Sidney and I did a little walking around and a little shopping once we arrived, then went to the hotel for a little dip in the pool. We'd had an early morning, and had to get up early the next morning to pick up Kimber, so we got to bed and had a good night's rest.
I tracked the progress of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl online during the evening to make sure Kimber was going to be there on time. As there wasn't much wind, and it was a head wind, progress appeared steady and on engines, so I wasn't worried about a late arrival.
We woke up, got dressed and headed down to the dock at around 7:30, and about 10 minutes later saw the ship coming into the harbor. As there were about 5 cruise ships and large ferries in town, as well as several "working" ships, the harbor was a bit crowded, but her ship came in nice and steady and actually docked right on time at 8 a.m.
Kimber was easy to spot on deck in her lime green rain jacket. She also spotted Sidney and the two exchanged waves and blown kisses while the ship finished tying up.
After tying up, setting up the gangplank and going through customs, Kimber finally got the hug Sidney had been saving for her. Kimber was obviously very tired from the trip, so we headed back to the hotel for breakfast and a little rest before going on the next part of our adventure in the afternoon.
Our afternoon and evening were set aside to do one of the most famous trips in all of Norway, the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour. This tour is designed to show the things Norway is famous for in a short amount of time, traveling by trains, bus and boat.
We started by taking a train from Bergen to the ski-town Voss. There are several tunnels along the way, as well as some beautiful lakeside and riverside scenery. At Voss, we got off the train and boarded a bus for the next portion of the trip.
The bus meanders through a valley before turning to go over a mountain pass and descend to a fjord below. The road, known as the Stalheimskleiva road, was one of the more spectacular portions of the trip, as it is the steepest in Europe, with an 18% grade. There are less switchbacks than in Lysebotn, and the descent is not as far, but the road is much steeper than Lysebotn.
There were several waterfalls along the way, including two beside the road with the switchbacks and one near the fjord that is the tallest (not tallest free-falling) in Norway.
The bus stops at Gudvagen, where we had a short break before boarding a ferry to take us through the fjord to our next stop. The ferry passage takes you through one of the narrowest fjords in Europe before heading into the main part of Sognefjord, which is Norway's deepest and longest fjord.
Along the way, we passed several small villages and farms. One village has the smallest stave church in Scandinavia, which can hold less than 20 worshipers at a time. There is also a farm, known as the Ladder Farm, because at one time that is how one had to get there.
As we came into Flam at the end of the ferry ride, we passed a cruise ship turning around to head back up the fjord. This should give you some idea as to how deep and large the fjord is, since it can handle ships of this size.
We had a bit of time in Flam before the next part of the trip, so we had a little picnic and some play time for Sidney at the local playground. We walked around a bit and admired some of the RV's that were parked in the area (this seems to be a really popular RV destination.)
We then went for the next-to-the-last, but probably most famous portion of our tour - the Flam Railway. This is the steepest normal gauge railway in the world, with an ascent of 864 meters over the 20 kilometer length. There are 20 tunnels along the route, making about six kilometers of the 20 kilometer distance themselves. There are also waterfalls, beautiful mountain scenery, and even photography stops along the way!
One major attraction along the way is the Kjosfossen waterfall. It has a free fall of 93 meters, and is one of the stops for the train for photography. You can see the shadows of everyone taking pictures in my shot here. Another stop was to let another train pass, and was over a really pretty hillside.
After arriving at Myrdal at the top of the route, we boarded another train on the main rail line for the trip back to Bergen. It was almost a two hour train ride, and didn't arrive in Bergen until after 10:30 p.m., so Sidney fell asleep along the way. By the time we reached Bergen, rain had started to fall, so I carried Sidney back to the hotel and Kimber carried the backpack. We then settled in for a nice, well-deserved night's sleep. One brief note on Norway in a Nutshell - if you have lived in or traveled in Norway for a longer period of time, the dramatic scenery does not have the same effect as if you haven't experienced much of Norway before. It is still a good trip, and the Flam Railway and Stalheimskleiva road are absolutely unique experiences, so we would still recommend it to anyone that hasn't done it.
The remainder of our time in Bergen was spent doing some things Kimber had not had a chance to do, since she wasn't with Sidney and I on our trip here in February. we visited the Haakon's Hall, the royal banquet hall from the 12th century, as well as the Rosenkrantz Tower, which is where Norway's first set of written laws was laid out.
We also rode the Floibanen, which is the funicular to one of the seven mountaintops surrounding Bergen. The view from there was quite different than it was in February when we were in Bergen, mostly because there weren't several feet of snow on the ground. One other major difference is that the city is really crowded with cruise ship passengers walking around in large groups during the summer. This detracts from the feel of the city itself, as part of the charm is in the narrowness of the passageways between some of the older buildings in town. I would certainly recommend Bergen in the off-season for cruises, as there is still just as much to see and do then.
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