Flam

7/2012 Update:  a series of blog entries from a Norway cruise I was fortunate enough to take in the Summer of 2008. Although it feels funny to have relayed trip updates via a blog, it was a pre-Facebook way of telling friends/family about my travels.

Here I am again.  It's 12:30 AM and it's still light outside (sunrise comes around 4 AM).  I'm sitting in one of the lounges at the top of the ship's atrium area.  It's nice and quiet and my table has a good view of the sea.  We've left the fjords in the area of Flam and we're out at sea again.  We entered the area this morning and docked at Flam.  Yesterday, we were at sea all day and pretty much the scenery consisted of ocean and the occasional oil/gas platform.  The winds were pretty high so the ship was moving about more than usual.  I've gotten used to it, for the most part, but I've caught myself feeling the ship "move" when on land.  It feels a bit odd, to tell the truth, but I'm sure it'll pass soon enough. 

Since we were at sea yesterday, we had a limited itinerary:

1.  Sleep in.

2.  Eat.

3.  Workout (a treadmill is a lot more entertaining with a front-on ocean view).

4.  Mill around with the family (a Knowles tradition!).

5.  Eat.

6.  Attend lecture on the Vikings (yes, even in the middle of the North Sea, I encounter Powerpoint).

7.  Blow some cash on the slot machines.

8.  Get dressed for dinner (it's formal night on board, so we get out the suits).

9.  Eat (a constant ritual aboard cruise ships, natch).

10.  Um, what did we do?  Whatever it was, I'm sure it involved eating...we're such slobs!  Oh yeah, we foolishly went out on deck last night to admire the high winds...

Today, after getting off the ship, we took a winding railroad that went up into the mountains.  The views were quite spectacular.  We stopped partway up at the Kjosfossen waterfalls; amazing sight. 

I don't have to tell you that, so far, Norway has not failed to impress (I know a few of you who are emitting a collective "duh!").  The views sailing through the fjord alone was gorgeous.  I'm definitely going to have to get back here someday.  The train dropped us at this nice hotel at one of the upper stops where we had some waffles (yep, more food!) and nice strong coffee (better than I've had on the ship so far).  We got the hang around there until the train took us back down.

Alas, we didn't have a lot of time in the area and had to get back on the boat as soon as the train got down the mountain.  We should have more time to explore on our other stops.  Tomorrow is another day at sea as we head for our Arctic Circle phase of the cruise.  Hey Rob, when was that next buffet?