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Norway ABD 2015
- Thread starter tufbuf
- Start date
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
Thanks everyone!
Day 6 was a day spent at Westeras Farm. The family owned the farm for about a couple of hundred years. It's amazing to hear stories of how people survived living in farms on the fjords since nothing is flat. Anyway, I thought this was going to be a slow day, you know, farm day, slow day. It could have been if you don't choose the hike. The hikes are optional. The Norwegians ranked the hike as a 2, meaning easy...if it wasn't all uphill. It was a bigger group who did the first hike, which was from the hotel to the farm which was about 900 feet above the fjord. We did it in 45 minutes. The guides said we were the biggest group so far who hiked to the farm. The farm owners demonstrated their day to day life on the farm, mingled with some goats and sheep and went to a viewpoint overlooking Geirangerfjord. Gorgeous! Next was a delicious lunch of either fish or meat soup, sour cream porridge (which Torgeir absolutely loves!) and a yogurt dessert.
The photo above shows Geirangerfjord from the viewpoint. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site btw. I don't know if you can appreciate the road on the right of the photo. It's called Eagle's Road. That's pretty much what we drove through the whole entire trip - switchbacks, hairpin loops, zigzags, it could be a challenge for those who has motion sickness.
After lunch, another optional hike to the waterfall was offered. This was a little longer than the first hike. It was tiring but so worth it! We were able to go behind the falls and took lots of wonderful photos! I don't have one on my phone so I'll post later.
We had some free time before dinner so some went to the spa. DH and I checked out the town which is a 10-minute descent from the hotel, which means more hiking. I had to get my Geiranger chocolates!
About 300 steps down then up...like we didn't have enough hiking that day. My legs and knees were screaming afterwards!
Dinner was served in a log cabin restaurant in the hotel. It's the same place the photo was taken in the website. The meal, I would say, is a vegetarian nightmare! They served pig's neck (it's like ham), pork and lamb sausage, beef and chicken. Everything was delicious though. Yum yum!!! Next the JA's made some local pancakes called svele which is mixed with fruit or ice cream. It was a great way to end our stay in Geiranger!
Day 6 was a day spent at Westeras Farm. The family owned the farm for about a couple of hundred years. It's amazing to hear stories of how people survived living in farms on the fjords since nothing is flat. Anyway, I thought this was going to be a slow day, you know, farm day, slow day. It could have been if you don't choose the hike. The hikes are optional. The Norwegians ranked the hike as a 2, meaning easy...if it wasn't all uphill. It was a bigger group who did the first hike, which was from the hotel to the farm which was about 900 feet above the fjord. We did it in 45 minutes. The guides said we were the biggest group so far who hiked to the farm. The farm owners demonstrated their day to day life on the farm, mingled with some goats and sheep and went to a viewpoint overlooking Geirangerfjord. Gorgeous! Next was a delicious lunch of either fish or meat soup, sour cream porridge (which Torgeir absolutely loves!) and a yogurt dessert.
The photo above shows Geirangerfjord from the viewpoint. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site btw. I don't know if you can appreciate the road on the right of the photo. It's called Eagle's Road. That's pretty much what we drove through the whole entire trip - switchbacks, hairpin loops, zigzags, it could be a challenge for those who has motion sickness.
After lunch, another optional hike to the waterfall was offered. This was a little longer than the first hike. It was tiring but so worth it! We were able to go behind the falls and took lots of wonderful photos! I don't have one on my phone so I'll post later.
We had some free time before dinner so some went to the spa. DH and I checked out the town which is a 10-minute descent from the hotel, which means more hiking. I had to get my Geiranger chocolates!
About 300 steps down then up...like we didn't have enough hiking that day. My legs and knees were screaming afterwards!
Dinner was served in a log cabin restaurant in the hotel. It's the same place the photo was taken in the website. The meal, I would say, is a vegetarian nightmare! They served pig's neck (it's like ham), pork and lamb sausage, beef and chicken. Everything was delicious though. Yum yum!!! Next the JA's made some local pancakes called svele which is mixed with fruit or ice cream. It was a great way to end our stay in Geiranger!
