Among fjords, glacier and stockfish

The trip began on Saturday, August 10 from Fiumicino airport: flight LX1727 (boarding at 9:05 am) to Zurich and flight LX1300 (2:05 pm) to Oslo. The long stopover in Zurich allowed us to define the last details of the program, not without some discussion about the times, the roads to travel, the destinations to leave in favor of others. In Zurich it is decided that the unavoidable destinations would be: Bergen-Ålesund, the Jostedalsbreen glacier and, my wish, the Lofoten islands!!. Arrived at the Gardermoen airport in Oslo, perfectly on time, we head to the Avis agency, not without having admired the new airport, all glass and parquet. Via the Internet we had booked a class C car, so after swiping the credit card we set off for the capital, destination a First chain hotel also booked via the Internet. The odometer reads 1072 Km.

First surprise, so to speak, on the E6 to enter Oslo you pay a toll of 15.00 NK (NK = Norwegian kroner). On summer weekends the rates of Oslo hotels are discounted even by 50%. Given the welcome of the hotel we decide to book the last two nights provided for by the travel program at the same hotel. Extraordinary buffet breakfast.

Sunday 11 August. We set off at 10:10, destination Bergen. We take the E18 towards Drammen. Along the way we decide to cross the county of Telemark, characterized by rugged wooded terrain, high plateaus and countless lakes. At 10:48, therefore, we decide to take the E134 towards Notodden. We read in the guide that we are near the wooden church (stavkirke) of Heddal. We arrive at 12:30, it's cloudy and rather cold, 17°C. After leaving 30 NK at the tourist office-café-souvenir shop for entry and 15 NK for the guide-souvenir, we enter the wooden church. The strong smell of pine and the humidity makes me think I'm a Troll. The first drops of rain make us set off again while we are walking in the adjacent and evocative cemetery. We set off again at about 13:00. Along the road I realize that I left in Rome the address of the hotel booked for Bergen.

After a mild argument about responsibilities, I notice that along the road near Vinje there is a rest stop with an Internet Service. We decide to stop (it's 14:40) to print the e-mail sent by the manager of the Bergen hotel. Cost of the Internet service 20 NK (10 for the connection + 10 for using 5 minutes). A coffee (American) to wake me up 14 NK. At 15:40 we arrive at Haukeligrend: here begins the beautiful Haukeli road, one of the most fantastic mountain routes in Norway, up to 1133, among glaciers, gorges and tunnels. After a series of hairpin bends near Steinagerg Bru we leave the E134 and take the E13 towards Odda. In a narrow valley among waterfalls we reach the bottom of the very long Sorfjord.

We follow the eastern shore of the beautiful fjord, in a green landscape enlivened by orchards. Along the road you can't miss stalls selling Moreller and Fruct. Visible beyond the fjord is the Folgefonn glacier. At 16:10 we take the car ferry connecting Brimnes with Bruravik (duration 15 minutes: 79 NK). We thought we'd have to queue longer for boarding, given that the guide announced that this stretch of navigation is one of the busiest. On the ferry I bought 2 bottles of Imsdal water and a packet of Toffo sweets for 42 NK. From Bruravik we continue along the E16 towards Bergen. Since we were the last to board, the journey continues in single file with the other cars at the max speed limit of 80 per hour. You feel the thrill of the F1 safety-car!. We arrive in Bergen at about 20:30.

The hotel we had contacted via the Internet was the Crowded House, 1.5 km from the centre of Bergen ( the young and pretty girl at reception informs us that there are no rooms, we show her the e-mail sent two days earlier with the credit card number and, sorry about what happened, after various phone calls she finds us a room for two nights at the Hordaheimen Hotel of the Best Western Chain in the centre of Bergen. The toll for entering the city is free, perhaps because it's Sunday; for the record it was 20 NK. The hotel has no parking available, it leaves us some hope for tomorrow morning. Since the maximum parking duration in the centre is two hours, we manage to secure the car in the blue zone from 8:00 to 10:00 tomorrow; price 10 NK.

