Mike's solo Norway adventure!

unseemlygamer · October 6, 2018

We stopped at Flydalsjuvet. If you've seen photos of Geiranger before, chances are they could've been taken here.

Back on the bus.

A lot of houses in Norway are painted white or red. White was for the wealthy, red was cheaper.

Oh, and apparently in Norway, animals are legally required to have six weeks of vacation, enjoying the beautiful weather.

The road we were on took about 8-9 years to build, because it would only be worked on during the summer months, and it's closed during the winter.

unseemlygamer · October 6, 2018

At this point, we were around 800 meters up high (more than 2600 feet).

No more trees. Just moss, moss and more moss. This was some of the little snow left on the mountain, especially because it's been a hot summer all over Europe.

unseemlygamer · October 6, 2018

On the other side of the road, there were crates of black soil for melting the snow faster, so the road can open during the summer. Further away from this place is the Stryn ski center that's usually open all year, but it was only open for 48 days this year because of the lack of snow. We can't have everything, but as the tour guide pointed out, at least we have good weather.

As we're getting closer to the top, we pass by the appropriately named Djupvatnet.

unseemlygamer · October 6, 2018

Here we are at the summit. It's over 4800 feet (1463 m) high - that's more than half as high as Machu Picchu. My sister was in Peru last year, and interestingly enough, I learned either during this excursion or the next one that alpacas can live here in Norway.

To be honest, I was getting nauseous as we were going up the mountain. Along with the rain, it was cold and windy enough for me to get a little taste of what winter feels like back where I live. Nonetheless, it was still breathtaking (maybe not literally).

I didn't take any more pictures on the way back down because it was raining too hard. Back on the ship, I went to tonight's show - Once Upon a Time - so stay tuned for that.

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

They used popular music for all the fairytales. I remember "Hungry Like the Wolf" being used for Little Red Riding Hood.

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

OK, so before I wrap up for the night, let's do a little review.

...

You know what? No amount of words could describe how astonishing Geiranger was, especially on a warm day.

Hellesylt - I saw what appeared to be this village in the distance as we were sailing in. Anyone been there before?

Waterfalls - There were many of them, and everyone may have something to say about Seven Sisters and the Suitor, but I think Storfossen was the highlight.

Geiranger Sjokolade - Hands down the best chocolate experience ever.

Would I go up Dalsnibba again? It was very much worth doing once, but it's just too high! In fact, I don't think I needed to do any excursions today at all.

Would I visit Geiranger again? Why wouldn't I?

Tomorrow we're in Ålesund. Rather than explore the Art Nouveau town, I chose to take a day trip to Trollstigen (Path of the Trolls). That means we better get up early in the morning. As always, thanks everyone for following along so far!

MrFunInTheSun · October 8, 2018

Wow, this has been quite the trip.

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unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

Day 5 - Path of the Trolls from Ålesund

Today we are in Ålesund, rebuilt in Art Nouveau architecture after a 1904 fire. Some sources say that much like Chicago, the fire was started by a cow kicking over a torch. You think that's true?

Rather than explore the town, I went on a Path of the Trolls excursion, so I had to get up early and head down to the theater. For some reason, it took quite a while before we docked and could get off. As a result, getting back on the ship by all aboard time seemed a little worrisome.

The majority of passengers seemed to just explore the town on their own. I couldn't decide between this and an excursion that visits the Aksla viewpoint, but little did I know that's where we would stop first.

Venice of the North, could this be? Our tour guide was from Italy and has been living in Norway for the past decade, but he claimed he doesn't miss it, not even the food. He better have been joking...

Driving along the Norwegian countryside.

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

We drove along Geirangerfjord, where we had been just yesterday!

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

I believe here, we were quizzed on whether this was a fjord or a lake. The answer was a lake. Very beautiful either way.

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

Our first stop was the Old Stordal Church.

While taking shots for the YouTube video, I panned the camera from a cross up to the front of the church while kneeling down on the grass. Don't do that unless you want your pants to get damp.

So many people, as you can see, were taking pictures in here.

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

10am, back on the road.

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

unseemlygamer · October 8, 2018

We also passed by Geirangerfjord again, though on the other side like earlier. Not the side I was sitting on this time.

I've been alternating between phone and camera for these pictures. After this was taken, I had to just use my phone. I tried to switch memory cards on my camera while this bus was moving and ended up dropping the one that I was going to use. I had just bought that memory card too!

If you were on this excursion and remember such idiot, that's me. Back on the ship I bought a new one from the general store. It was a lot smaller than the one I was going to use (only 32gb as opposed to 128), but it did the job for the rest of the cruise.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to look on the bus for the card. To answer some people who asked me if I ever found it - no, and I don't think I would've been able to - it's a microSD. Who knows where it ended up?

So please excuse the very few (and portrait mode) shots I took at Gudbrandsjuvet.