June 2019 –
Hello from Norway! I’d love to take credit for thinking of the idea for this picture, but I must give all the credit to Adam. Being in a pool with snow covered mountains in the background might be a once in a lifetime shot for me! Now a little more on our trip to Norway…and by a little, I mean a lot!
Adam mentioned a few years back that he would like to go to Norway to see the Fjords. My first thought was that it sounded a little cold for vacation. But knowing he never steers me wrong, I started to do a little research and before long I was hooked on the idea. We knew that some of locations we wanted to visit would be easier to see by boat, so we began to investigate booking a cruise. Adam and I had never done a cruise before and thinking of some cruise stereotypes, we weren’t sure we were sold. We really like to control our own schedules when traveling and like to go off the beaten path, not always seeing the strictly tourist sights. But after a bit a research, we realized a Viking cruise might be the perfect fit. The size of the ship is smaller than a standard cruise leading to a less crowded experience and we were able to book planned excursions while also leaving time for individual exploring. Around last Labor Day, Viking was running a great sale, so we booked it!
Bergren, Norway
We started off the trip in Bergen, Norway. Our cruise wasn’t scheduled to leave till Sunday evening but just in case we ran into any travel delays, we booked a flight into Bergen Friday afternoon. (Nothing worse than starting off a vacation stressed you will miss a connection!)
Bergen is on the west coast of Norway and has a population of around 280,000. It is one of the rainiest cities in Europe; on average they have rain 300 days of the year, so we were well prepared for exploring with at least some sprinkles. As luck would have it, we managed to have more sun than rain while sightseeing. It also helps that Bergen is so charming, you don’t even mind getting a little wet.
We wanted to stay on the mountainside, so we could take in the views and get a bit more of a local feel. It was about a 20-minute walk into town, but the walk was steep! I used this as an excuse to stop often and take pictures.
Thanks to the rain, the flowers throughout town are incredible and vibrant.
On our first day of exploring, we did knock out a few touristy sights like walking through the fish market and having drinks in front on the old wharf, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Eating and drinking in Norway is pricey. There is no good way around it, so it’s best to know that going in. Our first night we lucked into finding a recommendation for Munken Bistro. Peruvian food may not be the first thing you think of when you think of Norway, but the bistro is a cozy little place with very friendly staff and delicious food. It was my favorite meal in Bergen. I did the El Pescetariano tasting menu and Adam did the El Classico and we definitely shared bites of both. Leaving dinner after 10:30PM felt a little strange as it was still light outside. This time of year, Norway has so much daylight. The more north, the later the sun would set, and it was back up at around 4:30AM.
The following morning, we were ready to continue our explorations and found a cute local coffee shop on our walk down into town.
One of the museums Adam wanted to visit was closed for renovations so we swung by the Bergenhus Fortress and Rosenkrantz Tower. I was clearly entertained by the props we were able to try on.
We grabbed some Italian style pizza at De Stefano before heading over to Scruffy Murphy’s for a Guinness. Well a Guinness for Adam, I stuck to the weak stuff. =)
The light sprinkles of the morning gave way to sunshine in the afternoon, so we headed up the Floibanen Funicular. From there, we were rewarded with beautiful views of Bergen looking out from Mount Floyen.
That evening most of the city was wrapped up in the Champions League championship game between Liverpool and Tottenham. Adam really likes soccer, so he was pretty excited about the buzz throughout the city. Even though I’m a football gal and not a futbol gal, it was still fun to be a part of it. Most of the pubs were packed so we landed at Dark & Stormy cocktail bar. Their patio was one of our favorite spots in Bergen!
The Cruise
The next morning we did a small bit of sightseeing before boarding our cruise ship, the Viking Jupiter.
We thought we might briefly check out the boat and potentially do some more sightseeing after we dropped off our bags and settled in. At least that was the plan until we stepped onto the ship.
