våken og uthvilt

Awake and refreshed after an awesome nights rest! My stay in Flam has been the best! It has been a great morning of leisure for me. After a nice breakfast complete with an awesome conversation with Odas (my new Latvian friend who is here on holiday working for the summer while in university)! Upon returning to my room, my wonderful friend Ana at the front desk informs me that she has contacted the company who organizes the activities and they have faxed over confirmation of my excursions.... I have NO MORE WORRIES! Thank you Ana!

I love Norway!

I have been sitting on my stoop drinking morning tea for over an our just watching the beauty of this village. It is so quiet and peaceful. The occasional hiker will walk as infrequently as small boats depart the fjord! This is so cathartic! I have about 3 hours to kill and although I plan to visit the small town museum in a bit, I have decided to do as much writing as I can. Not only on here but in my personal journal. There is an enormous rock overlooking the water with my name on it! The weather is calm and cool, the setting is perfect!

Once I leave here, I will not be in my hotel in Bergen until late tonight (mid afternoon SC time), so here is a brief "nutshell" of my activities:

I began yesterday (07/25) at 10am (4am US)in Oslo to board the train and travel the Bergen Railway (voted one of the world's most beautiful train journeys... and I believe it!) This train ride over Northern Europe's largest mountain plateau was spectacular. I have hundreds of pictures! Reaching its highest point in Finse at 4009 feet!

I arrived in Myrdal to leave the modern train and board a much more authentic mountain passenger rail. Beautiful all wooden interior and picture windows (many of which you can open) reminded me very much of the train I see each year on the freshman trip that take people past the NOC. This train beginning at 2841 feet stretched only 12 miles and down the Flam valley ending in an altitude of 6.5 feet! I mean to tell you this hour long ride took me past some of the most picturesque and magnificent mountain scenery!

This afternoon (o7/26) I will board a ferry here in town and travel the Sognefjord, Norways longest and deepest fjord (4265 feet deep). Wow... so Im going from over 4000 feet up to boating on over 4000 feet deep!! Only in Norway! The ferry from Flam will take me 2 hours where I will reach Gudvangen. Along the way I pass through the narrowest and perhaps most dramatic fjord in Europe (so I am told... I will let you know).

Once I jump off the ferry in Gudvangen, I hop a bus an take the "extreme" Stalheimsklevia road. This road has 13 steep and frightening hairpin bends heading to the town of Voss. I have heard some people have to sit on the floor of the isle because it is SOOOO EXTREME! (Makes me think of Angel!!)

From Voss I quickly jump on a train and head to Bergen! Arriving around 8:30pm (2:30pm US).

The weather is beautiful... cool and a wonderful breeze. Ana tells me that the sun will break through the clouds at 3pm today... just as I am boarding my ferry. YES! Sorry to hear it is miserable and HOT back home! Much love to all...