Norge

In the summer we did a few Norwegian cruises and I was lucky enough to visit many stunning places in my weeks there.

As you will see, it was a beautiful country to explore. I went on hikes, admired waterfalls, took boat rides through majestic fjords, drove through peaceful valleys and admired the view from incredible mountaintops.

It is a wonderful country filled with intelligent and friendly people and I would love to go back again someday.

This was a boat cruise through the Geiranger Fjord, one of Norway's most famous and beautiful fjords. It is also Norway's second longest.

For anyone who is unsure, a fjord is a long, narrow arm of sea, bordered by steep cliffs. It is usually formed by glacial erosion. There are fjords all over the world, but the word fjord itself is Norwegian, and I can see how the Norwegian ones could be a famous example.

In 2006, National Geographic named the Geiranger fjord the most exotic tourist destination in the world.





I visited the Geiranger on an overcast, rainy day, and it was still breathtaking. I can only imagine what it would look like on a bright, sunny day. Even the postcards I've seen struck me speechless.
Where the fjord ends, tucked deep inside the mountains and isolated from most of the rest of Norway, we visited the tiny town of Geiranger.

Because Norway is so northerly, most of the country has only a few hours of sunlight a day in the winter. In Geiranger, which is ringed by towering mountains, no one sees the sun itself for about three months in the deepest part of winter. Although the sky gets bright for a few hours, the sun sits so low in the sky that it isn't visible until spring. I think I would die.

This is the famous Seven Sisters waterfall.
This waterfall, called The Suitor, is directly across from the Seven Sisters. Legend says that the suitor was turned down by all seven of the sisters and, in his depression, started to drink. In the rock at the bottom of the falls, where the water splits into two, you can see his bottle.
Even in such an isolated part of the country, poorer people would carve out an existence on the steep cliffs surrounding the fjord. How they managed to grow food here I'll never know.

To reach their farms they had to sail into the fjord and then climb a long ladder up the cliff.

When they let their children go outside to play they tied them to the house so that they wouldn't fall over the edge and be killed. I cannot imagine what their lives must have been like.

The beautiful town of Alesund. I wandered around here on a few different occasions and have some stunning photos from a nearby mountain. Unfortunately for this blog, they are on film.
In 1904 the town of Alesund was the site of a huge fire that destoryed the downtown with all its traditional wooden buildings. 10,000 people lost their homes in the blaze.

Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany had often vacationed in Alesund, and upon hearing of the fire he sent four ships filled with building supplies to help the residents built temporary shelters.

In the years after the fire, the town was rebuilt using brick, mortar and stone in the Art Nouveau style. Today it is a very pretty little town. Filled with interesting architecture.


In Norway, like in Atlantic Canada, most people eked out an existence from the sea. Everywhere you look there are references to fishing and sailing, and the sea is ubiquitous in their culture and history.



Even when we were at sea, the surrounding scenery was beautiful to see. I could sit and watch it all day.

Flam. Sigh. Flam was my favourite place I visited in Norway. It is such a beautiful, picturesque little town, so still and peaceful.

Jack and I took a famous train from Flam, through the surrounding countryside, past waterfalls, through valleys and over mountains.
This is one of my favourite photos I took in all of Norway. I find this little town breathtakingly beautiful.


The train was so cute and quaint.

We stopped to see the Kjosfossen waterfall, which was amazing. Norway is so full of waterfalls it is hard to wrap your head around. To give you an idea of the size of the waterfall, look for the woman in the dress standing on the rock.



Bergen is the second biggest city in Norway, after Oslo. Bergen has so much rain that it has earned the nickname City of Rain. When I was there, though, we had beautiful weather.

These buildings are part of Bryggen, the old wharf area of the city. The old wooden buildings and the surrounding wharf is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Traditional buildings in Norway often had grass and moss growing on the roof to help insulate from the cold. They would put goats up on the roof to keep the lawn mown.
Molde is a very pretty little town with a mountain, Mount Varden that I spent a morning hiking around. The town is famous for its roses, which were everywhere, in every colour and shape imaginable. They made for a very enjoyable stroll around town.

The Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. I didn't get to spend much time in Oslo, just walked around its pretty harbour area.

The view from the quiet town of Tromso.
More traditional wooden buildings line Tromso's waterfront.

In Olden Jack and I went on a hike to the Briksdal Glacier.


Cute little goats playing in the grass on the side of the trail.
First glimpse of the glacier.

Me and one of Norway's many trolls.
After all that fresh air and exercise we were happy to have coffee and homemade desserts in the lodge nearby.