We have been so lucky with the weather – and our luck is continuing here in Geiranger. The sun is shining and it is a balmy 55 degrees. but with the sun, it is actually quite warm.
We have booked a mountain view tour here (as we did the last time we were in Geiranger), so we know the drill, where to get the tickets and how to walk around everyone in line to go to the online booking counter since we had already paid. (Of course I manage to walk us all the way around the souvenir shop to end up back at the top of the pier where the info center and bus tickets are…but hey? It’s a nice day for a little exercise. LOL.)
Tickets in hand, we go stand in line at the bus stop. The usual scrum ensues when the bus shows up. The 8 or 10 of us who have been here waiting patiently are being pushed out by the newcomers who shove their way to the front. Not happening on my watch – and I manage to get aboard and secure 4 seats for all of us. One guy – who was doing most of the pushing as he showed up last and wanted to get on first – exclaimed that we aren’t “savages” are we? Well, yeah, we are, especially if you are going to ignore the queue that had been patiently standing there for over half an hour!
But, scrum managed, we are all onboard and off to the top of Mount Dalsnibba at 1500 meters above sea level. We make our way out of town, and wind up the narrow switch back road to our first stop at the Flydalsjuvet view point. Along the way, the driver gives us basic information about Geiranger, and tells us how he used to clear the road of snow – with snow shovels! They have plows and blowers now, but it wasn’t so long ago they did it manually. Wow.
We don’t have to worry about snow today as it is crystal clear all the way up the mountain – and we get fantastic shots of our ship way down in the harbor from Flydalsjuvet.
Sunny even gets into the act…albeit reluctantly from these heights!
Back on the bus, we are really excited to get to the summit of Dalsnibba. The first time here, we couldn’t make it because of the snow, but the driver says this has been one of the mildest winters in years and they’ve only had 9 meters (only!) of snow. So, the path is clear, and we realize that the place where we turned around last time is actually located on a large and beautiful lake. Ha! There was so much snow, we couldn’t see a thing. Not so today.
We make the turn up the mountain, and conquer the increasing tight hair pin turns toward the summit, until the bus driver stops (there is some persistent alarm going off) and we assume lets the bus cool down a bit? I’m thinking I’m not pushing this bus, so there better be a back up plan in this tour’s future. But all is well, as we start off again in minutes and arrive at the top of Mount Dalsnibba unscathed.
I can’t explain how perfectly beautiful it is up there. The weather couldn’t be better and the views are simply breathtaking. We meander about and do the billy goat thing climbing out on the rocks to get shots right over the edge…
Then we backtrack to the other side to take photos looking off into the Norwegian landscape.
On our way back down, we snap pictures of the farmland and waterfalls all around us…
….and watch much hardier souls than us walk up the windy road – one girl pushing a baby stroller. Now that’s exercise!
Back in town, we wander around a bit, hitting the chocolate store for samples and a bar of dark chocolate for Richard. Then we catch the tender back to the ship to wait for an amazing sail away through the fjord.
No comments:
Post a Comment