Spent a few days in Hafslo at an idyllic setting but not much for dramatic photography, just time to relax a bit. Apartment was small, but the use of space exceedingly efficient; we liked it a lot, and the view, sheep chatting with us, what can we say? The female half of the owners has a Norwegian dad, an ex-cruise ship captain who married an American woman from Key West. The entire family visits that area for a month or two in the winter. Although her parents elect to live in Norway (sure don't blame them), the extended family is more American than most. Nice folks. Drive from Hafslo to Grainger took bit over six hours with numerous stops-pleasant. Bought tickets for another fjord cruise tomorrow. Weather continues very warm by local standards, seventies with low ... read more

Here we have our drive from Bergen to Aurland, and a couple of pictures around our guesthouse. The day is simply beautiful, at least after we leave the fully overcast skies of Bergen (remember, they only have one in six sunny days). Our route, of course, follows the fjords with innumerable tunnels-the longest seven miles. Building roads here is not cheap and many incorporate a toll. They are very efficient in collecting tolls; simply register your tag with their toll website and it occurs automatically, even painlessly...until the credit card bill comes due. Our drive passes a number of waterfalls; we are sure we missed many more, but we will send the ones we liked the most. Hope you like them as well. The fjords have waterfalls around most every corner. Finally, we have a very ... read more

Mother nature obtained some revenge for the nice to perfect weather we have been experiencing. While not a total wash out, yet close, Bergen is marred by light, and fairly constant drizzle. This comes as no surprise to us as Bergen averages a maximum of sixty sunny days per year. After the very long day at the Pulpit Rock we had reduced our itinerary here, which became even more truncated with the rain. While disappointing, we are thrilled this did not occur yesterday at The Rock. And the rain did not preclude our planned lunch at the fish marked. We are sending this post out of order as Prekestolen will be much longer, and we are simply savoring the pictures. Soon, so can you. Bergen is a very cute city with a long and powerful history. ... read more

As this is being written we've been at Jorpeland (a few miles north of the Pulpit Rock) a couple of hours following our 575 km trek from Oslo. So yeah that number of km only transfers to 357 miles, so about a five or six hour drive, right? Well no, it was a little under eleven. We left Oslo on a limited access four lane and made great time-Google maps must be wrong with the time we concluded. About an hour later the fun began, only two or even one lane roads with the one laners intended to carry traffic both ways. Shades of Lake Como Batman! Yes Gary and Lu, you too will experience the fun of Como roads. Some of the most difficult driving was crossing the highest points (top of Norway). Folks stop ... read more

Our circumstances have altered rather remarkedly following the hop across the pond. Funny how a little bit of Europe does that for us. We love these folks, their culture and architecture. Also the weather has been awesome. Seventies each day and mostly sunny. How folks in the north countries love their summer; they are out everywhere. Of course, they will pay for this dearly six months hence. But for now they have plenty of sunlight and revel in it. In fact, at midnight there is a bit of light (just a bit), while at 2:30 am it is quite bright. And we are not even yet at the higher latitudes. One humorous encounter to report. We were laboring to decipher the metro self-help machine in Copenhagen (no offices available) when a gentleman offered to assist. Yet ... read more