I'm afraid that
this will be my last Norway post about our recent holiday. It's kind
of sad, but also nice to post more of the usual stuff and recipes
from home. Maybe one day we'll get to go back to Norway. Actually
after some of the “ordeals” we went through, we decided to go
back soon.
We had a bit of an
adventure leaving
Flåm, as our train had been cancelled due
to a power failure on the track. So we were in danger of getting
stranded in this little fjord village. It wouldn't have been the
worst thing in the world, but since we had planned a stop in Finse, a
mountain railway station at 1222 metres height by a glacier, it was
quite annoying to hear first thing in the morning. We instantly had
to forget about getting to Finse on that trip, as due to the delay
and our travel schedule it just wasn't possible. Finse also being a
place without roads didn't make it easier. It became clear that we
wouldn't be able to complete the whole journey on the Bergensbanen,
the main purpose of our holiday.
However we kept
quite calm considering our options. The railway staff in Flåm were
very helpful and they constantly kept us updated on what was going
on, as they were getting more information themselves. At a later
point it started looking as if there would be a slight chance of
getting a connection train at Myrdal going to Oslo, and the staff
advised us to take the Flåm Railway to Myrdal to check. The
Flåm Railway wasn't impacted by the power failure. They advised us
to come back to Flåm on the Flåm Railway if the Oslo trains
wouldn't be running. We didn't object to this, as the Flåm Railway
line is very beautiful, as I wrote before. At arrival in Myrdal it
became pretty clear that no other trains would be running and it
meant taking the train back down the mountain to Flåm to check how
we would be able to travel further.
Once again we
checked with the helpful railway staff and they said that there would
be a rail replacement bus taking us to Oslo in about an hour's time.
At that point we were just grateful that it had been sorted out and
we would be able to carry on our journey. Little did we know how
wonderful a rail replacement service can be. We were just five people
that our friendly driver Sverre took through the mountains in his
bus. Yes indeed, we never entered any motorways or stupid things like
that, instead we took the small roads snaking up and down the hills
and mountains by the fjords and through the tunnels, sometimes in
dizzying heights. During the bus drive we got to see some snowy
mountains, so another goal for the trip was fulfilled. Before we left
Flåm we were also told that he wouldn't drive us all the way to
Oslo, but that a train to Oslo would wait for us in Ål. And
actually that turned out to be the same train that we had planned to
take from Finse to Oslo and we were able to use our own booked seats.
We were quite
happy that we were able to continue the travel by rail at that point,
as that was what we had originally planned. We had very comfortable
comfort class seats and spent quite a bit of time in the board
restaurant. They served Norwegian craft beers and had several
vegetarian options on the menu. We decided to have the noodle salads
with vegetables. In the end we arrived very well to Oslo after
all that excitement, just a little bit delayed. We had still some
time in the evening and the next day to explore Oslo.
We went for a walk
on the spectacular opera building and visited the fortress. Both
places offered wonderful views of the Oslo harbour. I've been to
Norway before, but never to Oslo and it very much reminded me of the
other Nordic capitals, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki. Of course
this isn't very surprising considering the similar nations, but also
all of these places have very much their own character. I love all of
those cities.
I especially liked
the indoor food market Mathallen in the Vulkan area of Oslo. They had
all sorts of local food and drink on offer and also a lot of
international street food. I could easily have spend a whole day in
that area, which was also full of cafés, restaurants etc.
Here are some
photos en route to Oslo and from Oslo. I hope you enjoy!
