Natural Norway

When we landed in Oslo, it was morning, but we had been flying since two days earlier. Fortunately the hotel let us check in early. After a nap, we ventured out into the city to see what it had to offer. When we got to the Royal Palace, we came across a beautiful garden complete with duck ponds and tall trees.
We chased ducks and birds.

No real deer, but the little statue caught my eye.

This droopy tree made me smile.

I wondered what kind of bird made this house a home.

The next day we rode a bus across the country to the west coast where we were spending most of our time. The setting was ideal and we walked around a lot. Before dinner one evening, we walked down to the beach at Sandhåland. It was interesting to be walking on a beach I had read about in travel guides.
On the way down to the beach we met these beautiful Norwegian fjord horses. Everyone had to stop and feed them the clover growing along the fence line.

These daisies were spied growing in the sand along the rocks.

Speaking of rocks, I just had to scramble these for a quick pose.

Everywhere you look in Norway you can find waterfalls. This was a little one running through the field near the beach.

On the walk home, I couldn't help but snap a picture of these pink beauties.

The next day we headed for Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) one of the most challenging hikes I have ever been on.
Very challenging. 2t+2t means 4 hours which actually turned into 6+ hours.

Before taking off, we stopped for some lunch, and they served water in this bottle. In fact, everywhere we went in Norway, there was always a bottle of water on the table or at the counter for guests to refresh themselves with.
After about 20 minutes of walking, I turned around and saw how high we were and how far away we were from the visitors center. All that went through my mind whenever I would look back was how far I would have walk back down, but my friends kept encouraging (pushing) on.

Occasionally, we would find running brooks and mini waterfalls. They would later be our "lifesavers" when the water we brought ran out. (It was unusually hot that day.)
Peggy stopped to take a break in one of the many picturesque spots along the trail. (In this case, trail is read large boulders that had to be climbed over.)

However, the effort was rewarded with spectacular views.

A few days later we left for Bergen and then on to Flåm.
Upon stopping for fuel, we found some wonderfully mysterious views.
At Flåm, we took a train up the mountain that stopped along the way so we could admire this incredible waterfall. It was a rainy day, so there wasn't much we could do while we were there.

When we got back from Flåm, Jan Ove had the sailboat ready for a short trip through the water way.

One the many benefits of visiting Norway is that the sun doesn't set until 11 pm so you have a lot of day to do fun things.
Jan Ove brought Jani along as his crew member so I got to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Sailing...so relaxing.

As we were pulling back to the dock, Jan Ove told me he had a surprise planned for me the next day...
Yep, his best friend Morten took us flying over Lysefjord, Preikestolen and a glacier. This was so unexpected and was one of the highlights of our trip.

Lysefjord

Preikestolen - yes, those little spots are people. This is where we were hiking to.

Norway is beautiful! Everything was so clean and clear and refreshing. It was a vacation I am glad we took.

Next post...monuments and architecture.