Just a word about what we have learned about Norwegian culture before I talk about today. Yes, this is a socialistic state but the rewards are plentiful. The culture and governmental philosophy here is based on family and quality of life for the individual. The government provides and even subsidizes services that support family and good health. Things that are outside this realm are heavily taxed. For example, there is hefty tax on sugar, salt, fat and su...

Travel day! After yesterday's fog and deep overcast sky, wouldn't you know the sky was partly sunny this morning in Bergen? We could see the tops of the surrounding mountains. In those patches where the sky peeked through the clouds, the color was crisp, clear blue and the temperatures were the warmest we have encountered since leaving Oslo. We could see the incline railroad towers but since the railway does not open until 10 am, we did not have enough time...

Bergen, Norway - March 27, 2017 Last night we debated about taking public transportation from the train station to our apartment but considering our luggage and the late hour of the day, we decided to take a taxi. No Uber or Lyft in Bergen. Although the distance from the station to our apartment is just 2-3 miles, it was a good choice to taxi because once we left the station it was uphill, left then right, and then uphill some more winding through narrow s...

Flam - March 25 - 26, 2017 Oh how do I begin??? And what gave us the notion that we should take the Flam Railway to Flam??? I'm not sure, but we were blessed indeed. In the past two days we have been exposed to the most magnificent, breath-taking landscapes we've ever seen. The grandeur makes a person feel small yet strangely significant -- significant to merely be a part of this incredible world. Seeing places like this is a rare gift. We are so thankf...

Oslo - March 24, 2017 We are so clever! We got the tram system figured out down-pat today—actually it is one of the most sensible, intuitive transportation systems we have ever encountered. We boarded the No. 11 from our neighborhood to Oslo Central Station this morning then like pros we picked up the No. 1 all the way to Frognerseteren - last stop on the line. It's situated at the top of the mountain that overlooks Oslo and is also the home of the Holm...