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Arrived abruptly in Oslo at 6:30am one morning from Stockholm and got the first train out toward Bergen. I was sick of cities and ready to do some real sightseeing in the Fjords of Norway. I got off about an hour east of Bergen in a little town called Voss which I had picked out semi-randomly from a list of train stops. It turned out to be a very good choice as the other town I was debating stopping in was in the middle of a full-fledged snowstorm when our train arrived and I had already sent my boots and coats back to Canada. I had an itch to do some hiking in the mountains and kept asking around until I found someone with a map of potential hiking trails. I spent my first evening just wandering the city and doing an 8km walk to a small waterfall and back into town. The next day I packed my bag with snacks, camera and waterbottle and headed up, up, up, into the snowy mountain. I walked up for about 2.5 hours attempting the rockiest peak I could see but got intimidated by the vast expanses of snow as I got higher.
At one point I was ankle deep in snow with the hot sun blazing down being frozen at the bottom and fried at the top. No shade was available as no trees grew that high on the peak. I knew I had to reach the top so I could get to the trails going down on the other side so I kept on. I was very relieved to crest the mountain and see grass and mud on the other side and hurriedly ran down the muddy hill until I saw traces of human life. It was another 2 hours going down the other side but the ice cream cone waiting for me at the bottom tasted all the better for it.
The next day I was on the early train to Bergen where I would spend one long day before catching the night train back to Oslo. Bergen was hyped by all to be the best city in Norway so I was a little disappointed to be greeted by nothing but rain. I took the bus out of the city to see the amazing Fantoft Stave chuch. I hid from the rain in the series of art museums which
Voss
A little Norwegian town between Oslo and Bergentook up most of my afternoon, then spent the evening wandering the city enjoying the wooden buildings and the boats in the harbour. at 11pm I headed for the train and was very very glad to be seated comfortably for the next 7 hours to my final destination in my whirlwind Scandinavian tour.
Oslo was my last tired stop and I was there for only a few hours. I had 3 hours between train and plane so I picked one attraction, the Gustav Vigeland Sculpture Park. The park was clear on the other side of town so I had a nice walk across the city to the park, through the park, and back to the station. I think I chose the right destination as it was very cool. There are almost 200 sculptures here all made by the same man, Gustav Vigeland.
After this I was finally on the last leg, a quick plane ride to Dublin and into my new home for the next three months. I was sooo glad to arrive in one piece with all my luggage intact. News of the new place, new job, and Irish adventures are on their way soon. Stay tuned!
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vila
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great pics
Jess, Those pictures are awesome. The photo of the bus houses in Norway bears some similarities with those in N.Ont. Sounds like another amazing race that you took, hiking around Norway in a limited number of hours. You should plan to have a movie night and show all those great pictures you have. v.s