WORDS FAIL: NORWAY


"I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’" - Sylvia Plath

This was my second visit to Norway, the first having been back in 1984. That visit was so wonderful that I’ve always been hesitant to return because it couldn’t possibly be as great as I remember. Well, I did return, and it was that great.

A personal note to explain this entry. I’ve always sought out people adept in the visual or performing arts, perhaps because I lack any abilities or skills in that area. If I want to show something, I show it with words. I can scrape by this way, until I encounter something for which words fail me. The beauty of Norway is thus. We had seven stops in that loveliest of countries, and all I saw was astonishing landscape after spectacular scenery. (Well, that and the inside of my cabin, as I was laid flat by a respiratory infection for a few days.)

So, rather than use words, I’ll use pictures. Apologies in advance: as you’ve likely gathered by now, I’m not the greatest photographer. But Norway presents a subject that’s hard to screw up. So I’ll let the pictures paint the picture. So to speak.

LYSEFJORD

From our stop in Stavanger, I took a smaller boat into Lysefjord, one of Norway’s many beautiful fjords.

Pulpit Rock

Within the fjord

Light changes everything

As fog sets in



Another day, another waterfall


BERGEN

The second largest city in Norway, Bergen has a pretty waterfront and wonderful views from atop Mt. Floyen, which rises above the city.

Bergen waterfront

 
Bergen, from atop Mt. Floyen
 TROLLSTIGEN

Translation: Troll’s Path. A steep, narrow, winding road with 11 challenging switchbacks, I took a day-long bus ride over this marvelous road. A true highlight of the trip. We were docked in Alesund for this.

Trollstigen
"Drive slow and enjoy the scenery -
drive fast and join the scenery." - Douglas Horton

Valley village, viewed from Trollstigen

Another valley
 
A river runs through it

Troll Bridge
"To live is to war with trolls." - Henrik Ibsen
And some more scenery

TRONDHEIM AND HAMMERFEST
“I asked him what there was to do for fun in Hammerfest. He thought for a moment and said: ‘Have you tried setting fire to the telephone directories by the post office?’” - Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There

Alas, these were the two Norwegian ports I missed due to being under the weather. After Hammerfest, we took a side trip into some far north Russian ports, discussed in the last entry, and then returned to two more stops in Norway.


HONNINGSVAG & THE NORTH CAPE
“So far I live to the northward,
No man lives north of me;
To the east are wild mountain-chains;
And beyond them meres and plains;
To the westward all is sea.”
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from The Discoverer of the North Cape – A Leaf from King Alfreds Orosius

The Arctic town of Honningsvag is the gateway to the North Cape, the northernmost point on the continent of Europe (well, actually, a couple of other spots vie for this honor, but let’s just go with it for the sake of sanity). It is considerably closer to the North Pole than it is to Norway’s capital, Oslo. It is also at once desolate and beautiful.

On the way to the North Cape

 
Globe demarking North Cape
 
North Cape exhibit



Santa lives thataway

Sailing past the North Cape


KRISTIANSUND

Our last stop in Norway took us out onto the Atlantic Ocean Road, a byway that didn’t exist last time I was here. It made for a lovely drive.

 
Roadside Norway



 
On the Atlantic Ocean Road







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