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
Hello again! So we are back and overall, the Norway ABD is a WONDERFUL trip!!! We really enjoyed it. Norway is such a peaceful and beautiful country, like a hidden gem in Northern Europe. The activities were well planned, not too hectic. I really love the little stops they thought of during the long coach rides.
Let me now do a more detailed trip report.
Bergen - We spent a pre-night in Bergen since ABD is not touring the city. The whole idea of the trip really is to spend time in the fjord areas not so much in Bergen and Oslo. Both cities are very easy to get around to and you can always book a tour on your own to see the sights. Anyway, we had a good non-delayed flight and our driver was in the airport to greet us by the time we got our luggage. One note, there is no porter to help with the luggage. We also had to bring our luggage ourselves to the awaiting van. Not a big issue with us, just an fyi to future travelers. The van is parked very near the entrance to the airport so it's not like a long walk. It's a 30 minute drive to the hotel. Bergen is Norway's second biggest city. Our room was ready when we checked in. We also had to bring our luggage ourselves up to our room. Again, no biggie for us since we only had one checked luggage and a couple of carry on bags. The room was spacious and they do accommodate triples. The Radisson Blu is the only hotel in all the Norway hotels which has a safe. Even the Grand Hotel in Oslo does not have an in-room safe. Anyway, we freshened up and headed out to the city.
First stop was the fish market along the wharf. We feasted on seafood for lunch. It is very expensive though. For the three of us, we spent about $120 for 3 dishes. It's delicious though. They were selling also different kinds of caviar and we bought tubes of caviar paste made of cod roe. Cod is a big commodity in Bergen and has been used for trade since hundreds of years ago. One of the dishes that's popularly served is called fish soup. It's a creamy salty soup mixed with different bits of fish. It is quite good actually. We were able to taste whale meat. They allow tasting before ordering, I don't have the heart to eat a whole piece of whale meat plus I'm not sure if it was delectable. It is very dark almost black and looks more like beef meat. The smoked kind, I think is an acquired taste. They say it's from minke whale and it's not an endangered species.
The local fish market
I'm trying to upload my photos but the files are all too big for the server to process.
Any suggestions?
After lunch, we walked to the entrance of Floibanen. I bought the tickets online but one can easily buy tickets at the gate as well. We took the funicular up Mt. Floyen to have a great view of the city. I think I have a photo of the view in my earlier post. If I knew better, we would have taken the hike back down. That is an option and it is quite scenic too. They have different trolls along the path. It's also a great way to combat jet lag. By then, DD was getting exhausted but we pushed her on so she can adjust easily to the time.
You can see the funicular on the mountain. I don't have a big zoom in my camera and this is the farthest it will go.
Bergen from the mountain top. This is about 1000 feet above sea level. Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains and Mt. Floyen is the second tallest.
When we got back, we got our duffle bag from ABD together with a welcome letter from our guides, Kira and Torgeir. The two were simply awesome!!! They also gave us a sample of Norway's local chocolate called Kvikk Lunch which translates to Quick Lunch. It looks and tastes like KitKat but better, IMO.
We were able to make it till 10 pm which was great since we didn't jet lag bad the next day.
We booked a private tour with ToursbyLocals the next day. Breakfast at the hotel was superb! We got to taste brown cheese, which is also local fare. It is not as firm as regular cheese and it's also.... sweet! DH and DD loved it and had it for breakfast everyday. We thought of buying some but wasn't sure if it would hold, so we are left with yearning at this time of the wonders of brown cheese... The walking tour was also good. It gave us a preview of Bergen's history and the way of life of Norwegians then. It gave us a preview of Vikings as well as some tidbits on life on the fjords. Most of the buildings in Bergen, especially during olden times were made of wood. Many are still made of wood so there were several damage by fire then. We were also fortunate to be there when they had their monthly local market. You can try out the different foods they have (like cheese! I love cheese!!), smoked salmon, dried fruit and their local pancake called svele. We had a quick lunch (not the chocolate) after the tour and met with another family whom we met in our Peru ABD 4 years ago. We spent the afternoon walking the city and enjoying the sights. We tried out their local pastry, the name I can't remember anymore in a nearby bakery. Norwegian is a difficult language - very long words with very few vowels. It was great our guides gave us a cheat sheet of names we encountered during the trip.
