Eidfjord, Norway

On Friday morning, Sept. 15, we were scheduled to dock in the tiny town of Eidfjord, Norway at 7 a.m. Because Eidfjord is located at the very end of the long and beautiful Hardanger Fjord, we thought it might be interesting to get up early, go to the front of the ship, and watch as we travel through the fjord. So even though we didn't have a tour scheduled until mid-morning, we got up extra early to enjoy the unbelievable beauty of the country and it's fantastic fjords. It was certainly worth it, as we had a great vantage point to view the ship sailing through the narrow, but deep waters of the Hardanger Fjord, with mountains towering above the narrow passageway on either side. This, combined with the sun rising about this time made for some of the most natural beauty that we've ever seen.

Eidfjord has a population of about 900, and so when our ship docked and people came ashore, we more than doubled the population of this town. The name Eidfjord means land between the fjords; I love how they're so descriptive with the names. Our tour guide for the day was Stefano, and is actually Italian, although he's apparently been living in Norway long enough to be able to share the local culture and history with tour groups.

We spent the day on bus and train tours travelling through some of the most beautiful scenery of Norway. We drove along mountain roads, and alongside fjords and lakes. We drove through many tunnels. Because of the mountains that border the fjords, Norway has many tunnels, so that to get from one town to another, you don't have to drive all the way around the mountain. The tunnels can be very long - we went through one that was 15 miles long - and they are very well lit, and quite big. In fact, in some of them, there were intersections complete with roundabouts. They also installed wiring to make it possible to pick up radio stations inside the tunnels, for safety reasons, so that people wouldn't fall asleep while driving through the tunnel. We also crossed a suspension bridge, which was beautiful as it spanned one side of the fjord to the other, with the mountains as a backdrop. The bridge was about 4500 feet long, which is the longest suspension bridge in Norway, and the 7th longest in the world. The bridge has to close when it is too windy. Fortunately there was little to no wind today, and we were able to pass over the bridge, both ways (there and back again).

On the first bus ride, we rode from Eidfjord to the town of Voss. At Voss, we boarded a train. The train climbed nearly 3000 feet and traveled through 20 tunnels and over many bridges to the town of Myrdal. At Myrdal, we got off that train and boarded another. This train, called the Flamsbana, is billed as "one of the most beautiful train trips in the world". This train took us from Myrdal to the town of Flam. Along the way, we saw more spectacular scenery: mountain passes, woodland, waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, and mountain creeks.

We saw many farmlands today and as is typical of farms, there were large bales of hay wrapped in plastic. There were 4 different colors of plastic used, and we were told that the colors were not just arbitrary, but that they had a purpose. The white bales were the normal colors. The pink, blue, and green ones were more expensive, and the extra money that was charged was donated to research for breast cancer (pink), prostate cancer (blue), or for the environment (green).

We also passed by a wind tunnel that was available for anyone who wanted to use it to practice parasailing, skydiving, etc.

After we arrived at the town of Flam on the train, we boarded buses again and drove back to Eidfjord with a few stops along the way. At Voss, we stopped at a hotel that served us sandwiches, coffee, tea, and water. Across the street from the hotel was a statue of Knute Rockne (legendary coach of Notre Dame) who is actually from the town of Voss. There was also a park where a couple of teams were playing some type of soccer, but they were wearing large plastic bubbles over their upper torso. Their head was completely inside the bubble, and they would bounce off of each other and fall and roll around on the ground before getting up again. I have no idea what kind of game it was - very unusual.

Most of the buildings in the town of Voss are relatively new, as the town had been occupied by the Nazis during the second world war. After some resistance from the local residents, the Nazis burned down the town. Everything had to be re-built. Also, there is a university here that specializes in training engineers in how to build tunnels - very appropriate for Norway. Stefano told us that they are talking about building a tunnel for cruise ships so that they can maneuver easily from one fjord to another without having to go all the way around.

As we drove along, we passed through many small towns. Occasionally we would see tall walls at the base of the surrounding mountains. We were told that there was a problem with avalanches coming off the steep hillsides that would wipe out the towns. So they built the walls to protect the towns from avalanches.

We were also told that they extract anorthosite from the mountains here. Anorthosite is used to make aluminum, but since it is too expensive to use it for that purpose, they use it for other purposes. They mix it with the materials for building the roads, and it makes the roads lighter in color, which makes it easier for drivers to see especially during the long, dark winter months. They also add it to toothpaste as a whitener, and add it to laundry detergent.

As we ended our day with our drive back to our ship at Eidfjord, we continued to marvel at the breathtaking scenery of this amazingly beautiful country: driving along the valley floor with mountains on both sides towering above us, sometimes looking up at sheer cliff sides; lakes that were so smooth that they appeared like glass, with reflections of the surrounding mountains, farmlands, clouds, and sky appearing picture perfect; loops and switchbacks yielding spectacular views of the valleys we had traversed or those yet to come; driving through narrow gorges, sometimes along a small creek, other times with huge boulders on the side of the road; and enjoying views that would widen out giving great overlooks of picturesque farms, churches, and other town buildings at the bottom of the valley below.

Today's tour gave us a panoramic view of some of the most gorgeous Norwegian landscape in the most beautiful of settings that we've ever seen.