travel

If you’ve been reading the previous posts about this trip, you’ll know that we completed our time in Iceland and are now on our way to the green hills and valleys of Norway. Before I start weaving the tale of our time there I want to pause a moment and pray for the victims and their families as well as the survivors of the vicious terror attack that happened on July 22. I pray that the citizens of Norway can grieve for their loved ones and move forward living lives like the peaceful beautiful people they are. I hope that the families are getting comfort from God and from loved ones through this horrific time. And I hope that all the disturbed individuals out there—whether they are Norwegian, American, Al queda, or the scum of the earth pedophiles who traffic kids—can find forgiveness and peace in their hearts and learn to love instead of hate. Okay, so thank you for letting me get that out. On to the trip…

We arrived Monday night (July 4) in Oslo and immediately had to figure out the transportation system because the rail lines near Oslo were under construction. In fact, a lot of Oslo seemed to be under construction. Some very friendly and helpful people led us to the bus that would take us to the other bus we needed to catch to get onto the overnight train to Bergen. We took a lovely ride through the countryside as the sun set and darkness fell. Yes, there was some darkness in this part of Norway—being a bit more south than Iceland. When we got onto the train, we had to carefully figure out how to maneuver in the sleeping compartment. I felt like I was back at camp or college where you have three feet of living space and tons of stuff. The space between the bed and wall was as wide as the narrow part of my suitcase. Amy slept in the top bunk and we had a very cozy night listening to the sounds of the countryside passing us by. Trains can be a very pleasant way of traveling. The ride tends to be pretty smooth and comfortable. A note of warning should you decide to take the overnight train to Bergen. The guy in charge of waking everyone up has a key to your compartment and he isn’t afraid to use it. Amy and I were momentarily shocked to see a very large scandinavian man looming into our little closet first thing in the morning. Glad we were decent!

It’s now 7 a.m. and we are getting off the train in Bergen and heading for our hotel. Upon arrival, we asked the front desk clerk if we could check in early. Nope. Okay but we can store our stuff and go exploring, so that’s cool. I asked the young man what the temperature/weather was going to be like that day and he replied, “Did you come to Bergen for the weather?” Whoa, smart ass. I don’t suppose you notice the very weary look on my face that just changed to the look that says, “Just answer my question you stupid brat, I had a reason for asking it and don’t need some jerk like you treating me with such disrespect—especially considering I am a paying guest in the hotel you are working in.” After telling him yes, we decided against Tahiti and the Caribbean and wanted to visit Bergen for it’s beaches and spas, I walked away to change into the appropriate clothes for touring the city for the day.

Off we went for a quick breakfast in a bakery that someone recommended. It was okay. Kind of fun to see the locals coming in before heading off to work for the day. There were several young men that came in and flirted with the pretty girl behind the counter. The McDonalds around the corner that was located in a very un-McDonald’s type building would have been fine with me. Just kidding—I don’t do that when traveling. The horror! So moving on, we got our hop on hop off tickets and Bergen cards at the visitor center and started the day. Passing by the famous fish market and its stalls of seafood, clothes, trolls, fresh fruit, and more, looked very tempting.

I got off the bus at the cultural museum and took a quick tour looking at the ancient Viking artifacts, American Indian artifacts, and some Egyptian mummies. An eclectical little place, and interesting, but I had little time to explore everything. So the hop on hop off bus took me around back to the downtown area where I got off to explore the Bryggen museum where they had an excavation of ancient lot where early settlers lived. Bergen (on the southeast coast of Norway) was once an international hot spot and the capital of Norway. The early settlers were smart and saavy players. After the Bryggen museum I strolled around the grounds of Haakon’s Hall and then went in for a look-see. King Håkon Håkonsson had the hall built between 1247 and 1261. It had very interesting decorations—these tapestries with what I would describe as kind of Viking hieroglyphics on them.

Feet hurting but the desire to explore overcoming the pain; I went over to the Floibanan Funicular and stood in line to take my turn on the train that took us about 350 yard up the steep slope of the mountainside. One of the things I was really looking forward to that I had to give up doing was hiking around and down the mountains here. The boot was helping me walk but all I could do was stare out at the scenery and down at the town of Bergen while doing some people watching.

My friends were on other missions that day and we met up later at the hotel. Before I headed back I took an ill conceived but pretty walk through town. Back at the Comfort Inn, I decided I had to stay close by to eat (no more walking) and had a surprisingly wonderful meal right at the hotel restaurant. I ate outside at a little table and just enjoyed looking out onto the European town as the sun set low in the sky. Nice.

So Bergen was a quaint town with some fun attractions. After keeping Amy up all night with my nocturnal chatter, we headed out of town for our next tour. Stay tuned!

Brygeen in Bergen. The Hanseatic houses line the wharf area.

View of the Bergen wharf area from the top of the funicular. McDonald's in Bergen. Not your typically golden arches.

The architecture in the Bryggen area of Bergen was very cool.

An artistic way of beautifying a sewer cap in Bergen.

At the top of the floibanan funicular.

McDonald's in Bergen. Not your typically golden arches.

This is part duex of the Goecco Adventure tour we took to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Part one was the last post on this blog. So onward little vikings! The next place we visited was the church where Jonas and his wife got married. It was a very picturesque place with magnificent views of Snaefellsnes and the coast as well as some of the many gorgeous waterfalls dotting the hillsides. We walked around and went into a shop that a locally known witch owns. I’m not into that stuff but she had some cute plants growing out of old boots.