Fish products
Cod dried naturally which has been practiced by Norwegians for centuries
The monthly market which sells local produce
The narrow cobbled streets of Bergen lined with wooden houses
Whale meat is the black meat at the bottom of the photo
Bergen is also a shopper's delight. They were selling several sweaters, the nicest one called Dale of Norway. It's pronounced da-leh, not dayle, but you could among yourselves, probably not with a Norwegian. They're pretty sweaters which are also very durable. Troll sculptures abound as well.
We had the welcome dinner that evening. Kira has been with ABD for 6 years. She did most of the Norway ABD last year as well. Torgeir lived and grew in the fjords in Flam and what is amazing about him is, he is very young but very responsible. He is only 21 years old and this is his second year doing ABD. He and Kira worked well together. Dinner was great!! One thing for sure, the food in this trip were all delicious! There's a lot of meat but they have provisions for vegetarians as well. Oh, and we had a third guide, Alyssa, who is shadowing the trip as she'll be doing most of the Norway ABD this summer.
The next morning, we leave for Voss for white water rafting and our next stop in Flam.
Let me now do a more detailed trip report.
Bergen - We spent a pre-night in Bergen since ABD is not touring the city. The whole idea of the trip really is to spend time in the fjord areas not so much in Bergen and Oslo. Both cities are very easy to get around to and you can always book a tour on your own to see the sights. Anyway, we had a good non-delayed flight and our driver was in the airport to greet us by the time we got our luggage. One note, there is no porter to help with the luggage. We also had to bring our luggage ourselves to the awaiting van. Not a big issue with us, just an fyi to future travelers. The van is parked very near the entrance to the airport so it's not like a long walk. It's a 30 minute drive to the hotel. Bergen is Norway's second biggest city. Our room was ready when we checked in. We also had to bring our luggage ourselves up to our room. Again, no biggie for us since we only had one checked luggage and a couple of carry on bags. The room was spacious and they do accommodate triples. The Radisson Blu is the only hotel in all the Norway hotels which has a safe. Even the Grand Hotel in Oslo does not have an in-room safe. Anyway, we freshened up and headed out to the city.
First stop was the fish market along the wharf. We feasted on seafood for lunch. It is very expensive though. For the three of us, we spent about $120 for 3 dishes. It's delicious though. They were selling also different kinds of caviar and we bought tubes of caviar paste made of cod roe. Cod is a big commodity in Bergen and has been used for trade since hundreds of years ago. One of the dishes that's popularly served is called fish soup. It's a creamy salty soup mixed with different bits of fish. It is quite good actually. We were able to taste whale meat. They allow tasting before ordering, I don't have the heart to eat a whole piece of whale meat plus I'm not sure if it was delectable. It is very dark almost black and looks more like beef meat. The smoked kind, I think is an acquired taste. They say it's from minke whale and it's not an endangered species.
The local fish market
I'm trying to upload my photos but the files are all too big for the server to process.
Any suggestions?After lunch, we walked to the entrance of Floibanen. I bought the tickets online but one can easily buy tickets at the gate as well. We took the funicular up Mt. Floyen to have a great view of the city. I think I have a photo of the view in my earlier post. If I knew better, we would have taken the hike back down. That is an option and it is quite scenic too. They have different trolls along the path. It's also a great way to combat jet lag. By then, DD was getting exhausted but we pushed her on so she can adjust easily to the time.
You can see the funicular on the mountain. I don't have a big zoom in my camera and this is the farthest it will go.
Bergen from the mountain top. This is about 1000 feet above sea level. Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains and Mt. Floyen is the second tallest.
When we got back, we got our duffle bag from ABD together with a welcome letter from our guides, Kira and Torgeir. The two were simply awesome!!! They also gave us a sample of Norway's local chocolate called Kvikk Lunch which translates to Quick Lunch. It looks and tastes like KitKat but better, IMO.
