Page 226 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

tether their children” to keep them from falling off, the
cruise guide told us.
The tiny town of Geiranger is a hiker’s paradise, where a
literal zig-zag road is one of only two into town. Small cruise
ships arrive in summer. This charming coastal village
features tiny wooden buildings with roofs covered in green
grass and wildflowers.
At Geiranger Skjolade, a chocolatier in the small village,
owner Bengt Dahlberg told us that “Norwegians may be
reserved, but when you see them in nature, they light up and
talk more.” People are downright chatty in gorgeous
Geiranger.
We had one of our best meals at the small Brasserie
Posten on the water in Geiranger in the old post office,
where the chef prides himself on procuring local produce for
the popular restaurant. It also carries more than 50 varieties
of Norwegian beer from 15 different microbreweries.
Tearing ourselves away from Alesund, we ventured to
Bergen, the largest city in Norway until the 1830s and a major
European trading port, where the colorful harborside wooden
buildings of Bryggen, a World Heritage Site, house the Fish
Market, the Bryggens Museum, and lots of outdoor cafes and
indoor shops. We rode the Funicular for its seven-minute
climb up to Mount Floyen for a sweeping view of the city, and
gaped at the sterling silver collections in the decorative arts
wing of the four Art Museums of Bergen right downtown.
And we had a two-hour private tour from Carter, a guide with
Bergen by Expert.
You can also take fjord cruises and trains from Bergen,
but we found the very popular “Norway in a Nutshell” one
annoyingly over-crowded. The Geraingerfjord experience
was far finer, we thought.
And now all we want is more time in the breathtakingly
beautiful land of the midnight sun and northern lights.

IF YOU GO

http://www.visitnorway.com/us/
http://www.visitoslo.com/en/
http://www.guideservice.no/
http://thethief.com/en
http://www.nsb.no/DovreRailway/
http://www.nsb.no/RaumaRailway/
http://www.visitalesund-geiranger.com/en
http://www.visitbergen.com/en
http://www.bergenbyexpert.no/indexeng.html

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