Sleeping in after a looong night’s rest is wonderful (with a little help from big pharma as insurance!). A lazy morning – cooking breakfast, catching up on works with friends, you know the drill. Check out the lovely view from our balcony:
Packed up photo gear and snacks, and walked along the water into town. We went to check on the boat ride down to Aurland and bus up to Stegastein (named after an old jewish-norwegian dinosaur) to a killer view of the fjord. However, both of those trips scheduled for today were sold out! Okay, time to invoke rule #7 of the sociopathic obsessive compulsive’s creed: persistence to the point of success is a blessing! We walk back to our place and inquire after renting a (motor)boat, a bicycle, a taxi, and then up the road to the pensyionat to check on renting a car. Costs and timing assessed, we rent a car for the day. Back to finish loading up, and then hit the road.
First heading is to Aurland for a bit of lunch before driving up to the panoramic viewpoint. We walk through the (really) small town. The two hotel pub/cafes are closed, so we walk back to the bakery. It’s in a nice, little white clapboard house with a lovely red door:
and I’m thrilled to see here is an establishment of inestimable quality! I order homemade tomato soup (and for those of you keeping some mind of how the universe cares for me, when Lance and I were at the grocery store last night selecting items for dinner, I informed him of my desire for warm, yummy tomato soup, but all they had were powdered mixes. Of course I told him that that really wasn’t what I had in mind. And here, it was delivered to me at lunch today!) with chilis, and homemade pancakes/crepes. One had blueberry jelly spread all over the inside and the other had locally made goat cheese slices rolled up into. And you know just what I did with that one!
Aaah, so contented. Back in the car, through town (and that takes about 3 minutes) and up the windy hillside. The view from the first:
As I head back to the car, I hear what sounds like a cow bell, but no, no, it’s a sheep bell (baa ram you!). I see some grazing lamby chops and have fun trying to capture the idyllic scene. Here and there, from the road and from hiking up some rocks, etc:
and across the street into the woods, where I caught a couple of girls chewing away:
We continue on the long and winding road, stopping where the view seems to afford better perspective on the vistas. At one stop, I see some red fruit hanging in the underbrush:
a bit blurry, sorry, but they were indeed wild raspberries! We picked and sampled quite a few (and a couple of stray strawberry plants as well) and continued photographic pursuit of perfection. From the point I could see in either direction: our village of Flam to the left, and where the ferry will carry us tomorrow, to the right:
Back down and then further down the road to stroll through the yard at the Flam church. We found the earliest burial dated in 1843, and the most recent in 2011. And the beautiful tradition of planting flowering bushes in front of each headstone made it one of the more beautiful cemeteries I’ve encountered:
Then another 20 minutes of so of driving until time for a fit of photography beneath a large waterfall. No photos because my subsequent efforts were much better! We finally arrive about 6:45 at the base of a steep hike up to Brekkefossen (Brekke Waterfall – saw quite a few headstones with the last name “Brekke” in the cemetery, so I guess they left their name on more than just stone!):
Finally, some exercise! In only 20 minutes, we are snapping away once more, with sheep bells donging around us:
And the view of our little hamlet on the way down:
A satisfying end to a busy day. We continue down the road to eat at the “Green Norway” truck that lives at the entrance of the campgrounds. All locally sourced veggies (of which they are out tonight), smoked salmon, lamb and reindeer (yes folks, we have chawed of bit of that mystical creature):
Very yummy meal. Returned the car and retired to pack up for two ferries and a taxi ride tomorrow. Heading to Gravander on the first, then Sogndal, taxi to car rental and drive to our place in Nes Gard. Until then…