Hei Hei from Norway!

Is this a dream?

Are we here?

I was trying to play it cool but inside, I was exploding with excitement, awe, and maybe some nerves:)

NORWAY...we have arrived!

Our first stop in Norway was a port in the town of Flam.

It was a magnificent day.

I woke up at 4:30am, did a lot of walking on the upper deck loop as we slowly cruised through the fjord.

It was truly remarkable!

Clay chose our tour for the day to a "Viking Village"

It was ~~kind of~~ a joke/tourist trap:(

BUT...

located in an incredible valley with so much to see.

I wished our bus could have just stopped a dozen times to take it all in :)

Our stop (before the tourist trap) was here at Tvindefossen:)

Clay was incredibly sick but determined to go on the tour he chose. For two people who grew up around tourists and tourists on buses...we swallowed are pride and realized, it was easier this way and it was paid for.

Although, our tour guide could have been the worst we have ever had! It was laughable.

Truly.

He rambled about water and pointing out schools and now we have an inside joke for life...

"here is a school, the school is important for the children"😂

said tourist trap

The water is just unimaginably clean and green or blue green.

Spectacular!

Back at our port in Flam, we shopped and had lunch on the boat, then Clay needed to lie down and sleep.

So I scoped out spots from our room and headed out on my own!

The weather could not be beat.

I was so happy.

At the end of the day, I logged over 20,000 steps!

It felt great after a day at sea

(and after getting seasick too, bleh)

We left at 5:30pm on the dot.

We sailed through the fjord pausing and turning the ship to see some waterfalls.

My favorite part was just sailing by all the farms and houses dotting the steep hills along the water.

Our second stop in Norway was in Olden :)

They have their own water they get from their glacier up the valley, hence the cute bottle.

I signed us up for a tour of Njordford, this time we had a delightful guide!

Such a pretty day, rain sprinkles here and there.

Again, look at that water!

I loved how the walking path is about children. They love their children! But it is a country with a very low birth rate, so each child is very well taken care of.

It was sweet to see:)

Before our tour, we just walked around. There wasn't much to look at in terms of the town but good to get Clay out.

He was hanging in there, but still feverish and sick!

Children walking in safety vests:)

(maybe my new favorite thing)

Life looks so good in Norway!

By now I was in love with all the little homes.

The country has a definite aesthetic-white, gold or red homes all over. Gray moved in later...For me, it seemed perfect. I like less. My brain thinks better with less:)

Our guide told us there are 4 seasons in Norway-

June, July, August and Winter😂

a series of us in our Norwegian color scheme:)

even the weeds were charming!

Our tour ended and they launched our boat the minute we got on...

here is a scene out our window of the towns dotting the fjords.

It's like a super clean , classy Alaska-that's what Clay said.

Our last stop was Bergen, the second largest city in Norway.

We did not have enough time there!

Our goals were:

1.window shop

2. find furniture/houseware/design shops

3. eat locally made baked goods

4. walk off the beaten away the tourists!

5. eat a non cruise lunch because at this point, we were pretty tired of the food and feeling like we were being herded around. Downside of cruising...