Norway in a Nutshell
Day 16 - Thursday, 17 August 2000
Today we'll do the Norway in a Nutshell mini-tour. We had to be in the lobby at 6:45 AM with bags, ready for breakfast. We departed for the train station at 7:30 sharp. Our bags will go ahead of us. The train departs at 7:42 - we must be on it. We packed our lunch from the breakfast buffet, which included meats, cheeses, bread, fruit - a wonderful assortment.
At Myrdal, we had to switch trains. It was very cold and raining! But not too heavily, and the wait was short. A little later, the train stopped at a waterfall. As we pointed our cameras at the sight, a strange thing happened. A woman (or was it a siren) came from a shell of a building and sang a mournful song. We were too astonished to click our shutters! Later we realized it was part of the entertainment.
Not far from Myrdal the
train stopped at the Kjos Fossen (waterfall). As we pointed our cameras at the
sight, a strange thing happened. A woman (or was it a siren) came from a shell
of a building and sang a mournful song. We were too astonished to click our
shutters! Later we found out that it was part of the entertainment.
At Flåm, we left the train behind and boarded our boat, the Fylkesbataane. As we waited in line to board, we were elbowed aside by five women who wanted to be up front. Dave told them that they were being rude. They seemed quite astonished to hear it. Apparently that is the way everyone does things in Germany. I can't imagine it.
On board the boat, we found a table and settled down to watch the scenery go by. We met some interesting people, including one 86 year old lady from Chicago named Olive Jones, who was RV'ing through Europe. She has one child, she told us, a 57-year old daughter who is a magician and has chosen to have no children. What a shame for this family line to die out!
