Norway

This morning, we woke up to start our journey towards Flåm and Aurland. We started by taking a train to Myrdal station. The ride was about 4 and a 1/2 hours. The first half of the ride was foggy and we passed many trees just starting to turn to autumn colors. The second half of the trip, the fog cleared and we went through some very picturesque lakes, rivers and valleys. We even saw a few glaciers towards the end of the trip.

Once we arrived in Myrdal, we transferred to the Flåm railway and took the one-hour train down into the flam valley. Again the journey was very scenic as it twisted and turned down into the valley. We saw many waterfalls and were able to make a quick stop at one. Once in Flåm put our bags in a locker and started walking into the valley for the Brekkefossen waterfall hike. We enjoyed our walk through part of the valley and then climbed many stairs to the waterwall overlook. It was worth the views of the valley and waterfall at the top. After heading back down we had a nice dinner at a local Viking themed restaurant.

After dinner we took a quick 15-minute bus ride to Aurland a town farther down the Fjord. All of the houses nestled in the mountains along the fjord are beautiful. Our hotel in Aurland was built in the 1800s and is supposedly known for their delicious breakfast!

This morning we woke up in Aurland but couldn't see much. As expected, based on the previous morning, the entire town and surrounding fjord was covered with fog. With nothing to see we slept in a bit and had a nice breakfast at the hotel. We decided not to go to the stegastein viewpoint since we wouldn't have been able to see much. When we got on our boat for the fjord tour heading to Gudvangen, it was still foggy but was beginning to lift. Every now and then we could see through the fog and get a glimpse of the towering cliffs on both sides for the fjord.

About halfway through the journey the fog cleared more and we could see just how massive the surroundings cliffs were. Waterfalls streamed down many of them and it was a very beautiful area. In Gudvangen we spent a few hours at the Viking Village and enjoyed learning some Viking history from our guide. We also got to practice some archery and axe throwing! Gudvangen was another beautiful area, the highlight being a waterfall coming from the top of the cliff. From there we headed to the bus stop to take the 45 minute ride to Voss.

When we arrived in Voss we took a quick rest at our airbnb and then headed out for a hike to Bordalsgjele. We walked by the beautiful lake in the center of town and through the village where houses are nestled perfectly in the hillside. When we arrived at Bordalsgjelet we discovered it is a huge gorge with a roaring stream and waterfall. We loved walking the winding trail through the gorge. We headed back into town and got to dinner just as it started to get dark.

Today we woke up and had a lazy morning as the fog was heavy and a lot of the shops are closed on Sundays here. When we finally made our way to a local hotel for breakfast we learned we misread and it ends at 10am not starts at, oops. So we grabbed something at a small convenience store. We planned to spend the morning in Voss and go up a mountain overlooking the valley after lunch. We didn't anticipate fog when planning so we were initially disappointed.

Just about an hour before our train left the fog cleared and we decided to rush to the gondola to make it up the mountain. At the top we were amazed by the views of the valley below. We made it to our train early due to some delays and relaxed on the short ride to Bergen, the second largest city in Norway. We got checked into our Airbnb and then went to explore the city starting with the iconic Bryggen, a cute historic block filled with colorful "gingerbread style" buildings. Besides this row of buildings everywhere we look has cute buildings Ellie says. We found ourselves some dinner and did a short walk through the fish market and looked at some shops if they were still open.

This morning we started the day at a bakery for breakfast. It was not as good as reviews would suggest but Michael's hot chocolate was very good. From there we walked to a few camera stores in search of a lens cap since ours broke a few days ago. We were in luck and one of them had one! From there we walked to the Kode art museum. The walk took us to a different part of Bergen with some very nice parks. Unfortunately when we got to the museum it was temporary closed due to renovations. We took a different way back to explore the neighborhoods and passed the bergen cathedral. After that we went to the hanseatic museum where they guided us through preserved buildings. We enjoyed learning about the history of the merchants in this area.

We were getting hungry so we decided to try a local food truck. We tried a reindeer sausage and one called san francisco (meat unknown but was a little spicy). They were both very good! Next we headed over to the Bryggen museum where we saw some remnants of the town from before one of the many fires. There were 19 fires over the course of 400 years which destroyed much of the town each time they kept rebuilding over the ashes. From there we took a ride on the fløibanen funicular to the top of mount Fløyen. We could see all of Bergen and mount Ulriken to one side. There were some nice walking paths at the top that we strolled on and came across some very cute cashmere goats who enjoyed pets.

After that we shopped around at some secondhand stores for a lower priced classic Norwegian sweater but didn't find the right one. We had dinner at Pingvinen where we had some more local dishes. Michael having meatballs and Ellie got the Plukkfisk (cod w/ mashed potatoes and bacon on top). Hoping for some more yummy food tomorrow.

Today we took the train to Fantoft Stave Church where we had the place to ourselves for about 20 minutes before the small area started to feel a little crowded. The church was a spectacular recreation of its style. We made our way back downtown and did some more shopping to kill some time before our fjord tour. One of the stores was an antique store filled from floor to ceiling with piles of stuff (someone's treasure).

