Norway is Wonderful

Well, much to my surprise, I am thoroughly enchanted by Norway. Oslo was a wonderful city, full of life and art. The city is very clean, and has a new scupture every three or four feet it seems. We did the 'Hop on, Hop off' tour which allowed me to cruise through the whole city and get an overview. Of course we were rushed, this is the whirlwind tour, but I had time to visit the Folk Museum, the Kon-Tiki Museum (Old Thor H was one of my heros when I was a younger gal...I loved the back to nature, living in the wilderness naked with a pointy stick and a fishing line idea...) and the wonderful wonderful sculpture park in Frogner-Park. As the tour guide said, if you haven't been to Frogner-Park, you haven't been to Oslo. The park is immense, with hundreds of life size sculptures in it. It is the lifework of Gustav Vigeland, Norway's most famous sculptor. The works are in bronze, granite and iron and are excellent. There is a beautiful fountain surrounded by rose gardens, and a VERY phallic monolith composed of 121 figures all carved from a single piece of stone...I believe it to be granite. I could have spent at least a full day there, maybe more. If I was to re-do the trip, I most certainly would have booked at least one more full day in Oslo.
(There you go, Jami, a paragraph.XXOO)
But, we were off to the next adventure, we went by train to Myrdal, and then by cog railway to Flåm. It is a most beautiful trip, with high mountains and crashing waterfalls all along the way. Getting on and off trains is a bit of a challenge, as my traveling companions are carrying their full load of luggage (thank you Annica for letting me stash my 'stuff' till I get back to Stockholm). But once on board, all goes smoothly. At Flåm we boarded a ferry and cruised across a crystal clear fjord to Balestrand, a precious little town on the edge of the water. We stayed at a lovely hotel, Kvikne's, which has been there forever. I went up to the 'English' church, an Anglican outpost in the land of the Lutherans, for evening services. The tiny church is very beautiful, with 9 stained glass windows and a beautiful view. The pastor used the Mary-Martha text to talk about the importance of women in the world and in religion...nice choice, I must say. Then these three young people came by. Cristina, David and John (?) I think their names were. They have been traveling the world, 'singing for peace' for several years now. Nice gig, done on faith. They played and sang several very nice tunes, mostly using the Psalms as text, with a rewritten Ave Maria as a cap. It was very well done, and a nice surprise. I gave them a donation for their next cheese and bread stop...and they gave me a CD. I look forward to playing it when I get home.
Next morning, up to the end of the fjord by boat, to visit the glacier, then to a glacier museum with lots of info on global warming. The water is clear green, due to runoff from the glacier. During the winter, the green color goes away. The glacier has lost 73 meters this year, but the locals say it comes and goes historically, but is really going faster than usual recently. Back to Balestrand, then by boat to Bergen.
It is morning in Bergen now, and pouring rain. I'm resting up at the hotel, watching the people and the rain, but plan to go to a Grieg in Bergen Summer Festival concert tonight. Then, at break of day, we catch a train back to Oslo, then an overnight voyage to Copenhagen. The sprint goes on!!
Having a wonderful time.....will write more soon!