Monday 12 August. Bergen. After the buffet breakfast, we manage to park the car in the reserved car park and organize ourselves to see the fresh fish in the renowned market in Torget square, to visit Bryggen and the Hanseatic Museum (40 NK) and to go up on the funicular (50 NK). Don't miss the Prince ice cream near the fish market (29 NK). The hotel room has a kitchenette, so we organize dinner at the supermarket (beer 1.25 lt. Hansa Fatol, Fyresdal water, Norwegian cheese, reindeer salami, semi-wholemeal bread, a packet of sausages and a chocolate dessert) for about 250 NK. Tuesday 13 August. Departure from Bergen at 10:00. At Bergsdalen we fill up with petrol for 400 NK, equal to 43.72 litres of Blyfri98 petrol. The odometer reads 1806 Km. At 12:40 we arrive in Flam. We book a room at the Furukroa and at 14:00 we take the boat for a mini-cruise Flam-Gudvangen return for 210 NK.

The Naeroyfjord offers a sensational panorama with soaring cliffs on which small farms cling and waterfalls that plunge into the intense blue of the fjord. We return at 18:00 to Flam and at 18:15 we take the train for the sensational Flambanen railway line as far as Myrdal; return for 205 NK. Dinner in Flam at the hotel's facility: Norwegian meatballs with currant sauce (97 NK). Flam in the evening is a desert. On the balcony with a fjord view I drink a lemon green tea prepared with the kettle. War on mosquitoes before going to sleep.

Wednesday 14 August. The alarm is ruined by the arrival of a cruise ship. Breakfast is a buffet. I have the usual breakfast, consisting of a cup of American coffee, a bowl of Drikke Tine fruit yoghurt with muesli, a slice of wholemeal bread with orange jam, admiring six little siblings having breakfast with their German parents who go back and forth to prepare the provisions (two of the six were eighteen-month-old twins!). We set off at about 10:00, the odometer reads 1315 Km. and the temperature reads 18 degrees C, heading for the Jostedalsbreen glacier. We arrive in Aurland and, following the signs for Laerdal, we find ourselves in front of the longest road tunnel in the world (24 Km.). We decide to turn back to travel the Snovegen (snow road), extremely spectacular though winding, which climbs with its hairpin bends up and down the plateau with very evocative views(!).

We arrive in Laerdal at 11:10 with a stop to buy some water. At 11:22 we take the car ferry connecting Fodness with Mannheller (duration 25 minutes: 140 NK). We pass Sogndal heading towards Gaupne. After skirting the Jostedalen, an arctic river of extraordinary colour, at 14:30 we arrive at the Nigardsbreen nature park (entry 25 NK). Nigardsbreen is probably the most impressive tongue of the Jostedalsbreen glacier. We decide to go and see the glacier up close, so at the tourist office we buy tickets for an excursion which they say is a Family-walk (285 NK) including a boat trip on a frozen lake. After an hour we find ourselves below the glacier with two guides who give us the information and the technical equipment for a very special walk. All harnessed and roped to one another with crampons on our feet and a pickaxe in hand, we begin the two-hour excursion.

It's very evocative to walk in a pair of jeans together with other foreigners equipped with no-limits-style suits and organized with thermoses and chocolate (the Dutch were the most ridiculous). We leave the glacier exhausted at 18:30. We return to Sogndal at 19:20 after meeting some free-roaming sheep along the road.

We decide to sleep near Fjaerland. We get there at about 20:00 after crossing a tunnel with a hefty toll (150 NK). We find lodging in a residence along the fjord found by chance: Fjaerland Fjordstue Hotell. From the hotel register we are the only ones sleeping there that night. The lady who welcomes us seems happy to see someone, and kind: she offers us the most panoramic room and says we can pay the next morning. A question springs to mind: where are we going to have dinner?. Taking a short walk along the fjord we realize we've ended up in a ghost area. We remember that along the road we had passed a campsite. So we take the car towards the Boyum campsite. In the food shop there was some Gilde Farepolse ham left (24.60 NK), some Tine gruyere-type cheese (18 NK), a 1.5 lt bottle of Coke (30 NK), a packet of biscuits (17 NK) and some wholemeal bread (20 NK).

