Our Trip to Norway.

Hd and I have always been wanting to visit the Scandinavian countries. But since the weather is quite harsh there, summer is the only time to visit and it was just not happening for us. We decided to fulfil our wish on our 10th wedding anniversary. We left Zurich on the afternoon of June 2nd and landed in Oslo around dinner time. Took a train to the City centre and walked to our hotel. The room was so small and I could nt believe how expensive the city was! Ashu was ecstatic that there was a bunk bed in the room. It was weird to see the sun shining until 11 pm and even around midnight, it was nt completely dark. The next day, we took a hop on hop off bus trip to see the city. We first stopped at the Vigeland Sculpture park. Its a huge place with around 200 statues. From there, we went to the Viking Ship Museum. It was fascinating. Its jaw dropping to read about the history of Vikings and their seafaring passion. Then we got back to the city, walked around the harbor, hiked to a small park, had dinner at an Indian restaurant($8 for a garlic naan!) and called it a night.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and took a train to Bergen. The train route is one of the most beautiful in the world. It was like watching Lord of the Rings out of the train window! The family compartment had a small children's play area complete with a TV showing cartoons and the kids had a blast and 6 hours went in a jiffy. We got down in Voss which is an hour before Bergen. Its a small town almost a village. Our B&B was a good 20 minute walk from the station adjacent to the lake. The location was awesome. There were bunk beds here too much to Ashus excitement! We left our baggage in the room and went for a walk around the picturesque town. Ashu was playing outside until almost 10.30 pm under the bright sun! And refused to go to bed because "Its not yet night, Amma!" The next day was June 5th, our 10th anniversary. Hd surprised me with a pair of designer sun glasses while I gave him a hand made card bought from a souvenir shop there! We took a train to Myrdal and from there the famous Flamsbana train to Flam. Its one of the steepest rail routes in the world. The train stops at the Kjosvossen waterfalls and it was a beautiful sight. And then stops at Flam from where we took a boat for a Fjord cruise in the Naeroyfjord. The 3 hours cruise was just an out of the world experience. Everything was so dramatic with dozens of waterfalls on the way, the sea gulls following us for some bread crumbs, the beautiful fjords, picturesque houses in the middle of nowhere, ... It was fabulous. We got down in Gudvangen and took a bus back to Voss.

On 6th, we checked out of the B&B and checked into another hotel near the station. It was a beautiful place with antique charm and the hotel has been there since 1888. The rooms were fantastic and not only were there bunk beds for the kids, but it was in a small room attached to our room. Excellent! :) We left our bags and took a train to Bergen. Bergen is a charming city and attracts lots of cruise passengers. We were very lucky with the weather because according to reports, it rains 275 days in a year in Bergen! We walked through the fish market to the Bryggen area which is the old town. And the colorful wooden houses by the wharf are on the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites. Its such a picture postcard perfect place. We took a funicular to the top of a mountain and took in the aerial view of the city. We came down and took the touristy road train for a small tour of the city. It was fun. After a leisurely walk around Bryggen, we took a train back to Voss. The next day we did another Fjord cruise. The second largest in Norway, the Hardanger Fjord. We took a bus to Ulvik and from there a boat to Eidfjord. We took a sightseeing bus tour in Eidfjord to go and see Vøringsfossen, Norways biggest waterfalls and Hardangervidda Nature Centre. The latter had a 20 min panoramic movie of Norway and it was mind-blowingly good. The waterfalls was also a fantastic experience. We got back to Ulvik by boat and took a bus back to Voss.

On 8th, our last day, we left Voss and reached Bergen airport. We took a plane to Oslo instead of the 6 hour train trip. And from Oslo, we flew back to Zurich and reached late in the night. The girls were quite happy to be home and Ashu was visibly homesick on the last day. But both Ashu and Antu were very cooperative throughout the trip even though we did nt do much kid centric stuff. We wanted everything to be about us both in this trip and succeeded quite well. Norway is so expensive that its not funny. An ice cream cone from a street corner shop costs around 7 to 8 dollars! I would never say Zurich is expensive any more. But what was surprising was everyone spoke English there. Right from school kids to old folks. Every shop keeper and every one on the street. It was such a pleasant change from Zurich. Its also such a clean country. (and that's saying something since we live in Zurich!) People are very friendly. The bus driver actually stops the bus and helps you carry down the stroller. The Swiss will have a heart attack at all the time wasted and the buses running a couple of minutes late!

So that's it. Norway - ✔

I could also tell you about how Antu fell down from the lower bunk with a thud or how my hair caught fire from the candle flame in a restaurant or how Antu got her first ever time out at the Bergen airport or how Ashu purely survived on hot chocolate and ice cream the entire trip, etc, etc,... May be later. :)