Ellie is on the hunt for a book of good knitting patterns but hasn't had much luck. After a quick 7-eleven lunch we got on our fjord tour which took us around one of the main fjords near Bergen, Mostraumen fjord. Along the way we saw many cute towns and towering cliffs. This fjord was not as impressive as nærøyfjord but was still very scenic. When we got back we walked through the fish market and saw all kind of seafood there. They even had a large tank full of king crabs. We chose a restaurant at the market for dinner. Michael got the whale steak and Ellie got Salmon (Norway is one of the largest salmon exporters in the world), both were very good but could have been seasoned better. We grabbed some breakfast for the morning and headed home to get packed up for Tromsø.

Short entry today because the real fun starts tonight. We woke up early this morning to fly to Tromsø (a city in the far north above the arctic circle). We passed many islands as the plane prepared to land and it was all beautiful. When we got to Tromsø we dropped out bags at the hotel, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed to Polaria (the polar aquarium). The aquarium was a bit small but we enjoyed watching the seals swim around. From there we walked to the city center to check out the cute town. We walked down to the harbor as well. The area is very beautiful with snow caped mountains in the distance in every direction. After exploring we checked into the hotel. Our room is on the top floor and has great views of the town and mountains. We took a long nap until dinner and then went to a pizza shop. Tonight we have our northern lights chase which will last into the early hours of the morning. Crossing our fingers that we see them!

Last night we set off on our Northern Lights Chase around 7pm. We were excited for the prospect of finally seeing the northern lights, a big reason for taking this trip. We were a little nervous because some clouds were coming in but were hopeful our guide could find clear skies for us, and that the lights were cooperative. After about an hour of driving outside of the city we pulled off the road near a lake for a good view of the final parts of the sunset. It wasn't long before the lights started appearing in the sky, while still pretty bright from the sunset. The aurora wasn't super bright because of the twilight but there was no mistaking what it was. They appear as a greyish green  whispy cloud and would appear, move a little and disappear in just a few minutes (the pictures show much more color than we could see with our own eyes). Ellie had fun trying to take pictures (she wishes she bought a new lens) but our guide was also taking pictures the whole night and captured many great shots.

As the night went on the aurora seemed to slow down which was a little disappointing since the darker skies would have made the earlier aurora better. We took a break from watching to sit by the fire and grill some reindeer sausages occasionally looking up as new lights formed across the sky. A little after midnight we packed up and headed back to the city, happy to have seen the aurora but obviously wished it had been more active. Just a few minutes after leaving the site we entered a valley and pulled off and jumped out of the van as the lights were getting stronger put the window. The sky became filled with greyish green ribbons all around us reaching up into the sky. The ones directly overhead appeared to be slowly falling down towards us. The whole spectacle lasted just a few minutes but was an amazing treat to end the night! We got back to our hotel around 1am.

This morning we slept in and enjoyed our late hotel breakfast before our 12:00 fjord cruise. The day was rainy, foggy, and chilly but we were still able to get the occasional good view from the boat which was all around relaxing. We stopped at a little fish factory and learned how they dried the stockfish (cod) back in the day, a technique they still use each winter. They also briefly operated an underwater drone which allowed us to see coral, anemones, starfish, and a crab! Back on land we did some shopping for swimsuits to see if we could find cheap ones for a sauna visit since we did not pack ours, but we had no luck finding anything under $50. We also bought some chocolates to try after dinner, Ellie had stockfish and vegetables and Michael had a reindeer burger with brown cheese. Ending the rainy day relaxing in our room being glad our northern lights tour wasn't tonight.

Today we slept in again and had a nice breakfast at the hotel. Then we got ready for our arctic road trip that started at 10:30. We spent the day driving through the island which neighborhoods tromso, Kvaløya. We stopped at many placed to take pictures of the landscape and fjords surrounding the island. We eventually got to another chain of islands called Sommarøy which looked almost tropical other than the plants and cold. We had a lunch by the beach there and were able to hike around the hills there for a little while. After lunch we started back towards Tromsø going a different way than the way there. We stopped at one more spot with beautiful views of the sea and mountains. When we got back we headed up to the room for a nap because we decided to do another northern lights chase tonight. With very clear skies in the forecast we are hopeful to see them again.

Last night we went on another northern lights trip after booking it earlier in the day because of the forecast of clear skies. We got suited up in some thermal suits the tour provided since temperatures were going to be in the 30s. It only took about 30 minutes to drive to our viewing location, which was actually a spot where we stopped earlier in the day on our arctic road trip. We could immediately see a ton more stars than we could on our other night trip. We didn't realize just how cloudy it was that night but it was pretty cloudy.

Unfortunately, despite the clear skies we only got to see a few incredibly faint Aurora which showed up much better in pictures. Apparently we were luckier than we thought the first night. We still enjoyed the hours we spent out there under a beautiful night sky and got some good photos. We got home around midnight and only had a few hours to sleep before our 8am flight back to Oslo.

For our day in Oslo we ended up cancelling a biking tour in favor of the other northern lights activity so we just saw all the sights ourselves on some rental scooters. One of our favorites was the castle/fortress which we took a little tour of. We had a lot of fun zipping around the city admiring all the beautiful architecture. For dinner, we had probably our best meal yet at an Istanbul restaurant, we are very full! Tomorrow morning we start our long day of travel back home.