Norway in a Nutshell – 30 May 2011

Today was a day of superlatives: the highest railway; the steepest railway; the longest fjord; the deepest fjord; the narrowest fjord; the steepest road; the smallest church and the silliest farm.

The day began at a reasonably civilised hour at the Oslo Station when we boarded the scheduled service to Bergen and from that point climbed steadily until we reached 1222m at Finse which is the highest railway point in northern Europe. We had passed through the tree-line and the snow-line before we got there and on arrival the guard gave us time to get out and look at the glacier (or have a very quick snowball fight as some did).

We did not stay long, fortunately, as it was snowing and the warm train was inviting. After descending to 866m we arrived at Myrdal where we left the main-line train to take the Flam railway down to Flam. Known as the “twenty line” it took 20 years to construct this line which passes through 20 tunnels on its short 20km journey down from 866m to 2m making it the steepest adhesion railway in the world. There are stops along the way to admire waterfalls and view points and the trip takes an hour to cover the short distance.

After a brief look around Flam we boarded a ferry on the Naerofjord, the longest and deepest in Norway. The two-hour trip basically takes you from one arm of the fjord, passing the smallest Stave church in Norway and a (silliest?) goat farm 300m up the fjord wall that was originally only accessible by ladders (and goat tracks) and then round the corner and up the next arm; passing through the narrowest point in the fjord where it is only 250m wide. Although there were intermittent showers, the fine spells were sufficiently long to enjoy the views for the waterfalls cascading down into the fjord, all very reminiscent of Milford Sound.

Unfortunately a shower was waiting for us at Gudvangen as we dashed across the carpark to the waiting buses which took us up through a winding tunnel to Stalheimskleiva where we turned off the main road and descended the 13 hairpin bends on Norway's steepest stretch of road, passing two magnificent waterfalls on the way down. At the bottom we seemed to simply retrace our path up through the tunnel to the top and then on to Voss for a short wait before boarding a local train down to the coast at Bergen.

Although it was 2030 by the time we arrived in Bergen it was still light enough to explore the fascinating World Heritage site comprised of buildings from around 1700. These old warehouses lean at crazy angles and seem to be propping one another up side-by-side and across the narrow alleys that provide access between them.

There was time for a delicious meal before heading back to the station to catch our overnight sleeper train back to Oslo where we had time to collect our luggage from the Hotel, have some breakfast and dodge the rain on the way back to the bus terminal to catch the bus to the airport for our next leg of the “cruise”.

A Day Out in Bygdoy – 29 May 2011

An Oslo Card is well worth buying, to spend a day on the island of Bygdoy. With the card, the ferry ride is free, as are the five excellent museums there. We had decided we would like to visit them all.

First up was the Norwegian Folk Museum. About 170 old buildings have been relocated there, and the costumed custodians are very knowledgeable and helped us understand how they were built. Nothing changed for centuries, and in fact the women of isolated villages wore the same traditional style of dress from the 14th to the 20th centuries.

As well as rural farmhouses and food store buildings, the reconstructed village also had a magnificent wooden church. This was similar in style to several we had seen in rural Russia.

As well as the old rural style of architecture, they had also reconstructed a more modern town, complete with pharmacies from different eras, four storey apartment building (refurbished to show different eras and tenants), merchant's house and a fascinating look at the history of dental surgeries.

This took us several hours to view, so it was time to press on. Next up was the Viking Museum. The Viking ships on display were found in burial mounds, and also on show were artefacts needed in the next world. The building was once a church, and the high ceilings were perfect to display the boats.

We walked to the next bay, where the excellent Kon Tiki Museum was also well worth visiting. The original Kon Tiki balsa wood raft built by Thor Heyderdal was on display, as well as the papyrus Ra II. The Kon Tiki sailed from South America to Easter Island and Ra II completed the theory by sailing from Egypt to South America.

Thor's aim was to prove the links between Egyptians, Mayan and Polynesian depictions of boats and platform temples. So, theoretically the Egyptians were able to sail in papyrus boats to Polynesia via South America, and left evidence of their culture in building pyramid type buildings.

Next door is a Museum commemorating the life of Roald Amundsen and his ship 'Fran' which took him to the Antarctic, where he was the first to successfully reach the North and South Poles and lived to tell the tale. The Museum was purpose built around the ship.

Next to this Museum is the Maritime Museum, which we nearly skipped, but were pleased we didn't, as there is an excellent film shown on five screens, with fantastic scenery. We were inspired by this to decide that we would like to come back to Norway to tour the northern fishing villages.

Back in Oslo we had enough time to visit the Town Hall. This stunning Art Deco building is open for the public to wander around. Next time we hear that the Nobel Peace Prize has again been awarded, we'll be able to picture the ceremony in this magnificent building.

The Queen Mary II was in port, and we walked back through the Akershus Fortress at the top of the cliffs, to get a great view of the cruise liner. The Fortress is well worth a visit, its buildings date back to the Middle Ages, and occupy the commanding cliff-top position above the harbour.

Oslo – 28 May 2011

Our plans to conclude our Ryanair “Baltic Cruise” felt very shaky at the beginning of the week, as the Icelandic volcano Grimsvoetn, started erupting on Sunday. The ash reached Scotland by Tuesday, and all Scottish airports were closed. The prediction that the ash would reach London by Saturday, was very disconcerting and we began to wonder if we should have taken our Baltic Cruise by ship after all,. Fortunately a combination of strong winds, extremely heavy rain on Thursday removed that possibility, but best of all, the volcano stopped spewing ash, and merely started letting off steam.

So our flight left at 8:25am as scheduled. London was grey and cold, and unfortunately, so was Oslo, but at least we had made it there. Our central city hotel was great for exploring between the showers. Directly opposite the hotel is the stunning modern Opera House, only opened in 2008. This building reminded us of an architect's computer graphic visualization from a distance, with small figures walking all over it. It really had a surreal, stylised look. Up close it is amazing. Totally clad in white marble, it really is like a giant playground for all. Angles, steps, glass walls all add interest and texture and the slope which begins as a roof, becomes a piazza before transforming into a beach which simply disappears under the waves.

This is a modern building with a difference, that should stand the test of time. It is a building with a function as well as fabulous form but introduces fun by allowing people to interact with the structure in a way that is rare. Where else can you walk off the street and by means of gradual ramps end up on the roof of an Opera House? From the height of our hotel vantage point we could see people freely walking over the entire structure making it a “we have to do that too” attraction.