Voss to Bergen – 27 August, 2018

Our train from Voss to Bergen was at 2 this afternoon, so we had time this morning to walk to the Voss Folkemuseum. It was really interesting to see the 16 old farm buildings some of them date back to the 17th century.

One of the interesting things we have seen throughout Norway is the variety of roofing material. We have seen a lot of sod roofs on both old buildings and new. In many areas we have also seen a lot of slate roofs.

In Bergen we are staying very near the harbor. This afternoon we enjoyed exploring.

In the fish market we saw many interesting fish but I have never seen crab as big as the enormous king crab in the market.

For dinner we had fish sitting at a restaurant overlooking the harbor.

Geilo to Vass – 26 August, 2018

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.

Geilo – Saturday, 25 August, 2018

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.

Ål to Geilo – Friday, 24 August, 2018

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.

Nesbyen to Ål – Thursday, 23 August, 2018

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.