Norway: Oslo to Flam

On our second day in Norway, we left our AirBnb in Oslo and walked to the train station. We grabbed a quick breakfast at the 7-11 (they are EVERYWHERE in Norway!) and boarded the train. It was a 5 hour trip to Myrdal, with several stops at small towns along the way. There were only two seats per row, so Paul sat behind Charlotte and me. Charlotte did fairly well, but I was a little nervous about her possible getting motion sick so I didn't enjoy it as much as I probably could have. She got a little sweaty and whiny at one point, so I fanned her a lot and she seemed to feel better after that. Since I felt like screentime might make her motion sick, she also got kind of bored for the last couple of hours. However, the landscape was beautiful --We saw snow-topped hills and plateaus, fog-draped red houses and barns, rushing rivers, and waterfalls en route.

Once we arrived in Myrdal, we very quickly crossed the train platform and boarded the Flam Railway (the Flamsbana in Norwegian). It is a more historic-style train and a big tourist attraction in Norway. It's essentially a steep gradient down into the fjord, to the town of Flam, a journey of about 13 miles. It goes quite slowly due to the gradient, and enters many tunnels on the way down. It's very scenic, and even stops at the largest waterfall so you can get off at the platform and take pictures for a few minutes. It was impressive, even in the rain!

On the Flamsbana

Charlotte & Daddy selfie at the largest waterfall

But I want to take the pictures!

Additional waterfall seen from the Flamsbana

View of the far side of Flam, in the base of the Sognefjord

After disembarking the Flamsbana, most "Norway in a Nutshell" tourists continue onto a cruise of the fjord and on toward Bergen in the same day, but we opted to stay the night in Flam to limit the travel we were doing each day.When we arrived in Flam, we grabbed some late-lunch supplies at the small town market, gathered all our luggage, and walked the 15 minutes our so to our apartment for that night.  Once we had walked it once, it didn't seem so far from town -- but that first walk seemed a lot longer than 15 minutes. We settled in briefly, then returned to the harbor area of Flam to take in the sights and let Charlotte play at the playground there. The Queen Mary II was docked there upon our arrival, and we saw it steam off a short time later. It is huge!

We could hear this large waterfall rushing behind our apartment, so peaceful.

The Queen Mary II leaving port at Flam

Late afternoon light on the fjords and waterfalls

The old iron bridge in Flam, which we crossed going to/from our apartment

Charlotte's favorite part of Flam

We grabbed a flight of beers to share at a little bar/hotel in the center of Flam; Charlotte was happy to watch the iPad and give us a few much-needed minutes of relaxation after a long day of travel. 

We stopped at a food truck near the town's campsites to get some dinner before heading back to the apartment to eat. We ordered a reindeer burger among other foods -- the spices in it reminded us of a meatloaf (in a good way). After dinner, we read some books and got Charlotte to bed as quickly as possible -- she hadn't napped (again) and we all needed for her to get some sleep :)