Norway was the last stop on my European tour with exchange students.  Aksel was our Norwegian host for this part of the trip.  Aksel was an exchange student in Phoenix during the 2019-2020 school year, and although I did not host Aksel, he was friends with the exchange students I hosted that year. Joining me on the Norway portion of the trip, in addition to Aksel, was Matti from Finland, Roland from Estonia, and Christian from Denmark.  Our international delegation arrived at the Oslo airport on a Wednesday morning from various destinations ready for our short, 4-day Norwegian adventure.  We rented a car at the airport, an electric vehicle, not surprising because Norway appears to have enthusiastically embraced the use of EVs. 

The five of us loaded into our rental and embarked on the drive from Oslo, on the east coast of Norway, to Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. When doing my initial planning for this trip, I somehow, mistakenly got the impression that this drive was a 3- or 4-hour trip.  It is actually about a 7-hour drive if one doesn’t make many stops.  But not making many stops is practically impossible because the drive is so incredibly beautiful that you want to stop every few minutes to take photos and take-in the extraordinary views.  We arrived in Bergen 10 hours after we left Oslo – but we still made it on one battery charge. Although we spent most of the day in the car, it did not feel that way, and it was totally worth it.  Upon arriving in Bergen around 7:30pm, we set out to get dinner and walk around the town.  Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, but it had a small-town feel with a really nice harbor area with a large fish market and many restaurants. I wish we had more time to spend exploring this really cool town, but alas we had a 6:00am train to Flam the next morning.

The train to Flam and exploring Flam was probably the most anticipated part of my entire 17-day European trip and it did not disappoint.  The train ride from Bergen to Flam is considered one of Norway’s top tourist activities and is said to be one of the most scenic train rides in all of Europe.  I agree! The train ride is full of waterfalls; lush, green valleys; and spectacular mountains. Flam is a total tourist town, with passengers from a large cruise ship filling the town on the day we were there.  But it is one of those unique places where it is impossible to take an ugly photograph.  We had about 7 hours to spend in Flam before we had to catch the train back to Bergen. There were a variety of activities to choose from, we chose to take the short hike to the nearby waterfall and then do a 90-minute fjord tour with FjordSafari.

The hike to the waterfall begins at the train station and takes you through a quiet farm road, past funny-looking cows and lovely farms, and even though I know nothing about farms or cows, it was so idyllic that I started thinking about the feasibility of a lifelong Arizonan becoming a Norwegian farmer.  A cautionary note: we tried to feed some of the cows and found out that the fences are a bit electrified.  Once past the farms, there is a bit of a strenuous, sweaty hike up the hill to the viewpoint of the waterfall and the valley below.  The view was amazing.

After the waterfall hike, we booked a 90-minute boat tour of the fjords with a company called FjordSafari.  It was fantastic. Their boats are small with about 14 passengers and this allows the tour guide/boat driver to customize each tour. We sailed past tiny towns along the shore, one of which was the inspiration for the Disney movie Frozen.  Cruising through the fjords was so peaceful and one of the most visually spectacular places I have ever been.

Day 3 in Norway required us to leave the hotel at 8am because Christian had a flight back to Denmark that was leaving from Oslo around 6pm.  While the drive back was just as beautiful, we made it back to Oslo in about 7 hours with fewer stops. We left Christian at the Oslo airport, returned our rental car, and then took a train from the Oslo airport to Aksel’s parents’ home, about 10 miles outside of Oslo. Unfortunately, I left my backpack with my passport, laptop and other important items on the train! Fortunately, we caught it soon enough that we were able to notify train personnel and I was able to recover my bag when the train returned to Oslo later that evening.  Aksel was a terrific host. His family’s beautiful, multi-level home overlooks a golf course in an affluent neighborhood. One of the coolest things about Norway for this Arizonan is that it never gets completely dark in the summer time.  We ate dinner at 10:00pm and played basketball with Aksel’s friends at 1:00am!

My last day in Norway, and the last day of my European trip was spent exploring Oslo and a nearby coastal town (well, I think all of the towns are coastal) called Son. Aksel’s friend serves in the Norwegian Navy and is assigned to work on the King and Queen of Norway’s yacht.  The Queen was in Son for the morning to speak at the opening of an art show showcasing her ceramics.  We were able to get a closeup view of her yacht and then we got to see her speak at the art show. The highlight of Oslo for me was their modern opera house with a slanted roof that people can walk-up for terrific views of the city.  We wrapped up the day with a trip to the grocery store and Aksel making us tacos for another 10pm dinner.  I was surprised to learn that tacos are pretty popular in Norway and the Norwegian grocery stores have decent inventories of Mexican food items.  And Aksel made us the best Norwegian tacos I have ever had.

It was a wonderful culmination of an unforgettable European trip.  I look forward to returning to Norway someday for a longer visit!