PART 1

Saturday 2 June 2012

Rotterdam - Amsterdam - Bergen: 1:25 hrs of flight, 5 hour journey

We leave at 9.10am by taxi for Rotterdam Central Railway Station. When we get there we are able to take a train earlier than planned: the 9.21 Fyra High Speed service that takes us to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in less than 27 minutes. We have already checked in for our flight, but now we can also make use of the self service baggage drop off machine. Erik's suit case is too heavy, so he has to take some stuff out and put it in his carry on. The automated drop off goes swiftly and without any problems. Back in 2006 we already used a similar machine in Munich, but this is a first for Amsterdam. Now we got all the time in the world. We go through security and take coffee at Starbucks. And even after that we still have an hour left before boarding the 737-700 aircraft. Th KLM flight leaves at 12.10 sharp and before we know it we land at Bergen/Flesland around 1.50pm.

From the airport we take the SAS Flybus to the city centre. A single trip costs Nkr 100 and you can pay by credit card on board the bus. We get off the bus at the Fish Market (Fisktorget) and walk the final stretch to the Best Western Hordaheimenhotel. The room is small but functional. We have a short rest before we go out towards the city centre. We grab a bite at Burger King and by a pay-as-you-go or pre-paid sim-card (kontantkort) for mobile Internet from Telenor in the Telekiosk on Torgallmenningen, the central square in the middle of downtown. The card costs Nkr 150, of which Nkr 50 can be used for data or calls. We explore the centre and have coffee at the Café Opera near the theatre. We reserve a table  by phone at the restaurant Bryggeloftet on the Bryggen harbour front. Brygge is an old medieval merchant quay in old part of town. We walk up there around 6.30pm. Bryggelofte is a traditional restaurant serving Norwegian dishes. It is very popular and we managed to get a small table at the very back of the place, but it is nice and quiet spot. Around the six the place filled to the last table. We are served by a very friendly waiter and order lamb and peppersteak respectively. The food is fine, but the price level in Norway takes some getting used too. Especially when you order a glass of wine. We only take a main course.

When we leave the restaurant it just starts to rain, but not for long fortunately. Bergen is the wettest city in Europe. It rains on more than 260 days a year. We head back to the hotel. Later at night we walk to Café Fincken, Bergen's only gay bar. It is not too busy, but there is a small crowd. It is a laid back sort of place playing Eurovision music. After a beer we go back to the hotel and pack it in early. 

Weather: sunny, but cold. 8°C/46°F

Sunday 3 June 2012

After breakfast we walk along Bryggen, the old merchant quay dating back to the time that Bergen was a important link in the league of Hanseatic cities. We take a look at the old warehouses and merchant offices that have been declared a UNESCO-world heritage site. Narrow alleyways seperate the houses. The houses are now taken up by souvenir shops, restaurants and bars. In the Hanseatic days the German merchant elite called the shots in Bergen, a situation that lasted until the 16th century. Local fishermen were forced to sell their catch to the Hanseats. Norwegian Kings allowed this situation because the Hanseats paid a handsome tax. Towards the end of the 16th century the German merchants were driven out of Bergen only to be replaced by home grown monopolists - a state of affairs that persisted well into the 19th century.

We walk around the merchant houses and uphil we get to the St Mary church, which - unfortunately - is being renovated and is closed to visitors. Next to the chuch are the Schottstuen, the business and social meeting place  of the Hanseatic merchants. These were the only buildings in this part of town that were heated. The staff of the merchant were left to their own devices to stay warm during the long and cold winters. We pay a visit to the Schøtstuene. The entry ticket is also valid for the Hanseatic Museum. We continue through Øvregaten towards the lower terminal of the Fløybane, the funicular railway. But first we go and have a coffee at Det Lille Kaffekompaniet. A small café serving delicious coffee. After that we queue up for the Fløybane, the funicular that takes us up for a tremendous view over Bergen and around from the Fløyen (Nkr 80). The place is heaving with Asian groups, but that does not make the views any less attractive. After having enjoyed the views we return downhill. We follow the Lille Øvregaten and get to the Domkirken. There is a service going on we take a pew at the back of the church. After a ten minutes or so we carry on along Kong Oskargaten to get to the St Jorgen hospital, Norway's oldest hospital, specialised in treating lepers. It is now home to a  lepra museum. Inside the hospital's interior has been preserved with its tiny bedrooms and the history of the disease and its treatment through the centuries is explained. It was not until the late 19th century that dr Hansen found out that the cause of the disease was a contagious bug. The hospital closed its doors in 1946. 

