My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Today we took the train through the mountains to Vass. The scenery of glaciers, waterfalls and mountains was stupendous.
In Vass we are staying at Store Ringheim overlooking the town. Once we were checked in we went for a beautiful walk.
We ate at the restaurant in the hotel. We started with beet soup and chicken livers.
Then Duke had lamb and I had beef.
And for desert we had strawberry cheesecake and mango sorbet. They grow the strawberries in the hotel garden. It was all wonderful.
It’s always nice to spend two nights in the same place. Today we went up the chairlift at the Geilo ski resort. There were lots of people taking their bikes up the lift and riding the various trails down.
From the top of the chairlift we took a hike to Hakkesetstølen where we bought coffee and hot chocolate and had a picnic.
The vegetation here reminds me of the high Sierras near the tree line. Although our altitude was only about 3,500 feet today we are now at about 60 degrees north latitude which is about as far north as Anchorage, Alaska.
Since we are staying in such a cozy little cabin we decided to stay in and have cheese, crackers, and salami for dinner.
After dinner we went for a short walk by the river.
Today was a rest day. We took a short train ride from Ål to the mountain town of Geilo.
We are staying in a cute little apartment that I think is primarily designed to be used by skiers in the winter. It has rained off and on all afternoon. We spent the afternoon relaxing and reading.
During a period of lighter showers we went to the grocery store to get some food for dinner. It is always fun to see what local grocery stores carry. Below you can see caviar and reindeer meat.
We bought some beer and a frozen pizza and had a gourmet feast!
Tomorrow it is supposed to be dry so we are planning a hike.
The breakfast room in the guesthouse where we spent the night last night was built in about 1620. It has been in the same family ever since. The room was full of beautiful old folk art. The breakfast room is on the right in the picture below. Our room is in the upper left.
Our train ride today was stage two of our five stage train trip from Oslo to Bergen. We went two stops in about thirty minutes and are now in the town of Ål. In winter Ål is a ski destination with a biathlon and cross country stadium. According to the guide book they have two of Norway’s longest toboggan runs. This afternoon we hiked up a steep trail to a lookout over the town.
One of the most amazing things we saw was theses mushrooms. To me they look like they came right out of a fairy tale. I’ve never seen anything like them.
We had a very good dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Then we went for a walk around the church next door.
The train ride from Oslo to Bergen is supposed to be one of the highlights of visiting Norway. We are going to do it in five stages. Today we took the train from Oslo to the little town of Nesbyen. It is about a two and a half hour ride.
We walked the mile or so from the train station to the guest house where we are staying. This town is charming. The colorful houses, neatly manicured yards and the forests remind me of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.
After checking in we went for a walk, admired the scenery and bought some food for a picnic dinner in our room.
Now we are sitting in our cozy room reading.
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