What a day! Up early for breakfast, in the quiet library today:
the buffet (which seemed awesome until Alesund):
my colorful plate:
and just to top it all off:
and hit the road for a long travel adventure. Drove for almost 3 hours through Jotunheimen national park to get to the ferry at Geiranger. A brief stop in Lom for a visit to the WC, and whaddya know, another stave church!
We had accidentally planned to drive through one of the most beautiful landscapes in all of Norway! Up and down mountainous switchbacks with the occasional stop for photo ops:
the moonscape:
and cairns everywhere:
and for one person to relieve herself. By about 12:15, we let go of the idea that we would make the planned (and tickets purchased) 12:30 ferry. But no matter, we can slow down a bit, enjoy the incredibly rugged landscape, and have time in Geiranger for a walkabout and snack. We head down into the valley below:
and arrive at our destination about 11:30, went for a bite, but somehow ended up with ice cream cones for our midday meal! The best soft-serve since a short boat ride in Minneapolis with Ellie. Back in the car, and pulled up into the ferry line #1, handed over our 12:30 tickets (now boarding the 2 o’clock ride), and drive onboard. At last, a ferry ride under blue skies! I just had to put on the earbuds and dance my way through the amazing scenery, snapping photos:
The seven sisters waterfalls here –
and just beautiful walls to the fjord, hard to capture on film but best effort:
and shaking my moo moo. Did some stretching while on board and inhaled the wonderful sea air. On the other side, stopped for coffee and to use the WC, then another hour-ish of beautiful countryside, windy roads and a KILLER photograph (this one’s going on the wall of travel photos):
just check out that reflection action –
About and hour and a half later, time for another 15 minute ferry ride. This one is in Sykkylven and mostly used by locals – no one but us even got out of their car. A nice perspective through an opening in the ferry:
Then 25 minutes more and we’re in our quaint hotel Brosundet in this seaside community that has a bit of the hip, cool ambience of Boulder, Colorado. Lance dropped the car off at the airport, returned to the hotel, where we’re staying right on a canal, and then we walked along the quay to a seafood restaurant known for its bacalao (salted cod, classic Norwegian seafood dish). Lance got a fish platter (cod, salmon and halibut) and I the bacalao with mashy peas (one of my new favorite foods!) and bacon (oh my! it is so true that everything is better with bacon!).
We chat several times with the chef/owner and manage to finish the whole bottle of wine. Sated with seafood and both of us fairly tipsy, we meandered back to the hotel.