We walk throug the city park towards Godt Brødt (Delicious Bread) for a delicious sandwich. You can choose the type of bread and the toppings from a choice of meats, lettuce, chease and veggies. After this treat we return to our hotel. After a break we have a coffee at café Dromedar followed by a stroll around the peninsula on which our hotel is located. We wander through narrow alleyways lined with quaint clapboard houses. We check out the location where we will watch a ballet performance later this evening.

Later we have dinner in the Chili restaurant of the Comfort hotel a couple of blocks down from our hotel. After that we walk down to Studio Bergen, the venue for Carte Blanche, het Norwegian company for contemporary dance. Tonights performance takes place as part of the Bergen Festival. It is a modern piece called Fiction. Great dance with some gay erotic elements.

 Weather: around 10°C/50°F. Some cloud with sunny spells

Monday 4 June 2012

We walk into the city centre to the first stop of the Bybane, Bergen's first and only tram line. Since 2010 Bergen prides itself in a brand new tram or light railway line concecting the outliying southern districts. We buy a ticket from the machine on the platform. The takes us to the stop of Hop, where we get off and walk for about 20 minutes to Troldhaugen, the summer residence of the Norway's most famous composer Edvard Grieg (1842-1905). A cafeteria has been set up in a seperate building that also houses an exhibition on Grieg's life and times. Grieg is most famous for the musical score he composed for  Peer Gynt, a play by the Norwegian playwright Ibsen. We continue past the newly built tiny concert hall, venue for summer lunch concerts by the Bergen Symphony Orchestra. It is not summer yet, unfortunately. The house itself has been furnished (again) to it what it was like when Grieg lived here. After Grieg died the city council was not interested at first in the house. The house was inherited by a cousin of Grieg's and the furniture was auctioned off. Later Grieg's widow managed to convince the council  to buy the house and all Grieg's furniture was retrieved brought back to where it came from. The kitchen, however, was removed and replaced by a picture gallery. We are guided through the living room and another parlour. Our guide is a young woman who knows her stuff about Grieg. She particularly points out the silver pieces Grieg got as a gift from the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which gave a series of concerts in Bergen at Grieg's request. The furniture was custom made for the Griegs, who were both rather small grown. Troldhaugen is perched on a hill overlooking a lake. At the bottom of the hill both Grieg and his wife Nina Haagerup (a first cousin) were buried. Also down below is the cabin with lake view, where Grieg did most of his composing.  After the visit we take the tram back into town. Lunch again at Godt Brød.

In the afternoon we walk to the Bergen kunstmuseum (Art Museum), dat uit drie delen bestaat. We bezoeken de Rasmus Meyer collectie, met veel 19^e en begin 20^e eeuwse Noorse schilders, waaronder Munch met werken uit verschillende perioden. Rasmus Meyer was een kunstverzamelaar, die zijn collectie van Noorse schilderkunst aan de gemeente heeft nagelaten. Daarna gaan we naar de Lyseverket - ook onderdeel van het museum -  dat een meer een overzicht van de kunst door de eeuwen heen. Wij bezoeken de  afdeling 20^e eeuw met veel werk van Picasso, Braque en ook weer Munch. Na het museum gaan we een biertje drinken bij café Opera. Niet goedkoop: twee biertjes en nachochips kosten 190 kronen (25 euro).

At night we eat at Zuperia near the Fish Market. Nice enough foodwise not too overpriced. Rain has stared while we were eating, not much, just a drizzle. It is hard to expect otherwise, Bergen being the wettest place and all that... We know have been so lucky up till now.

