What a difference a day (and some sleep) make. An early and cold (-4) wake up in Oslo this morning and straight down to Oslo Airport train station. Conveniently the station was directly under our hotel room for what should have been a 5 minute walk.

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The boys however got distracted by the snow on the ground and the first of what I think will be many snowball fights broke out. There was no clear winner as the snow was too dry and light to really form into a snowball. More practice required

A 20 odd minute run into Oslo S (Central) gave us enough time for a hot chocolate and pain au chocolat (French in Norway?) before switching to the regional train to Bergen. 8:30 by this stage and still no sign of sunlight as we left Oslo behind.

In fact the first time we actually saw the sun, admittedly above the hills was 9:55am. It stayed very low in the sky and was gone again by 3ish, total darkness by 5. All the photos that look like night shots in Bergen, most are mid afternoon.

The Oslo-Bergen train link is rated in places as one of the 'must do' attractions in Norway. It didn't disappoint. Climbing from sea level in Oslo up over the mountains at about 1200m and then back down again to sea level as we tracked along the edge of a fjord on the way into Bergen.

Amazing, stunning scenery for the whole six and a half hours. It looked like so many Christmas cards with everything lightly covered in snow. Of course a heated train and big windows make it far more comfortable than actually being out in -5 degree weather.

Arriving in Bergen at 3pm…… it was obviously time for sunset. Really bizarre feeling wandering around in the mod afternoon and it looks like you should be going to bed. I'm sure the jetlag from crossing 10 time zones yesterday, exacerbated it to a degree.

We made the most of the few hours we had in Bergen and wandered around town, the old quarter and then got the cable car up to the top of the hill, meerkat style (Yes Al has pointed out my typo). Amazing views of the lights of Bergen from the top. Unfortunately freezing rain also met us up there so we made a reasonably rapid retreat.

After checking onto the Hurtigruten boat (MS Trollfjord) the boys spent the rest of the evening exploring our home for the next 4 days and we all took our lives in our hands as we attempted the buffet dinner…..Sharks and feeding frenzy come to mind, and we are but amateurs in this game. I'll add more on the boat (and cruising observations) in the next couple of entries. For Al and I the people watching is priceless.