We had the opportunity to take a 7 night Norwegian fjords cruise starting Labor Day weekend - this was one of the spots on our "must see" list.
First, a couple things about Norway besides its beauty:
1. Norwegians apparently love trolls, we did not find out the back story on that but they are everywhere
2. It's the most expensive place we've ever been to. For example, getting one beer at a restaurant/bar on the harbor in Bergen is $22. Buying one apple at the farmers market is $6. We had to peek in their McDonalds - a cheeseburger on the "Dollar" menu was 20NOK or about $3.33. Thankfully we went there while on a cruise and didn't have to eat, drink or stay there!
Bergen, Norway "The Gateway to the Fjords of Norway"
Bergen is Norway's most international city, its beginnings dating back to 1070 as a center for trade in N Europe. It's quite large but walking around it has more of a quaint village feel. We took the funicular up to Mt. Fløyen (320 m above sea level) to some great views. We walked on winding paths through beautiful thick woods back down to town (so proud of Raegan for hanging in there for all the walking!) and then meandered around the city.
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| Views from the top of Floyen |
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| In Bergen, there was also a thing with witches, signs like this were all over the paths on the walk down |
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| Just one of the trolls!! |
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| There were great play areas the kids enjoyed at the top |
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| Stopping for a picnic on the way down |
The fish market there is really cool. Giant lobsters and king crabs in tanks really interested the kids.
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| Fish market - they would cook it there for you if you wanted |
The Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf was really unique - they are restored buildings dating back to the 14th century Hanseatic League era - you can see many of them do not even have straight walls or stair cases. Too bad I didn't get a better photo - sort of hard to see it in these photos.
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| Bryggen wharf |
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| Bryggen wharf - riding the wooden giant eel! |
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| View of Bergen from the boat |
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| Departing Bergen |
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| Sailing away from Bergen |
Flåm, Norway
We woke up to the most beautiful views when we arrived at our next spot!! Flåm is situated in the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord - just a little bit further north and quite a bit further inland than Bergen. It's a tiny town with just a few restaurants and hotels and is home of the Flåm Railway which is supposed to be great, but was sold out so we didn't get to go on it! Instead we opted to take a fjord boat tour.
The kids enjoyed playing on this playground while we waited for our boat tour to start. We realized they are quite spoiled as they didn't even care about the breathtaking scenery around them, only that there was a playground!
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| Behind them is the entire town of Flåm - very small! |
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| Heading out on our fjord cruise |
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| There were quite a few little farms and tiny towns along the cruise that are nearly impossible to get to. One farm was only accessible from the fjord via a very long ladder. |
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| This is the boat we were on |
Geiranger, Norway
Our last stop in Norway was the most spectacular - the deep blue Geirangerfjord is surrounded by majestic, snow-covered mountain peaks, wild waterfalls (such as the 7 sisters) and lush, green vegetation. It was also the smallest town - I found it amazing that only 200 people live here year round and up to 5 cruise boats at a time can be parked here at peak summer season - this is 8-10k people. Fortunately for us, most of the day it was just our boat and I found even that to make the town quite crowded!
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| More trolls |
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| The Golden tractor |
We decided to take the "mountain highlights" bus tour to see the fjords from 1500m above. There were 2 scenic overlook spots.
Flydalsjuvet: One of Norway’s most photographed viewpoints! From the top of an 80 m deep gorge is the famous view back to Geirangerfjord and the cruise boat.
Dalsnibba: One of the highest peaks you can experience by car or bus in Norway. An incredible viewpoint to the surrounding mountains and the Geirangerfjord in the distance. Most of the road is open only June to Oct due to snow drifts and is a private toll road. It was a bit chilly up there in the wind! You can see Ron refused to wear his jacket, because it's the first week of Sept and you shouldn't need one :-)
views from the bus ride
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| A crystal clear lake high up in the mountains |
photos from the peak
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| Troll!! |
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| It kind of looks like we are in danger of going off the edge but its really not so bad. no fence though!! |
Warnemunde, Germany
We had an extra stop on the cruise outside of Norway that we had never heard of. It turned out to be a nice laid back resort town built up simply due to the cruise boat traffic - it is a big stop for people wanting to tour Berlin which is just a few hours away by car/bus. There is a nice area along the harbor in the town called Alte Strom, meaning the old channel, that is built up with restaurants, shops and many fresh seafood vendors. Warnemunde is also home of the best beach in Germany and it was nice - had it not rained on us we would have enjoyed it longer.
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| we climbed the lighthouse that is in this photo |
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| view from lighthouse |
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| the weather clears as we are departing! |
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| this is Alte Strom (the old channel) |
Fun on the boat
We have never taken a cruise with the kids before, but after strong recommendations from our friends we decided to try it out. It was great - especially the kids club! Can't beat a nightly babysitter while we go on to our 5 course dinners - all while the kids are having loads of fun too! We purchased the all inclusive package for the family so the kids enjoyed their strawberry daiquiri zeros, smoothies, sprites galore, while we also enjoyed our adult drinks! :-)
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| The pools were too cold for all but Raegan but the hot tubs were great! |
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| the loved dancing in the lounges |
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| and playing out on the pool deck |
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| this was their fort out of pool towels and pool chairs, kept them busy for a LONG time |
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| Kids club crafts and face painting |
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| dressed up for gala night |
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| gala night |
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| mini golf on the boat |
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| Wyatt as a skeleton! |
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| Raegan as a witch |
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| the kids in their kids club performance on the big stage |
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| our little Spiderman! |
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| Wyatt and this little girl were pulled on stage to help announce the main act. She asked 'What is your name and where are you from" All Wyatt could reply was Texas. So the lady kept calling him Texas. So funny. |
