While I'm certain we would have enjoyed staying several more days, this was only our first night on the road and we had a long list of places we wanted to see. So, we continued driving the windy country roads, even making a backtrack to get a better view of the bridge we'd crossed the night before. Our next destination was Norway's second largest city of Bergen. Along the way, we stopped at least twice to admire the waterfalls (sadly we never even got the names) and, as we'd packed up leftovers from our dinner, we were able to enjoy a picnic lunch at one of them.
We finally arrived in Bergen and made our first stop the Floibanen funicular which took us to the top of the Floyen mountain. We'd heard it was a must do in the city so we bought our tickets and climbed aboard. The ride up was pretty with some great views but no sooner had we'd arrived at the top, than the clouds rolled in and we were unable to see our fingers in front of our faces. While it was cool (actually, it was literally cold) to be in the clouds, we'd really hoped for views. We didn't stay long before heading back down to see the city.
Once we were down the mountain, we checked into our room for the night and set about exploring Bryggen - Bergen's historic harbor district - as well as the nearby fish market where we picked up some amazing smoked salmon for dinner. The next morning we wandered around the rest of this seaside town nestled at the base of several mountains thoroughly enjoying the feel of this wonderful old town.
Prior to our arrival in Norway, we had mapped out a 7-day driving route that covered a great deal of the southern part of the country. We used Google Maps to get estimates of how much driving was required to reach each destination. Well, they have obviously never driven in Norway. In my not so humble opinion, very few non-locals could drive those roads and come close to keeping up with the posted speed limits. Plus, there are way too many "squirrels" (that's what we call anything that distracts you from your planned route). We lost track of how many times we had to pull over to admire a fjord, waterfall, or something else that was impossible to ignore. We quickly realized that there was no way we were going to comfortably keep up with the schedule so we decided to throw it out the window (figuratively, of course). We picked a few places that we really wanted to see and headed the general direction of north. Along the way, we happened to pass by a stunning waterfall. While we were admiring the waterfall which we later learned was aptly named "the bridal veil", we met a British couple who'd been traveling in their RV for about month and surfing along the way. We were intrigued that someone would travel to Norway for surfing but they said that the water was so nice that they'd not even had to don their thick wetsuits. They gave us their next surfing destination and we mentally put it on our list with the hope of getting to watch them surf. But alas, we never saw them again.
Back in the car and heading for our next accommodation, I contacted our host to inquire about any local fishermen who might be interested in taking Pedro out fishing. Surprisingly, she said that she was sure that could be arranged. We arrived at our destination and were greeted by 12-year-old "Wild One" (we forgot her real name but Elizabeth, her mother, said that's what she calls her so we did too), her friend Sarah and Brutus (their big teddy-bear-like rottweiler). Between the amazing views and the welcoming committee, we knew we were going to love this house too. We'd settled in and were outside playing with Brutus, when Elizabeth and her son Gouta arrived home. Gouta has his own fishing boat and offered to take Pedro (and the girls) fishing while he checked on crab traps that he'd set earlier in the week. Impressively, this 10-year-old kid, catches crabs and either sells them to the local restaurants or cooks and cleans them to be sold to tourists who stay in the nearby campground. Even though that they didn't catch any fish, this stay was one of our most memorable. This entire family could not have been more welcoming and we left the next day feeling as if we were leaving close friends. As I wrote in my review, we would go back to Norway just to stay with these guys again.
The next morning, Elizabeth gave us several suggestions of places to visit somewhat nearby so we picked one and started towards the port city of Kalvag. What a gem this little town turned out to be. The harbor was surrounded by colorful houses and was still a working fishing village. We walked the whole of the town in just a few minutes and continued to the commercial fishing area in search of a fish market. We found it but apparently it was closed (we couldn't tell if permanently or just for the season). Not to be deterred, we found what looked to the be the only open restaurant in the town which just happened to be situated right on the town docks. The food was amazing (one the best we had in Norway) and we enjoyed a local beer and a glass of wine in amazing sunny weather while we watched a sailboat dock. It could not have been more perfect.
The next morning, we drove out to get a glimpse of the beach and see if we could find our surfer friends but, alas, there were no surfers in the area so we continued on. Next, we headed for the town of Nordfjordeid to visit the Sagaste Viking Center. This museum pays homage to the original ocean explorers and contains an exact reproduction of Norway's largest known Viking ship, called a Myklebust. The original ship, built in 800, was discovered in 1874 buried in the grave of the King. Reconstructed in 2019, the ship was actually sailed in the nearby fjord before being put on permanent display in the center. What was great was that they allowed you to roam freely around the ship and pretend to be a Viking.
That night, we found another great place to stay for the night in the town Sykkylven. The views were amazing and the owners, who were great also, gave us more ideas of places to visit. The next morning we walked the town before we took off again. This time we caught our first ferry ride over to the city of Alesund which was probably our favorite "city." While we were there, we happened to catch a festival and we walked around trying samples of everything from salmon to whale meat to local cheeses. It was definitely my kind of a festival. To work off some of the many samples we had, we hiked up the 418 steps to the Aksla viewpoint for great views of the city and the harbor.
Until next post!
Beautiful country!
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