London Calling

Kirsten's brother came over for another European adventure, loyal readers may remember Jason from such trips as Portugal and numerous London visits.  This time saw us jetting off to Norway.  Scandanavia has always been high on my list of places to check out while we're here so we settled on the fjords of Norvay.  The only note of caution we went with was that it was going to be expensive, since we were coming from 2 of the most expensive cities in the world, NYC and London, how bad could it really be...

Pardon me a moment while I choke on the memory of the cost.  All the rumours are true,

 Norway, and likely Scandanavia, is incredibly expensive, but to be honest, the beauty of the country goes a long way to soothing that burn.

We started off in Oslo where we had less than 24 hours to explore the city and get our introduction to the land of the midnight sun.  We started off with a light lunch at the Grand Cafe, the very place where Henrik Ibsen enjoyed a beer and aqua vite everyday at his regular table.  It's a great people watching spot and the interior decor evokes memories of the intellectuals and artists that used to frequent the joint.  I like to think that the 3 American intellectuals who sat in the cafe that day would have fit right in during the late 19th century with Ibby and the rest.  Our exploration of the city took us to the traditional village which was designed to show what life was like in Oslo and Norway hundreds of years ago, I thought it was some bizarre cross between a Wild West town and M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.  After a thoroughly educational walkabout we did what you do when in the land of the Vikings, we checked out the oldest surviving Viking ships from the 15 somethings.  They were uncovered from their funereal mounds in the early 20th century and the museum was literally built around them.  A very impressive museum building, high vaulted white stucco walls, 3 of the arms

 completely empty except for a Viking ship, with the 4th arm filled with displays of the items found in the ships.  After getting our cultural fill we hopped back on the water taxi and went in search of that famous Norwegian beer (ahem!) and some eats.

Ja identified the young hip area of Oslo so off we went.  There were a fair few cafes along the street and we popped into one for a little well deserved liquid refreshment.  This particular place, Bistro Brocante, was selected because it seemed cool and there were a bunch of suitably Norwegian looking people outside, oh, and there was an available table.  The food looked fantastic, so after a walk around the block to see what else was on offer we ended up back at the same place, this time inside the small but charming restaurant with black and white checkered floor for our French meal.  It was only due to my extensive knowledge of French that we were able to order, after all, why wouldn't the menu in Oslo be in French?  Much to our delight the food was excellent and we passed a lovely evening in a classic French bistro in the middle of Scandanavia.

As much fun as Oslo was we were excited to set off the next morning on our train ride (Norway

 in a Nutshell) west, clear across the Norwegian landscape.  Our train left at 8 AM and would take us out past the suburban sprawl of Oslo into the countryside and fjord land.  After a few hours and some impressive sights flying by (glaciers, snowcapped peaks, waterfalls) we were deposited in Myrdal, atop a mountain with the scenic, and old, Flamsbana railway descending several hundred feet to the town of Flam at the point of the Aurlandsfjord, one of the longest (204 km) and deepest (1,300 m) fjords in Norway.

In a word - WOW.  What a stunning setting, one of the most beautiful places I have been fortunate enough to experience.  Flam isn't so much of a town as a few buildings catering to the

 cruise ships and train loads of tourists that are dropped of throughout the high season.

  Thankfully we were there at the very end of the season so were not inundated with too many tourists.  Upon arrival we dropped our stuff at our self-catering apartment and immediately headed out for a 4-hour kayak and hike (guided of course).  We set out in double kayaks for about an hour paddle.  At least it should have been but unfortunately not everyone in our party had kayaked before, or actually experienced the great outdoors from their home bases in Singapore (think pillsbury dough boy and his mini gf) or Brooklyn (all they were missing was the traditional Hasidic garb).  We landed the kayaks and began a hike up to a lovely but very very very cold waterfall.  How did we know it was cold?  Well, because Jason and I jumped in it of course.  Much like polar bear jumps it was refreshing and reinvigorated us for the hike back down the mountain (with a side trip to jump in a little pool - also cold).  After reaching the boats our guide treated us to a well earned snack of caviar on multi-grain wafers accompanied by watery tea.  It was the perfect way to reenergise ahead of the 45 minute kayak paddle back to Flam.  As  this was a town catering to tourists and we were at the end of the season there wasn't a whole lot of evening activity, we made the best of it though.  There was an excellent brewery where we sampled 4-5 different styles - Alt, ale, lager, stout, wheat - that were incredibly good considering the remote outpost we were in, either that or it could have been the 4 hours of vigorous exercise in the clean crisp Norwegian air.  We dined on some reindeer patties at the local greasy spoon - but at that point food was for routine purposes only rather than out of necessity.