We were able to make it till 10 pm which was great since we didn't jet lag bad the next day.
We booked a private tour with ToursbyLocals the next day. Breakfast at the hotel was superb! We got to taste brown cheese, which is also local fare. It is not as firm as regular cheese and it's also.... sweet! DH and DD loved it and had it for breakfast everyday. We thought of buying some but wasn't sure if it would hold, so we are left with yearning at this time of the wonders of brown cheese... The walking tour was also good. It gave us a preview of Bergen's history and the way of life of Norwegians then. It gave us a preview of Vikings as well as some tidbits on life on the fjords. Most of the buildings in Bergen, especially during olden times were made of wood. Many are still made of wood so there were several damage by fire then. We were also fortunate to be there when they had their monthly local market. You can try out the different foods they have (like cheese! I love cheese!!), smoked salmon, dried fruit and their local pancake called svele. We had a quick lunch (not the chocolate) after the tour and met with another family whom we met in our Peru ABD 4 years ago. We spent the afternoon walking the city and enjoying the sights. We tried out their local pastry, the name I can't remember anymore in a nearby bakery. Norwegian is a difficult language - very long words with very few vowels. It was great our guides gave us a cheat sheet of names we encountered during the trip.
Fish products
Cod dried naturally which has been practiced by Norwegians for centuries
The monthly market which sells local produce
The narrow cobbled streets of Bergen lined with wooden houses
Whale meat is the black meat at the bottom of the photo
Bergen is also a shopper's delight. They were selling several sweaters, the nicest one called Dale of Norway. It's pronounced da-leh, not dayle, but you could among yourselves, probably not with a Norwegian. They're pretty sweaters which are also very durable. Troll sculptures abound as well.
We had the welcome dinner that evening. Kira has been with ABD for 6 years. She did most of the Norway ABD last year as well. Torgeir lived and grew in the fjords in Flam and what is amazing about him is, he is very young but very responsible. He is only 21 years old and this is his second year doing ABD. He and Kira worked well together. Dinner was great!! One thing for sure, the food in this trip were all delicious! There's a lot of meat but they have provisions for vegetarians as well. Oh, and we had a third guide, Alyssa, who is shadowing the trip as she'll be doing most of the Norway ABD this summer.
The next morning, we leave for Voss for white water rafting and our next stop in Flam.
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sayhello
Have Camera, Will Travel
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
Sounds great so far! As far as the photos are concerned, I generally upload them to www.photobucket.com, because you can specify the uploaded picture size. And that way, you can just link to them in your trip report. I'm not sure what the file size limit is here, so linking is just easier.
Looking forward to more of your report!
Sayhello
Looking forward to more of your report!
Sayhello
Thanks for taking the time to do a trip report, tufbuf. Your photos are great too. We were in Iceland earlier this year and some restaurants also had Minke whale on the menu, as well as horse and puffin. I'm a fairly adventurous eater, but I couldn't bring myself to order any of those things. Maybe if they had offered me just a bite I would have tried it. Probably not the horse though.
Why wasn't someone there to handle your luggage? Did you arrange your own transportation? It wouldn't be a big deal for me either, but luggage service is one of the things ABD touts as being a "Disney Difference", so not providing that service doesn't seem right.
Why wasn't someone there to handle your luggage? Did you arrange your own transportation? It wouldn't be a big deal for me either, but luggage service is one of the things ABD touts as being a "Disney Difference", so not providing that service doesn't seem right.
Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
I just got back on board the Magic in Bergen. I saw the Radison Blu. That's a great location! We really loved our Norway trip and I'd love to go back on an ABD.
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
Thanks sayhello for the tip!! I edited my post earlier which now includes photos!
Yeah we thought it odd there was no porter. Bergen Airport is small and we just immediately followed our lady driver to the van, which looks brand new. DH and I were just making fun of the fact that we were taking our luggage ourselves. It's not something that bothered us since we didn't want to start the trip on the wrong foot griping about something so simple. Check in was so quick too. At first they said our room was not ready but when she got our names, she said the room has been reserved so it was ready after all. That evening, since our room was facing the entrance of the hotel, we sat and waited for our friends to arrive. When we did see them, DH hurriedly dressed up and went down to greet them. When he got to the lobby, they were already gone - all checked in and went straight up to their room. The hotels as well are not very particular about seating and getting your room numbers for breakfast. It was only in Oslo when they asked for room numbers for breakfast.
