North Cape itinerary (second part) travel tips and information
8 ° day
We indulged in a trip to the Arctic Circle, Napapijiri in Finnish, the unanimously recognized home of Santa Claus (or Father Christmas).
We linger for a long time in the many Lappish handicraft shops and at the Post-Office where letters from all over the world arrive to Santa Claus.
You can also leave a parcel here, and the office will arrange for it to be delivered in time for Christmas.
9 ° day
Sweden another myth that falls.
We all have of Sweden an idea of "cleanliness", order, sympathy.
Well, our impression is absolutely the opposite.
Stockholm it's a dirty city, certainly not on our level, but you get close to it, people don't look beautiful, they look at us brazenly and even tell us something.
In addition, many are drunk, with numerous empty beer bottles to testify.
Bergen Norway guideWe had serious problems finding accommodation, due to an international congress, and moreover it is a very unpleasant accommodation as well as expensive.
The visit to the city starts from Old Town, the old Town.
Then the castle, and the national museum, by metro.
By ferry, instead (Stockholm looks a bit like Venice), we go to another island to see the "Vasa Museum ”, where the "Vasa“, Vessel of 1628, recovered in excellent condition in 1961, thanks to the very low salinity of the sea of the Stockholm bay. Luckily here too the tourist card, the Turistkorte, saves us a lot.
10 ° day
We are happy to be back in Norway, Sweden has really disappointed us.
Passat Oslo, now we take the road to the south, along the sea, and enter the "Telemark“, The southern region of Norway, also famous for its highly original skiing system (it seems the first way of skiing invented by man!).
It is very green, there are lakes and small fjords.
11 ° day
To get here, we decide to "cut" (thanks to the ferries) the fjords, and we realize that everything is organized according to the second.
That is, once you get off the ferry, keeping the average allowed of 90 km / h, after 30 km you will find the next ferry ready for boarding.
So on for 5/6 successive shipments.
We are finally at Bergen.
The arrival in this delightful town is already astonishing, given that from the top of a fjord one dominates the whole bay.
The most beautiful part is certainly the port, which offers the fish market (very fresh) and the old "rorbu" used by fishermen.
We visit, practically for free, thanks to the Bergen card, (in no particular order): the B.ergenhus Fortress, a fortress built in the XNUMXth-XNUMXth century to defend the port, inside which there is theHåkonshallen, which served as a party hall; St. Mary's Church, a majestic church; the Bryggens Museum, one of the most beautiful in Europe, with an extensive documentation of the history of Bergen; there The cathedral (Cathedral); the Bergen Picture Gallery, which houses many Norwegian paintings (Munch and Dahl) and the Rasmus Meyers Collections, a private house used as a museum.
Capo D'Orlando holidays advice
The funicular, Fløybanen, takes us to the viewpoint of Fløyfjell, from which everything is dominated.
Adjacent to this viewpoint there is a playground with one of the Norwegian symbols, the "Troll“, Which we could compare to a gnome, but much uglier.
However, it is worth keeping it dear, because it seems to bring good luck.
Bergenfinally, it enjoys a relatively mild climate, considering its latitude, but it has a single defect: every day, be it two drops or a copious storm, it rains (or snows, in winter).
12 ° day
For reasons of time we are unable to arrive at Ålesund, and then we will just continue a little longer before resuming the way to Oslo.
Skirted theHardagenfjord, we come to Sognefjord, which we had thought of ferrying, but, being the first of September, the rides are drastically reduced.
So we decide to go around it and the road turns out to be just perfidious, dangerous and narrow. Furthermore, our goal, the "Stave Church"(Wooden church) largest of all Norway, it's close.
Once again, the road begins to climb, and the poles, even 4 meters high, testify that here, in winter, it snows a lot.
We are coming to the Jotunheimen, largest glacier in Europe, if you leave out Iceland.
Taking a detour, 15 km and 21 hairpin bends, we reach a piece of it, where people ski quietly.
And finally, a Lom, we also visit a "Stave Church“, Finally open.
13 ° day
We are ad Oslo and the hotel, near the station is nice, the area a little less.
We armed ourselves with the Oslo The card, it goes everywhere per i By public transport and of museums, and we set out to discover this capital, which despite having only 800.000 inhabitants is one of the largest: 20 km by 8.
Always in no particular order, we visit the Folk Museum, a large park that collects an ancient village with a copy of one Stave Church, The Viking ships, with three excellently preserved Viking sailing ships, the Frammuseet, With the nave Fram original, with which Nansen arrived at the north pole and Amundsen at the south pole, the Sonja Henies og Niels Onstands Kunstsenter, dedicated (and built) by the famous skater and her husband, an art lover, now an important modern-contemporary art exhibition .
The last two memories are dedicated to the Munchmuseet, a museum entirely dedicated to Edward Munch, of which we remember "The Scream" and to the Frogner parken, very famous for hosting the sculptures of Gustav Vigeland, first of all the "monolith".
If you haven't read the first part of the trip go to: North Cape Trip!
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