The next day we set out on the ferry through the fjords on our way to Bergen where we would spend a couple of days.  The green mountains rose sharply on either side of us often broken up by cascading waterfalls of the still melting winter snows and ebbing mountain tarns.  Rather than settle for an uninterrupted ride to the next port where we would catch our bus we took a couple hour side trip to Undredal to sample some of their famous (?) brown cheese.  We were about the only people in this small town but we did happen upon a cafe that did a brown cheese sampler platter along with a narrative of the history of the cheese and the town/region we were in.  The cheese is actually carmelised whey, so not technically cheese, but good nonetheless.  It is one of those local delicacies that is best remembered rather than trying to recreate the taste sensation back home, this can be seen just by opening our fridge and seeing the untouched block of brown cheese that we brought home with us.  Aside from the brown cheese and tiny church (20 people max if that) there wasn't a whole lot to do, plus we had to make sure to catch the last ferry, otherwise we would be up shit fjord without a kayak.  The only way to get the ferry was to turn on the rotating orange police light that would signal to the ferrymaster to pull into the dock, it was anxious waiting hoping that the pilot had good eyes or wasn't in a hurry to get to his final stop - thus stranding us.  It all worked out and we got onboard looking like travelling rock stars as the entire boat was peering at us over the railing to see who were these three people that caused the ferry to make this unscheduled stop.

Fast forward through the remainder of the ferry ride to the bus ride to the train ride and finally into Bergen about 9PM.  Unfortunately when we got into Bergen it was pouring, thankfully the owner of the flat we rented picked us up at the train station, truly door to door service.  After dropping our bags we went out in search of this very cool bar we had read about called Pingvin, they were rumoured to serve very good authentic food in a hipster environment, perfect for us foreign hipsters looking for some real Norwegian eats.  We were concerned about wandering around in the rain looking for this place but set out undeterred.  We walked out the door of the apartment building went about 15 feet and loked left and right to try an decide which was the best way to go - lo and behld there was Pingvin in all its glory, that my friends is what the Brits call a result.  Unfortunately the food was running out since we got in so late but we stuck around for a few of their finest Norwegian ale and a little bit of conversation with the decidely Norwegian bar staff (ahem).  One of these barkeeps recommended a place just down the road for some quality reindeer and after all that's what we were on the hunt for.  So, despite the rainy conditions we not only found our hip local hangout but we got ourselves some delicious reindeer steaks with a lovely berry sauce over the top.  Welcome to Bergen Kirsten, Jason and Brian.

We were up the next morning brght and early (well sort of).  The sun was shining and we set out to experience all that Bergen had to offer since we really only had one day to take it all in.  Off we went to find the "best coffee shop" in Bergen as voted by some hipster magazine or other.  Being a non-coffee drinker I was of course ecstatic to find an incredible hot chocolate.  The place lived up to its billing as a top shop with quality barristas, so with our bellies full of hot drink off we went for our first Norwegian hike.  Skipping the Furnicular we let the power of our feet take us to the top of the mountain (big hill?) and beyond.  Once at the top with all the rosy faced rotund tourists we kept going.  Through the woods, past the mountain lakes, and up the next mountain - we just kept going.  The air was crisp, the views fantastic, I am reasonably sure we could have kept going all the way back to Oslo - but then hunger set in, and we had just the place in mind.  What took us 3 hours to climb up took only an hour to get back down again, destination: Bergen Fish Market.  If this fish was any fresher we would have had to catch it ourselves (whoa! thank you folks I'll be here all week). After our hunger inducing hike we set about scaring up a variety of seafood - peel-n-eat-shrimp, tuna, and whale.  Yes, that's right whale.  Now before you tree huggers start bombarding me with your hate mail, Norway is one of the very few countries allowed to hunt whales, they're not allowed to export it but they are allowed to eat it.  Probably a god thing it can't be exported because it is very good, much like a very nice piece of steak with a slight sea taste.  Mmmmm, would almost be worth the trip back to Bergen for some whale.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around Bergen checking out churches and other touristy things of note, it was a bit of a half effort since we were all still glowing from our hike and fish-fest.  There may have been a nap as well. For our final meal in Bergen we took a recommendation from a Serbian, a highly dubious prospect at the best of times.  However, the restaurant was quite good (as evidenced by the prices) and the fact we were the only 3 diners .  It was nice to have the restaurant to ourselves as we recounted the details of our trip.  After a night cap at our favourite Penguin bar we turned in and effectively closed the chapter on our Norwegian adventure.

Jason carried on for a few extra days while Kirsten and I flew back to Oslo and then home to London very much looking forward to the next time we would find ourselves in Norway.