Summer 2015: Scandinavia – Bergen, Norway

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Sep 062015
 

Back to my updates on summer travels – it is fun to look back at all that I did in such a short time!

So, our last stop in Norway was Bergen. We took another ferry from Belastrand to Bergen. It was a fairly chilly ride, so we stayed inside for most of this one. Plus, the joy of seeing the fjords was lessened after taking it all in the day before.

Bergen was by far the coldest place we visited despite going through snowy mountains. Since it is a harbor town, the sea winds blew in during the late afternoon to drop temperatures, so we were not as keen to be out in it for too long. Therefore, most of my souvenir shopping happened here. 😀

Bergen’s street shops are quite famous in photos – maybe you’ve seen them before and are just as picturesque in person.

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24-Jun-2015 15:32, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 9.0, 50.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100
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J and I walked around the town exploring. It’s not a big city, but a good size town that took us about two hours to walk around. Then, we took the funicular up to the top of the hill, which many people like to walk (crazy!), for a view of the area. It is quite beautiful to see.

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24-Jun-2015 15:25, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, ISO 32
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We had a pretty good time and ate a really nice meal here, but we were definitely happy to skip out on the cold!

Here are all the pics from Belastrand to Bergen:

More to come,

-T 😀

Summer 2015: Scandinavia – Belastrand, Norway

 General, Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Aug 232015
 

One of the main reasons to head to the west coast of Norway is to see the fjords. It was beautiful just to wake up to the view of the lake and we got to watch a bit more of the parasailing competition before we hopped on the three-car local train from Voss to make our way to Myrdal, which is higher up in the mountain.

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23-Jun-2015 13:53, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 11.0, 10.0mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 100
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Then, we crossed the platform and got onto a small old-fashioned (tourist) gauge train to Flam. Along the way, we made a brief stop to see a pretty cool waterfall

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23-Jun-2015 12:27, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 2.65mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 32
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and then ended in Flam, which happens to be a stop for cruise ships touring the fjords. Thus, there really is nothing to do there. We had a couple of hours to kill, so we stopped into a little supermarket for a drink and snacks to enjoy in the park.

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23-Jun-2015 13:47, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 2.65mm, ISO 32
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From Flam, we took a ferry to Belastrand about 1.5 hours through the fjords. There were a number of picturesque moments along the way. We braved the wind the whole time to take as many photos from the back and then fought our way forward from time to time to get some different shots. Although it was beautiful overall and I definitely enjoyed it – I wasn’t overly impressed….I know, I’m spoiled!!! 😛
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23-Jun-2015 16:46, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, ISO 40
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23-Jun-2015 17:38, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 9.0, 10.0mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 200
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23-Jun-2015 16:06, Apple iPhone 6, 2.2, 4.15mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 32
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The town of Belastrand isn’t that big and seems to be just a stopover for those touring the fjords.The main attraction in town seems to be Saint Olaf’s church.
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23-Jun-2015 19:46, Canon Canon EOS 70D, 10.0, 35.0mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 100
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Since there weren’t  a lot of food and drink options in the town, we paid the hotel prices for a nice dinner with a view of the water, which was worth it!
So, that was a lovely visit of the fjords! Here are the pics:
More to come,
-T 😀
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