Carol's Travels

This morning we rode the vintage train from FlÃ¥m to Bergen.  We saw beautiful scenery along the way.The train trip took about an hour.The train stopped at this spectacular waterfall.  Everyone got off the train to take pictures.  After this leg of the trip, we got off this train to transfer to a more modern train.  Later, we disembarked in Bergen.  We stopped at a small cafe to eat a delicious lunch where the main course included tender roast beef with lingonberries in the gravy. After we checked into our hotel in Bergen, we walked through an artsy part of the city to ride the funicular up the mountain.Here is a view of Bergen where the funicular took us.  Before we went back down, we walked through an outdoor nursery school where kids stay outside no matter the weather.  An elementary school holds classes outside up here too.  We saw some goats, and we talked with a local woman and her teenaged daughter.  Then we rode the funicular down.  As we walked back to the hotel, our guide, Melissa, pointed out points of interest both to and from the funicular.

This morning we boarded the motorcoach which took us through some very scenic mountainous country.  The highway ran beside the river, lakes, and waterfalls.  We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant that served an amazing mushroom soup.  The chef wrote down the ingredients for me, then he explained the process.  I hope that I will be able to duplicate this delicious soup when I get home.

After lunch we went to the famous Stave Church.  It was constructed in about 1180.  It is one of Norway’s best preserved wooden churches of that distinctive Viking style.We continued on to Flam where we checked into our hotel, then we ate a delicious dinner.

This morning we rode the tram to another part of Oslo.A river complete with waterfalls runs through the city.

Artists are allowed to display beautiful graffiti.  This piece of graffiti is by the river.

Paul and I split a pulled pork sandwich with fries for lunch at a huge food court. Afterward I bought a gelato cone for dessert at another place in the court.This young guide who works at the 22 of July Memorial told us about the terrorist act that took place in this building on the 22 of July in 2011.  Then we walked inside the building where we saw pictures of those killed, actual footage of the terrorist act, and photos of the police action following this tragic event.  We watched a movie with interviews of the teen-aged survivors of a camp that the terrorist also hit.  He felt that they were the future of the country, and he didn’t like the newly elected female prime minister who was speaking that day at the camp.  She was not killed.  The teens in the movie told their stories of how they survived.  It was powerful.

The memorial in the actual building where the terrorist act took place will be closed by the end of the week.  Our timing for this trip was good.  This exhibit will be temporarily moved while the building is renovated.  For a while the memorial will be housed in another building, then moved back to the actual building when the renovation is complete.