Weather: 14°C/57°F, cloudy. Drizzle at the end of the day

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Bergen - Hardangerfjord - Flåm: 218km

After breakfast and coffee we walk through the pouring rain to Avis downtown car rental office. Service is friendly and efficient and before we know it we are handed the key for a Hyundai i40, a decently sized estate car. We drive it back to the hotel for checking out and collection our baggage. Then we are all set for a drive towards the Hardangerfjord. We follow the banks of the Hardangerfjord up till Kvanndal. Here we have a break for a simple sandwich. We continue in a northerly direction to Voss, a regional centre on the both the railway line and highway between Bergen and Oslo. From Voss we continue driving north through countless tunnels, the next even longer than the last one. At  Gudvangen we enter the 11km long tunnel to Flåm. In Flåm it easy to find the Youth Hostel (Vandrarheim), on the grounds of a camp site. Reception is very friendly and we get a double room with en suite shower and toilet. We take a stroll to the harbour, where two giant cruise ships are moored to the quay. Around the harbour everythings is geared towards the cruise passengers: restaurants, cafe's and souvenir emporia. We shop for some groceries at the local Coop supermarket for tomorrow's breakfast. After that we visit the tourist office to ask about the Flåmbana, the historic scenic railway line between Flåm and Myrdal high up in the mountains. We also want to know about the boat trip through the Aurdalfjord and Nærøyfjord. We buy ticket for the boat trip for tomorrow and train tickets for today's departure at 5.25pm. We still have some time to kill and drink some coffee at the Togcafé, based in an old train carriage. Around 5 we join the queue on the railway platform for the Flåmsbana together with hundreds of cruiseline passengers. Boarding is strictly regulated with separate lines for different segments of the train. The train ride goes steeply uphill and we enjoy the magnificent views into the valleys, the rivers and waterfalls. On a stretsch of only 24km the train climbs no less than 900 metres. Building the track in the 1920s took more than four years. Half way up we have to wait to let a on coming train pass us by. Announcements keep us informed about we can see outside. Close to the summit there is a photo stop at a grand waterfall, where everybody storms out the train on to a large platform to take photos and videos. Music is played and a some sort of elf appears on the rocks, dancing around the waterstreams. She disappears to reappear somewhere else a couple of times. Obviously we are looking at two elves. After the stop we carry on to the terminus at Myrdal. That is not a real village, but just a railway junction up in the mountains. Our train connects there with the express trains between Oslo and Bergen. It is also the starting point for the “Rallarvegen” bicycle tracks through the mountains. Many bicylcles are off loaded from the train here. We stay on board for the ride back to  Flåm.

Back in Flåm we have dinner in the Fretheim hotel. They have a great dinner buffet, but it is rather pricy. 1,000 kroner (€134/$164/£105) for the both of us. No wine, just a mineral water.

By this time the cruise ships leave the harbour and Flåm regains its rural tranquility. We go for a beer in the micro brewery called Ægir. They have four home brewed beers on draught all year round in addition to a couple of seasonal ones.

Weather: rainy morning, 8°C/46F°. Clear and sunny in the afternoon and evening 14°C/57F°.

Wednesday 7 June 2012

We prepare our own breakfast and lunch with the food we bought yesterday. We have lots of time on our hands, as our boat trip does not leave until 11am. We have a coffee at the railway station. Today two new cruise liners have arrived in Flåm. We board the Lykkeper boat run by Sognetur. The boat is taken up for the most part by a French tour group, but we manage to get the best spots on deck. The weather is excellent. It is a sunny day and sitting in the sunshine it does get warm. Out on the fjord the wind cools things down a bit, but the views are terrific. Steep slopes, snow covered mountain tops line the fjords. We sail along the Aurlandfjord until we get to entrance of the Nærøyfjord komen. Here we take a left turn. Had we gone right, we would have ended up in the Sognefjord. The Nærøyfjord (worlld heritage) is much more narrow - the narrowest in Norway and event more beautiful. We pass isolated farms and hamlets that can only be reached by boat. After a good two hours we reach the end of the Nærøyfjord at Gudvangen. There we have to wait for the bus for 30 minutes, that will takes us back to Flåm. We eat our sandwiches while we're waiting enjoying the warm sunshine. Back in Flåm we buy food for a self cooked dinner. Later in the afternoon we drive to Aurland, to get to the old route to Laerdal taking us up the mountain by countless hairpins to the lookout point of Stegastein. The lookout is beautifully designed and is the result of architectural competition. The views of the Aurlandfjord - the one we sailed on this morning - are stupendous. The lookout is not busy at all and we enjoy the views in peace and quiet. Stegastein is - as so many lookouts and rest areas - equiped with picknick tables and spotless toilets.

After having enjoyed the views we descend into the valley again, where it is dinner time by now. Erik prepares our meal in the communal kitchen and we eat it in the dining room. After dinner we walk around the deserted harbour and have a beer in the micro brewery like we did yesterday. Without the hordes of cruise passengers Flåm is a very quiet place and we can hear only the noise of waterfalls in the distance.

