Flam, Norway-Day 3

Flam, Norway-Day 3

Flam-100 miles up the fjord

We woke at 7:00 AM to the sight of craggy mountains coming down to the water and the town of Flam just outside our sliding glass door to the balcony. We had sailed overnight from Bergen to Flam, a small town 100 miles up a fjord from the Baltic Sea. We had tied up at the harbor which was actually about 2 miles from the actual town of Flam.

Viking Cruise Lines does that, going from port to port at night as we sleep and spending the days in a location where the passengers can explore or take tours.

We tried something new: breakfast in the stateroom instead of going to a restaurant. Quite nice in fact. Probably will do it again tomorrow. On time, hot and good. Hard combination to beat.

Good Breakfast

We opted for a special tour: Villages and Valleys.  We boarded a bus that took us ½ hour up the valleys through a series of tunnels carved out of granite. One of the tunnels is the second longest tunnel in Scandinavia, some 8 miles long. Narrow roads, limited visibility, surrounded by granite rock, fast driver, oncoming traffic............what could go wrong?

We stopped for “shopping opportunities” at several places, all the while gawping at the literally hundreds of waterfalls and rivulets along the steep mountainsides. The season is just turning to summer and the snow is mostly gone with melt water running everywhere. The scenery is absolutely spectacular.

 Ya gotta love the rooftop insulation!

Fantastic falls everywhere. This one freezes solid every winter.

We returned to the ship at 1:30 with the sailing set for 3:00. We were up on the sun deck and able to see the maneuvering of the ship as it pulled away from the pier and turned to leave the very small harbor. Not a great deal of room to turn around in.

Last night we had dinner with two other couples who have been traveling together many years. They both live in Kentucky and are complete opposites politically. Very interesting to talk with each of them even though politics and religion were off the table. Mostly. What a hoot!

We continue to meet interesting folks. As we were on the sun deck with the ship's departure, we talked with a couple from Boston. As a result of that conversation, we will likely be taking a cruise on Oceana Cruise Lines sometime soon.  

Off to Stavenger!