Flam, Norway - Sept 2024

Views of the Fjords and Waterfalls in Flam - September 16, 2024

We had breakfast at the buffet. I liked the divers from the buffet seating area. I discovered the iced buns this morning; they are very good. The hash browns here were better than those yesterday in the MDR; more toasted or fried longer. This day they had a special -- it was a very good sirloin steak. 

Some pictures from the upper decks. Behind the buffet outside is nice, and also we went to the front for some views. So pretty!

Today we had bus tickets to Stegastein, a viewing platform with a beautiful design that blends into the landscape, with Norway's Best for 10am, arriving at Stegastein at 10:30am, departing at 11am, and arriving back in Flam at 11:35am. From the above pictures, our fingers were crossed the clouds would clear some, so that we could have a view. 

We got off early and walked around a little, went across a bridge, found the location of our bus pick up, went to the grocery store, stopped by the free restroom, and looked at some shops. Travis got some Norwegian brown cheese at the grocery store. Someone at our table the night before was talking about it. It was very creamy and sweet; more the texture of American than a hard (my translation -- real) cheese. It was not bad. Flam is very pretty town. 

We met at the bus stop early. Several buses pulled up. We were in the big coach; maybe the smaller buses were handicap accessible or just reserved by one group. At the right time, we were directed to the right bus to board.

I picked the wrong side of the bus (right; should have been left). We had some very rude Spaniards had one person per row on the left for fjord views and put their bags in the other seat. Then on the way back, they did the same the right, talking to each other over the seats. They were not on our cruise, just in town, rude! Isn't everyone supposed to keep the same seat on the way back, so that everyone gets the experience? 

We arrived. Still some clouds, but some good breaks would come and go. It was an amazing view. 

We found an e-card that you can rent at the port. Also, the famous restroom with the best view in the world with a view out to the fjord, where others cannot see in because the window is on the backside of cliff. Travis ended up just using the front one without a window, and I did not get a turn. So, we went back to see more of the view. 

Got a curvy road view picture on the way down. Our big coach had to pass cars on this hairpin curve. 

Returning to Flam, we went back to the ship for a quick lunch. Our ship was docked, literary, in town. The other side of the ship was moored in the water; I'll show that later. 

Back out, we were hiking to and up Brekkenfossen waterfall. We walked through town on the way to the hike, so some port pictures. This tree was being nice and Autumn-looking. The famous Flam Railway. After the hike, we did stop at the free Flam Railway Museum. I think that this train with the yellow on the front is to move snow off the track, but that was just my theory. 

I learned "parking" was "parkering". No parking (parking forbidden) was "parkering forbudt". 

Spotting the waterfall that we were hiking up to with some nice pastoral cows and sheep. 

We arrived at the waterfall hike start; it was very uphill from here. Travis, who is much better at uphill, took some pictures going up. 

Then we arrived. Travis tried the Norwegian brown cheese and shared with strangers. Nice, but a little scary in the time of covid. He had a few willing victims to try it. I loved the views from the top, so I got way too many pictures. 

Going down. When back on the road where the trail started, we took a different path back into town. We found a bunch of goats. Two even started duking it out by head butting. 

Right before heading back to the ship, we ran into two of our tablemates, who recommended the bar at the hotel. We stopped for a beer flight, which was a nice local experience. 

A few more pictures from the ship -- The historic hotel; a ship, beautiful fjord mountains, and a waterfall all in one picture -- awesome. It also started raining some. Apparently, this caused a rockslide that a cruise ship tour was stuck on the wrong side. The Captain was in touch with the local authorities, and then announced that Norway's finest had freed them. It sounds like they got priority. Their coach pulled up in front of the red buildings in the last picture; I guess the roads were not big enough for the coach to come closer. They got out of the coach and ran, like normal pier runners. People from balconies were shouting at them to run and boo'ed. They did not deserve that. It was a ship excursion, and the Captain excused them. P&O did a great job at keeping us informed as things came up throughout the cruise, here included.  

Back to moored in the water, we went out to watch the de-mooring. They sent a boat out with people to un-moor (which is better de- or un-?) the lines in the fjord. They were communicating with people on the ship who were winding the ropes back in. It looked like one of the lines did not unmoor, so they had to cut it. I got video, but it was too big to add here. I need to work work on editing it or posting to YouTube instead. 

Next up...What we ate on the P&O Britannia

  

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