Yeah we thought it odd there was no porter. Bergen Airport is small and we just immediately followed our lady driver to the van, which looks brand new. DH and I were just making fun of the fact that we were taking our luggage ourselves. It's not something that bothered us since we didn't want to start the trip on the wrong foot griping about something so simple. Check in was so quick too. At first they said our room was not ready but when she got our names, she said the room has been reserved so it was ready after all. That evening, since our room was facing the entrance of the hotel, we sat and waited for our friends to arrive. When we did see them, DH hurriedly dressed up and went down to greet them. When he got to the lobby, they were already gone - all checked in and went straight up to their room. The hotels as well are not very particular about seating and getting your room numbers for breakfast. It was only in Oslo when they asked for room numbers for breakfast.
CaliforniaGirl09
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
tufbuf, thank you so much for taking the time to do the trip report. This adventure is on our every growing list of must do's Sounds like a fun trip. Is Alyssa the blonde Alyssa from Backstage Magic? If so we had her last July and absolutely loved her. She was awesome with my SN's son.
Sounds like a fun trip. Is Alyssa the blonde Alyssa from Backstage Magic? If so we had her last July and absolutely loved her. She was awesome with my SN's son.
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
The next day, we were off to Voss where we will have our white water rafting activity. It's about a couple of hours drive there. We made a stop at a waterfall, local name is Tvindefossen, loosely translated as twin falls. Foss is waterfall in Norwegian.
Here are our guides Kira and Torgeir
That's my DD marveling at the sight of the falls
We were so fortunate in this trip since we had lots of sunshine! Bergen is supposed to be a very rainy city but we didn't get a drop, which was great!
Olaf joined our trip!
Our three guides on the trip
Finally we reached Voss and the rafting place. We got suited up with dry suits and boots. You have to strip down to your underwear or wear a swimsuit underneath - especially if you do decide to jump in the frigid water. Yup, some of us did! It was really cold that day but the suit made a difference. Now I'm not sure how warm it gets during summer but locals were complaining how cold it has been lately and summer is taking time to come. The rafting was a bit harsh on the hands since we did not have gloves on. So for our rafting guides, we had a couple of Aussies and a Welsh guy. They were fun and funny. Of course with every rafting trip comes the splashing and the bumping. Not too keen about that this time since the water is icy cold! Overall it was fun. We paddled for about an hour and I think only one person sat out on the activity. A handful jumped in the water including DH and both our guides.
Our rafts await...
Kira and Torgeir clowning around with their paddles
Our group paddling the quiet river. The water is also very clean, you can drink from it! Some of us got a scoop of water from the waterfall and drank it.
Action begins!...
We had lots of laughs during the rafting. Our guide is a young Aussie who also rafted the Urubamba in Peru, which ABD does as well. He's a young guy so he made us do crazy stuff like standing around the edge of the raft in a circle and we just followed him... just because.
We had lunch there which consisted of grilled pork chop. I believe there was chicken too. After lunch, we were off to our next hotel. Since the highways were all on the fjord, we passed through the old highway which consisted of numerous switchbacks and hairpin curves on an incline. The highway is called Stalheimskleiva. I'm not sure if you can appreciate it from the photo below but it's a series of loops, not just one. Pretty much the roads we went through during the entire trip were all curvy. I think that's the reason why travel time is slow as well because the vehicle can't go fast.
We made another stop on a viewpoint called Stegastein Viewpoint, which gave us a great aerial view of Aurlandsfjord.
Aurlandsfjord
Our guides again posing for a photo...
I almost forgot to mention, the one thing Kira pointed out is the loo with the view. The restroom has an acrylic window facing the fjord. The picture below shows the view while we waited in line. I was not able to take a photo inside the restroom since I handed my camera to DH, but you get the idea...
