Bergen, Norway June 11 2015

Today we arrived in Bergen and we have a very early port adventure.  I was not happy that I had to be up and ready to go on a port adventure at 7:45 a.m.  However, we have the Iconic Norway by Train and Bus which is a full day until 5:15 p.m. so we are off the ship as soon as it is cleared.  I can't figure out why my shoulders and neck hurt so bad.  Then I remember, oh yeah, it was from that fabulous bike ride I did yesterday.  Nothing will cure that more than sitting for 8 hours today on buses and trains. NOT!  (However, the ibuprofen did the trick).

There are 3 buses doing this excursion.  Even though it is not exclusively for adults, there are very few children on this excursion.  Probably for two reasons, the price and the excursion.  Not lots of activity on this one.

We get on bus #2 and head to the train station.  We get to the train station about 9:30 a.m.  We had time to shop in Voss.   I buy a Kit Kat bar.  The chocolate here is excellent.  We needed to meet on the platform for the train which arrived at 10:01 a.m.  See a local troll welcoming us to the train station.  By the way, there are trolls everywhere here in Norway.  It is actually a beautiful morning.  The sky is pretty clear and there is no snow or rain, so that is a good sign.

We took the express train for 50 minutes to the town of Myrdal and then we moved to the scenic train (which moved much slower) for a 50 minute train ride (with stops) to the Village of Flan.

We spent the day with Jonas and Steiner who actually are our tablemates and live in Norway.  Here I am with Steiner on the scenic train.  It is great traveling with them because they can explain things we just don't really understand.  Especially when it comes to local customs, food, etc.

We stopped to see the Kjosfossen Waterfall, drop of 305 feet and there was a huldra dancing at the waterfall.  From Wikiipedia: The Huldra, is a dangerous seductress who lives in the forest. The Huldra is said to lure men down into endless cave systems, that they would not be able to find their way out from, or lure them into the forest in order to secure her freedom or sometimes to suck the life out of a man. One of her methods is to appear suddenly out of the rain and mist, (which is what she did here at the waterfalls dancing) friendly and enticing to the point that no man can resist her charm. She has a long cow's tail that she ties under her skirt in order to hide it from men. If she can manage to get married in a church, her tail falls off and she becomes human. However, she also becomes very ugly. It is often said, however, that the young and beautiful Huldra is moody and dangerous, but when she becomes old and ugly, she also becomes gentle and caring to the man who made her Christian.

The Huldra (she is a little hard to see, so I am making the pictures bigger).  She is dressed in red.  She does this enticing dance to music they play in the background.  (somebody said they zoomed in on their camera and it was a guy actually dancing, but cannot confirm or deny this).

At Flan we got on the bus and took a 45 minute ride.  We went through a tunnel 11 kilometers long. It was the second longest tunnel in Norway. Actually we ride through hundreds of tunnels today.  If I remember right there are over 900 tunnels in Norway.

The front end of our train:

We stopped at the Stalheim Hotel where we had a traditional buffet Norwegian lunch.  The views were spectacular from this hotel.  The lunch was excellent and had some great desserts. (By the way, this is my 100% norwegian wool sweater that I was asked about)

the chocolate swirl log was delicious!

Then we got back on the buses and went down this mountain that had an 18% down grade (which was extremely steep) with hairpin turns.

Then we headed back 90 kilometers to the town of Bergen.  We stopped a couple of times on the way back for picture opportunities.  The drive was beautiful.  One thing about Norway, there is water everywhere!

I really enjoyed this tour and would do it again if I had the opportunity.  Bergen and the surrounding areas were stunning.  The weather today was quite nice.  A chill in the air, but the sun was out.  When we arrived back in Bergen though it was overcast and threatening rain.

We got back to the ship right at 5:15 p.m. which was the final boarding time.  We didn’t have time to shop in town, but from what I heard there was nothing close to the terminal for shopping.  We had plenty of opportunity to show on our port adventure.  So nice to be back home.

We then headed out of Bergen to a much awaited sea day for tomorrow.  I think everyone is waiting for a sea day.  Commodore Tom said it should be sunny tomorrow.  That would be really nice!  We haven’t seen much sun in this last week.

Michael and I headed to the show “The Dream Goes On”.  I love this show.  It really gives a good history for Walt Disney and helps the kids understand that there was a man behind the Disney Parks and everything and hopefully gives them an appreciation for all Walt did so many years ago.

We then head to Lumiere’s for dinner.  Once again there are regional favorites on the menu. It is the Frozen Dinner menu tonight.

Willie, our server, Michael in his Olaf attire, and Luis, our head server.  A bunch of great guys!

After dinner, it is the much anticipated Freezing the Night Away with Anna and Elsa party.  The deck party was really nice and there were tons of people dressed warmly out on deck.  Wondered if there would be a good turnout, but the cold didn’t bother anyone.

There was alot of dancing, and singing and it snowed and Queen Elsa came out and sang at the end, and of course everyone sang along.  Probably my favorite part was singing with Olaf.

It was still light outside, but we actually got our first ray of sunshine on the sea tonight.  Hopefully it is a sign of more good things to come!

There are additional activities going on around the ship themed around the Freezing the Night Away Deck Party, however, I head back to the room to work on the blog and see how the internet speed is (still slow)

Another wonderful day on the Disney Magic!