Austria / Scandinavia Blog 2007

My trip has sadly come to an end. Sarah and Nils were the best hosts one could hope for. I hope to return here very soon. Here are few more pics from scattered activities over the last few days.








Good Christmas pic, ya?

I awoke this morning with grand plans of strolling around town and riding the funicular up the hillside for a great view of Bergen. But inclement weather kind of but the kibosh on that...or did it. I managed to get myself a little wet and nearly trapped in a park - who puts fences around parks anyways? - But I also saw the Aquarium, strolled around Bergen, and took the funicular. Isn't it lovely?





The funicular was quite obviously going to be pointless since you couldn't see the top of the hillside through the weather, but what the hell. It turned out that this funicular was the coolest yet - it had subway-style entrance gates, goes through several hundred feet of tunnel, and makes 3 intermediate stops while going up the hill.





And while the view from the top was literally just white, there was this inviting troll. He looked a little like he was primed and ready to grab my ass though, so I kept my distance.

Fjording...I can't be the first to turn it into a verb right? Anyways, I set off from Oslo early yesterday morning. A "quick" 6+ hour train ride took me over to Myrdal where I switched trains to descend the 1200+ meters to sea level. If the brakes went out on this thing...well you get the idea.





Along the way the train stops for a look at this waterfall that used to provide hydroelectric power for the construction effort many years ago. The deck at this stop was nice and slippery due to the fine layer of ice -- did I forget to mention that it's kind of cold up here?





You pass a few small towns on the way down the slope. This is definitely remote living.





At the bottom you reach Flam, which is basically a transit interchange from train to boat. I thought it would be nice to break up my travel, so I stayed here a night. It'd be an understatement to say that there isn't much to do here. In the off-season, which it is, the few stores in this town aren't even open much. It's a good thing I bring entertainment with me when I travel. I'm not referring to my other personalities, though they do help maintain my sanity. A laptop with work and movies, and a good book does the trick for killing quite a few hours. I have to say that I can't remember the last time I worked this many hours consistently.





I did meet some friends in town -- they seemed like they'd be great drinking buddies. There's something having to do with trolls here, but I never figured it out.





When they were cutting the 20 tunnels to bring the train down here, they used to ride these down the tracks. Looks a little crazy to me, but what the hell -- try anything once right?





The view from Flam is great. It's definitely a nice prequel to the boat ride. This is the view from my pension this morning.





The Fjord Lord seemed like a great vessel for jaunting around these mile-high cliffs. But I boarded a bigger boat for this leg of the journey.





These are a few of the majestic views you get along the way.

We've been relaxing the past few days and just leisurely checking out the sites. Sarah and Nils have a great view from the roof of their building overlooking downtown Oslo all the way out to the Fjords.





Around town we've checked out the City Hall, Palace, did some shopping, and enjoyed a 30 dollar burger at TGI Fridays. You don't notice the exchange rate until you buy something I guess and then it hits you -- Oslo is expensive!





I guess I'm getting old because it took Sarah to point out that the street lamps had bras strung up between them.





And then there was this guy that was juggling fire while walking a tight rope just to promote some soda.





Today I checked out Frogner Park and Vigeland's Sculture Park. It's an art-loving nudist's paradise with every shape and form scultped in bronze and stone.

My first excitement in Oslo came at the airport when I had to navigate the craziest rotating doors I've ever seen. These are two sets of rotating glass with a break in the middle, it's like a mini gauntlet that you have to run just to get in and out of the airport.





Seeing Sarah and Nils has been great. Yesterday I visited the IB school that Sarah teaches at. I sat in the back of the room (in a section she calls Australia) and observed years 9 and 10 in their English classes. The classes flew by, they seemed so much longer when I was that age. Then we played bandy with her colleagues. Bandy is basically like indoor hockey but with wierd sticks, tiny goals, and a wiffle ball. Its co-ed and gets a little aggressive so you gotta watch out -- Sarah got nailed twice. We hit the pub afterwards for a few drinks before heading home for dinner.


Last night we headed to a micro brewery for a bit and then to Niels' cousin's house warming party. We ended the night at a mellow bar before hopping the late night bus back home. A local kid was nice enough to display his dinner all over the bus on the way back. The driver pulled over at a gas station and made the kid go get a bucket of water to clean it up -- classic! All in all, a good start to my Norway adventure.

Conference kept me tied up for most of the four days I was in Salzburg, but I managed to escape to see a few of the highlights. The first day I walked around old and new towns, strolled along the river, and got the lay of the land. Salzburg is a beautiful town that definitely caters towards older tourists -- Mozart, The Sound of Music...not exactly my thing. But this is all well and good considering my jet lag wasn't gonna be any help for going out and partying at night.








On my last day I headed for the funicular (card carrying member of the club!) and up to the castle for a better view of the surrounding areas. The castle offers some great views and some interesting sites. Anybody ever wonder what it'd look like to be attacked by a stick figure army?





Or what the creapiest marionette you've ever seen might look like?





Here are some of those nice views that I'd mentioned.








And here's my carriage -- the most advanced funicular I've ever seen. It looks like something out of Star Tours and launches you up the hill.





I think this is what's left of it's predecessor.





And of course no trip is complete without visiting a monastery for some beer. No monks serving here any more, but you still grap your own mug, wash it, and then pay for a fillup. I opted for a 1 liter tank thinking it looked about right.





We had our banquet dinner at the old StieglKeller restaurant. It was basically a big hall with antlers on the walls and huge chandeliers -- very rustic. I made it about 10 minutes into the violin performance before nearly falling asleep and deciding to leave. Being my last night of opportunity I headed for the red light district. Unfortunately, the old red light district amounts to one red light and one remaining "fun" house, Maison de Plaisir (no translation necessary). Apparently in my stupor I forgot to take a picture of that red light with its heart shaped iron work...I guess you'll have to use your imagination.