Stockholm, Sweden (Part 2) - The Vasa Museum

The Vasa - built between 1625 -1627 and sank into the Stockholm harbor when launched (because it was top heavy).  We spent nearly the entire afternoon in this museum and it was awe-inspiring to see how large these ships were.

Stockholm, Sweden (Part 1)

Our trip is coming to an end, and we cannot believe it.  First, in Norway, it never got dark but now we are in Stockholm, and it does get dark for a few hours each night.

Today we saw the Gamla Stan (old town)...

Coolest museum ever - Viking Ship museum

Three large ships that were buried with Vikings, some of whom were women and may have been queens, and within the ships were clothing, a carved sled, other carved items.  It was awesome!

And after this, we had to take bus back to central Oslo, take a train the airport and fly from Oslo to Stockholm.  As I said, it was a busy day seeing as much as we could in Oslo.

Day in Oslo

We got in later than we expected but we have a full-day in Oslo today & lots to see in a short period of time.  The whole reason we came to Oslo - the Viking Ship museum... but not before seeing 'old' town, the famous opera house on the water, and the old military fort guarding Oslo.

Voss to Oslo

Today, 7/3, we took a bus to Voss and then, realized we should have pre-purchased our tickets for the train because the noon bus was sold out.  We had to wait until 4-5 pm, spending the entire day in a very wet, raining Voss.  In Voss, we again had bad pizza but found some good coffee (and accidentally ran into the troll family)...

But, the train ride was fun and very beautiful...

Voringsfossen (waterfall near Eidfjord)

At the Vik at Eidfjord, we had rented a small cabin by the river that flows into the fjord.  We had dinner - and it was the best dinner we had in Norway there at the small bed & breakfast's restaurant.  And, then we drove up to the Voringsfossen, which is the highest free-fall waterfall in Norway.

Viking burial mounds... at Eidfjord

We decided to take a short hike before meeting the troll/sea serpent family for dinner, and found ourselves encountering....

 A Norweign horse (they are cold blooded, and shorter/stockier than Clydesdales) - this one was very friendly....





A Viking burial mound (really - they are all over the area)

And this is the small farm overlooking Eidfjord.

Moving on to Eidfjord

We spent 1 1/2 days in Bergen, and we are now moving on to take a passenger ferry to Eidfjord where we will stay the night at a bed & breakfast (the Vik - more on that later).  The ferry ride was beautiful... and so was Eidfjord.

This is the town of Eidfjord, as we started our short hike.

Bergen - finally

It is July 1st, and we have spent our last night in the car, and we have showered (very, very important).  And we finally have a good meal - Burger King in a mall, not kidding.  (We have spent the last several days eating bread, donuts, and lots of vanilla wafer cookies.)

Today, we meet up with troll family and the sea serpent, and we are pretty excited for that... well, we'd be more excited if it weren't raining like crazy.

 ---- This is the Bryggen

 View of Bergen -----

 A shop on the Bryggen - with a crooked stair case...

Hopperstad stave church

 This is the small town of Vikoyri on the Sognefjord.  Yes - that is a waterfall off in the distance, and the Borgund stave church is off to the left in the photo in the fields.







And, this is Hopperstad stave church, built between 1034-1116.

Good morning - at Borgund Stave Church

We spent the night in the car again, and we desperately need showers, but who cares - it is constantly light out and there is so much to see.

This morning, it was raining but we got to see the Borgund stave church, built between 1180 - 1250, without crowds (because it wasn't open yet, and it was raining:))

Then, on the way to Vik (and another stave church), we just across this pastoral view...

More from Besseggen Ridge...

Bessengen Ridge hike

This is a 14 km hike, and yes, it was ambitious but it was incredible worth it.

Hiking Besseggen Ridge - Gjendesheim to Memurubu

We spent the night in the car, by Lake Gjende with a small parking lot full of other hikers.... preparing the big hike the next day!

Driving through the Land of the Giants (Jotunheimen NP)

After leaving Geiranger, we began our drive to the start of the Besseggen Ridge (hike) through the Land of the Giants (Jotunheimen NP).

But before getting to Gjendesheim, we stopped at Lom (where we had terrible pizza) and saw our first stave church.

Lom stave church was built mid-12th century.