Next up was an area of the coast with cool rock formations—the basalt rocks that form due to the volcanic eruptions could be seen here. After first taking in the Snaefellsness Viking god statue, we walked along the cliff side (not ski-boot friendly terrain) in the rain. It was worth it to see the colors and shapes of the coast line. My patient group of friends waited for me to finally get in the van and we headed on to the black beach.

It was raining super hard when we got to the black beach so my leg and I limped only a little of the way. The rest of the crew went down for awhile to soak up the energy of the black rock beach—supposedley it’s one of those “energy” places around the earth—kind of like Sedona is. I thought is was nice and took a walk around the top area where once again I could see numerous faces and characters in the various rocks and landscape.

The sun came up just in time for us to get a fabulous view of the Snaefellsness glacier. As we drove, the scenery just changed from beautiful to a different kind of beautiful. Our final stop of the day is ahead—at a local farm. We get out to see a yard full of the unique and wonderful Icelandic horses that we’ve seen everywhere on our trip. Amy is going to partake in a trail ride while the rest of us tour the farm and pet the dogs. Yup, they had those friendly dogs we saw previously on our trip. They are super friendly and cute. We walked along the coast—the farm was on the water with the glaciers and mountains on the other side—not a bad way to live if you ask me.

Back in the garage of the barn, Ymir and Villi were cooking up some treats for us on the grill. Jonas offered up something that appeared to be chunks of delicious steak. It was delicious but it turned out to be whale. I know what you’re thinking but it was good and they assured us that the whaling laws in effect prevent the species from being endangered. Give me some more! I have to say that the meal they served us was one of the best I’ve ever had. Juicy lamb and perfectly grilled cod, tasty potato salad from the restaurant Dill, one of Iceland’s top-rated establishments, and salad, veggies, and wine rounded out the mouth-watering experience that was our dinner. Can’t say enough about how fun that was. We met another family from Colorado and Nebraska that were on our tour but traveling in another van. Nice people, just like everyone we met there.

Time to head back home. The tour took longer than anticipated and we hugged Jonas goodbye sometime around midnight or later. What a fabulous day. A great tour, great guides, and yet again, stunning beauty everywhere. Thanks guys!

Beautiful scenery on the Snaefellsnes peninsula.

This is Jonas’ Saga. Just kidding—Jonas was our tour guide for tour number three—day four in Iceland. I found Jonas’ group online—the Goecco Outdoor Adventure tours. What got us interested was that their promotional copy said they would take us to “secret places.” Now during the booking process, I noticed that Jonas was a pretty laid back guy and was worried at first that he wouldn’t show up or our tour would be cancelled for some random reason. No worries—although he is a self-described “hippy and conspiracy theorist” he’s also a very responsible businessman who is well attuned to delivering exceptional customer service and protecting his business.

Jonas picks us up at 8 a.m. in a mini van that we will be sharing with a nice couple from New York. I get to sit in the front for a lot of trip and am entertained with Jonas’ view about the irresponsible spending of the Icelandic people and the lack of attention drawn to the economic disaster that they are in. Between politics and history he slips in the “we didn’t go to the moon” theory, but overall he was a fascinating character and we had a wonderful day.

Our trip was north east to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. At first—and still a bit today—we didn’t know how to pronounce it so we were calling it Snuffleupagus (you know the Sesame Street character). Anyhoo, the volcanic glacier of the same name is where Jules Verne’s characters in the Journey to the Center of the Earth actually enter the path to the center of the earth.

Our first stop was Borgarnes—a town just on the other side of the whale-fjord which we drove underneath saving us hours of time. A bit up the road we stopped off along a beautiful river flowing around a house where a few guys were fishing for our dinner that evening. With the Lupin dotting the foreground and the mountains providing the background, it was a lovely photo op and chance to take in some truly fresh air.

On to the drive through the lava fields toward the fire volcano. This was truly mouth dropping pretty. Despite my ski-boot wrapped ankle, I hiked up this red crater following my friends to get a better, then more better view of the sorrounding countryside. The lava fields had some kind of addicitive power. They were just a bunch of craggly rocks covered with moss but it was ever changing and everywhere. I coudn’t stop clicking away on my camera because each scene changed and presented something unique to look at. While standing on this red fire crater, we could see miles of the lava fields to the green and ice covered volcanoes that once spewed forth the lava before us. After getting our fill, we drove on through the lava field to one of the secret places.

Jonas began by telling us of a story about vikings killing outlaws around the year 1200. This was the place because there have been some ancient artifacts dug up in the area providing credence to the tale. And here, in the middle of nowhere was a nice naturally occuring hot spring. Amy, Jen and I (and the husband of the couple) changed behind the van (not all together at once mind you) and settled into the hot spring for a relaxing dip. Jonas served some rather decent wine (out of a box in plastic cups) and some shark. The shark did not smell good but I tried it anyway and it tasted like crab. Yummy. Some of the others did not think it was good. To each his own I guess. While we bathed, Jonas got out his metal detector to look for any ancient relics that might still be buried in the area. The bugs were a plenty and Butter was wrapped up like Yenta and taking our pictures for us. So time to get out and head for the beach area where the seals hang out.

Jonas offered us some sandwich type snacks as we searched the rocks and saw a couple of seals off in the distance. The beach was interesting, full of colorful kelp like stuff. It was an okay stop and more lovely views to see.

For now that’s it. This was a very long day, so hang in there with me—some great things are coming. I’ll tell the rest of the Goecco day in the next post. Coming up: energy rocks, whale meat, and more.