Friday, July 19, 2024

Day 7 - The Longest Tunnel in the World

We had a late start because we wanted to enjoy Bergen a bit more during the morning ... the first thing we did was to ride the Floibanen funicular to the top of the cliff overlooking the city.  A great view of the whole area from a 400m high perch.

Instead of taking the funicular down, we decided to walk through the forest on a winding path and into town to enjoy a good morning walk ... found goats, pipe slides, trolls ... through great mysterious, mossy, damp Norwegian forests.

Checked out of the hotel at noon, had a cappuccino across the street to recharge the batteries and set out on our adventure inland towards Laerdal.

Great scenery, rode along a long long long skinny fjord for a long time and found a ship way inland ... waterfalls everywhere ... so perfect that it looked like a great architect had designed the whole scene.

Today, unbeknownst to us, we apparently rode the longest tunnel in the world ... 25km!  The technology to be able to carve tunnels through all these granite mountains most be amazing.

After the longest tunnel, we came into Laerdal, a small typical Norwegian town nestled in a valley totally surrounded by sheer vertical granite mountains ... like Jurassic Park ... the only way in our out is through a tunnel or a ferry.  The cool town was full of old and small Norwegian wooden houses, a church, and a few restaurants, bars and coffee houses.

Walked around, had dinner ... nice pizza ... and hung out at the biergarten in our hotel before going to bed.  Our hotel is a famous stay for car (Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini) and motorcycle enthusiasts that come to drive all the amazing roads around this town ... only 10 rooms with shared bathrooms!  A unique experience indeed.

Tomorrow, we have a late start to go and find out why people come from all over the world to drive these roads!

Our breakfast room in the top floor of our hotel in Bergen

Old building with new businesses ... Starbucks?

Going up the Floibanen Funicular Railway to the top of Bergen

A great view of the harbor and the city

On our way down ... forests in Norway are coated with moss

A troll?

A goat in the woods as we made our way down to the city center

A great winding slide to help you with the descent

A typical neighborhood street in Bergen

A view of the road

As we skirted a very long fjord, all of a sudden we find a ship deep in it

The Tvindefossen waterfalls ... so well designed!

Having fun in the sun

We found it ... Laerdal ... a small typical Norwegian town in a valley surrounded by cliffs

The town church and cemetery

One of the streets in Laerdal

Our guesthouse with an old Porsche tractor

A last drink on the beer garden outside our hotel before going to bed




No comments:

Post a Comment

Day 16 - The Long Way Home

Today is the day when we start our journey back to Dallas ...  wake up... a nice sauna and a stunning cold plunge .... a Sommerro Hotel styl...