After a gorgeous and exciting train ride, Tom and Ann walked across town to the Flåm Hostel and settled in. They were delighted to get land legs after a very long day, especially since they were still adjusting to the new time zone.
Click on photos to see a larger image.
This is the view from their window. Jay's family stayed in the cabin on the left.
The plan was to meet for supper in Flåm, so they walked back into town and found the viking restaurant. Sarah's were arriving about the same time from their hotel. We entered the delightfully decorated restaurant and were excited to find Tom and Ann's traveling companions from the train ride. We found seating for our group, ordered some grog, and looked at the menu. Uff da! Viking fare looked delicious and came highly recommended, but wasn't going to fly with the younger set. We bowed out as gracefully as we could and left in search of pizza and chicken tenders.
The Thompson's meet in front of the Thomson cruise ship.
Tom visited with a relative, "Woody".
Jay's arrived and it was very good to have the family reconnected, though we missed the Bober's. The fare was good and conversations charged with excitement. We departed soon after dinner to get some rest for the adventures that awaited.
Cousin love. Kati and Lilja were proud of their matching t-shirts.
The skies had darkened, so Tom and Ann rushed back to the hostel. Just after they arrived a storm rolled into the valley. Locals were thrilled as this broke a very long, abnormal drought. It was quite an impressive storm as the thunder echoed through the valley. A gorgeous full rainbow appeared, then became a double. Tom and Ann hung out of the window taking picture after picture. As the rain began to subside, they joined others outside. They struck up conversations with very interesting young men from Britain. One remarked, "I just can't stop taking pictures!" We laughed with him because we, too, continued to snap the shutter repeatedly.
Saturday was our family play day. We began with a hike to Brekkefosse, a beautiful waterfall. Jay was our tour guide as he had made the trek on a previous trip.
Emily remembers fondly her week of camp at Lutherock with Toren.
Toren points to our quest.
It was a bit of a hike through the valley to get to the trail. The farms were picturesque against the backdrop of the mountains.
Much like the Appalachain trails in NC
Sweet father-son moment
Tom and Ann were surprised to see what captivated them.
Inch worms are dreaded enemies in their garden.
Beautiful Brekkefosse
Rainbows at waterfalls are always a special treat.
Our view of Flåm
AWK! Don't step back!!!
Even the old folks made it up and back.
Fresh raspberries anyone?
Our afternoon fun was a thrilling rib boat tour of the fjords. Part of the fun was playing dress up. We do look like we're ready for high adventure, don't we?
Superman leads the charge as we leave the dock.
Our guide was excellent and a lot of fun.
We'll return to Undredal for cheese tasting on the return trip.
Sarah's rode this ferry yesterday. Tom and Ann will tomorrow.
We began our return trip at Gudvangen.
Viking burial mound
Farm museum
While we were looking ahead...
...this amazing storm cloud rolled in behind us.
Toren's expression says it all.
We felt minuscule in a tiny rib boat perched on ~3000' deep water with a storm looming.
Undredal is a town with 100 people and 500 goats.
They make world renown cheese.
Tasting the many goat cheeses, including gjetost, was great fun!
We had about 8 miles to go in the rain to get back to port.
That's when we most appreciated our "dress up clothes".
That's when we most appreciated our "dress up clothes".
Proud Dad
No comments:
Post a Comment