Some mountains near Bergen.
A cliff near Bergen.
Ahhhhh.
Posted on 05/08/2005 2:23:28 PM PDT by franksolich
Bergen is just too much for a single "tour," and so this particular "tour of Norway" covers only Bergenex urbia, Bergen outside of the city itself.
Bergen has 277,000 people, and is the second-largest city in Norway. The principal industries are petroleum, fishing, shipping, and predictably, furniture-making.
But that is inside the city, not outside. As one can see from the map below, Bergen is in the "Deep South" of Norway, the tropical region. (In case one is interested, Berlevag and Gamvik are clear up at the very top of the red, on the map--in case anyone is interested.)
Some mountains near Bergen.
A cliff near Bergen.
Ahhhhh.
With temperatures exceeding 90 degrees in Nebraska today (probably about 40 degrees Centigrade?), one can dream.....
Snow near Bergen.
A valley village near Bergen.
A river near Bergen.
A forest near Bergen.
A park near Bergen.
The city of Bergen from the countryside.
The harbor at Bergen, from afar.
The cities of Hvaler and Tonsberg are next in line--and of course I do have to do "Bergen, part 2" sometime soon (the city itself)--but interestingly, I have discovered the fascinating towns of Honnigsvag, Hammerfest, and Hasvik, and so I am not sure which one will get posted tomorrow (Monday).
Try this web site for beautiful pictures of Voss and the surrounding area. Svein Ulvund posts pictures daily. We met him while visiting Voss in 1999 - he works on the railroad and takes pictures everywhere he travels.
http://home.online.no/~sulvund/Voss_Now/index.htm
We visited Oslo, Voss and Bergen (and the Norway in a Nutshell train/bus trip on the fjords and the Flam railway) on our 1999 trip and enjoyed them all. My wife has ancestry in Voss and we hooked up with a family member who took us all around the lake to the different ancestral farms, including a visit to Liland farm (my wife's maiden name was Leland) where the family prepared a nice lunch. We also visited Molster farm which is now a living history museum - her family left Molster in 1855 for Wisconsin.
Minor correction: #5 is not a river but a fjord, or strictly speaking, a strait.
You know how when a young kid is in a car too long and they fall asleep. I recall with my host family traveling all around Norway at age 13 and my dear friend Bente said "wake up, my parents are doing this for you." I never fell asleep again in the car.
It is indeed a heavenly country.
I have never been able to determine what makes a "strait" a strait, and what makes a "river" a river.
I am sure there are 5-mile-long bodies of water called "rivers," and other 5-mile-long bodies of water called "straits."
If anyone can tell us what makes a "strait" a strait, and a "river" a river, the illumination would be appreciated.
To me, at least in my own personal tastes, Norway north of the 68th latitude; about Narvik and northward, seems the most delightful place, and not congested with people.
That "North Cape" is awesome; nothing like it anywhere else in Norway, from what I've "seen" (via the internet) so far.
One suspects you're pulling our leg again, mr. Solich.
Well, yeah, this might be one of those "99.9% of the time" cases--where if one suspects I am joking, 99.9% of the time he is correct.
But after examining more of the fine landscape and delightful people way up in northernmost Norway, I am now not so certain I am joking--it is entirely possible northernmost Norway is the "undiscovered jewel" of Norway.
I am reserving judgement, though, until I have seen more of Norway, but really, northernmost Norway "draws" me, as if a magnet.
As to the far north, yes it really is something else. I have myself been to all the three northernmost counties, including the north-eastern parts of Finnmark facing the Barents Sea (look for Vadsø and Vardø on the map). Astounding geography - majestic in its desolation. I would also recommend the Nordland county, not least the Lofoten Islands which were ranked as 'the world's most scenic archipelago' (or something like that) by National Geographic. But Nordland is not quite as uninhabited. Troms county, with the city of Tromsø, falls somewhere in between.
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