We spent Saturday and Sunday exploring Copenhagen...a Canal Tour, the Little Mermaid, Christiana, Nyhavn, Radhusplatsen, to name a few. Then I put Kara to work in helping me prepare for a Mexican themed going away party for a friend of mine who is moving back to the States...she certainly did not disappoint with a huge batch of her now world-famous guacamole!
On Monday we were off to Norway and luckily found Kara's bag at the airport! A quick plug for the Oslo airport...definitely one of the most efficient airports I have ever been to - we hopped on a train and in about 25 minutes were at Oslo main station. After dropping off our bags ,we walked up to the Vigland Sculpture Park.
The Vigeland Sculpture Park features 212 sculptures in what is like the Central Park of Oslo. Kara and I did our best to imitate a few of the sculptures, including the Angry Baby which is the park's most popular feature.
After the park we headed to a great dinner at one of the oldest restaurants in Oslo...where I got my first taste of reindeer!
On Tuesday it was back to Oslo Main Station and we were off to the Fjords! We took a 4.5hour train ride from Oslo to Myrdal which was absolutely gorgeous.
After a quick stop in Myrdal to transfer trains to the Flamsbana...which is a 20km train ride that takes about an hour due to the steep gradient (the gradient is 55/1000 or 80%...one of the world's steepest) and due to the stop we made at Kjosfossen Falls (free fall of 305ft).
We made it to Flam...which is 800meters lower in altitude than Myrdal...and were not disappointed by this serene town located at the tip one of Norway's largest fjords.
After a quick bike ride and hike through the Flam valley we were off to the highlight of the trip...a Fjord Safari! We suited up in our cold weather gear...sure we looked like fools, but when you're racing through the nordic waters they are definitely appreciated. Our guide Luna took us on a three hour tour through the fjords, which at some points are 800m height and 1000m deep, to include seeing porpoises and harbor seals. We stopped in a small town of 85 people (and 450 goats!) for a cheese tasting, where our 'cheese master' Leif taught us about how the Norwegians make cheese using both the curd (normal white cheese) and the whey (norwegian brown cheese).
After spending another morning exploring Flam and the Norwegian trolls we were off to the Fjords again, this time for a two hour ferry to Gudvangen. From there we took an hour bus ride (up a really steep mountain pass of many switchbacks) to Voss, where we had a little time for a cup of coffee and a walk over to the Voss harbor before getting on a train to Bergen.
Bergen is perhaps most famous for its Hanseatic seaside buildings which are medieval structures from the 15th century. While in Bergen we toured the local fish market which was filled with fresh and smoked fish and shellfish...we even sampled whale which is legal to hunt in Norwegian waters. The city is at the bottom of 7 mountains...supposedly there is a great view from the top of a funicular tram up one mountain...we headed up but unfortunately were subject to our only bad weather of the trip and found ourselves in a big cloud.
Norway is home to 26 remaining stave churches...so named for their architecture with timber and beam construction. The cross placed outside of this one dates back to the 10th century when Christianity was spreading through Scandinavia and they would plant crosses while they raised money to build a church on that site.
On Friday we were on our way back to Copenhagen and went to Ida Davidsen's for lunch. Ida's is Denmark's most famous smorrebrod place. For a much better explanation of all the food we had at Ida's see Kara's blog: Good Eats in Scandinavia. From there we headed to Fredriksborgslot...a castle about 30min outside of Copenhagen. Then it was back to the city to meet Grant and Nikki, two great Aussie friends of mine, for happy hour and dinner.
On Saturday, some of my friends from work had organized a "champagne day" and we joined them for brunch and dinner followed by karaoke!
It was a fantastic trip and hopefully many more visitors will come to visit (anxiously awaiting your visits Leslie and Stacey!!!).
There are PLENTY more pictures of our adventures on Snapfish...if you're interested use the link below...
2 comments:
Wow, what an amazing trip! Y'all look like you had the best time in such a beautiful part of our world... I want to come to Copenhagen! :) -carolyn
Your pics are the greatest! We would love to see you in CO during Christmas/New Years!!! We will be here, so let's for sure find a time to hang out and catch up!! Hope all is well, and tell Kara I said Congrats!
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