This is quite possibly the most beautiful place I ever seen. This must be what heaven looks like! And it was a great help that we encountered it on a sunny, 70-something degree day, that is true. We sailed through the Sognefjord, Norway’s longest and deepest fjord to a branch called Aurlandsfjord. In some places the steep rock faces are 1000 meters straight up! Breathtaking, green, steep fjords meet the dark aquamarine still water. Meadows between the mountains abound with wild daisies and tiny purple flowers. It smells pure, fresh, clean, healthy.
I took the Flåmsbana Railway up into the mountains, criss-crossing rivers and valleys through 20 hand-excavated tunnels. The train stopped once for a waterfall photo opp and I was surprised with alluring music and a native Norwegian girl in the falls, dressed in red with flowing blonde hair, summoning the travelers into the falls with her dance. When we reached our destination, which was a quaint, red hotel tucked into the hills and hidden by trees and an open air picnic teepee, the passengers and I were escorted inside for fresh, heart-shaped waffles with strawberry preserves and sour cream and coffee. The Norwegian coffee server whispered to me that I should take the best view and go up the stairs to the right. I found my private little lair with a perfect view and enjoyed the quiet before the rest of the group found out about it. Then a lovely Australian couple, Bob and Charmaine from Brisbane, invited me on a hike. We walked down by a lake and I taught them how to (sort of) do a scorpion pose, holding their leg behind their head and holding onto an old canoe for balance...they tried their best and laughed a lot :)
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| View while I ate my waffles, jam and cream |
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| From the train! |
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| Sail away from Flåm |
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