Before I start, let me remind everyone about by upcoming second-29th-birthday bash. It'll be on August 4 at a location yet to be disclosed (in London). Everyone's welcome - let me know if you're in town. It will be large!
So set August 4 aside - though we'll probably go all weekend.
I mention it up front because some people are still asking despite me having mentioned it since February - I think I've buried it in previous emails.
Okey dokey...
Bish's Precis:
- Don't visit Norway: your ugly kids will thank you
- The fjord tour was one of the best things I've done in Europe
- The Oslo-Bergen railway was utterly spectacular
- Avoid choirs in confined spaces
- Are you on Facebook?
- Photo links are now to Picasa rather than Bebo - they should be easier to get to
I can think of two very good reasons not to visit Norway.
The first is that, from looking at my photos, you might think that the weather here in summer is magnificent. It was above 25 for every day of our trip, and 28 on Sunday and Monday. And there was hardly a cloud in the sky the whole time. But this should not encourage you to go: in reality Bergen gets 275 days of rain a year and Oslo's average June max is about 14, so anyone going to Norway will be sorely disappointed after seeing these pics.
The second reason is one of aesthetic and genetic responsibility. The people there are utterly stunning: so much so that we have a moral responsibility as uggos (accept it) to ensure that this magnificent gene pool maintains its purity. Sure, we all want to get involved, but if we do it'll be ruined in a couple of generations, but we've got to think of the children. Best that we sit back and enjoy the view without interfering so that future generations can do likewise.
To put it in context, Morgs gave me his list of the most beautiful women in the world.
1. His girlfriend, Kim
2. His mum (awwwww!)
3 - 2500002. Norway
2500003. Col's sister
'Nuff said
Anyways, Morgs and I headed to Norway for a 4-day weekend. Luckily its light for about 22 hours of the day at this time of year, so we could pack plenty in to our trip. Here are some highlights:
Haunted by music in Bergen:
We headed up to Floyen for an amazing view of Bergen. In the confined spaces of the funicular, a choir decided to pipe up and sing a variety of awful songs when the rest of us couldn't escape. It was awful. They were awful. Awful! When we got to the top, they headed straight into the restaurant and kept going. I would've hated to have been eating there. We stayed outside and enjoyed the view, which was totally worth it. In the background, a ninja was standing guard.
On the fjord tour, some people started firing up in song also. Another place where there was no escape, and another frigging choir. These guys were a bit better, and thankfully only sang a song or two.
Either way, I got my own back. On the Sunday night we headed into a joint doing karaoke. I sang Kiss (the Tom Jones & Art of Noise version, not the Prince version). Cop that Norway!
Fjord tour:
Cruising the longest fjord in Europe, Sognefjord , and UNESCO listed Naerofjord in 28 degrees and bright sunshine: it was amazing. Morgs was captivated by the volume of water cascading down the waterfalls from melting snow. We cruised past a few places that could only be accessed by the boat . The fjord tour is pretty close to the best thing I've done while in Europe - the scenery was simply stunning. I took heaps of pics.
Oslo-Bergen railway:
Consistently rated one of the best rail journeys in the world, this journey goes across a high plateau and then down to sea level. Its a 7 hour journey that took us about 1300m above sea level, above the snow line. There is plenty of spectacular scenery on the way. I think it lived up to the hype.
Drunk on Bergen harbour:
On the evening we arrived in Bergen, we found a heap of boats in the harbour, many double- or triple-docked as there wasn't enough room for them. The boats were full of people that were absolutely smashed, and one in each had a skipper's hat on (but was definitely not the designated driver). Turns out its an annual event for locals, celebrating being granted a marketplace hundreds of years ago when you could only get there by boat. Brilliant. Quite funny to see the aftermath the next morning on the way to the fjord tour.
Other great stuff:
- Morgs and I ate two different types of deer (reindeer and elk) in Bergen. Consensus was that the elk tasted better than Rudolph, but both were good.
- Walking back to the hostel on Friday night in Oslo, deciding that I needed a second kebab halfway through the journey. Brilliant. (that could've been any city - and would've been a highlight in any city)
- Ladyboys in Oslo
- Polishing off half a bottle of gin (with fanta) in an hour's train ride from Voss to Bergen to get started on Sunday afternoon - we finished our night about 1.30am
- Morgs spending the last day with food poisoning. OK, that wasnt really a highlight, but asking for beef noodles at a noodle joint and finding heaps of white meat in the dish was amusing at the time
- the Fist of Oslo
- Me coming back from Norway with sunburn. If there was ever any doubt about me being a fair-skinned ginger...
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Miscellany:
- If youre a member of Facebook, send me an invite! I've just joined up at the insistence of some friends, and it's already overtaken Bebo for me. I'll try to keep Bebo up to date though.
- Don't forget my blog - it has more than just my travel emails
- And as mentioned, photos are on Picasa
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