Flam, Norway

May 15, 2018

Yesterday was a day at sea as we traveled from Amsterdam to Flam, Norway. A day at sea at this point in time was a day of trying to get a little sense of normalcy back. The 12 hour time difference coupled with the fact that the sun doesn’t set here until after 10pm and rises around 4am is making the jet lag, well….lag. My head feels like it’s filled with sand. Tomorrow will be better I’m sure. 

This morning we arrived in Flam. It’s a tiny, tiny town and the end of a huge fjord. Robert got up at 4 this morning to watch us come into the fjord. I opted for a couple more hours of sleep. When I opened the curtain in our cabin I looked out at the splendorous mountains rising vertically from the sea and exclaimed, “Well, crap. There’s snow”. There’s a reason I live in Maui. Any kind of cool weather makes me wear far too many clothes and grit my teeth. Snow isn’t something I find appealing on any level. But that aside, I can’t deny that the scenery of the fjords is spectacular. It was a beautiful blue day with sunshine and innumerable waterfalls coming off the cliffs. 

We had breakfast and were in line to disembark at 7am. We had made reservations to take the Flamsbana railway to Myrdal. It’s a 1 hour scenic ride on an electric train that takes you through 20 tunnels and past countless waterfalls to the even tinier town of Myrdal. Spring is in the making here, particularly in the lower elevations with beautiful  wildflowers and brilliantly green leaves just emerged on the birch trees. Water is everywhere. We stopped briefly in Myrdal and then headed back to Flam, stopping at the Kjosfossen waterfall and saw Huldra, a mythical forest spirit who lures men into forest to seduce them with her singing. 

Taking a brief rest, we returned to town (about 250 meters away) and took a boat into the world’s tallest and narrowest fjord. More waterfalls. We arrived at the end of that fjord to yet another tiny town where we caught a bus shuttle back through an 11.5km tunnel and a 5km tunnel. Basically, we just drove the entire time back through the mountain.

After an extensive nap, we stood out on the sundeck to watch us pull away from the dock, do a dainty pirouette (no small item on a 975ft. ship) and make way out the Sonenfjord. A good day ashore.