Exploring Voss & Seeking Hardanger Bridge

 After some stealthy planning involving the YES/NO coin, we planned out the next two legs of the trip this morning.  And still another few legs to plan, maybe as many legs as a spider, only the Shadow knows 😉.

We wanted to find the Hardanger Bridge today, about 120 km away.  It is a 4,528 ft suspension bridge with a good pedestrian lane, about a 3 km walk across.  That was the plan.  And lucky for us, we decided to stop in beautiful Voss first, because it looked so charming.   Plus.  It had a gondola! Found some free Sunday parking close by and within a few minutes we were airborne about 1200 m, arriving in a distinctly chillier, alpine land. Voss is a popular ski village and has the charm (but not the populace or insanity of Banff).  I loved it.

We even had the huge gondola to ourselves on the way down.  As with everywhere we have been in this country, it was completely uncrowded and calm.

                                                  Big bug impression on the way down!

The bridge, however, was a bust.   Despite the helpful instructions CHAT gave, finding the parking lot on either end was like finding your way out of a black room with a blindfold on.   The tunnels leading to/from the bridge are massive, so large that they actually have roundabouts in them.  Besides, when we drove across the bridge we sniffed it wasn’t all that awesome anyway.  So, meh, onward to find a picnic spot and a drive through of tiny town “Dale”, a factory town known for the quintessential Norwegian pure wool sweaters.   All was closed for the Sunday, and most likely that was a good thing on the pocketbook. 

In every way it was another lovely day in this gorgeous country.  We came home with a basket of sweet plums, sold at a roadside farmyard, delicious and dripping with juice.

Tomorrow we drive to Fläm to catch our Fjord tour to Neroyfjord.  Fingers crossed for sunshine or at least - no rain!

Gallery Day - Bryggen

Train #40 carried us into Bergen today in the usual efficient 17 minutes, half of which was in tunnels. But what a deal, especially when you don’t want to drive in a downpour and look (and pay for) parking. $7 Canadian for two seniors.  And, they forgot to charge us on the return.

Central station deposits you within perfect walking distance of everything - the Kode galleries showcased some beautiful Norwegian paintings including Harriet Backer, a woman who fought hard to make herself known as a female artist.   I discovered Johan Dahl, a superbly talented landscape artist who painted Norwegian nature and the people who lived in it.  A master of light.  Two of my favourites:

And of course, weird old Edward Munch, who painted a heartbreaking self-portrait while he was in hospital for a nervous breakdown.  There he became so enamoured with the German philosophy of health, nature and exercise, that his dark and disturbing paintings changed to a much cheerier presentation.

Two galleries were included in the price, the second an exhibition of modern art and photography.   Strange and thought provoking.

Enough art.  We explored old Bryggen and the Fish Market, which was lively and bursting with tourists.   There, I disgraced myself by succumbing to a chocolate donut (and a pistachio one for Dave).   Handed over the kroners and then winced when I did the conversion… my first $10 donut.   I haven’t felt so fleeced since I paid 10 euros in Italy for gelato on a boiling hot day.

Serious rain began as we left the fish market, and I pulled out my lovely Monet rain poncho from my purse.   When I did so, there was a clatter at my feet and I looked down to discover a thick gold coin in a plastic container.   It’s a novelty coin, with yes/no written on each side, and I have zero idea of how it got there.  I have never seen it before.  However, serendipity follows her own plan, so we are going to use its flippability to help decide on our next destination(s).   We fly out of Bergen one week from today.  Any guesses about where we’ll land?

Chasing Waterfalls

Friday greeted us with bucketing rain, which I gather is the norm here and also a source for the exuberant waterfalls that are everywhere.  The only thing that outnumbers the waterfalls are the tunnels.  I remarked that this would be a very bad place to live if you suffered from tunnelphobia.   Norwegians don’t go over mountains, they just gopher their way straight through, sometimes for several kilometers.  They are wide (the tunnels, not the Norwegians), brightly lit and (thankfully) very quiet in terms of traffic. And it doesn’t rain inside them.

Shortly after noon the rain slowed to a stop and so we loaded up our ‘wiches and potato salad and headed to the first of two major waterfalls - Fossen Bratte.    We were the only people to hike down to the base of the falls - steep, but doable and a good lung buster on the way back up!  Can you find Dave?

From there, a gorgeous drive through very steep caverns and roads that were cut through the side of the mountain, until we got to Steinsdalsfossen.  A little more popular due to the fact that you can walk behind the waterfall, but it was lovely, an easy walk and a beautiful vista of the valley and small town below.

Our turnaround was Norheimsund, a picturesque village with a maritime museum and a good spot to enjoy a late lunch while gazing out on the fjord.   The museum would be such a joy for children, as they have bins of various shapes of wood, hammers, nails, sailcloth.  All are invited to pound together the best seafaring ship they can imagine, then float them in the adjoining pool to the building.   All for free.  My grandkids would ❤️ it here!!