Bergen to Mostraumen - Cruising the Western Fjords

 26 May 2022.

The day began overcast but no rain - yet. 

As part of our breakfast routine of fruit and yoghurt for Susie and toast and banana for me, we split a croissant and a pain au chocolat from Baker Brun. We had picked them up late yesterday afternoon and they looked really good. Heated up this morning we were impressed with the texture: light and airy with a good crumb. 

Yet the taste seemed off somehow. Susie thought it might be some sort of ambient flavor from the oven and sure enough as they cooled the "offness" seemed to have dissipated. Still, they weren't very buttery at all and rather bland overall.

We dallied at home until about 9:30 when we walked the 5 minutes or so down to the Rodne dock where we boarded our boat, the "Ryggertroll", for today's cruise up the Bergen fjord to the Osterfjorden and on to Mostraumen and turning around at Modalen.

It was a fine day to be inside for a cruise of the fjords: blustery and chill winds with the occasional bursts of rain tracked along with us most of the way and back. Still, we were given the chance to see more of Western Norway's incredibly beautiful water and landscapes.

We were among the first aboard but within minutes the boat filled up -- we shared our three-seaters with four women from Spain. The one in the red (below) spent most of the time on her phone fiddling with photos it seems at the same she talked almost incessantly. 

The number of waterfalls in these fjords never ceases to amaze us and some of them, as we would see today, are powerfully dramatic and very picturesque.

the village of Modalen

back at the dock

Leaving the boat we walked all of about 50 feet to Olivia's right on the wharf. It was lunchtime! Susie had a frittata and I had two starters: fried polenta and an artichoke salad with chopped olives. Yumyum!!

After we left the restaurant we walked across the street and bought our single-trip tickets for tomorrow's tram ride to the airport. It was back to the apartment to relax before one final stroll around Bryggen and the small alleyways of our neighborhood. We stumbled across an old church graveyard -- so far I've visited a cemetery in every place we've stayed except for Flåm.

graveyard in St. Mary's church near the waterfront

St. Mary's

Tomorrow will be another early morning for us. A short walk to the nearby tram stop which will take us straight to the Bergen airport and then it's off to the Netherlands!