Day 2 – Norway 2017. Oslo to Flåm

I woke up with a start at 5:30 am, with enough time for a quick shower before it was time for me to walk to the train station. The hotel had kindly prepared a breakfast box for me, but outside of that I felt miserable, with barely enough strength to carry my comparatively light backpack the few blocks to the train station. I had to be there extra early, because I had to pick up the tickets for the tour I had arranged (Norway in a Nutshell) from one of the employees of the train organization, in time for my 8:20 am train departure. Unfortunately the young woman representing the train company had no idea what tickets I was talking about, and for a brief moment I thought I would have to buy the ticket on the train itself. But the person who knew what I was looking for eventually arrived, gave me my tickets, and wished me an enjoyable trip.

The tour started with a four hour train ride up the mountains that form the western backbone of Norway, from Oslo to Myrdal. Oslo itself had just had its first dusting of snow the previous day, but clearly the mountains have been experiencing heavy snowfall since the beginning of October, and the mountain was transformed into a veritable Winter Wonderland. I would like to describe for you the gorgeous scenery, but my cold was now in its extreme phase, and I spent the four hours falling asleep and sneezing. Ay, ay, ay.

Once in Myrdal (a tiny mountain town) we transferred into the Myrdal to Flåm mountain train, which over a modest 50 km descends from 1,222 m above mean sea level in Myrdal to 2 m in Flåm (pronounced Flom). The transfer implied getting down from the big train into a blinding flurry of snow and walking across the station yard, with snow up to our knees, into the much smaller Flåm train. It was a very beautiful ride, and I managed to stay awake for much of the time so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Once in Flåm I checked in at my rather posh hotel, went for a walk around the town (fortunately I brought an umbrella because there was a persistent cold drizzle), ate my first Norwegian pølse (pronounced palse) or sausage, and visited the railway museum, before returning to my room to tackle email and write this blog. Come 7 pm I plan to go down and treat myself to a good Norwegian dinner.

I wonder, if they write å to represent the sound “o”, and write ø to represent the sound “a”, wouldn’t it be easier to use a for “a”, and o for “o”. Not to be “criticoso” or anything, but I wonder if I should start writing my name as Hårøciå. Hey, now that I see it written I kind of like it; it has a definite Viking flare!