One weekend during my six week adventure in Sweden for the World Nuclear University Summer Institute I took a quick trip to Norway. I few into Bergen, spent two nights there seeing the city and taking a cruise along the fjords, and then took the train through the mountains to Oslo, spent an afternoon there, and flew back to Stockholm. If you’re familiar with my travel style, you may know that I like to plan entire vacations around taking epic train journeys, and the Bergen-Oslo train certainly delivered! I would highly recommend it, or at least the Bergen-Myrdal section, to anyone.
Starting out in Bergen I spent a day just exploring the lovely city. It’s not very big and mostly walkable. I explored Bryggen, an old part of the city Wharf dating to the 14th-16th century, visited the local history museum, some churches, an old fortress, and rode up the funicular to get some spectacular views of the city.
In the evening I took a cruise along the fjords, seeing beautiful mountain streams, and quaint little villages that seem cut off from the modern world.
Finally I set out on the train. Oh my goodness, my pictures cannot capture this beauty. I was enthralled for the first three hours as we climbed through the mountains and the scenery became ever snowier. The later three hours saw rolling hills and small villages as I finally came into Oslo.
I had only an afternoon in Oslo, so did not get to see much of the city. I did make it to the parliament and coastal fortress, only getting briefly rained on.
Before heading back to Sweden I made a short stop at the National gallery, which boasts a large Edvard Munch collection.
Along with this recognizable figure.
I wasn’t sure who this guy was, but he looked too jolly to pass up.
When I looked into the modern art wing, I thought that the painting that goes in this spot must have been removed, and people had drawn on the space behind it with crayon. Nope, it’s art.
But I had to channel my inner Frank Reynolds and take a picture of this masterpiece.
A quick 1 hour flight back to Stockholm and I was back to Uppsala for the remainder of my course. I’d love to get back to Norway some day and see the rest of the beauty, but this was absolutely worth the quick jaunt.