exhibits didn't have the demonstrations going today. It was still fun seeing all of the old tools and equipment.

Pam

Finally arrived in Norway today at 11:30 Norway time, about 24 hours after we were supposed to arrive. We spent the evening Friday after we finally made it to Philadelphia sleeping in the terminal on the floor. Every room in Philly was booked presumably because of the bad storms that had moved through there earlier in the day. If someone would have told me I would be sleeping on the floor in a terminal during this trip, I would have told them, not possible. However, as I have learned all too many times, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the not so good, anything truly is possible so NEVER rule out the impossible. It's all perspective. Fortunately, I did not see the cockroach that Karrah spotted in the middle of the night until the next day. Some creature, I could guess he was 2 inches long and about 3/4 of an inch wide. Yikes!! Megan found rug burns on both of my elbows the next day-----oh the adventure of it all. AMAZING!