Back in the oven we call Central Texas

Well, I'm back at home after travelling for around 21 hours. Not much happened the last two days in Bergen. On Tuesday, my last night, I went to a highly recommended restaurant and had a reindeer fillet. It was fantastic.

But in the end, it was time to leave the cobblestone streets, rain, waterfalls and fjords behind and return home to Austin. I almost had a heat stroke at 10pm when I got off the plane. It will definitely take a few days to readjust to the 100+ temperatures.

Sunday and back in Bergen

So I finished out the day in Stavanger yesterday and moved from the hostel to a Best Western by the harbor (thank you Michelle for looking up the address so I could actually find it after walking for 20 minutes with no luck). It was a small but comfortable room. I couldn't figure out how to work the elevator - or the light switches in the room for that matter. Who knew you had to plug your room key in the wall and leave it there for the lights to work?

I took the ferry from Stavanger back to Bergen this afternoon and am back at my original hostel. For those of you that have been reading since the beginning, you know that means no more photos. But then again, you've alerady seen Bergen.

Tonight there is a summer concert in the 700-year-old church down the street. There's nothing else to do on Sundays, so I guess I'll be there.

I'll spend the next couple of days shopping for stuff to ship back. Fish balls for all!

Saturday - Just a day in the town

Haven't done too much today. It's been raining off and on, so I have stayed fairly close to town.

The wind from the storms has brought out the sailboats in the main harbor area.


I stopped in the National Petroleum Museum. This is the drill control room from an offshore drilling rig. They had a lot of interactive displays. I could control some of the drilling rig parts from these panels.


I also went in some of the local shops. This is a photo from a gourmet food store. All of the bottles on the wall are various types of olive oils. Prices range from around $25 to $250 a bottle.

So here's what money can buy you in Norway . . .

Ride the local bus one direction - $4.00
1/2 liter Pepsi - $4.50
Movie Ticket - $18.70
Burger King Meal - $16.00
Average sit down lunch in a pub (Burger, fries, etc.) - $25.50
Pint of beer to go with lunch - $13.50
A pound of bacon in the store - $22.87
Reindeer fur - $119.00
Dale of Norway sweater - $238.00
Solid brass oil lantern for a boat - $408.00

Wage for a college student washing dishes part time - 120 kroner/hour = $20.40/hour

Not a cheap place to visit, but I guess if you work here it all evens out in the end.

Friday - The trip to Stavanger

I took a 4 1/2 hour boat ride to Stavanger Friday morning. the boat was a lot like the one from Flåm. We made several stops along the way, including one in Balestrand. The Balestrand port was full of wooden sailboats.

Balestrand Port



Market (or Torget) area of Stavanger



The old cathedral in downtown Stavanger. It has been around for 900 years and has been in use the entire time. The inside has elaborate wood carvings and old stone objects (like a holy water basin) that are hundreds of years old and very ornate.

I tried of couple of new foods yesterday, Romegrøt and Risengrøt. Romegrøt was rome-grøss. It's a sour cream porridge that is very thick and nasty. I tried making it once before and thought I made it wong. Apparently not, the real stuff is just as bad. Risengrøt on the other had is Risen-gøød. It's a rice prrodge that is sweet and served with melted butter and sugar on top. It's a lot like rice pudding.

I also tried the bacon-in-a-tube (Bacon Ost) on some bread. It's pretty good. I think it's like a cream cheese that has bacon in it. I also like Snøfrisk, a creamy goat cheese that is like regular cream cheese.

Tonight I'll be cooking fiskekake.



I went to the movies last night to watch Inglorious Basterds. It was a pretty good film. They have assigned seats in the theater, which was something new. We were told that American movies are in English, with Norge subtitles. They were right, other than the fact that a third of the movie is in French and German - and the Norge subtitles replaced the normal English subtitles. I was able to pick out just enough between the three languages to make sense of what was being said.
A little blurry, but the theaters are pretty nice.


It was raining very hard first thing this morning, but appears to have cleared up, so I'm headed out to visit some museums today.

Flåm and boat back to Bergen - Thursday

I took a short fjord cruise in the morning to get a better view of the area around Flåm and the fjord.

This lookout point is way up a mountain from the town of Aurland. I thought the bus driver was going to kill us on the winding one-lane road up the side of the cliff. He was sure he had the right of way up and down and the oncoming traffic could just back up or he would push them out of the way.


Inside Vangen Kyrkje, a church built in 1202 in the town of Aurland. It amazes me that it is still here and used 800 years later.


The town of Aurland from on top of the mountain.


I boarded an expressboat from Flåm to Bergen at 3pm. The trip took about 5 hours and went the entire length of the Sognefjord (where Flåm is located) and then out into the ocean.


The expressboats are really nice. They have full service concessions and a great viewing deck on the roof.


One of the towns we passed in Sognefjord.

I got into Bergen and it was raining - again. Stayed just long enough to sleep and catch a boat to Stavenger this morning (Friday). It was a 4 1/2 hour trip. The weather here is great. No rain or clouds.

Voss to Flåm

On Wednesday morning I took the Flåmsbana train to the village of Flåm, which only has about 450 people.

The train stops at this 300+ foot waterfall along the way.


This is the old part of Flåm village as we passed by in the train.


I stayed at a really nice hostel is Flåm. It can't be a year old and has a really nice commercial kitchen and living area with leather furniture.


The first afternoon I hiked up the side of a mountain to a really nice waterfall. I can't get the picture to load here for some reason.

