Kviknes Hotel Balestrand

... kjørt før, bratt men imponerende.
Ble første riktige stopp i Sogndal for å spise lunsj - som ble middag - kjøttkaker for annen gang på turen. Får jo ikke sånt i Sverige, og en liten variant ble det, surkål og grønnsaker i stedet for ertestuing og grønnsaker, selv om det var det som sto på menyen!
Mens jeg kjørte opp på Sognefjellet kom jeg på hvorfor det er så bra å komme til fjells, det er jo alltid det jeg savner i Sverige, at ...

... av Jølstravatnet til Astruptunet og fikk meg en trivelig og interessant omvisning - helt alene! Fint sted, men hvordan han greide å brøfø en familie på 8 på så bratte skråninger er imponerende, ved siden av malingen. Men så hadde de det nok ikke fett heller, selv om han fikk god kritikk for bildene sine.
Fint var det også over fjellet fra Moskog til Haukedalen. Været har ...

... see why!!

First up we met a French guy, Frederic who was an engineer working in Oslo who had brought his parents, uncle and grandfather along for the trip. Also doubled as a helpful guide since he'd done the trip himself beforehand and knew what to expect, although he didn't quite share our excitement at taking photos so early cos "it gets better", but hey - we were seeing snow for the first time, even if it was so far away on the horizon ...

... go. 

The next d*y we went to Juv*shytte to ski. We got to the top of four 2000m pe*ks including the t*llest point in Norw*y - G*ldhopigg*n, *t 2469m. It is *lso the t*llest point in northern Europe. It is *bsolutely stunning views from there. Check out the photos.

... que tan sólo se veía roto por la hora del desayuno, donde apareciamos los turistas con vaqueros, sin afeitar y con la cámara de fotos al hombro. Como comentaba al principio, su ubicación lo convierte en un lugar especial. Se encuentra en "el rey" de los fiordos, en la misma puerta del glaciar Jostedal y rodeado de rutas increibles.

OMG! What a beautiful part of the world. Alaska pales, and I mean PALES, in comparison. The fjords are spectacular! The waterfalls are spectacular! The people are lovely, and the scenery is beyond belief. We followed our guide (kinda) to the train only to discover we had about 35 minutes before it arrived, so Carol and I booked to the souveneir shops so she could look for something for Ariana. And what a cool sweater we found for her. I have never seen Carol ...

Wow, Norway just keeps getting better. Balestrand is a fantastic little place amidst the fjords. I took a boat from Bergen and went along through Sognefjord, Norway's longest, deepest fjord. Along the way were stupendous waterfalls, massive walls of granite and picture perfect farms and houses. The photos are stunning, I just don't have the ability to load them on this computer - but it's free so I'm updating... I loved this place. I hiked up the mountain ...

... Norway, (more than two thirds of the year it rains in the city), we lucked out with a beautiful day as we cruised along through the fjords. They started out lined with islands, holiday homes and trees, and looked very similar to the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada, but as we got further out the hills rose to mountains on either side of us, most of them snow-capped, and the trees became huge, thick forests reaching down to the deep blue water of ...

... pigs on a train ride. It was a very beautiful train ride, starting out fairly flat, but quickly becoming mountainous. From Myrdal we took a very steep descent to Flam, and then a boatride from Flam to Balestrand, where we stayed last night and will also stay tonight. This is part of the famous 'norway in a nutshell' route. And let me tell you, those norway in a nutshellers are nuts!! Lots of crowds and people anxious to get the best view out the windows. We did ...

Well we had a pretty, albeit bouncy, ferry ride from Bergen to Stavanger. They use a fast cat passenger boat, no cars, that took about 4 hours to make the trip. Most of this was inside passages but about an hour or so was open to the North Sea and this tested our sea legs and stomachs. No incidents to report. Also, as this was Norway, lots of rain mixed with a couple of sunny breaks. We found a campground in Stavanger where we pitched our tent on a big ol' lawn with many other ...