Page 217 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

NORWAY

FANTASTICFJORDS,HISTORICVILLAGES&SCRUMPTIOUSSEAFOOD
NORWAY

Story&PhotographyPriscillaLister

icture a dark blue crystalline sea that
winds through narrow passages flanked
by virtually vertical rocky cliffs rising
some 4,000 feet high, where isolated,
Phistoric wooden farmhouses dot leaf-
green meadows.
Imagine a small coastal island city where
almost all of its central buildings date around 1905
when they were designed in a charming Art
Nouveau style.
Place yourself in a hip boutique hotel in an area
that once hanged thieves but today is alive with
nightlife and just a short walk to the magnificent
building that bestows the Nobel Peace Prize.
Every photograph or description you’ve seen
about Norway is pale in comparison to the
breathtaking beauty of its real wonders.
That’s what we thought after an eight-day visit
simply whetted our appetite for more. We may
have stuffed ourselves with the finest seafood
available anywhere, but we will never have enough
time to explore that northern marvel.
It was sunny and warm -- in the 70s and 80s --
every day we were there in early August, too. But
even in winter, the three cities we explored are not
as cold as you might think, since the Gulf Stream
keeps them remarkably temperate: Average
daytime temperatures in Oslo in January are
around 25 degrees Fahrenheit, with Alesund and
Bergen typically about 10 degrees warmer.
“There is no bad weather here, only bad
clothing,” Inger Carter, our guide in Bergen, told us.
We landed in Oslo and based ourselves at The
Whimsy lives on Geirangerfjord. Channel your inner Viking.
216 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2019