Fjords, Rain, Parting Ways

Last night Dave and I headed up the mountain to camp. It was about a 45 minute hike...and raining....we stayed warm enough, but in the morning when we packed up our stuff to leave...it was all wet. We are hoping for dry weather in our next location to dry out...... We then sprinted across the park to the tram that would take us down to the city...nothing like a 10 minute sprint with a 35lb. pack to start the day I say....but....memorable and beautiful...and cheap...free camping.

The fjord tour lasted from our embarkment at 8am until our return at 7pm. I was trying to think of how to put it into words....but...with the clock on my internet clock ticking (I am spending my last Norwegian Kroner...and don't want to withdraw anymore), I probably won't be able to do it justice. If you get a chance...we visited Noærofjord...it is pronounced Narrowfjord...and is what it sounds like...... We took a boat through a string of beautiful fjords with mountains that jutted proudly out of the water into their places of grandeur garding the water below (that's my weak attempt at describing them). It was pretty awesome......after that...a bus and train ride brought us back to Bergen.

We approach the point where our travel party must part ways. We will take an overnight tonight to Oslo.....from there a morning train to Copenhagen. Kevin and Cory will enjoy Copenhagen for a couple days (Carlsberg brewery).....Amsterdam for a few more days (Heineken brewery).....Cory will fly back to his home and life in LA from Amsterdam. Kevin will make his way back to Dublin via Paris, London, and Holyhead and depart the day after Cory (the 26th).

Of course, Dave and I have only a slight clue of what the near future will hold for us. From Copenhagen, we will make our way down to Berlin (that will then be 24 straight hours on trains). From there the hope is to make it into eastern Europe. The Czech Republic is not on our pass, but we've heard great things about Prague. Hungary and Romania are on our passes and lead us down towards Greece. From Greece....a ferry to Italy....from Italy.....Switzerland....over to Spain....up through Taize and to Dublin. Sounds like a plan, eh? Wrapping up a month in a sentence-long string of random countries should give you some idea that we will be seat-of-our-pantsing it....but loving it.

For all the World Cup fans, we watched Brazil last night...and I am predicting them to go all of the way....they looked superb. Their 2-0 win could've easily been 5-0 with some better finishes. And...the US experienced the worst officiating in the cup in their tie with Italy....a red card for a clean (ball first) slide tackle is ridiculous.

We have heard that eastern Europe is very cheap...and I am hoping that is indeed the case.

Only a few minutes left....must go....love to all....will blog again when I can.