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Bare and the Paparazzi

December 1, 2021

gem cooking, photography, travel , , , , , , , 1 Comment

No food for this guy

Bergen has its first Michelin star restaurant, called Bare.  We finagled our way in and had an incredible 14 course meal.  Always go to fancy pants dinners with really fun friends.  We laughed as much as we ate.

Course 1 (this was a pre-dinner bar treat)

 

The paparazzi have arrived

 

Course 2 (also in the bar)

 

Course 3 came in a beautiful dish. Each was different.

 

Course 4 was lil tacos (still in the bar)

Finally, we moved into the dining room.  BTW, a hint about having a meal like this. say YES to all possibilities (like the caviar course and the wine pairing option).  Always YES.

Starting the meal

 

Cider and a fist

 

Course 5 (sea urchin) with the cider

 

Our first wine (blanc de blanc) with the caviar

 

The incredible caviar course (number 6). very creamy.

 

Were we happy?

 

Course 7 wine: sauvignon blanc

 

Course 7 was calamari (which I usually don’t eat)

 

More paparazzi

The bread arrives

 

Now the paparazzi are out of control!

 

Wine for the crab

 

Course 8: alaskan crab with barley

 

Wine from Santa Barbara 

 

Course 9: king crab and parsnip

 

wine

You will like the wine!

 

Wine

 

Course 10: lamb and mushroom

 

wine from Italy

 

Course 11: reindeer

 

sweet wine

 

Course 12 into the sweets (with blue cheese topping). Wow.

\

Course 13, a tart little number

 

wine (a “white amarone”)

 

Course 14 finished the evening

 

grappa in the bar (coffee for some)

 

the empties

 

 

 

Walk to the Top in Bergen, and Slide Down

December 1, 2021

gem hiking, mountain, photography , , , , , Leave a comment

The funicular is being renovated, so a walk to the top was in order.  The walk was easy and beautiful.  It proceeds in stages, zooming out as you gain in elevation.

If you start with cake, you must hike to the top.

 

 

icicle

Listen to the drips.

 

 

 

 

proof

Then the slide down.

 

Then a visit to No Stress for a Negroni before heading out on the metro.

 

 

 

Fin.

 

Norway in a Nutshell with Romey

November 27, 2021

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This iteration of Norway in a Nutshell was a one day jaunt out of (and back to) Bergen.  Things got underway early (around 8:40) at the Bergen train station.  The trip went Bergen–>Voss–>Gudvangen–>Flåm–>Myrdal–>Bergen (through Voss).  Arrival at home was 6pm.

Of course the day was perfect and the light was beautiful.  Even the clouds of Bergen parted temporarily as we departed.

Here’s how the day went.  After a delicious breakfast in Bergen at the Børs hosted by the delightful Dalia, we walked to the plastic-wrapped train station and found our place.

Masked on the train to Voss

It was still early in Voss and the 15 minute connection wait for the bus was uneventful.

Voss station (the blue appears)

The bus to Gudvangen is roomy and nice.  But no wifi this time (WTF?!).  The trip took about an hour, leaving 45 minutes to have some cocoa and walk around in Gudvangen.

Waterfall from a bus

 

On the way to Gudvangen

 

Majestic and way bigger than this picture makes clear

 

Looking back to Gudvangen

 

The bridge

 

The fjord was simply magical

 

A crystal clear day with little wind left the Fjord a gigantic deep mirror.

 

The ferry arrives

Since we were touring on off season (and during a pandemic), snacks were harder to come by than on previous Norway in a Nutshell runs.  Even the ferry (which usually has a nice snack bar with various food items) was limited to coffee and tea.  Bring along some snacks.

The two hour ferry ride is nothing short of stunning.

Pretend Viking boat

 

The ferry (very upscale)

 

 

These days, the ferry (which can comfortably hold 400) is a super modern, quiet boat with lots of room.  It is also fast.

Pole position (with a charger)

Just as we departed, some base jumpers blew in from on high.  Check out this spectacular landing.

