Day 12: Fjord Country & Bergen
- The Day Distilled: Mountains, snow, fjords, and many, many photos.
- Woman of the Day: On our way over the mountains, Ylva played Norwegian music, including gorgeous recordings by one of Norway’s best-known singers, Sissel. She’s so famous at home that no one bothers with her last name.
- Ship’s Log: It’s so obvious why Scandinavians have always been tied to the sea: the mountains are inhospitable, and scratching a living out of the soil would be extremely difficult. In contrast, the sea offers a bounty of valuable fish, and it connects you to the rest of the world.
Take a hike! From the front door.
The itinerary said it all: “Today is scenery day!” Early in the morning, several of us did a short pre-breakfast hike in Jotenheimen National Park (the trail was literally a one-minute walk uphill from our cabin door!) up to a clearing in the forest where we could see snowcapped mountains across the valley. All along the way, Ylva drew our attention to little details in the forest, like various edible plants and a gouged tree where a moose had rubbed its antlers against the rough bark.
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Up, up, up we go!
Next, we boarded the bus and drove up into the mountains. As we climbed, the dominant colors of the landscape quickly transitioned from verdant greens to rocky grayish browns, to bright, bright white snow and piercing blue sky. We stopped at several viewpoints for photos, and then all too soon we were coming down the other side, back into the green.
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Savoring Sognefjord
But the scenery was not over! Next up, a long ferry ride down the narrow, stunningly beautiful Sognefjord. We passed towering waterfalls, green hillsides dotted with sheep, and steep, darkly forested slopes. Occasionally we stopped to pick up or drop off passengers at colorful little villages nestled in craggy valleys, whose only connection to the world may well have been our ferry. At the end of the ride, we boarded the bus, drove on to Bergen, and then said a heartfelt thank you and goodbye to Pinge, who would start the long drive back to Sweden as soon as the last bag was off the bus.
For a lot more Day 12 scenery, see the slideshow below. |
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