Flåm, Fjords and Lund, Norway

 Saturday, August 29, 2026

The rains stayed with us most of the night and left a mist with eerie clouds hanging around the mountains as we woke up this morning.

We're in a great campground, surrounded by mountains and within walking distance to the center of activity in the city.

Flåm sits at sea level on a fjord.   A fjord is a sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs in a valley created by a glacier. Even the walk to the dock provided beautiful views.

We took a cruise along the fjord in a huge electric catamaran.

Since the boat is electric, it was a quiet and peaceful, smooth ride.   As we left the dock, you could see the tiny village of Flåm in the distance.

The scenery was breathtaking!  The hanging clouds and still water created a peaceful scene as we glided through the fjord.

They say that the small villages along the fjords were the inspiration for Disney's Frozen movie! We looked for Elsa, Ana and Sven and Olaf, but didn't see them.

The steep cliffs on each side treated us to waterfalls that looked like ribbons.  We finally stopped counting how many we saw.

There were green areas that looked like a golf course!

And we saw this group of kayakers...maybe Ana and Elsa? I bet it was cold!

The cruise was a great way to experience the fjords, even sitting inside.

We then visited a Viking village in Gudvangen and found out more about how the Vikings lived.  They were certainly survivalists! The homes had roofs of sod, designed for insulation!

A blacksmith was busy at work.

We then had lunch at a brew pub in Flåm.  They served us a Viking Plank-- a 5-course beer and food experience.  The flight of beers matched the flight of dinner--it included salmon, reindeer, tomato soup, goat with potatoes and a chocolate ganache cake!  What an interesting way to pair beer with food--it was pretty good!

For additional excitement of the day, we found that there's a Lund in Norway!! 

Actually, at least three Lunds, counting Jim and I. They pronounce it Loond.

We made a special trip to check out the town of Lund.  We drove up a steep narrow squiggly road with a huge hairpin turn.  

There was an occasional house along the road.

We noticed a huge area that had been cleared of trees...possibly a logging area?

The farther we went, the steeper it got, and I was getting very nervous about finding a place to turn around.  At the end of the road, instead of a town square, we found a dirt path.  A little disappointing, but at least we can say we've been there!  Now we're going to have to do some genealogy work on the Lund side of the family!

Finding our way to Flam

 Friday, August 28, 2026

The king of Norway, Harald V, died this morning at age 89.  He has been in the hospital the past week, and our guide yesterday said they were expecting him to recover, so when we heard the news this morning, it was a bit of a surprise. All of the flags are at half mast.

We are headed to the city of Flam (pronounced Floum).  The a is one of those special characters with a circle above.  I haven't figured out how to type it on the computer.   Å. 

Yesterday I mentioned the unbelievable number of tunnels we went through--well today we went through 38 tunnels...no kidding!  

It was fun to see what would pop out at the end!

I kept track of the tunnel distances--it totaled 47.85 km. Almost half of our 119 km trip today was through tunnels! But that didn't keep the stunning scenery away.

Along the route, we stopped at the Dale Factory (pronounced Dahl-Eh) for a tour.  This is the company that knits all of the cool outfits for the Norwegian teams in the world ski championships and Olympics!  What a fun place to visit.  And guess what...you can buy sweaters too!

The "museum room" shows sweaters from over the years, including the actual sweater worn by the last Norwegian female to win a gold medal in the ski jump.

The Company was founded in 1879 as a sheep farm, making and spinning their own yarn. 

Everything was hand-knit until 1967 when machine knitting began.  In the mid-80's computers were introduced, and now much of the work is automated. 

It takes anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes to generate the pieces for one sweater!  

All of the sweater pieces are produced in the factory that we visited, but many of the pieces are bundled and shipped to Poland where assembly is completed.  (Labor costs are more affordable.)

Each piece is ironed to make it easier to work with in assembly.

 The assembly area uses special machines to piece the sweater together.  It is detailed work to ensure that the stitching perfectly matches at the seams.  Watching this guy work made you realize why these sweaters cost so much!

Dale had planned to announce the new line for the season this weekend, but delayed due to the death of the king.

What a unique and fascinating tour.  And, yes, I bought a sweater!

On the way to Flam we stopped by the Tvinde waterfall, but this one wasn't quite as impressive as the last.  They say the falls are best with the spring thaw when the water rushes down from the mountain snow melt.

When we finally got to the Flam Campground, our luck with the weather wore out, and it began to rain, just in time for our trip on the historic Flamsbana railroad.

But the rain didn't dampen our spirits or the experience.  This railroad was built in 1923-40.  It is one of the steepest railway lines, and quite an engineering feat.  There are about 20 tunnels and most were dug by hand.

The views were still spectacular!  The camera just can't capture what the eye can see.  It is truly nature's majesty!

One of my favorites is the Rallar Road--a cycle route.  Imagine taking your bike on this winding road down the mountain!  And what a fantastic view.

I'd love to talk to some of the folks that live here to find out what life is like as a local.  The houses and farms are so remote, but look very peaceful.

More exploring tomorrow!