Day 6 - Travel from Bergen to Oslo to Tromso, Norway

09/15/2009

After our experience the previous day (the refreshing jog to the train station) we planned our timing out better and were able to leisurely stroll to catch our train, and even have breakfast at the train station once we got there. Breakfast consisted of a waffle for William and sandwiches for John and I. The sandwiches were so tasty that we went back into the cafe and bought 2 more sandwiches and another waffle for lunch on the train. Ha! (More about the waffles and sandwiches we ate all over the country in a later post)

The train this day was to take us from Bergen to Oslo on what is reported to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. It delivered! The scenery really was incredible. The only downer was that there were so many tunnels (I think the announcement as we left the station said there were 200) that we'd only get 5 second glimpses of mind-blowing scenery before going into yet another tunnel. Most of the time there was no time to even snap a photo before we were plunged back into darkness. What we did see was gorgeous and just cemented Norway even more firmly into the Most Beautiful Country in the World -- in my opinion, anyway.

We rode in the Komfort car of the train which meant that we had little tables at our seats and AC power for laptops plus free hot chocolate and coffee. The car in front of ours was the Family car where everyone else who had kids was riding and it was a mad-house! Toys and kids everywhere! In that car there was also a play area with tunnels and ladders which was a nice break for Will.

The ride was uneventful, just beautiful, so just take a look at these pics.



Once to Oslo we had a couple of hours before heading back to the airport to get on our flight to Tromsø in Northern Norway. The dinner we had at Skansen Cafe when we were in Oslo a few days before had been so good that we went back for dinner again. It was just as good the second time.

After dinner we walked around a bit more, checked out a mall, and then headed back to the train station where we caught the airport express train back to the Oslo airport. We got on our flight to Tromsø and arrived there in the Arctic at nearly midnight. An airport shuttle dropped us off across the street from our apartment, City Living Hotel, where there was a guy waiting specifically for us to arrive. They even upgraded our rooms for free! City Living ended up being a really amazing place to stay -- very nice and clean, perfect location to walk to everywhere we wanted to go, free laundry and very nice staff!