The Fjordline Ferry to Norway was a huge ship with numerous restaurants, bars and entertainment areas. We had supper and enjoyed some of the entertainment before settling in for the night.
We arrived in Bergen Norway at about 12:30 the next day.
We finally managed to figure out how to get a bus ticket to the Bergen Montana HI Hostel. It wasn't an easy task and took us awhile to actually find the bus station. We are finding everything a little on the futuristic side here in Scandinavia. Buses, trains and even elevators all seem to operate in ways that are slightly ahead of our time.
Using cash here is quite uncommon and even the simplist task of buying a train ticket, using a vending machine or even entering a public toilet requires a credit card.
Once at the hostel we got ouselves settled into our large mixed dorm room, did our laundry and made supper at the hostel. In the kitchen we met an older English man named Issac. He started to talk to us about his travels and boy could he talk. It seemed like he had been practiclly everywhere on Earth and he had a story to tell about each place. He was the type who would ask a question but before you had time to answer would be well into another story. Anyway we listened to him for awhile until we really couldn't take it anymore.
On Tuesday August 30th it was raining outside which was a little disappointing because it was the only day we had for going to the fjords. We decided to go anyway. We did a three hour tour from Bergen to Mostraumen and back again.
Even though the weather was not ideal, the views were still fairly good. We were certainly both glad we decided to go ahead with the plan.
Back at the hostel we ate supper and had some more time to talk or mostly listen to Issac who we now, because of his appearance, started calling Papa Smurf.
We were up really early the next morning. At 5:30 am we were quietly packing our bags trying not to wake the others in our room.
At 6 am we took our spot second in line to Papa Smurf at the bus stop to take the first bus downtown. Our train departed Bergen at 7:57 am. Along with seeing the Fjords, the famous Bergen to Oslo Railway was one of the main reasons we really wanted to go to Norway. This train is often described as one of Europe's most spectacular rail experiences.
The landscape changed dramatically as it took us to ear popping heights next to snow capped mountains and along high plateaus before it decended down to Oslo at 2:45 pm.
We figured out how to take the Metro to Sinsen Station and walked up over the grassy hill to Oslo Hearldsheim HI Hostel, where who should we meet again at the check in counter? You guessed it... Papa Smurf.
Thursday September 1st we spent the day exploring Oslo. After a little confusion trying to get my credit card to work buying Metro tickets, we were able to make our way downtown. We stopped by the Noble Peace Centre and took a Ferry across Oslofjorden to the Bygdoy Peninsula. Here we walked around the Maritime Museum, the Norsk Folk Musem and Oscar's Hall. After that we spent most of the afternoon at the very impressive Akershus Fortress.
Oslo is certainly a nice clean modern city. With it's organization and modern glass buildings there were times I felt like I could be walking around almost any Canadian city. Although it didn't give me the same thrill other cities may have it was the first day of September and "here we were" in Oslo Norway! It was a September 1st I enjoyed much more than usual. Although we didn't actually go in the National Gallery and see the original Edvard Munch's "The Scream", seeing copies of it around the city reminded me of my usual reaction to this date in the calender.
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