On site we have some french fries with paprika (22 NK). Dinner in the hotel room. The house is all made of wood and the room is furnished with aristocratic taste and with beds built into the wooden wall, as we had seen in the Hanseatic Museum in Bergen.

Thursday 15 August. Woken with a wolf's hunger, I have the usual buffet breakfast. We are joined in the room with background music by two other people who arrived during the night. We set off at 9:40, the odometer reads 2187. We arrive in Byrkielo at 10:30, we take the junction for the E60. We arrive in Stryn at 12:00 with 23 degrees C. We make a stop to fill up with petrol (350 NK). At the Coop in Stryn I buy a bottle of Olden water, 2 bananas and a packet of Wasa Riskakor Lattsaltade for 38 NK. I'm amazed at the cost of Marlboro Light, 59.50 NK. Thank goodness I don't smoke!. We continue towards Geiranger. 5 Km from Geiranger we stop at a very panoramic spot: this is where the photo that appears on all the Norway brochures was taken, showing a jutting rock with a figure on top looking down at the cruise ships of the Geirangerfjord. We arrive in Geiranger at 14:00.

At 14:37 we take the car ferry connecting Eisdal with Linge (duration 10 minutes: 79 NK). We head towards Andalsnes to travel the famous Trollstigen (the Trolls' road). Fate helps us in that the Trollstigen route is all downhill. It's 16:15 and we make a stop at the Troll house (coffee 13 NK). It's a hair-raising road with hairpin bends and a breathtaking gradient. We stop halfway to take a photograph near the thundering Stigfossen waterfall, and to admire the whole valley below. At 16:40 we arrive in Andalsnes and take the E136 junction for Alesund. We travel a few kilometres along the Romsdalsfjorden. We arrive in Alesund at 19:00. We take two nights at the Scandic Hotel and at 20:00 we are seated at Peppe's Pizza in front of an American pizza.

Friday 16 August. Alesund. An unforgettable buffet breakfast. A tour of the city with Art Nouveau architecture. It's a sunny day with the inhabitants sunbathing in swimsuits sitting outside their homes with a book in hand or a drink or with the radio on. The Corriere della Sera costs 16 NK. In the afternoon we take a trip to the islands of Valderoy, Vigra, Giske and Godoy around Alesund. The islands are connected by an underwater tunnel (89 NK to go and 89 NK to return). We reach the Alnes lighthouse on the island of Godoy, since the girl at the tourist office had told us they make good cakes. Arriving at the lighthouse we find only two Italians who have just come out of the lighthouse eating cakes. We think that the owner of the café is the girl from the tourist office. We take a few photos with the lighthouse at sunset and retrace our steps without having tasted the cakes of Godoy.

Saturday 17 August. Another hair-raising breakfast. We set off at 10:15 travelling the road already taken on the outward journey as far as Vestnes. At 11:30 we take the car ferry connecting Vestenes with Molde (duration 20 minutes: 134 NK). The coastal landscape of Molde is quite particular. We follow the signs for Vevang to travel the Atlanterhavsveien. To my immense astonishment there is no one at the toll booth. Perhaps they have already recouped the costs of the work. The road consists of a series of bridges connecting a series of islands. The weather is sunny. As we travel the road we imagine what could happen here during a storm. We even pass a lighthouse. We arrive in Bremsnes. At 13:44 we take the car ferry connecting Bremsnes with Kristiansund (duration 20 minutes: 91 NK). As soon as we arrive we fill up with petrol at Esso: 37.18 litres (335.61 NK at 8.65 NK per litre).

