We spent 10 wonderful days in Norway in August of 2012. I fell in love with Oslo, a quiet, culturally rich, very walkable city. Oslo highlights: the Vigeland Sculpture Garden, the Frognerbadet Open-Air Baths (great for jet-lagged kids), the National Gallery, Ibsen Musuem, the Nobel Prize Center (there’s a terrific activity for kids that takes them all around the museum as emissaries of peace), the changing of the guards at the Palace, the Grand Hotel, and breakfast in the Grand Cafe, where Ibsen often held court and wrote many of his plays. (See below the jump or click title for photos).
From Oslo we took a train to Myrdal, where we boarded the Flam Railway for a pleasantly rickety plunge by rail into the valley. In the hopelessly touristy Flam, we caught a ferry, which dropped us off fifteen minutes away in the tiny village of Aurland, known for its cheese (delicious), its shoes (dorky but sturdy), and its hydropower. Our cottage was perched right on the fjord (see photos below), next to the dock, and I was startled and amused while wandering around our cottage in the morning to glance out and see a local gentleman we’d encountered at the tiny restaurant the night before standing there, looking straight into our window.
From Aurland, we took a fjord cruise to Gudvangen. Top ten things you don’t want to hear on vacation: “Holy crap, honey, we’re on the wrong boat.” We realized this as our small, overcrowded boat pulled out and the ferry we had reservations on pulled in to dock, but it actually turned out to be one of those mishaps you remember fondly for its comedy of errors feeling. On our boat, the disoriented skipper spent most of his time in the tiny kitchen, making waffles for a rowdy group of Russian tourists. On deck, we were squeezed elbow to elbow, sitting on folding chairs that kept skidding back and forth, in blatant disregard for any kind of safety regulations. To top it off, a woman in a tiny miniskirt and sky high heels was chain smoking at the bow of the boat. Behind us, we could see the large, luxurious ferry we’d bought tickets for. I wasn’t able to find coffee before we got on the boat, so the whole affair was uncaffeinated; my husband kept taunting me that they probably had a Peet’s coffee on board that other boat, where the tourists wandered happily about the large upper deck. We enjoyed the oddity of it all, and chugged on delicious local milk and chocolate while taking in the astonishing views. Around every bend was another gorgeous waterfall, another tiny village tucked into the mountains.
From Gudvangen, we took a bus to Voss. Another train ride from Voss to Bergen, where we ended our trip in a lovely apartment in the quiet neighborhood of Sandviken, which gave us a taste of how the locals live.
Impressions: I absolutely fell in love with the country and will definitely return. The people are very friendly, the saturated colors of summer make you feel as if you’re living inside a Holga photograph, and much of the country is stunningly picturesque. Next time, we’ll skip Bergen, an extremely crowded and noisy shipping port that reminded me of Fisherman’s Wharf, the one spot in San Francisco that all locals avoid. While Bergen’s Fish Market was crowded with tourists (like us), I got the feeling that locals do actually frequent it. Bergen is a really interesting medieval city, but in my mind Oslo has more charm. Anywhere you go anywhere in the country, the fjords are spectacular. On our next trip, we’ll go up North to the Lofoten Islands, which we couldn’t fit in this time.
Know before you go: while the hotels are reasonable and there are great deals to be found (the Grand Hotel in Oslo and the Grand Terminus in Bergen were comparable in price to a four-star hotel in New York), food is disproportionately expensive. A smallish pizza at a casual joint will run you almost $100, and a single bottle of beer from the grocery store will set you back $12. Our go-to eatery was Deli de lucca, which serves uninspired but edible paninis and very good ice cream.