Another day in Voss

I started the day yesterday by picking up a Pepsi at my favorite cafe in town and looking over the trail maps. One thing I've learned is that Pepsi doesn't taste the same outside the States. Notice that the place looks like a ghost town? That's because it is. No one moves around here until around 9am. The post office, banks and government offices close at 3pm, the stores at 5pm and most food places by 8pm. I think I was the first person downtown yesterday morning.



Here's where I have been staying the last two nights - the Voss Hostel. It's a pretty nice 3-story place that sits right on the lake. Better yet, it has a sauna.


A look out at the town as I head into the mountains for the day yesterday. The hostel is just off the picture on the left hand side across the lake.


About an hour later, this is all I can see of the town (the little spot in the valley about the middle of the shot).


When you walk in the woods, don't startle the sheep. They don't take kindly to strangers.


A picture of Bordalsgjelet, a deep canyon with lots of waterfalls. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the canyon at this point is about 200 feet deep and the waterfall drops about 50 feet.



At the end of a walk you get to look out over the mountain and take in the beauty of the area. The best part is that you're there and and don't have to climb up any more. The worse part is, you still have to walk as far to get back down. And of course, I picked a mountain with no snow on top. No snow angels for now.

Today is Wednesday morning, and I'm about to walk across the street to catch the 9am train to Flåm, where I will spend one night. Flåm in a small town that sits on the edge of Sognefjord. The population is about 450 people. I don't think they have any internet, so you won't see anything here until I get back to Bergen on Thursday.

Tuesday Morning

I couldn't walk the mountain yesterday due to the fact that the cable car to the top stops at 5pm. Not enough time to get there and back. So, I'm headed there this morning.

Yesterday I went shopping the in the market area downtown and walked across the pedestrian suspension bridge to the the other side of the river. There is a loop trail that goes along the lake and river and back through town. It's about 3 or 4 miles.

They have free food every morning at the hostel. Someone really should show these people how to do breakfast. Would it kill them to make some bacon, eggs and pancakes? Spelt bread with cucumber and tomato and musli with buttermilk is not exactly what I want to eat first thing in the morning. Toast with cheese is about all I can manage off the buffet.

The train to Voss (Monday AM)

I left Bergen at 8:30 this morning headed to Voss for two nights. Voss is a small town on a lake about 90 minutes inland from Bergen. I am planning to take a cable car up to the mountains and hike today.

A couple of shots from the train on the way to Voss.



Across the lake from the Voss hostel. Yes, that is snow. Yes, I plan to hike up there and make a snow angel or something. Not a big deal for those of you up north, but a big deal for someone from Austin that only sees 1/4" of snow every few years.



Dad, I got your e-mails. I sent a few out, but they don't seem to be going through. Sounds like Judi is doing pretty good. That's great news.

Finally, somewhere I can upload a few photos . . .
This is the Bergen YMCA Hostel where I spent the first three nights. It is one block from the waterfront near the fishmarket.



Typical side street in Bergen. This one is about 4 or 5 blocks behind the hostel.



Looking back at the town from the waterfront. The red and white tents along the water is the fishmarket.


One of the vendors at the fishmarket. The dark red meat just to the vendor's right is whale.


Overview of the downtown area from on top of the mountain. There is a very steep train that takes you directly up the mountain. As you can see, it is overcast and rained most of the day.


The NSB train station. They don't make them like this in Austin.

No more dry shoes

Well, it actually rained again today. I went to the lepresy museum, visited the King's hall and residence that was built hundreds of years ago, and watched a performance of the Royal Norwegian Military Band.

I am now back in dry clothes, minus any shoes, and full of free waffles. I'm packing and planning my trip for the next couple of days to Voss, Myrdal and Flåm. The first half of the loop is by train, the second by express boat on the Sognefjord.

Not much else to say right now.

-Eric

Another day of rain . . .

And so it continues. I am down to only one pair of dry shoes and one dry jacket after walking the city today. I covered most of the downtown area and part of the residential area across the fjord.

At noon today I went to Grieghallen for the Bergen Orchestra's Summer Concert. It was really good. They had two guest soloists, one from Paris and one from South Korea. It was well worth the money. I also had some really good Fiskesuppe today for lunch. It's a thick fish stock with shrimp, fishballs, and veggies.

Most places will be closed on Sunday, so not much to do. I will spend the morning at the hostel (to stay dry, let my feet rest and replan parts of my trip that aren't going to work out). I'm going to go to the Royal Norwegian Military Band's concert in the afternoon. Supper is free at the hostel tomorrow night - waffles with jam and side item. Like my own little IHOP.

I'm on the hunt for lefse. Who would have thought you couldn't find it here? They have some nasty cardboard-like packaged stuff in the store, but I can't find a bakery that has the real thing.

Still no way to get photos posted. I'm hoping that the hostel on Monday night in Voss will have a computer I can post on. If not, I'll figure something out.

Later - Eric

. . . and just because I have a keyboard that can . . . æ Æ å Å ä ø Ø

First Day - First Post

Well, I'm here in Bergen. No way to post photos right now, but I am working on it. The flight over here took forever. 14 hours seems a lot shorter when you're not stuck in a tiny seat on a plane. My first view of Norway coming into the airport was amazing. There must have been about 5000 islands in the water . . . and the fjords look great from the air.

I walked around the city today. I can't wait to find a way to post a few pictures to show what it's like. There are cobble stone streets everywhere, the people are friendly, and the houses look really cool. I could see myself living here.

Well, I've had about three hours sleep in the last 36 hours, so I am going for a nap.

-Eric