The odometer reads 2844 Km. We decide to drive past the Kirkelandet Kirke and continue the journey towards Trondheim. Just past Kristiansund we travel the Krifast sub-fjord tunnel (107 NK). At 15:10 we take the car ferry connecting Kanestraum with Halsa (duration 15 minutes: 98 NK). At 18:00 we arrive in Trondheim. Given the welcome at the Scandic Hotel we decide to go and look for lodging in the same chain. The town is a university city, in fact it turns out to be full of young people. The shops are all closed and the young people are at home watching the football championship matches. We visit the picturesque Gamle Bybro (old town bridge) and walk in the Bryggen consisting of warehouses on the river that recall those of Bergen. It's 20:00 and the city is deserted. We decide to look for a bit of life at Mc Donald's: BigMcmenu 69.50 NK.

A visit to the castle in the evening, some young people have organized open-air barbecues. The night is a hell. All the young people of Trondheim go out to live at 3:00 in the morning.

Sunday 18 August. After breakfast, below par compared to the one in Alesund, at 10:20 we go to visit the Nidaros Domkirke (cathedral) and after reading some information in the guide, we set off towards the longed-for Lofoten. We take the E6 towards Narvik. At 10:47 we pay a toll to cross a tunnel. (10 NK) After Steinkjer we take the E17 towards Namsos, it's 12:10. It's a sunny day, the temperature is 26 degrees C. We have decided to take the Kystriksveien (Coastal Road) to go towards Bodo and to take the Arctic Road E6 on the return to go towards Oslo. Every glimpse along the Coastal Road offers the opportunity to take a photograph. Behind every bend there's something magical, but you need to have enough money for the ferries. We arrive in Holm shortly after the ferry's departure. The next one is in twenty minutes.

I take advantage of the stop to eat the banana and the rice wafers that I had left in my backpack. At 16:00 we take the car ferry connecting Holm with Vennesund (duration 20 minutes: 98 NK). We are the first to get off and we save ourselves the safety-car. At a run, even exceeding the 80 Km limit, we head for Horn. At Berg we fill up with petrol (350.00 NK). The odometer reads 3436 Km. We arrive in Horn at 17:20: we have missed the 17:00 ferry. The next one is at 18:40! We had read in the guide that if you drive at the permitted speed limit you manage to catch all the ferry connections. Nonsense. The quay is a desert, perhaps because it's Sunday. I take the opportunity to note down the ferry timetables from Bodo to the Lofoten, I realize it's a real chaos. Every day there are different timetables for different departures. I postpone the problem to a date to be decided.

We board (91 NK) and after twenty minutes we are in Annddalsvag. We arrive in Forvik at 19:20, in time for the car ferry connecting Forvik with Tjotta (duration 1 hour: 160 NK).

We arrive in Tjotta at 20:40. We find only one hotel of the Rica Hotel chain. We remember that some young people met in Flam had a good experience at the Rica in Alesund. We encounter the usual problem of finding a place that isn't deserted. We decide to eat packed food.

Monday 19 August. Breakfast lacking in yoghurt. We set off at 8:50 and outside Sandnesson we pay the toll to cross a bridge (82 NK). We don't complain since it saved us a ferry. On the payment receipt it says: Helgel.bru-> Bomavgift. At 9:20 we arrive in Levang. The car ferry to Nesna leaves at 9:40 (duration 20 minutes: 109 NK). We arrive in Kilboghamm at 11:20. At 11:50 we take the car ferry connecting Kilboghamm with Jektvik (duration 1 hour: 184NK). The captain of the ferry announces that we are crossing the Arctic Circle. At 13:00 we arrive in Agskardet and shortly afterwards we board the car ferry towards Foroy (duration 10 minutes: 79 NK). The odometer reads 3694 Km. At 15:40 we leave the E17 for the E80 towards Bodo. We arrive in Bodo at 18:00. We note that the ferry to the Lofoten is at 21:00.

We decide to leave the car in line on the quay and go on foot to the tourist office to book two nights' lodging in the Lofoten.

