Norway was stunning. The fjords are so vast and dramatic, it is impossible to do justice to them in photographs. You feel so small when you are sailing beside these vast mountains soaring from the water, the depth of which is too deep to imagine. The weather was not brilliant at times, but the mist and clouds only added to the mystery and drama of the sights. The very top of Norway, at North Cape saw the worst of the weather, cold, rain and high winds. Standing up straight was an effort, and there was a high degree of camera shake. The country is barren and vast, the only animals sighted were deer.The towns and cities we visited were each different in their own way. Tromso is pretty, (with a great Library - more of that at another time), little streets, a lovely harbour, and wonderful views. Bergen lived up to its reputation of a rainy city - 300 days of rain a year on average, but we still got around. The Fenicular railway is amazing, the ride parallels something at Luna Park when descending, but it is worth the tummy lurch. Trondheim is a lovely university city, very hilly in places, and picturesque. Some of the towns, like Flaam had a population explosion, from the normal 200, to over 4000 in a day, which is hard for them, as there were two ships in the day we were there. But it was worth the whole trip for the train ride up the mountain from the town. This population rise is a similar problem the cities have, as in Bergen when we arrived together with the QE2 - the city is swollen with buses and groups of tourists faithfully following a guide with a pole! Woe betide you if you lose the group
The photo on the left is of the wharf area of Trondheim, the sunrise was in Geiranger fjord, picture taken around 5.00am. The bottom one was coming down on the Fenicular railway in Bergen.
The Norwgians are lovely people, tentative on starting a conversation, but a happy to tell you lots if you are interested. They speak very good English. Harry Potter is available in English now, but will not be in Norwegian for months, so they are all reading it in english. Usually, there is another language as well. Makes the traveller feel quite inadequate.
More later
2 comments:
R U putting any pics of the Nord Cape? Isn't it a wonderful place? I loved the cities too - esp Trondheim. It was the bridge that got me. Imagine the cities are very different today. UR sooooo lucky. However, today is almost as cold as a Norwegian winter, though we have some of Rose's marvellous cooking to help us thru a Cloudy Monday. Keep enjoying. Peter
i love the blog it really is the highlight of my day, we can all escape a little and I love the picture with the rays of sun through the clouds. (very pretty)
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