Today we woke up in Flåm, Norway, another town with a strict noise ordinance, so no loud announcements today. The sun was shining and the temperature is about 19C.
I had ordered room service for breakfast today since we had to be at the train station at 8:30, and it was just easier to have them bring food to the room rather than to wait for elevators and dawdlers in the buffet line. I really have a fear of being late for anything and since I frequently get lost…well, early is my wheel-house.
I had asked for breakfast to be delivered between 7 and 7:30 AM, and he was there at 7:03 and he insisted on bringing it in and setting it up. Of course I was in no way prepared for this and was still in pyjamas, and Steven was in his boxers. I assumed they would knock and leave it outside at that hour, but you know what they say about “assume”….we must have looked like such hillbillies as I was trying to clear off a spot on the desk, hoping that there were’t socks and unmentionables lying around.
Anyhow, we ate (ham & cheese omelets with toast, juice and revolting coffee) and then headed to the gangplank to hopefully be able to find the train station. I had booked a short train trip online with a company called “Norway’s Best”, and they said the station was to the left as you got off your ship, in a bright red building, a two minute walk, just follow the path beside the water. And guess what? It was right there! We were both amazed at my ability to find the place.
The line-up was pretty long, it’s a train that goes from Flåm to the mountain village of Myrdal where people catch other trains that continue on to other town, so lots of tourists that were going hiking, camping etc. I had booked our ticket as a return to Myrdal and back. It’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful train trips in the world and just a few hours each way, and I thought it would be a relaxing way to see some sights. The shore excursion price was exorbitant, I think it was over $300 each. The online price through the train company was something like $80 each. All of the shore excursions were really, really expensive.
Anyhow, I worried that we were in the wrong line-up, of course I couldn’t read the signs, but I knew I was looking for “something #4”. Station 4? Line 4? Car 4? There were no 4’s that I could see. Eventually one of the lines started to move, so we just followed along, and sure enough…I saw a #4. A fellow looked at my ticket and ushered us onwards, so I guess we were in the right place.
There were quite a few train cars, and they seemed to be filling up quite quickly, so we just hopped on the closest one that had two seats side by side. When I booked online, the 10:30 train was sold out, and the only others were too late in the day, so this was the only option, and it seemed like it was sold out too, but we did find 2 seats together and settled in.
It was indeed a beautiful trip. The train had a TV screen in the front of the carriage, and a voice over in English telling about the history of the line, and how and when it was built, it was quite interesting. The scenery was breathtaking.
We stopped at a tiny train station where it seemed like the village had less than a dozen houses, I don’t think anyone got on or off, and then we also stopped at the most incredible waterfall. I was impressed that an actual public transportation train would stop to let people enjoy the view. It was a very strict 5 minute stop however, and when the whistle blew and the train started to move, some people had to run to get on. I guess they could always catch the next one though. There were 4 young girls hanging over the platform taking selfies, they really had to run to get on, and they looked very annoyed that their selfie moment had been cut short. I almost wished they had missed it.
We got to Myrdal a little late as we had had to stop at a siding and wait for a train who was late due to some sort of mechanical issue. People were in a panic because the connecting trains only wait for so long, as they themselves have a schedule to keep. As a matter of fact, our ship had to wait an extra hour or so before we left tonight because 70 passengers were on a shore excursion with this train and there was a delay. Just shows why a shore excursion with the cruise line can be a good thing! We weren’t leaving the port until 6 PM, so I felt pretty safe booking an early morning trip on my own.
Yesterday I had woken up with a vaguely sore throat and I had my fingers crossed that I wasn’t coming down with a cold. By this morning it was gone, but in it’s place I had one of those “tickles” in my throat, the kind where you cough so hard it’s like you are coughing up a lung. It hit me only once or twice a day, for 2 days, but it’s always at the absolute most inappropriate times, and man, my eyes run, mascara is all over my face like bad clown make-up, I can hardly catch my breath, and I want to hold up a sign saying “Not Contagious! Just a Tickle in my Throat”. So of course it hit me on this crowded train. But, it’s one way to get people to move and have lots of elbow room. Red Cherry Halls are the only thing that seem to help, and I always carry three or four packs when I travel, thank goodness I had some with me.
Anyhow. On the way back to Fläm we stopped at the platform to look at the waterfall once again (which is called Kjosfossen) and since most people had gotten off the train at Myrdal, there were very few of us left on the train. I hopped off to take a picture, and I heard some unusual music, a haunting sort of cry. I looked around and saw movement by the waterfall, and then a woman ran out from the bushes, and stood in the wind by the edge of the falls. She was wearing a long red dress, flowing long blonde hair and had what seemed to a be…a tail? It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. I fumbled to take a video and of course had it all sideways and missed most of it, but I found out later that she is a Huldra. It could have been an act for tourists, but I prefer to think otherwise. I mean, Norway is a pretty magical place. I saw what I saw.
When we returned to the train station back at Flåm we wandered through the little town in search of a bakery, and found one with lots of seating, cappuccino and some pastries, and then found a grocery store to wander though. It had been a really great day.
We went up to the Vibe Club to have a hot tub, I’ve never been a fan of hot tubs, but these ones are something else and I look so forward to soaking my tired bones every night.
Tonight’s theatre entertainment was a comedian, he was pretty good. The cruise lines are cutting down on “real” shows and all of them are having more and more game shows such as Price Is Right, Deal or No Deal, and The Newlywed Game. They are actually quite lame, and it’s a shame that the days of quality shows seem to be in the past.
Today on the boat was “Mandatory Face-to-Face Immigration Inspection, which all passengers have to go though prior to landing in the UK in three days. It was held in the Observation Lounge, and to ensure a smooth flow, each deck would be called and you were not to go in until your deck was called. We had all received a memo in our stateroom mailbox giving an approximate time for our deck. I thought this was a little annoying, I mean what if you had plans? Show plans, dinner plans, nap time plans, I mean, people have plans. We decided to walk up there and see what it was all about, and they had lines set up like the check-in area of an airport, so we just wound our way through, showed our passport and keycard, to an official looking woman in a uniform, got a sticker on the keycard and off we went. I heard our deck called hours later, so I’m glad we just went when we did. No one seemed to care what deck we were on.
They called a few names over and over and over again all that evening, I’m thinking it was people who didn’t go to the Immigration inspection. I had procured our ETA a few months ago (you need one now to visit or transit through the UK), and maybe this was just checking to make sure you were allowed off the ship and into England? I wonder what happens if you don’t “pass”?
And that was today’s adventures.
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