J o u r n e y s: April 2016

Norwegian Air started flying out of Boston this year with the most amazing price deals. I couldn't resist and booked a ticket to Oslo for spring vacation this year. A friend ended up coming along, the lure of the fjords too great to resist.

I was skeptical of flying a budget airline but Norwegian was a surprise. The planes were 787 Dreamliners, and while they weren't as spacious as some other airlines, they were better than a lot of US carriers. The entertainment was fantastic, the seats fairly comfortable, and the flight without delays. My only gripe was the food, both the quality (just totally unappealing) and the two-tiered system that dragged out meal service way too long. It limited sleep time on the red eye overseas flight.

Anyway, landing in Oslo was a breeze, as was the transit from the airport to downtown. Our first glimpse of Norway was breathtaking, farms and mountains beyond. Once checked into the hotel in Oslo, the sun came out and we set out exploring the waterfront area. We were staying near city hall, a few blocks from the harbor. On our first day we wandered along the water for a ways, enjoying the sunshine. We then took the tram up to Vigeland Park, full of statues representing the different stages of human life. It was the perfect day to wander among the art, all bright sunshine and blue skies. As the sun started to dip, we stopped into our second coffee shop of the day for a brief respite and wifi check-in. Then it was back down to the harbor where we started a self-guided walking tour, in reverse from the tourbook which was always fun. It got cloudy again as the day wore on, but cheery bright colors of a Sikh festival on Spikersuppa, or the National Mall of Norway, kept the day lively as we took in the sites of the National Theater and Parliament building. Dinner on night one was Asian, recommended and close to our hotel. It was quite the place.

Day two dawned rainy, but with a big buffet breakfast at the hotel. We took a boat from the harbor behind city hall to the Viking Ship Museum, which was my most-wanted site of the trip. It was phenomenal- when you walk in you can see the Ostgard ship immediately, rising up above you just past the ticked checkpoint. I was in awe of the two complete ships there, as well as the ruins and the hall of treasures pulled out of the ship graves that were excavated. There were images from the excavations as well, showing how the ships were found and removed from the ground. I was in history geek heaven while there, I must admit.

After the museum, we learned that it was a special day in Oslo and city passes were free, so we went back to the City Hall to get one. We saw where they awarded the Nobel Peace prize inside among the beautiful murals of Norwegian history. We also went to the National Gallery and saw Edvard Munch's The Scream, Norway's most famous painting. I enjoyed some of the other works there, especially Harald Sohlberg's Winter Night in the Mountains.

We had lunch in an Egon restaurant and then, as the sun came out, began a walking tour of the Grünerløkka and Grønland neighborhoods, to see the more multicultural side of the city. Walking along the river yielded pretty waterfalls and there were more coffeeshops, of course. We ended the tour at the train station to pick up our tickets for the next day, and the Opera House on the water, where you could walk on the roof. It was very dramatic, especially with the white-bright sun of the late afternoon. For dinner we took the bus back up to a market, which was closed, so we ended up with Beer and Burgers. Ah, America abroad.

Day three was our train day. We left Oslo around 8:30 AM and rode all day to Bergen, on the west coast. Going over the mountains we rode through a blizzard- you couldn't even see out the windows at times. I like snow when you don't have to go out in it! When we got to Voss we had to change to a bus because of construction on the train line. Then it started to rain. It was raining when we arrived in Bergen so we took a taxi to the hotel. Our hotel was gorgeous- worth the little splurge. We were greeted with opulence and waffles for afternoon snack. Then, after a quick run to the fort and then back for umbrellas, we set out on a walking tour of the Bryggen, the old medieval shipping neighborhood on the harbor. We saw the maze of shops and old fish market. We wandered the city a little bit, but with the cold and damp it wasn't very pleasant. There was, however, a gorgeous rainbow that appeared, just in time to cheer us up before heading back to the hotel for dinner. Mmmm, potato soup and salad. We may have also run outside in our pajamas to see if we could find the Northern Lights later that night, but no luck there. Oh well, I'll have to come back.

The last day in Norway was our most dramatic. Using the "Norway in a Nutshell" route, we traveled back to Voss by train. It was still sort of rainy in the morning but the skies were clearing to bright sunshine by the time we got to Voss. There we boarded a bus to Gundvagen, a little tourist transit stop at the end of the Nærøyfjord. We had ice cream for lunch, did some shopping, then boarded the boat for the journey along the fjord. It was breathtaking. The sun was behind us so we got some beautiful pictures. The fresh coat of snow made everything glisten. I don't know that I can put into words how beautiful the fjords were. Even pictures don't seem to capture it fully. You need the crisp cold air on your cheeks, the warmth of a sunbeam breaking through clouds, the rush of water tumbling down from a glacier to fully get it.

The boat ended at Flåm, where we had two hours to grab some food and see the little train museum before riding back up the mountain towards the main train line back to Oslo. The trip was about an hour and had beautiful views of the valley and a frozen waterfall. Once back on the main train, we settled in for a five hour ride to Oslo. There was no blizzard this time so we could see the towns completed buried at the top of the mountain. Once we got back down below the tree line the snow disappeared into beautiful scenery of rivers, pine and birch forests, and eventual city lights. We got into Oslo around 11 PM and wandered back to the hotel to check back in and repack for the trip home.

It was a whirlwind sampling but a wonderful taste of Norway in just four days. I hope to return to see the northern parts of the country someday (oh, those Northern Lights elude me!).