Bergen... The Marine Center of Norway

Great but long ride to Bergen: curvy roads, over 30 tunnels (and that's just for this day!), a ferry ride (I call it the JAWS ferry ride cuz of the way the bow lifts up) and heat to beat all heat!

Got in about 4;30ish... got to the room and thought, boy... we need to turn on their air... Well, that wasn't gonna happen... there is no air to be turned on!  So, though I may complain, I'm still loving this trip!

Walked and walked the afternoon, found a quaint place for dinner on a patio protected from the sun.  Having no air conditioning also applies to all the other buildings in this area... so being outside was a much better alternative!

Oh... and the famous fish market... I need to be honest... I think Pike Place has it beat.  I don't know if its the extra heat, but the market just had the most horrible odor.  They had a huge, and I mean huge, pot of famous Bergen Fish Soup... Many folks rave about it...  But you won't hear anything good come from my mouth so I will keep quiet...

Rode the funicular (a cable car that goes up, up, up, up but not quite away!) for some stupendous views.  A quick ride up and back, but you could spend all the time you wanted up at the top.  We thought it would be neat to go after dinner...and it was with the exception the sun sets in the west and that's just what way we were facing when trying to take many of the pics... Hey, if that's the worst thing (well, except for the heat), this is still a pretty marvelous place to be.

Special note... check out the apparatus that you could buy in one of the gift stores at one of our potty stops on the bus...

The view from our last ferry ride

 Dang, I forgot to rotate this one... turn your head...

 Jerry sorta giving a demo

Had to laugh... they had this helmut, which, Norse NEVER wore... 

OH my gosh... this was HUGE and, like I said, the whole area did not agree with my sniffer!

Our hotel... but I love the ivy on the walls... 

This area has actually burned down and rebuilt three times... the years are on this hotel

This ship is moored across the harbor... goes up to the North Shore Oil Fields... Norway's # 1 export!

Waiting for the Funicular

And up we go...

Views, flowers, trees and troll at the top!

On Top of the World!

Up early today... and on the road early... we had a mountain to climb... a stream to ford... rainbows to follow... oh wait, that's the Julie Andrew's song!!!!  But.. we did have a huge mountain to go on top of... and the view was spectacular... but then again... every day here the views are spectacular.

We climbed, or rather drove, up to Dalsnibba... switchbacks all the way... photo stops on the way...and finally we were there and we took a huge breath!!!! My gosh... this place goes on forever!  We are at the top of the peaks...  We had clear blue skies which made the journey the best it could be.  We had one photo taken of us... and way down below, you see a town in the valley... little dot of a town that is.

While at the top, before we made our way down, Mike, our guide, cracked open some Aquavit!... Oh my gosh... some strong stuff... but we all managed to have some!  Interesting story about how they make it and why it's so good... It's made here in Norway, then, while in the oak barrels, it goes on a ship that will be crossing the equator and eventually returning to Norway... They say the jostling around of the liquid in the barrels during the trip is suppose to make it the best there is... Looked at the label... and sure enough, they show the route the booze had been on...

Back on the road, down we went to take a ferry on the Geirangerfjord, more and more waterfalls and spectacular scenery before we landed at Hellesyit.  Managed to get a bridge picture there...

Stopped for lunch... and they served... Leg of Lamb... I felt like a Viking... and better yet, it tasted like beef to me and not lamb... that's a good thing!  The only bummer was, it took 90 minutes for them to serve us.... and the temps outside were now up to 90 degrees... which, by the way, is rare here.  Anyway... after a great walk after lunch... we traveled back to our hotel... and tried to cool off... Oh yeah... no air conditioning in this place, cuz sweltereing heat is rare... fortunately, we're on the 6th floor, facing away from the sun, so we can have our windows open and feel the air flow through... nights cool down nicely!

Tomorrow we leave for Bergen... our last stop before we head to Paris for our Seine River Boat Cruise... My gosh... time is going so fast!!!!  And we have made some wonderful friends!

The jouney of the Aquavit

 Another Ferry!

These places dot the area... they are called .. oh I can't remember the name... but they show up now and then... were used by fisherman and workers... kinda a drop in when you need it sorta place... kinda cool... and some still get used today... 

Photo through the window of one shack... not too bad...

 A really scary story of mother nature at work in this pic... a huge slide/water/event... and this use to be some shacks like above... When it's time to scrapbook this stuff, I'll look it up... my brain is mush right now!

A couple more 'mirror pictures', but the water here was so blue...not as silty as the glacier water!