The Jupiter is absolutely gorgeous. They handed us a class of champagne; a beautiful string quartet was playing, and I instantly knew I wasn’t getting off the boat until the next day. Adam and I must have spent a good hour and half just walking around the ship, taking it all in. If I had my doubts about a cruise, I didn’t have them anymore. I was a little nervous going in as I had heard that we would be quite young in terms of the average Viking guest (which being considered “young” doesn’t happen often over 40!) and that was true, but it didn’t matter. We still felt very welcome. I can also honestly say the food and drinks available on the Jupiter far exceeded our expectations. We had a few nights of specialty reservations in the restaurants and a few open nights in the World Café and each meal was delicious. A buffet that features king crab is a hard one not to like!
Flam, Norway
Arriving in Flam, we started off our day on a trip with Fjord Safari. It was quite nice to have the excursion arranged by Viking without much planning on our part. We took our tour on a RIB boat with our guide, Freddy. Freddy was not only knowledgeable but also hilarious and provided so much interesting information about the area.
We sailed through the Aurlandsfjord and Nærøyfjord on our trip and even got up close and personal with a waterfall. And by that, I mean he drove us right into it!
One of the fascinating facts Freddy mentioned was that typically the water surrounding the fjords is as deep as the peaks are tall. This peak is 600 meters!
After stopping by for a local beer at Ægir microbrewery , we headed up to see the Stegastein Viewpoint. The weather was incredible for taking in the views of the fjords below.
We snuck in our fjord pics at the outdoor pool before settling in for an Italian dinner.
Stavanger
The next morning, we woke up in the town of Stavanger. It is the 3rd largest city in Norway and its population growth was fueled by the oil industry and the offshore drilling that began in the 70s. There is plenty to see in Stavanger to fill a full day or two but since we had limited time, we chose to do to a Pulpit Rock cruise. We again lucked out with the weather and had a great ride out to the fjords. From pictures, seeing Pulpit Rock from up top looks spectacular, but it is a 6-hour hike to reach it and we didn’t have time to complete the hike while in port. Instead, we opted for the cruise. I’m so glad we had the opportunity to view it from the water, but honestly it just kind of looked like a big rock to me. =) To get the full experience, I think this one would be best from the hike.
I instantly loved the town of Stavanger. We started off touring Gamle Stavanger, a neighborhood of wooden houses that have been restored from the 1800s. We followed up by walking through the shopping district and grabbing a drink along the harbor.
Of any of the places we visited, I wish we had a bit more time in Stavanger. There are some interesting museums including the Petroleum museum and I would love to go back and complete the Pulpit Rock hike. While looking into the area I also discovered The Flørli stairs. It is a wooden staircase consisting of 4,444 steps! I think that one might be a bit too adventurous for me but looks fascinating for those interested in checking it out.
Oslo
Since I typically love to explore cities, I was excited to get to Oslo. It was also nice to know we had an overnight stay. We felt free to make our own plans throughout the visit. We typically do a lot of planning before our trips, but ironically, we quickly had become accustomed to the cruise doing a lot of planning for us, so we decided what to see in Oslo on the fly. Since our ship was docked by the Akershus Fortress, we started there and also toured the Resistance Museum, dedicated to Norwegian efforts against the Nazis in World War II. After touring Auschwitz, my interest has peaked in learning more about WW II and the museum was well worth the visit.
Up next, we visited City Hall. Now this may not be a common stop in most locations, but the City Hall in Oslo felt more like small palace than a government building.
We tried to visit the National Gallery in the National Museum but unfortunately it was temporarily closed while they complete construction on the new museum slated to open in 2020. It looks like it will be in incredible space. A great reason to go back!
Prior to dinner, we grabbed a quick drink in an area of the city called, Barcode. This area was completed in 2016 and consists of 12 different high-rise buildings, each with a very distinct architectural style. I was really taken with the design and the modern feel of the neighborhood.