 

Looking back into the wake

 

 

 

 

 

From the bow

 

Norway

 

Mountain boat

We called ahead to the Flåm for a pizza from the bakery.  This is a good move!  The pizza was delicious and it was great to walk in and have a hot pie waiting.

 

Yum!

 

 

Then it was a 3 minute amble over to catch the Flåm–>Myrdal train (one of the steepest inclines in railroad) in an historical vehicle.  Here we go.

 

The climb really is remarkable.

 

Myrdal here we come (check out the switchbacks)

A short stop at the waterfall is always in order.

Romey takes a picture

Romey also takes a video.  (These bits are for Emily.)

 

 

 

 

 

And then on to Myrdal with some daylight remaining (remember, the sun sets around 3:30pm in late November).

 

We made it!

 

 

After a few minutes at the top, the train to Bergen arrived.  Then it was three hours back, arriving just in time for dinner with friends (including Vemen and Hovard this time).

Last train back

 

The route

 

Back home in Bergen.

Four days on skis (Norway)

April 27, 2019

gem mountain, nature, photography, who knows , , , , , , Leave a comment

Day one involved cross country skiing. This is not a thing we do well. We got better.

 

At least there were waffles and beer! Though I think that home brew knocked my internals out of whack.

Our skiing all happened somewhere around here

Day two was also cross country.

 

 

On the third day, we arose from the dead and did some downhill.

Then it was back on the grindstone for more cross country.

This guy had better skis than we did

Fin

Cheers!

After skiing, there is always bubbly!

The Hike! Don’t Forget the Hike!!!

October 19, 2017

apothecaryshedster hiking, humor, nature, photography, plants, who knows , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Humans hiking is a-ok. Specially in Nor-way.

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No Sun, Yes Murderous Troll

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Here’s looking at you!

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Yes, go UP!

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Bearable Beauty 

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Snacks, Naps and Maps

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From Up

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Downward magical, too.

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And Scary for Some…

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Because you don’t want to be It’s Dinner!

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Nearing the end. only 2 kilometers to go!

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Bye!

Norway Vistas – Magisk

October 12, 2017

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Fall is early here. Sept. 28

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Insignificant, we are.  Yoda says.

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Planet….?

Garden Gleaning on the First of October

October 1, 2017

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The best way to garden in the Fall is apparently to go to Norway. Then when you come back, it is actually Fall and time to move wood and gather in the last of the garden.

Farm Truck

First Load of Wood

The garden is quite the disaster.

But hiding behind all of those brown corn and sunflower stalks is a bunch of good stuff: pumpkins, sweet peppers, cayene, jalapeño, habañero, carrots, beets, and watermelon. More to come too!

Mini pumpkins hide under the grass and weeds.

An entire basket of peppers with more to come.

Hotey admires the flowers while eating corn.

Fin.

Fall bounty.

13.8 Miles in the Mountains of Norway in Skarvheimem

October 1, 2017

gem film, hiking, nature, photography , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

The rockslide helped. Our original plan was to start hiking just down the road from the Skarvheimem cabin and walk 19km (11.8 miles) along the river bed. Just a few km in, a change of plans due to trail damage had us hike up over a ridge instead. This added 3.2km longwise and a whole bunch of vertical. The distance was not the issue, as you may imagine! Here is a photo documentary of the walk.

Morning view from the cabin

Ready to hike?

We started at a little restaurant/camp area where we ended up (8 hours later) having dinner. Getting started was a thing. By 10:30, we were walking.

Stopping for photo opportunities was a must. We had more cameras than people on our hike. Good news: the tripod actually got used!

 

 

The valley hike was very pretty, but in the end we were really glad we had to hike up over the ridge.

Don’t get too close to the edge!

Lunch break. We were joined by many lemmings

There was some wind at the top of the cliff.

And then it was down, down, down. Hard on the knees. The trail was so steep that in places metal cables had been installed. Those were a good thing.

Waterfalls, rock-covered trail, going up when you should be going down, and never quite getting to the water were all things. The wind was impressive when it was funneled up the valley and concentrated into tight eddies.