We accept a Rorbur at A. What makes us think is the fact that the sheets are to be rented!. We have dinner with packed food. At 21:00 we take the car ferry connecting Bodo with Moskenes. (duration 4 hours: 685 NK). We arrive at one in the morning. Total darkness. We head towards A. It's not easy to see and find the directions left by the tourist office. Every corner of the street is a rorbur. We find ourselves with other cars driving around a small square, until a guy who was waiting for us comes out. After paying and collecting the sheets we head off to look for the rorbur called Anna. It's a mini apartment with a small living room with kitchenette, three rooms and a small bathroom. I go to sleep at around 3 in the morning, and I notice that dawn will soon come. I think about the days spent getting here.

The snowfields, the mountains and the trees mirrored in the sea along the sparsely trafficked coastal road, the little groups of sheep watching us, in a typical alpine landscape, and the strange effect of colour that the sky took on at sunset. The dawn made the sky an almost smoky colour and consequently the sea, flat, seemed like a mirror where the rocks in the middle of the sea were reflected in a dark colour. A strange sensation, almost as if I were on another planet!.

Tuesday, August 20. As soon as we wake up we realize we're on a Hollywood set. It looks like a living museum, a fishing village left untouched, with a long row of red rorbur along the coast, racks for drying cod and postcard landscapes everywhere you look. Breakfast managed with the provisions left in the backpack (Nescafé, cookies and tea). The day dedicated to excursions in the Lofoten. Worth a mention is the long crescent of white sand that lines a foaming bay with green-blue water, all against a backdrop of Arctic peaks. All the Lofoten islands are breathtaking! I don't want to add anything else, because words aren't enough... There's also a subsea tunnel in the Lofoten, the Nappstraumen Tunnel (65 NK x2 round trip). On the way back we give a ride to two hitchhikers from Lyon. The girl, luckily, speaks English, and so we exchange a few travel experiences.

We decide to fill up in the Lofoten (410.45 NK for 42.49 litres, equal to 9.76 NK per litre!). We buy typical products at the RIMI supermarket (242 NK) to have dinner at home. I take a walk to the port of A to enjoy the color of the sunset at 11:00 pm.

Wednesday, August 21. Departure from the Lofoten scheduled for 12:15. The cost of the return trip is 563 NK because the ticket clerk didn't see a person in the car (saved 122 NK). We arrive in Bodo at 3:50 pm. It's quite hot: 27 degrees C. The odometer reads 4265 Km. We take road 80 to Fauske. Then we take the E6 towards Trondheim. It's 4:50 pm. We cross a pine forest up to the glacier where a green plain stretches out. We arrive at the Polasirkelsenteret 66°33' shortly after 6:00 pm: closed. At 7:20 pm we make a stop at Mo-i-rana. We decide to do the shopping at Rema 1000. We set off again at 8:00 pm towards Mosjoen. Unfortunately a tunnel hasn't been completed yet. We have to climb another mountain with the car. Hairpin turns. Hairpin turns. View of a glacier (Svartisen), it no longer moves us!. Hairpin turns. Sheep along the road. We go back down. View of a Lake.

We arrive at a town and go to sleep at the Norlandia Lyngengarden Hotell, suite Daniela.

Thursday, August 22. Buffet breakfast. Departure from Mosjoen (but how do you spell this city) at 9:40 am. We make a stop at the Laksforsen Turist-Cafè to see whether you really see the salmon as the guidebook says. It's absolutely true. You can see leaping salmon swimming up the thundering Laksforsen waterfall. It's a spectacle of nature!. We realize we're out of gas. Maybe we have a range of a few dozen kilometers. According to the Avis guide there are no Esso gas stations on this stretch of road. We go on with only one hope. Suddenly the Max bensin station appears before us. We're at Tomasvatn. The gas is a bit expensive: 10.09 NK per litre. Once the scare is over we fill up with 50.50 litres (509.50 NK). After so many pine woods we reach a fjord at 1:00 pm. We come to the E17 junction for Namso that we took on the way there. It's 1:37 pm.