Here are our guides Kira and Torgeir
That's my DD marveling at the sight of the falls
We were so fortunate in this trip since we had lots of sunshine! Bergen is supposed to be a very rainy city but we didn't get a drop, which was great!
Olaf joined our trip!
Our three guides on the trip
Finally we reached Voss and the rafting place. We got suited up with dry suits and boots. You have to strip down to your underwear or wear a swimsuit underneath - especially if you do decide to jump in the frigid water. Yup, some of us did! It was really cold that day but the suit made a difference. Now I'm not sure how warm it gets during summer but locals were complaining how cold it has been lately and summer is taking time to come. The rafting was a bit harsh on the hands since we did not have gloves on. So for our rafting guides, we had a couple of Aussies and a Welsh guy. They were fun and funny. Of course with every rafting trip comes the splashing and the bumping. Not too keen about that this time since the water is icy cold! Overall it was fun. We paddled for about an hour and I think only one person sat out on the activity. A handful jumped in the water including DH and both our guides.
Our rafts await...
Kira and Torgeir clowning around with their paddles
Our group paddling the quiet river. The water is also very clean, you can drink from it! Some of us got a scoop of water from the waterfall and drank it.
Action begins!...
We had lots of laughs during the rafting. Our guide is a young Aussie who also rafted the Urubamba in Peru, which ABD does as well. He's a young guy so he made us do crazy stuff like standing around the edge of the raft in a circle and we just followed him... just because.
We had lunch there which consisted of grilled pork chop. I believe there was chicken too. After lunch, we were off to our next hotel. Since the highways were all on the fjord, we passed through the old highway which consisted of numerous switchbacks and hairpin curves on an incline. The highway is called Stalheimskleiva. I'm not sure if you can appreciate it from the photo below but it's a series of loops, not just one. Pretty much the roads we went through during the entire trip were all curvy. I think that's the reason why travel time is slow as well because the vehicle can't go fast.
We made another stop on a viewpoint called Stegastein Viewpoint, which gave us a great aerial view of Aurlandsfjord.
Aurlandsfjord
Our guides again posing for a photo...
I almost forgot to mention, the one thing Kira pointed out is the loo with the view. The restroom has an acrylic window facing the fjord. The picture below shows the view while we waited in line. I was not able to take a photo inside the restroom since I handed my camera to DH, but you get the idea...
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tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
tufbuf, thank you so much for taking the time to do the trip report. This adventure is on our every growing list of must do's
Yes, that's her. She mentioned she did BSM. I posted her photo by the waterfall. She seems like a lot of fun.
Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
Nice rapids! So do they serve Voss water in Voss?
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
So, we finally arrived in Flam at the Fretheim Hotel which will be our home the next two nights. It again faces the fjord, Aurlandsfjorden. The hotel is very peaceful and has been around for 150 years. It started out as a farm and the owner gradually added rooms as hotels in the late 1800s. Some say the oldest wing is haunted... We all stayed in the American wing and we all had balconies facing the fjord. The hotel does not have in-room safe and the curtains are not opaque all the way through allowing some sunlight in the room. DH had to use his mask to sleep as he ended up sleeping on the rollaway. We acutall did not see the night sky at all the whole time we were in Norway!
The Fretheim Hotel
Our room with a view
This is a sitting area above reception. It's a great view, isn't it? The town center is right across. The blue boat is a ferry which takes people to neighboring villages.
And even higher still... it's a great view of Flam's town center. Flam has 250 inhabitants! The cruise ships dock right outside our hotel and there were 3 cruise ships visiting Flam the following day. It would have been nice to bump into the Disney Magic but they came a week before and will be back the following week.
This is a Norwegian national costume displayed at the entrance of the hotel. It's called a bunad. Bits and pieces of the outfits are found throughout the hotel design. It's a neat concept! Norwegians use these costumes for very special occasions, namely a girl's confirmation. Some of these outfits cost well over $4000!!!
The Flam train which goes up the mountain. It costs about $50pp and it's a 2-hour trip back and forth. The Disney Magic also goes to Flam in their Norwegian fjord voyages and the train ride is one of the shore excursions. We didn't do it anymore since there was a couple who just came from Disney's 7n Norwegian fjord cruise who did the train ride and they said the sights were very similar to what we see in our coach rides.
Dinner was at the hotel and it was barbecue night - another meat fest!!
Breakfast at the hotel was scrumptuous!! They also offer a dinner buffet for $60 per head!
Flam is also a good place to shop. They have selections of Oleana knit wear and a few Dale of Norway. They have a small shop of Aurlandskoen where the penny loafer shoe originated from. It's something you might want to check out if you're in the area and if you're interested in getting Norwegian made products.
The Fretheim Hotel
Our room with a view
This is a sitting area above reception. It's a great view, isn't it? The town center is right across. The blue boat is a ferry which takes people to neighboring villages.
And even higher still... it's a great view of Flam's town center. Flam has 250 inhabitants! The cruise ships dock right outside our hotel and there were 3 cruise ships visiting Flam the following day. It would have been nice to bump into the Disney Magic but they came a week before and will be back the following week.
This is a Norwegian national costume displayed at the entrance of the hotel. It's called a bunad. Bits and pieces of the outfits are found throughout the hotel design. It's a neat concept! Norwegians use these costumes for very special occasions, namely a girl's confirmation. Some of these outfits cost well over $4000!!!
The Flam train which goes up the mountain. It costs about $50pp and it's a 2-hour trip back and forth. The Disney Magic also goes to Flam in their Norwegian fjord voyages and the train ride is one of the shore excursions. We didn't do it anymore since there was a couple who just came from Disney's 7n Norwegian fjord cruise who did the train ride and they said the sights were very similar to what we see in our coach rides.
Dinner was at the hotel and it was barbecue night - another meat fest!!
Breakfast at the hotel was scrumptuous!! They also offer a dinner buffet for $60 per head!
Flam is also a good place to shop. They have selections of Oleana knit wear and a few Dale of Norway. They have a small shop of Aurlandskoen where the penny loafer shoe originated from. It's something you might want to check out if you're in the area and if you're interested in getting Norwegian made products.
Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
Was the Flam train an activity you could do on your own time?
The train ride on the Magic started in Bergen, but maybe they went to Flam. I'm not sure since I didn't do it. It was a long port adventure and we wanted to take it easy and walk around Bergen.
The train ride on the Magic started in Bergen, but maybe they went to Flam. I'm not sure since I didn't do it. It was a long port adventure and we wanted to take it easy and walk around Bergen.
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
Yes, the Flam train canbe done on your own time.
I'm not sure about the Bergen train. The only one I can think of is the funicular. I'll take a look at that particular port adventure.
tufbuf
Disney Addict!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
Hi Kevin, so I looked at the Magic's shore excursion. That is a long excursion! The train ride though will make the travel to Voss shorter. Anyway, the whole itinerary is what ABD does minus the white water rafting. The excursion also goes to Stalheimskleiva, which says has 13 hairpin loops! And the waterfalls.
You mentioned Voss water earlier, I forgot to mention that Norway is proud of their water as well as their nature. Their tap is the best-tasting tap I've tasted! They say it's even better than bottled water.
You mentioned Voss water earlier, I forgot to mention that Norway is proud of their water as well as their nature. Their tap is the best-tasting tap I've tasted! They say it's even better than bottled water.
Cousin Orville
Inventor of Air Cooling
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2000
It was a long 8.5hr port adventures from Bergen. It looked beautiful, but we had a few other long days and wanted something more relaxed. Plus I wanted to see the Hanseatic Wharf. It's what a lot of the Norway pavilion is based off of. I'm a sucker for wanting to visit the real versions of the World Showcase Pavilion icons... I know it's weird
Anyway, I loved Norway. I would really love to try the ABD and your pictures are making me want to even more! I deliberately tried to pick excursions that didn't overlap what ABD did. The only thing that was similar was visiting the Briksdale (sp?) glacier... and that was absolutely amazing! and our stop in Geiranger, but there we kayaked. I deliberately didn't do the RIB boat to save it for one day (hopefully) the ABD.
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