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Norway

Click Here to see a map of Norway showing most of the places mentioned on this page

In mid-April, with the brothers Brunner reunited, we headed out of Malmö, Sweden and into Norge.  The initial invasion required a rather long train ride from Malmö to Oslo, where we changed trains at night for another long ride to Bergen.  This was the least pleasant part of the entire trip for me, as we were unable to book a sleeper car on the Bergen train and I cannot sleep in a chair.  Brennen snored away, dreaming of kebab and dancing girls, while I watched the train go in and out of tunnels and imagined the dark mountains we were passing by and through.

Bergen is a pretty neat city, so neat in fact that neither of us took the time to take out the camera and snap a picture.  Of primary interest to me was its fish market which is located (no surprise) in the harbor near the fjord to the ocean.  This market sells all manner of crustaceans that I'm allergic too, as well as a whole range of cod product from live to dried and salted.  I purchased some canned fish there, including what came to be my absolute favorite:  King Oscar's Mackerel in tomato sauce.  Brennen bought some reindeer and moose sausage which we ate later in the trip.  After a delicious dinner of torsk, an ice cream cone, and several delicious Norwegian beers we slept in Bergen one night and then took a boat through the fjords to Ålesund. 

Here is a slideshow of photos taken while boating through the fjords.  Like all the displays of photos on this page, just click on the thumbnail above to change the photo below.  Note the witty commentary as well.

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Your Webmaster enjoying a delicious maritime frucost which he purchased on the boat

We took this route as it was a nice way to see Norway from the coast, rather than overland through the train.  The idea was to take the boat around the cost from Bergen to Ålesund, connect by bus to Andalsnes, and then take the train into Trondheim.  Our ultimate goal was arctic Norway and this appeared to be the nicest way to go there.  I recommend this route for anyone thinking of visiting Norway.

One of my favorite nights was the one we spent in Ålesund.  Brennen and I went to a bar where I ate a delicious plate of Bacalao and several tasty (though expensive) Norwegian beers.  We met some nice people there who taught us about the Norwegian custom of Russefest, sang the Fraggle Rock song in Norwegian, and taught me about some cool Norwegian bands.  Brennen shot this photo from the top of the hill at sunset the night before we left:

From Ålesund we took an early morning bus ride to Andalsnes in order to catch the train to Trondheim.  Here are a few interesting shots taken during the train trip which, as you can see, involved some waiting in Dombås for a connection:

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Brennen in anticipation of his namesake town: Dombås, Norway

This train took us to Trondheim where we once again spent one night.  In Trondheim I watched my first televised football match, ate at Norway's version of Finland's "Golden Rax": "Pepe's Pizza", and once again enjoyed some delicious torsk for dinner.  Here is a slideshow of some scenes in Trondheim:

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Looking down the river in Trondheim's warehouse district

From Trondheim we took the night train north, excited to be heading into the arctic.  I was able to book a sleeper car on this ride which made me very happy.  Brennen chose to be more frugal and once again slept in a chair.  The train chugged along overnight and arrived at a nice hour in the morning in Bodø (pronounced "buddha") giving us some time to explore before we took the boat to Moskenes on the Lofoten Islands.

World to the wise:  On a ScanRail or Eurail pass the sleeper car on the night train is the way to go.  For only ~12 US dollars you can upgrade from a chair to a compartment.  You get a bed, sheets, pillows, blankets, and a few boxes of water.  You awake rested and chipper enough to spend another 80-100 NKR for a delicious frucost in the dining car.

  Some shots from Bodø and on the boat:

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Brennen in deep thought

Once on Lofoten we decided to stay for 3 nights in the town of Å .  It is a very small fishing village surrounded by beautiful mountains and a big ocean.  I primarily wanted to fish, and Brennen wanted to view mountains so this was the perfect place for us to pursue out specific interests.  One highlight for me was renting a boat with a fellow we met, and going fishing for torsk out in the ocean.  His gear wasn't heavy enough and due to wind we were unable to keep our lures down on the bottom where the torsk are.  We needed one of these sweet babies as well as much heavier rods.  But it was fun nonetheless.  The photo at the top of this page is your webmaster steering the small yellow boat out into the ocean.

One thing of specific interest on the islands is the drying of torsk to make "stockfish".  If you have read Mark Kurlansky's book "Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World" you would know about how important this way of preserving fish has been in world history.  If you haven't read it, you probably should.  I guarantee you'll enjoy it.

From Å we took a bus to Svolvaer, stayed a night, and took another boat to Narvik, Norway.  In Narvik we took the night train all the way south to Stockholm where we had the second part of our trip to Sweden and met a great number of relatives.  Here are the photos from Lofoten:

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The Logo for the town of Å

For the rest of the trip, go next to Sweden

Or, perhaps, start at the very beginning with Finland