We arrive in Trondheim at 3:15 pm and we have to pay the toll for a tunnel of 10 NK. At 3:35 pm we come to the junction for Alesund that we took on the way there, we continue on the E6 towards Oslo. We stop at 4:00 pm for a break at the Grillkjonnen Stasjon Grill Pub in Melhus. A cappuccino 20 NK. After 15 minutes we set off again. At 4:40 pm we take the E30 junction for Roros, we travel along a stretch of road beside a dried-up river. It's hot: it's 27° C. We stop to sleep in Roros at the Bergstadens hotel. We discover by reading the guidebook that a street in the old part of the town was the location for the TV series Pippi Longstocking. We try to find it. Dinner at Papa's Pizza (450 NK). We meet an Italian couple from the lower Po Valley who give us advice on which pizza to choose.

Friday, August 23. Buffet breakfast. After doing some shopping in the lively little town, we decide to go visit the Olavsgruva Copper Mine a few kilometers from Roros (60 NK). After being given the equipment consisting of a helmet they have us go down. A few meters are enough to start feeling cold. The temperature settles at 5°. We start visiting what remains of the gruyere of the copper mine. At 3:00 pm we set off again from Roros, destination Oslo. We fill up at the Esso (270 NK for 29.51 litres). At 3:45 pm we leave the E30 to take the E3 junction near Tynset. We reach the E6 for Oslo near Stange after Hamar. It's 6:20 pm. We arrive in Oslo at 7:40 pm. The toll for entering the city is 15 NK. The lines of cars we meet in the outbound direction leaving Oslo are astonishing. Dozens of kilometers.

A doubt grips us as soon as we pass the junction for the airport: what time should we leave on Sunday if there's a line like that?. Dinner at Peppe's Pizza near the train station. Parking by the hour until 3 pm on Saturday. 12 NK per hour (72 NK). Night already booked at the First.

Saturday, August 24. After the buffet breakfast, we dedicate ourselves to visiting the city of Oslo. It takes us a whole day; we start with the castle on the fjord (Akershus), then the city hall (Rådhus), the royal palace (Kongelige Slott). We visit the Norwegian Art Museum, it becomes a game to recognize the Norwegian landscapes captured in the canvases. Dinner in a typical restaurant: the shrimp cocktail in pink sauce and salad is legendary (380 NK).

Sunday, August 25. By car we go to visit the Frognerparken, where in a large, gently hilly area with a small lake, fountains and magnificent flower beds, there are bronze and granite sculptures carved by Vigeland. We still have time, so we go up the Holmenkollen hill to the ski jump, from the top of which you get a magnificent view over the city and the fjord. Then at a run to the airport for the return to Rome, via Zurich. We fill up with gas to hand in the car (271 NK). The odometer reads 5699 Km. At the airport we look for the tax free for the refund of the last kroner. Then we board flight LX 1301 to Zurich (5:10 pm) and flight LX 1734 to Fiumicino.

Conclusions

This is somewhat the account of the trip-holiday. Certainly I want to thank this site because it allowed me to understand that even with little time Norway offers you the chance to see and discover unknown destinations and open your mind to new horizons, even without reaching forced stages like the legendary North Cape. From this experience I can confirm the sure validity of the choice of holiday destination. The best would be to be able to have at least a month of time to tour the Country adopting a model of travelling holiday, renting a jeep with a caravan, which allows you to camp in places with truly interesting views.

I conclude with two notes: a) in the account I often refer to the costs incurred for the ferries (the cost referred to the transport of a car with three passengers), for the tunnels and bridges tolls, for the gas fill-ups and on the food since they are more expensive than here. I do not expressly refer to the cost of the hotels since it's a personal choice about the type of comfort and services preferred; b) I hope I have left in the account, in the clearest possible way, the experiences of the trip, and to have given news and interesting ideas for all those who love nature and who might want to venture to those parts, just as other travelers did before me with their useful testimonies on this site.