Saturday, June 20, 2015
Clay was up first this morning. We were up early enough to
be able to move slowly so that was good. We went down early to check out and
turn in our tour package voucher. We also picked up our sacks. These turned out
to be lunches and not breakfasts but that was okay. I also got some ice for my
water bottle. Clay ate his sandwich while we waited for the driver to the train
station. He had a nasty surprise when he bit into a slice of green bell pepper.
After that he took it apart and found buttered bread with a slice of cheese and
a slice of ham, a slice of red bell pepper and a cucumber slice. I immediately
took mine apart and removed the offending vegetables. Clay said the rest of the
sandwich was good. Each sack also contained a pear. We moved Clay’s pear into
my sack and then the driver arrived. We finally used to Oslo tunnel today to
get to the Sentral train station. It was on the far side of the port from where
we docked before. It was past the Opera House. The driver took our voucher when
he picked us up. When he got us to the station, he took half the luggage and
walked us inside. We were too early for our departure track to be posted but he
said it was usually track 3. We sat and waited. I went in 7-Eleven and bought a
strawberry yogurt and ate it for my breakfast. I had 2 cups of Nespresso coffee
in the room, but they also had to go cups from the lobby. The train arrived on
track 3 and we found car 1 in comfort class and fortunately our seats 39 &
40 were facing forward. Half the seats on the train were facing backward! It
was a toss-up as to which side was more scenic. It was very scenic! It was very
roomy and comfortable and when it was working you could serve yourself hot
beverages. We had a voucher for this train too. There were at least 18 cars
because when I got to our seats a man was there with his luggage. He asked if I
spoke English and showed me his ticket and he was in car 18. Ours was the first
train that came while we sat out at the tracks that was in different number
order. We had moved to the far end from the station because all the trains that
came had car 1 at that end. Ours was reversed but like us, people had arranged
themselves per the order of the prior trains. The ticket taker must have
started at the high numbered cars at the other end because it took him over an
hour to get to us. There was a problem with the trains being repaired between
Voss and Bergen today and since this train was going to terminate in Bergen he
had to tell everyone going all the way that they would be put on a bus in Voss.
The day after tomorrow I think we take the train from Voss to Bergen so I hope
it is fixed by then. We had a beautiful, sunny day today with amazing scenery.
We got off the Oslo-Bergen train in Myrdal. We did not understand what was
meant by only a short stop in Finse and missed getting off for a photo opportunity
of the glacier nearby. In Myrdal, we had about 20 minutes to stand and fight
for a spot on the platform. The Flam train was about 30 minutes late. There
were hundreds of people waiting. The train is ticketed as open seating except
at the far end of the train from the station apparently. We were told that those
cars were pre-reserved for tour groups and we kept being shunted along until we
were all the way to the first/last car. The trains just go back and forth on
this very steep and twisty 20km track between Myrdal and Flam. So, it came into
Myrdal engine first and left by returning the same way it had just come and the
engine was last. We were in the last, then the first car. The checked luggage
occupied the front half of our car, so there was no forward view and no forward
door. We did manage to get seats. We sat on the left next to a young couple
from western NY. I was able to face forward and Clay sat opposite me. They were
the only seats I could have gotten us and I felt lucky to get them even though
Clay was not happy about not being by the window. I suspect there were a lot of
people who did not even get seats. It is only an hour ride and there is a lot
to see with a 5-minute photo stop at Kjosfossen waterfall. It would have been
miserable though if the aisles had been full of standing people though since we
all came for the views. We got to Flam about 2:45pm. We collected our checked
bags and walked over to the Fretheim Hotel, our home for the night. We will
have dinner and breakfast tomorrow here included. We got in a line in the
lobby. Most of the people in front of us were offered to check their luggage because
their rooms weren’t ready until 4pm. Our room was supposed to be a fjord view
with a balcony and it was ready! We got our keys, turned in our voucher,
provided a credit card for incidentals and went to room 210. We dropped our
luggage and went out exploring. It is a very small touristic village, but in a
stunning setting. We visited the Flam railway museum and the grocery store. We
walked through several shops and checked out several viewpoints. We scoped out
where we will meet our ferry to Gudvangen in the morning.
We are old and tired, but today was a stellar day in a
spectacular landscape.
We elected to have the Norwegian Buffet for dinner tonight
at 6:30pm instead of a fixed 2 course meal. There was a pepper sauce on the main
course that we both thought we’d find objectionable, otherwise it probably
would have been fine.
I will stop now before dinner and post this. If dinner or
anything else this evening is memorable, I will write about it tomorrow or come
back and edit this entry.
I am back dinner was not memorable. There was a lot of fish that Clay said was good. I forgot to write about lunch. Clay ate both pears. Yesterday at breakfast there were small tubes (like the size the dentist gives you) of fish and something like Nutella). Clay put 2 in his pocket and showed me in the elevator. I was all grossed out because he had fish paste in his pockets. He meant to get the chocolate hazelnut paste, so he went back down and swapped. Today for lunch, we took one piece of bread off the sandwich and I put the tubes of paste on one and ate it open face. Clay took the slice of ham & of cheese and folded the other piece of bread in half and had a half sandwich. Viola! Lunch for 2. We also had some cookies we've been carrying around and I had a hot chocolate while the machine was in order.
I am back dinner was not memorable. There was a lot of fish that Clay said was good. I forgot to write about lunch. Clay ate both pears. Yesterday at breakfast there were small tubes (like the size the dentist gives you) of fish and something like Nutella). Clay put 2 in his pocket and showed me in the elevator. I was all grossed out because he had fish paste in his pockets. He meant to get the chocolate hazelnut paste, so he went back down and swapped. Today for lunch, we took one piece of bread off the sandwich and I put the tubes of paste on one and ate it open face. Clay took the slice of ham & of cheese and folded the other piece of bread in half and had a half sandwich. Viola! Lunch for 2. We also had some cookies we've been carrying around and I had a hot chocolate while the machine was in order.
