Another Short Norweign Saga day four 19th September

The Smarthotel is similar to the Smart car, that is room for just the two of you and nothing else. The total floor area of the room including the en suite was 3.5ms by 2.5ms. The smallest room we've ever stayed in, however it was very clean and besides space the only thing it lacked was hot drinks facilities. These hotels are campus based and can be revenue earners for universities with a bit of spare space.

One thing about it that wasn't small was the breakfast.  A great spread with all the choices you could wish for at a come again buffet.

The view from the breakfast area.

The weather was superb and today is the Oslo marathon so there's lots to see and loads of people to see it.  The University is moreover hosting an open day with stalls on the main street.  We enjoy these first 

Kids vegetable puppets in the University food awareness displays.  From here we walk down to watch the start of one of the kid's marathons. 

Last time we were here we regretted not eating in the famous Theatre Cafe. Time to make amends so we check the overdraft situation and head in for coffee and cakes. 

This place also boasts some rather splendid toilets.  Have a little peek with me.

Not a punter waiting for a pee but some of the artistic  decoration.

The existentialist toilet, finding reality is a problem. 

The leader up on the big screen and below some of the huge field of the adult race.

This chap seems more interested in the water than the running. It took us some time to walk to the station as we had the cross the race several times, but we made our train, just.  Sitting next to us was an Asian girl who had just finished the marathon herself. She was keen to show us her number and medal and here they are. 

Another Short Norweign Saga day three 18th September

We wake up to a wet day in Bergen. Considering this is Norway's second city it has a very welcoming town feel to it. It is the kind of town you immediately feel comfortable with.

The Basic Hotel proved to be comfortable if a little noisy. The receptionist gave us a couple of mini USB continental chargers kindly donated by former guests. These are very neat and will travel on with us. They will now have a much more exciting life than sitting in a drawer in Bergen. We might even take them to South America, lucky little things!

Bergen owes its existence to the fact that it is a West facing deep water sheltered port. It was a busy trading port by the C12 having links with Northern Germany, the rest of the West coast of Europe and Britain. These links were formalised by the creation of the Hanseatic League. Originally cloth traders the League came to dominate Baltic and western European trade for three centuries.

This looks like a city that is worth spending a bit more time in, it is also a base for exploring the west coast and further north. It is the birthplace of Edvard Grieg the well known Scottish composer of Peer Gynt suite etc.

The medieval wooden buildings on the water front are now a UNESCO world heritage site. They are a bit like Trigger's brush in that they have been burnt down many times but always faithfully restored using traditional materials and methods.  Have a look around.

So Bergen we will return.  It's time to make for the railway station to catch our bus to Voss where we can rejoin the train which is not running this stretch due to engineering on the line. The weather was a lot brighter on the return journey but we were beginning to flag so a little shut eye was called for. Eventually we got back to Oslo and headed off to the Smarthotel and hopefully enjoy an England victory in the world cup.

Another Short Norweign Saga two 17th September

How do I start to describe this fantastic day of travel by train, boat and bus? I am going to run out of superlatives. I'll give it a try.

The omens weren't good; it was raining, hard. We had to rush to catch the train, we made it, two minutes to spare. Things got better.  The train was modern, plush, with wifi and a power supply to every seat.

 You have to have a reserved seat to travel on this train

The prospects of viewing the legendary scenery seems a little remote . The first hour of the journey is relatively normal, except nearly all the other passengers are Americans or Japanese. The scenery is suburban Oslo followed by sea ports and lowish level agriculture coupled with light industry.  Crossing mountain ranges is always pretty much the same.  You follow a river that is running towards you. This periodically becomes a lake because this flow has to be regulated for safety, electricity and storing drinking water. You then go over a pass and follow another river that now goes the same way as you.  The lake business is repeated. The big difference today is that the pass is over 4000 feet high and is a vast glacially rubbed plateau.  Late summer is the time of least snow, so when you see it, it is north facing and never sees the sun.
Norwegians are incredibly sporty people. This high plateau is their playground.  Trekking and mountain biking by summer and winter sports during the rest of the year.  This train is how they get there and each station a resort.
The line opened in 1907 taking 30 years to complete.  It was all built by hand in the most arduous conditions imaginable.  Tunnelling for example took a month a metre and there are over 200 of them. Let's ride the line to Myrdal where we will be changing trains.

The weather is lifting a little. 

 We are now getting above the tree line and the snow is appearing and, no, I have not changed to black and white.

There's the glacier up on the top. This is now the highest point on the line.  We are on the Hardangervidda Plateau near the station at Fisne, height 1222 metres  (4008 feet) above sea level. You can see how popular the cycle hire option is though not today. 

The line is open all year round so they invest in the equipment that's needed to do the job. 

We start to lose height as we head west to our change of railways at Myrdal.  Here we will be joining the Flambanen which will take us from 881 metres  (2890 ft) down to sea level at Flam. The distance is 20 kilometres down the valley through spectacular scenery.  Almost 80 % of the line has a gradient of 55 % , making it the steepest conventional railway in Northern Europe. It was started in 1923 and finished in 1940. There are 20 tunnels,  one of which does a subterranean 180° turn. There follows a series of photos of the ride down. 

As is often is the case, these pictures really don't do the landscape any justice, mind you the weather didn't help much either. In Flam we buy our tickets for the next stage of the journey.  This is the ferry trip up two arms of Sognefjord, they are Aurlandsfjord where Flam is and Naeroyfjord. This is where our destination, Gudvangen lies. Naeroyfjord is a UNESCO world heritage site. 

Some pretty impressive landscape.  We have now only two stages of this expedition left. We have a bus trip to Voss and finally back on the train again for Bergen arriving at 21-05. Voss is Norway's answer to Queenstown in New Zealand. Home from home for all adrenaline junkies. Without knowing it we were in for a bonus white knuckle ride as well.

The coach driver announces that we are going via the old road, only open in summer and one way, down only.  It is apparently the steepest in Europe and you can certainly believe it as he crawls down in first gear. The whole coach party burst out in spontaneous applause when the coach finally levels out. 

The first picture of the last two was taken from the top and the second from about half way down but believe me it was like riding on the coach at the end of The Italian Job!

When we eventually arrived at Voss, we took the last link, a suburban train into Bergen. We walked to the Not So Basic Hotel and looked forward to a well deserved night's sleep above a nightclub. 

Another Short Norweign Saga day one 16th September 2015

We decided to stay overnight in the distinctly mediocre Ramada Hotel which at least had the benefit of giving us free parking in the long stay park at Stansted. Premier Inns have really set the standard for budget hotels and the rivals tend to be inferior and more expensive.

Despite setting two different alarms for 5 am neither worked. Operator error of course, so when I awoke to the see daylight outside it was time to go into controlled panic mode. We left the hotel at 6-45 and got to the gate with about 10 mins to spare. Easy.

There were plenty of spare seats on the plane so we spread out without having to play the old Ryanair seat monopolising games. Onward travel to Oslo which we had done not long since was easy in this most efficient and interconnected of countries.

But today is all about the opera. Last night of Don Giovanni in this most iconic of buildings.

The building is clad in Carrera marble and the public can walk all over it. The panoramic view you can see next is taken from the top of the huge vertical glass wall at the front of the building. Please expand this on your tablet to get the full effect. 

A couple of indoor scenes to get you in the mood. Why don't you join us in a drink before I go on to describe something of the opera itself. 

In this opera Mozart and Da Ponte got together to construct the usual complex and wholly unbelievable tale of dastardly do and comeuppance including the usual identity swapping. Although written in 1787 this production is set in present times. We see a lot of the police, paramedics and other "street servants ". At one point the orchestra play the "Nokia " tone  (itself derived from a piece of Finnish classical music ) and a duet is sung via mobile phones across the stage. When the Don beats up Masetto who is a policeman, he ends up tasering him. The real star of the show is Donna Anna  (isn't she always? ) who, of course gets the best songs. Thanks Helen for the tickets for my birthday. This is the kind of experience that stays with you for the rest of your life. 

I must say a little more about this wonderful 21st century Opera House.  No doubt you are all aware of subtitles and you opera goers will be familiar with surtitles but this house features "seat titles " whose language you can control yourself. See below, these are built into the back of the seat in front of you. 

I can't leave the place without some mention of the toilets. Rightly described in the Lonely Planet guide as being some of the poshest public toilets in the world and likened to a modern art gallery. I have to agree, without wanting to sound Philistinific, they are also a lot more useful. I include some photos to give you a flavour, as it were.

Notice the discretion with which these pictures were taken. Let's finish with a night shot of the Opera House. Tomorrow is the "Norway in a Nutshell " day.