Scandinavia trip ’06
Aubrey was living in Oslo for the summer doing an environmental policy internship, and that was more than enough of an excuse for Haley and I to make the trip. Here’s the overview of the trip:
8/19/06 - fly from San Francisco to Stockholm
8/22/06 - fly from Stockholm to Oslo
8/23/06 - train from Olso to Flåm
8/25/06 - boat/bus/train from Flåm to Bergen
8/26/06 - train from Bergen to Oslo
8/28/06 - fly from Olso to San Francisco
Stockholm - I don’t have the same cultural heritage connection to Sweden as I do to Norway, but Haley thought so long as we’re crossing the Atlantic we’d better get to at least a couple of countries. I indulged, and I’m glad I did. The hotel was the chic ultra-modern Clarion of downtown Stockholm--this is not like any Clarion hotel you’ve seen in the US. We didn’t do a whole lot while we were there, but we did have good Ethiopian food. Tip for Scandinavian travel: everything is closed on Sunday. =)
Haley took a lot of naps, I took a lot of walks, and I would definitely go back. Beautiful city, hip people, bicycles everywhere.
Oslo part I - The plane takes a fourth of the time and costs a third as much as the train, so we flew. Still a little jet-lagged, we ambled around the city all day. The Oslo Museum of Contemporary Art (not recommended), lunch at the Engebretsen Cafe (have the chicken salad with bacon only if you’re hungry), and then we met up with Aubrey by the National Theater when she got off work. Indian food and catching up.
Flåm - This is the land of my people (maybe). There are Fretheim farms here, there are Fretheim graves here, and there is the fancy fancy Fretheim Hotel. Flåm is smack in the middle of the Norway in a Nutshell tourist route. Its where you get off the dramatic down-the-mountain train from Myrdal and then get on the fjord cruise.While we didn’t get any family discount at the hotel, the staff was awfully friendly once they found out I was a real live Fretheim. I learned from them that the Fretheim family no longer owns the hotel, but do still live in the area. In fact, we could see Upper Fretheim Farm from our hotel room bay-window. The manager sent up a fruit plate with a nice note welcoming us, and our dinner waitress sneaked us some hand-painted “Fretheim” egg cups to take home that she passed off as Akevitt glasses (with a wink, of course). If you’re in Flåm, but can’t fit the hotel into your budget, they stay somewhere cheaper, but do eat a dinner there. The food was gormet-delicious with a healthy emphasis on presentation. The moose dinner with asparagus, potato croquette and cream sauce was reason enough to go back. During the day, the decor looks a little outmoded, but at night the ambiance takes on a warm, upscale ski-lodge feel. Highly recommended.
While there, we rented bicycles and rode up the mountain toward Myrdal on the Rallarvegen, which I’d like to go back and do all of. We also hired a couple of Kayaks and a guide (recommended) to paddle around the fjord for a few hours.
Bergen - Half the beauty of Bergen is in the journey there. From Flåm, we took a boat through the dramatic Sognefjord, a bus that drove straight up a mountain (switchback after switchback after switchback), and a relaxing train from Voss all the way to Bergen. Our hotel had told us over the phone that we were to pick up our room key and sign our credit card slip at the pub next door on arrival. Getting closer, we could see that there was a crowd outside and an even bigger crowd inside. This was not your average crown of Norwegians. They all had long blond hair down their backs and all-black outfits. Inside, the bartender handed us our keys and we asked
“is there something going on here tonight?”
“There’s a festival going on now.”
“What kind of festival?”
“A rather dark one...”
It turned out we had stumbled onto one of the biggest black metal festivals in all the land and it was directly below our hotel window. If you’re ever in Bergen and want a glass of Karlsberg with some real character, check out Garage.
Oslo part II - Vigeland park. Nobel Peace Center. Dinners, late night walks, and talking. Let’s go back soon.
Monday, August 28, 2006