Seeing Norway: Wonderful day in Flam!

I was awake from about 4am just watching the scenery from our window as we got nearer to Flam! It was just spectacular. This is what I was waiting for; the fjord we were on was absolutely breathtaking! It was really difficult not to waken Alan, but he was sleeping so soundly that I just couldn’t bring myself to. However, my alarm was still set from the last time we went on an excursion, so he was wakened about 6am. And, lickety split, he was on deck and taking photographs!

The not so great news is it was raining, with drops bouncing off the street. So I am glad we didn’t book an excursion and we decided to just take it easy and enjoy this beautiful, small village, once we decided to go out….However, that is not what happened! As we were walking into town, we passed the train station. Flam is famous for its scenic ride up the mountain. And we congratulated ourselves on not having plans since the weather was so bad. Then we realized the train left in 10 minutes, so we got tickets and were on it before we realized!

And it was so worth it! Just an hour up and an hour down. They stop at a gorgeous waterfall, where a Huldra – or a dangerous mountain spirit – is shown as if from one of the local legends to lure unsuspecting people into the mountains. Wait, isn’t that what happened to us?

They also give a bit of history and the whole trip is breathtaking.

There is a coffee shop at the Myrdal station. And if you did book an excursion, this is where you would get off to change trains. But we were told, this was the highest point any of them got to. Everyone on a trip was away the whole day, but we got back to Flam in time to look at shops, visit the local brewery. (unlike our usual routine – we did not partake!) We were happy to sit in this old time feeling lodge and enjoy being there – before heading back to the ship for a rest.

Poor Alan was a bit under the weather today. He started this trip with a cold and has fared along pretty well. In fact, I thought he was all better. But the day in Flam was really hard for him, he was low on energy and very congested. I am not used to Alan being less than 100% and was really happy we had nothing to do most of the day. We both needed the rest!

I mentioned the fact I have 10 pairs of shoes with me. Well, I also have 3 coats. No idea what I was thinking when I packed, but with the rain and changeable weather, I have benefitted from having all of them! One is a heavy winter coat, one is a virtually a windbreaker and the other one is a heavier wind breaker – I had not used this one since my last trip to Switzerland with the Guides. That was about 2008! So far, it is my favourite! The next time I have to go on a trip and worry about luggage allowance, I don’t know how I will cope!

Later that day we sat in the harbour station, where the crew all use the free wifi! We try to find where the crew go whenever we stop at ports when on a cruise. But time in Norway has been at such a premium we have not done this until now. It is fantastic that some ports put on free wifi so those people who are so far from home can stay in touch with friends and family. All the languages in this room made it feel a bit like the United Nations! However, there ended up being too much strain on the wifi and we couldn’t get through. Since I did have access to wifi on board, I decided to leave and let these folks have a better chance to “phone home!”

Here are some pictures just for fun:

The Boudicca taken by a friend of our's as we sailed past!

Captain Stein is Norwegian and appears to both love his country and his job! He has been such fun and is the most approachable Ship's Captain I have ever seen. Here he is on the bridge: