I’ll be short on words and heavy on pictures today. The weather continues to be unbelievably good. This morning we had our last breakfast at the fabulous buffet, checked out, and headed for the railroad station with just our carry-ons. Our suitcases are being transported from the hotel in Oslo to our hotel in Bergen by a company called Porter Service. That sure beats schlepping with our heavy bags to the train and then to the new hotel (about $27 per bag).
As usual, Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures.
The train ride from Oslo (at sea level) rises to over 4,000 feet before falling back to sea level at Bergen six and a half hours later. It is the highest elevation train ride in Europe. The views are stunning. We enjoyed sandwiches and chips on the ride. The first class seats were comfortable and roomy. Pictures (and more pictures, some with odd reflections as all the pictures are through the train window at our seats):
On arrival in Bergen, we took a taxi to the Thon Hotel Orion. It will be interesting tomorrow morning to see how their buffet compares to the one at the Thon Hotel Opera in Oslo. (Oddly enough, we took one taxi while in Oslo where our drive was from Eritrea. Our driver here was also from Eritrea.) We checked into our normal sized room and then went for a walk. Our suitcases arrived a short time later.
We stopped for a couple of pints of French 1664 beer near the harbor and in Bryggen, the UNESCO protected old wharf area of Bergen. There we met Bob and Lindsey who we chatted up and found they will be on our cruise with us, so we have our first friends on the ship.
Then we meandered down the wharf area and chose Olivia Zachariasbryggen for dinner. Elaine started with an Aperol Spritz while I sipped on a pink gin and tonic. We shared calamari fritters (good, but not great) and then each had a very good pizza (Margherita for Elaine, Prosciutto di Parma for me). They are shown half eaten in the pictures.
Pictures from the walk around Bryggen (including one of a firefighter motorcycle jacket for my friend Bob):
Then it was home to bed. Tomorrow we transfer to the Viking Ocean Liner Saturn (which is already in port). Stay tuned.
Aside: once sailing, internet access will be spotty at best. I’m not sure how often or how many pictures I’ll be able to upload. We’ll see how it goes.
Wow! Skiing yet in Norway! Noway!
The train seats look very comfy. And the views along the ride were beautiful.
I like Bergen better than Oslo. It looks more quaint and friendly. More like I’d expect Norway to look, I guess.
Both pizzas look delish. I don’t think I’ve ever had a prosciutto pizza.
The views from your train reminded me of our CO mountain views. The ride looked beautiful. Ann sent pics from Rome today too. You both are having great trips. Stay well….