Weather: sunny, 15-18°C/60-65°F.

Donderdag 7 June 2012 

Flåm - Sogndal: 85km

 Via Aurland we drive up the Aurlandfjellet mountain range along the lookout of Stegastein. This time we carry on and reach a mountain plateau covered under thick layers of snow. The road, also called Snøvegen (Snow Road), has been replaced as a thoroughfare by a 25km long tunnel. But this all route has been maintained and is lots more fun. The road is cleared of snow, but is lined by a walls of snow, at some places as high as 3 metres (10ft). The scenery is breath taking and we make lots of photo stops. After some 25 km road descends to the valley of the Lærdalfjord. We drive up to the ferry jetty and wait a few minutes for a ferry to take us across the Sognefjord. The Sognefjord is Norway's longest fjord: it reaches 204 km in land.  The crossing from Laerdal takes about 15 minutes. After another 30 minutes we get to Sogndal, something of a regional centre, but with only 5,000 inhabitants that does not say a lot. It is around noon and our room at the Parkhotell is not ready yet. 30 minutes later it is. It is a large room with kitchenette and couch. We decide to do some shopping for another self cooked dinner and a lunch box for tomorrow. We do our shopping at the Rimi supermarket across the road. It is quite expensive (50 to 100% more) compared to food prices at home.

We drink coffee at a outdoor café next to the hotel. It is lovely to sit there outside in the park as it has become quite sunny. Many locals are sporting their shorts and sleeveless tops already. Around 3pm we go for a drive to Kaupanger a village 12km south of Sogndal. They pride themselves for the possesion of a 12th century Stave Church, one of 28 still remaining in all of Norway. It is one of the oldest. A expert guide shows us around and tells us about the construction and religious history of the building. The church has been converted and refurbished several times, but the last one 1960 brought it back to its original form and glory.

We drive back to the hotel to enjoy our own dinner of pasta and sauce. We were bold enough to buy a bottle of wine at the state run liquor store Vinmonopolet to make it a bit more festive.

After dinner we stroll around the town for a bit. It is not a very interesting place, but its location on the fjord is picturesque.

Weather:   cloudy start and 8°C/46°F. Later that day sunny and 16°C/60°F

Friday 8 June 2012

We drive up North to Fjærland at the end of the Fjærlandfjord. The road leads through a number of tunnels. I have been here 30 years ago, but there were no tunnels then. The village could only be reacht by boat in those days. In Fjærland we start with coffee on the porch of the characteristic hotel Mundal with a priceless view of the peaceful fjord. Mundal is actually the real name of the hamlet. Fjærland means "far away land" and relate to the wider area that was rather remote and isoloted before the tunnel construction. The sun is out and it is lovely to sit outside. After coffee we move closer to the water and write some postcards home. We drive to the Norwegian Glacier museum (Bremuseum), just outside the village. Here they tell us the history of the glaciers and the developments affecting the climate. It is a "hands-on” experience, as couple of school groups demonstrate laying their hands on every button they can find. Best of the museum is the video presentation on 5 screens. Great panorama shots, made from helicopters flying over the glaciers. After the museum we drive to the Suppehellebreen, a branch of the big Jostedalbreen (bre = glacier), on top of the mountains. From the main road it is 5 minutes drive to the tip or nose of the glacier. We cannot go to close as pieces may fall of without warning, which can be fatal. Then it is back to the main road and a bit further North we find the Bøyabreen just before the entrance of yet another tunnel. This one is only 300 metres from the main road and has an idyllic lake in front of it. I remember my first visit here some 30 years ago, but it is hard to tell wether the glacier is any shorter now  (see photo from 1982) This branch of the glacier reaches further into the valley than the Suppehellebreen. We drive back to the museum. From its roof we have a great view on the snow capped mountains.

We drive back to Sogndal, where we have a coffee at Galleriet, the café next to our hotel. We sit outside in the warm sunshine. At 6.45 the European Football Championships start with its first match: Poland and Greece draw with one goal each. Later that evening we watch Russia beating the Czech Republic with 4-1. We have to watch this match in the hotel lounge as it broadcast only on a subsription channel, which we cannot receive in our room.

Weather: sunny, 21°C/70°F

 

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