Fjords & Flåm

Slartibartfast does good work! The fjords are beautiful and amazing. I couldn't really capture it with any of my photos today. 

We went fjording on silent a misty morning. With no preset morning adventure, Marissa and I decided to head off on our own into town and beyond. 

We will come back to this building later. We got a map and headed off on a hike away from the water. Tiny little villages dotted the landscape. We passed Lunden and Håreina both of which had less than 40 residents I'd guess. Also, we think that have a gas problem. 

We cut our intended hike short after the road past Håreina got very steep. On our way back towards town we discovered a little water powered grain mill down by the river. 

We saw lots of small stone statues (of which I have forgotten the name) along the river bank. We decided to add our own monument. 

After a brief rest and lunch we went on a fjord safari followed by a beer tasting! Before we could depart in our rigid inflatable boat (RIB) we had to get suited up. 

Skipping across the fjords was great. We got right up under waterfalls. 

Saw the small town (65 people, 400 goats) that makes the best goat cheese in Norway (which also has the smallest church in Norway). 

Gazed up at the most reclusive bed & breakfast (it takes one hour to walk from the water line along the waterfall up to the hotel). Bonus fact, the B&B was started by an American. 

Saw goats scrambling along the steep hillside. 

And we even went into a UNESCO fjord; the narrowest, steepest fjord in the world. 

The cliffs along the fjords are massive and tower over the you on the water. So impressive. Hard to describe and easy to see the inspiration for so much of the Norse culture. Our guide told us that there are rocks in these fjords that are only found here...and on the moon. 

After two hours on the fjords we returned to shore and and headed off to taste beer (in the Viking-esq building from above). We walked to the Ægir Brewery and tasted 3 of their beers. Bonus fact, Ægir was started by an American who found Norwegan beer a bit lacking.

All Ales, we tasted a blonde, amber and a porter. All were decent and not surprisingly I like the porter the best. 

The inside is decorated in a "Viking" inspired style. It fits well I think and seems to be a good place to hang out and drink, especially in the winter. 

We had a great day discovering the small town of Flåm. I didn't realize it was so small (400-ish residents) before we got there. 

This part of Norway is truly amazing and really something to see. It's like nothing else and it's like we sailed into a fairy tale. As Marissa says it was Flåmazing! 

Tomorrow it's the Art Nuevo town Alesund.