Adam’s birthday was in May and to surprise him, I booked a dinner at Maaemo. He is not big on just collecting ‘stuff’, how I wish I could say the same =), but he is a foodie and I thought this would be a fun experience while in Oslo. The dinner was delicious and very creative in terms of presentation, but the added bonus was touring the kitchen!
Thanks to the extra hours of daylight we were able to explore the opera house before heading back to the ship. I love that you are encouraged to walk on the roof!
Keeping on the architecture theme, the following morning, we explored the neighborhood of Aker Brygge. If I ever lived in Oslo, this would be where I would want to live. There are shops and cafes right along the water and each condo building has its own unique architectural design. It retained its industrial feel while also feeling very modern, much like the Barcode neighborhood did to me the evening before. In addition to access to the marina, the Aker Brygge neighborhood also features a city beach.
After spending the morning in Aker Brygge, we walk to Frogner Park to explore the famous sculptures inside Vigeland Sculpture Park.
That evening, we had an opportunity to attend a concert featuring Andrea Bocelli. His voice was so incredible in person and we couldn’t have asked for a better end to our stay in Oslo.
Skagen, Denmark
The next morning, we woke up in Skagen Denmark. Skagen is a quaint port/resort town on the tip of Denmark. Our first stop was to Råbjerg Mile, the migrating dune. Due to harsh winds in the area, this dune moves about 49 feet a year!
After spending an afternoon strolling through the shops in town, we landed at the Skagen Bryghus. It was a beautiful afternoon; a live band was playing, and we postponed any of the other items on our sightseeing list to sit and enjoy. Sometimes that is best part of vacation!
That evening we sat out on our balcony for an incredible sunset. It was beautiful and it felt as if it lasted for hours. There is an old saying about “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight”. So, we went to sleep blissfully unaware….
Of the angry seas, we would face the next day. =) We were out to sea for 36 hours heading to Amsterdam and it was quite windy out on the water with up to 10-12ft waves!! It was an interesting sensation but not one that stopped us from getting massages and enjoying one last delicious meal at the Chef’s Table.
Amsterdam
We made it to Amsterdam earlier the next morning. We said goodbye to the wonderful crew of the Jupiter and set off to explore. Adam had been to Amsterdam on a few occasions for work, but this was my first trip. I must admit since this fell on our last full day, I didn’t really do a lot of planning ahead of time. Unfortunately a few of the museums we wanted to visit that day, including the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House were sold out. My suggestion to anyone going is to make sure you plan and secure tickets early! Lucky for us, the weather was beautiful, so we spent the day walking around the city; and walk we did. We racked up 32,000 steps!
There is some irony to this as Amsterdam is the city of bicycles. I couldn’t get over the number of bikes I saw so I looked it up and they estimate there are 880,000 bikes in Amsterdam!
We spent the morning in the Vondelpark and I got a kick out of watching plenty dogs stroll along essentially walking themselves!
We stopped for lunch at The Seafood Bar . The restaurant had the look and feel of a place you might find in Charleston. We opted for a mix grill option, so we had an opportunity to try a little bit of everything.
Throughout the walk, I was on search for The Bulldog and yes, I know this is a pot shop. That didn’t stop me from buying some bulldog swag. The next natural question is, “Does anything stop me from buying bulldog swag?” So far, the answer to that is, “Nope”.
We had our last dinner at Ron Gastrobar Oriental. The dim sum was incredible, and I loved the presentation of the 1,000-chili fish.
I’m not sure if it was because so much of the trip was prearranged and so we didn’t have to spend as much time packing up and moving by airplanes and trains or just the more laid-back pace of the places we visited, but this trip felt very relaxing. It felt like the perfect amount of time. Norway is a beautiful country to explore and a cruise was an ideal way to see some of the more remote locations. I could definitely see us on another cruise in the future!
Postcards To Mabel 
My heart is filled with so much wanderlust in reading and seeing this. Thank you for sharing.
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I’m so glad you enjoyted it! I hope you are able to see it for yourself sooner than later! =)
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